Florida on airlines other than BA or Virgin

[sphil]

We had more or less given up on the idea of going to Florida next Easter as the air fares on Virgin and BA were exorbitant. However, someone we know in the States has just suggested that fares on other airlines (Lufthansa, Continental and some of the US carriers)are cheaper. Have looked them up and they are within our budget. My worry is that they'll be awful - DS2 is five and has autism so we need a flight with sympathetic staff and good in flight entertainment etc.

Any experience of good flights to Florida with any other airline than Virgin or BA?

You're also up against both the April half term as well as the fuel surcharge. That is why it is so expensive.

Out of the ones you've listed I'd look further into Lufthansa. I think they fly from Heathrow. You ideally want a direct flight into Orlando rather than a stopover particularly when travelling to the US (think Lufthansa fly direct into Orlando). All other UK based carriers other than Virgin and BA (e.g Thompsonfly) will use Sanford which is about an hour further out from Orlando.

Would not use any US based carrier primarily because the service to pax can be poor due to cost cutting.

If you can possibly avoid flying on the weekend including Friday that can also save on the fare.

The best airline is American Airlines because it has more legroom, but I can't imagine they're cheaper than BA or Virgin.

Have you tried getting discounted flights? Sometimes you can get cheaper online or through a company such as trailfinders, even for BA etc.

The other thing to do is wait for the BA/virgin sale if you can, or check out their websites for special deals. Also the BA website has a nifty feature when you can put in a 2 week either way departure date and it will come up with the prices of flights for each day a week either side of your chosen date. Sometimes you can save just by flying a day or two earlier/later. Once you find the chest dates to fly go on a site such as Thompson and put in the same dates and see what fares come up with the different airlines.

Are your dates set in stone? You can go at October Half term much cheaper and do the whole halloween thing.

Have you thought about California as an alternative? Assuming you want to do the Disney thing. I got mega cheap tickets in the BA sale last year to LA for £550 for me and my son direct return flights over October half term. Can't get them that cheap this year though. (Yet!) I much prefer Disneyland California for smaller ones. It's less busy and not as International and the prices for everything tend to be cheaper imo because they are catering to a domestic market. I can recommend the Ramada Maingate hotel too. It's 2 minutes walk from the Disneyland/California Adventure entrance and very reasonably priced. Plus you can book with your creditcard now and don't have to pay till 24 hrs before you get there!

Gilly

Or think about flying into Miami instead.

Due to high prices on Virgin and BA, we have been with American Airlines for the past 2 years - have always flown with Virgin to US previously.

Think AA are crap. Rubbish service, food, have to pay for drinks, in-flight entertainment very, very poor and extra legroom? Not that I noticed.

Would not recommend them, but sometimes it can be the difference between going and not. Eg, this Easter if we had flown to Miami with Virgin it would have cost £4K and with American it was £1600.

try swiss air website...its not direct (via zurich, london miami) but quite cheap to be honest.

we've done it and it was rather good

What about KLM or Iberia?

Thanks everyone for your ideas. It's an unusual situation - we're going for the first week to an autistic therapy centre in Palm Beach to get a week's intensive training with DS2. The idea was that we would fly into Orlando, drive south to Jupiter, spend the week there, drive back to Orlando and do Disney for the second week. So dates are pretty fixed.

It will be the first time both Dcs have been on a long haul flight and I'm obviously fairly anxious about DS2 coping. So I want to fly direct if possible - we'll have to take all food/drink for him ourselves and long stop-overs would be a nightmare. I'd rather not go at all, tbh, than have a negative experience! Am not keen on flying myself either, just to complicate things...

Try phoning the airline and explaining that you are taking your son for autistic therapy. They may be able to offer you a special deal. Worth a try

Gilly

It would probably take around 3 - 4 hours to drive from Orlando down to Jupiter. Infact Miami is not all that far from the Palm Beach area. However, flying into one airport and departing from another will also cost dearly.

I would give the airline a call as gillybean says and explain the circumstances.

If you want a direct flight without stopovers (and I would recommend a direct flight every time particularly with travelling to the US) you will need to look into flying into either Orlando or Miami.

Think AA put their seats back in so the extra legroom they had is no longer there!.

I'd suggest flying into Miami and out of Orlando then. We found that cheap when we did it in January, hence the reason we drove up to Orlando for the flight home. THis was with BA which you are not keen on but may be worth looking at the fare?

You could have a look at www.seatguru.com for information on various airlines.

What airport would you be leaving from?

I've had another look and we can get a direct flight from London to Miami leaving on 2nd April and back on 20th (which would mean asking school for a couple of days off). Just over £600 each, ecnonomy.

What does everyone think? We were planning premium economy, but that puts the price up another few hundred pounds each. What's the difference between the two - does it make a real difference do you think?

Hi Sphil,

Which airline is it?.

With regards to BA the premium economy section equates to around 4 rows; this section as well has it's own toilets. You'll get the same meal as in economy. The seats in PE are a bit wider and also have a longer seat pitch.

Virgin's PE section is not that much different from economy; again the seats are a little wider and it can seem quieter in that section of the plane compared to economy. Again you'll receive the same meal as in economy. PE pax have their own line at check in.

HTH

It's BA Attila. Do they have seat back screens in economy? And is the seat pitch horribly short (or is it narrow?)

Yes - they do have seat back screens in Economy.

And yes their seat pitch is not good in Economy. The taller you are the worse it is especially if the person in front fully reclines their seat. Also seat can feel narrow and not all that well padded. My DH has previously brought along his own padded cushion before now on such a seat.

What you may want to consider doing is World Traveller (economy) outbound and Premium Economy on the return journey (as that one is an overnight job). That does not always add a shedload to the final cost.

I think we've finally decided to postpone. We worked out the two weeks would cost 12K and although our families are giving us help with the 'therapy week' part, it's still a HUGE amount of money to spend. Will choose an off peak time and wait until the fuel crisis dies down - if ever...

Thanks everyone for your advice though - you're all brilliant.