internal us flights

hi, I am thinking of throwing the wife a surprise visit to memphis(graceland) Its been a lifelong ambition of hers as long as ive known her but situation has never allowed it,without her knowing while we are in florida, now I know its only about a 2 hour flight but is it likely that I would be able to just phone the airport and book a ticket a couple of days in advance or am I pushing it. It will only be for like 1 night away, go saturday morning come back sunday evening if possible, ('Cant push the friendship with my sister in law too far shes minding the kids for me for the night). Or is it possible to prebook internal us flights from other countries?. thanks for any help Mike

Sounds like a great idea and a good way to earn Brownie points! ;)

Have you already booked your Florida flights as it's possible you might be able to book it as a stopover within the same ticket?

Failing that, yes you should be able to book it online but beware that many US booking sites may not accept a UK based credit card.

Just checked on British Airways website (the .com one) who do flights from Orlando (MCO) to Memphis (MEM) and it says this:

At the present time, ba.com can only accept credit cards and debit cards which are issued and billed from the country of your departure.
Please note that we are currently working towards expanding this capability.

If you would like to make a booking that departs from a city outside the country in which you currently live, and/or where your credit card has been issued, you will need to telephone your local British Airways office to find out if your booking can be made over the phone or in person at a British Airways Travel Shop or Airport ticket desk.

Effective 10 March 2004 customers who book via the UK ba.com site will be able to pay with UK issued Switch/Maestro cards, UK issued Solo Debit Cards and UK issued Visa Delta/debit cards.

If you want to ring them: 0870 850 9 850 Opening hours Monday-Sunday, 06:00-21:45

Oh thats brill! Mr CDV and I have been there but we did a tour of all the Southern States flying into Atlanta and driving the traingle as its known. GRACELAND is Magical if you are a fan. We got married in Vegas by the King....he is not dead!!!!

I want to be like you when I grow up Blott :D:D:D

Mike

We are going to Florida in November, and have just booked internal flights for a 4 night stay in Las Vegas (we have a spot of gambling to do!![8D][}:)];)) whilst we are there, through Expedia.co.uk - give them a try...:D:D

Good luck

What a romantic[msntongue]What a lovely thing to do..arrrr!
I thought you could book on the day of flying to be honest, though risky[?]
Not too sure how much flight travel has changed in the US since 9/11, I would send enquiries to AA,Delta,BA etc see what response/advice you get.
Best wishes:)

We tried going direct to the airlines, but Expedia still worked out cheaper - for the same flights!![msnsmile]

Sometimes you'll get better rates booking when you are there but that would add time and effort. Which may ruin the suprise.

We booked internal US flights with Air Tran, Orlando to Dallas Ft Worth which we used on our last trip to Florida. I can't remember but I think it required a US credit or debit card to do which luckily we have as villa owners. I seem to remember if you actually call the airline reservations center rather than do it on their website they were more flexible and could accept UK cards.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by jolliffee
Sometimes you'll get better rates booking when you are there but that would add time and effort. Which may ruin the suprise.
[/quote]

Depending on the sector and the airline, the difference between booking 'here' and 'there' can be very significant. I recall that the short flight from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon cost an absolute bomb when we tried to pre-book it from the UK a few years ago; but when we went to LV, the cost was about a third of on-line quote in the UK. But having said that, several US companies do accept UK based cards these days and the difference may have come down.