Flying

**shelley40** · 21-04-2007, 04:45

Hi

As I have never been to Florida before, wonder if you had any pointers on flights?

As I am travelling from the North East of Scotland to Orlando, BA are quoting a flight via Gatwick for a family of 4 (kids are over 11 so charged as adults)in July for a price of £3060.

However I can get a flight which goes from Scotland to Manchester then New York then Orlando for £2,600.

What does everyone think of an extra stop? The difference is I would arrive 3pm with BA and 7pm with the extra stops?

Also the airline with 2 stops is Continental? Is the food/movies etc on board ok?

Look forward to your comments, much appreciated [msnwink]

**MarkJan** · 21-04-2007, 11:01

What about flying down to Manchester with the BA shuttle from Aberdeen and then flying with a charter or Virgin out of Manchester?

**Katys Grandad** · 21-04-2007, 11:09

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by MarkJan
What about flying down to Manchester with the BA shuttle from Aberdeen and then flying with a charter or Virgin out of Manchester?
[/quote]

BA withdrew their Aberdeen-Manchester service earlier this year but BMI fly the route.

21-04-2007, 13:44

Why not drive down to Manchester the day before, stay in hotel and the fly direct with Virgin from Manchester.

I think if its your first trip it would be nice to fly direct having had a nice sleep the night before, the Travel Lodge (just one idea) at Man airport is brand new, clean and very cheap and there are lots of parking deals for your car too[msnsmile2] Some hotels do stay and fly packages.

You don't have to worry about the the first flight from Scotland being delayed.

Two stops is alot with children in my opinion but its all down to personal choice[msnwink]

**sundowner** · 21-04-2007, 13:50

I would go for a direct flight myself. It can be very tiring when you have kids with you that are so excited during the whole trip. Then trying to keep everyone together at various airports can be a problem.
Mary

**Katys Grandad** · 21-04-2007, 14:22

Are there no charters from Glasgow or Edinburgh to Orlando? There are some good deals about and most now offer a 'premium' cabin at prices not far away from an economy fare on Virgin/BA.

I really don't think that the marginal benefits of flying scheduled outweigh the drawbacks of flight changes or a near 300 mile drive and cost of an overnight stay.

**shelley40** · 21-04-2007, 17:58

Hi Everyone

Thanks for all your helpful advice, really appreciated.

I checked out the BMI flight Aberdeen to Manchester and that would cost £596!Unbelievable.

Checked out flying from Glasgow and it was around £300 cheaper but have to factor in cost of driving down there, paying for 3 weeks car parking, hotel night before if early flight etc and also if the flight arrives back early morning, still have a 3 hour drive home.

Think I will go for Aberdeen-Manchester-New York-Orlando which is coming in a cost of £2605 as opposed to £3060 Aberdeen-Gatwick-Orlando. Arrive at 7pm as opposed to 3pm.

[msnsmile2]

**Doc** · 22-04-2007, 13:29

Having taken these multi stop flights myself from Scotland, I found that the journey there is not too bad because of the excitement of going - but the return journey mmmm.....

A couple of days before leaving I start thinking about the return trip - all those stops 3 is bad enough but 4 ? Jetlagged and tired, all you want to do is get home to a nice cup of tea.

We vowed never to do it after a nightmare trip with Delta to atlanta/gatwick/edinburgh when we missed the connection in Atlanta with a delay from Tampa, then missed our flight in Gatwick and finally got home nearly 24 hours after we left. Our bags finally arrived two days later !

Now we always look for no more than one connection and prefer to pay a few more ££'s We love taking an airport stay before we go now - Gatwick or Glasgow - gets the holiday off to an early start [msnsmile2]

How about flying to Gatwick with BA and picking up Virgin or BA to Orlando, or Flybe to Birmingahm and picking up a charter, or driving to Edinburgh and using Delta direct to Atlanta then MCO, or maybe even KLM Aberdeen to Amsterdam and going with KLM or Martinair