First Choice

[Linda r]

Has anyone flown with First Choice recently and would you recommend the premium service.

Thanks for your input.

Linda

[brizzle]

Flew with them last April from Bristol, but didn't go premium.
I have to say they were better than my last flights with Virgin and BA.

Even though we were in economy we had comfy leather seats with great legroom, widescreen TVs showing the usual movie/TV/videogames fare on every seat with the option to upgrade to movies you could pause for £5 (premium get this free). The interior was newly updated and very modern.

All in all a great experience and I hope Virgin/BA take note and raise their standard a bit now as it will mean we as customers are on to a winner :-)

[DiannaUK]

We've flown with First Choice in economy and in premium economy and were happy with things both times.

Even economy have 2" extra leg room over BA and Virgin (33" compared to 31"). Premium economy has a 36" seat pitch.

We have flown with Virgin and other airlines so have been able to assess the actual difference rather than trying to assess from the respective websites.

Just about to book with them again for April.

Dianna

[julieanne]

We thought FC premium was good value for money.
The only slight disadvantage to me was not flying to OIA - but that certainly wouldn't stop me flying with them again

[brizzle]

I like flying *into* Sanford as it's quicker from touchdown to leaving in the hire car.

I prefer flying *out* of MCO because the facilities are a million times better. :-)

[DiannaUK]

I much prefer Sanford to Orlando airport, even though I agree the facilities are much better. Immigration is much better organised at Sanford and we have never had to wait more than 15 minutes to get through, whereas we have waited much longer at Orlando on occasions.

The shuttle ride is also a pain at Orlando and even though they now let you take cases on to the shuttle with you, this actually makes the ride more difficult because it is harder to get on the first shuttle because of the space the cases take up, but of course you then don't have the delay of collecting from the second carousel. Swings and roundabouts.

Each to their own and I know a lot of people will have different preferences because they have different requirements, but I would fly First Choice all the time if they did a bigger range of flight days.

Dianna

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I like flying *into* Sanford as it's quicker from touchdown to leaving in the hire car.
[/quote]

In my experience that is not usually the case.

I haven't flown there in recent years but have picked people up(and dropped them off) frequently and it has been like a 'jungle' every time.

The queues for the Dollar/Alamo car rental desks have been extremely lengthy.

On top of that you have an extra 20 miles to drive to most destinations.

Outside of the 'Third World' I cannot think of a more depressing airport!

[florida4sun]

Try LDN Gatwick..... I used to do a lot of meet and greets and the passengers definitely used to clear Sandford quicker than MCO. Car hire queues can be avoided by joining the relevant fastlane scheme.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I like flying *into* Sanford as it's quicker from touchdown to leaving in the hire car.
[/quote]

In my experience that is not usually the case.

I haven't flown there in recent years but have picked people up(and dropped them off) frequently and it has been like a 'jungle' every time.

The queues for the Dollar/Alamo car rental desks have been extremely lengthy.

On top of that you have an extra 20 miles to drive to most destinations.

Outside of the 'Third World' I cannot think of a more depressing airport!
[/quote]

[brizzle]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I like flying *into* Sanford as it's quicker from touchdown to leaving in the hire car.
[/quote]

In my experience that is not usually the case.

I haven't flown there in recent years but have picked people up(and dropped them off) frequently and it has been like a 'jungle' every time.

The queues for the Dollar/Alamo car rental desks have been extremely lengthy.

On top of that you have an extra 20 miles to drive to most destinations.

Outside of the 'Third World' I cannot think of a more depressing airport!
[/quote]

I suppose you have more experience but in both cases I've gone into Sanford I've been out at least 50% quicker than MCO. I did use Dollar Express admittedly but do so at MCO too.

The immigration queueing system is better in my opinion and whilst it is a little further from the tourist area, I prefer to be on the road than in the airport.

To label it as the most depressing airport outside the Third World is a little harsh I think....

[DiannaUK]

[<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:To label it as the most depressing airport outside the Third World is a little harsh I think....[/quote]I agree, that is a little harsh. No-one wants to spend any time in any airport when they could be on the road to their holiday accommodation and generally Sanford will achieve that more quickly than Orlando in our experience, albeit the road is a little longer.

Dianna