We are currently looking at flights for december and the best prices are indirect, what is the best airport for a stopover and how long would you say would be sufficient for a family, there maybe an addition 3 families with kids flying.
We are currently looking at flights for december and the best prices are indirect, what is the best airport for a stopover and how long would you say would be sufficient for a family, there maybe an addition 3 families with kids flying.
Inevitably, the connecting airport will be a major hub of whichever airline you choose so there probably won't be any particular problems. If you're flying to Orlando I'd recommend an airline that has a hub in the SE of the USA. The main candidates would be Delta (through Atlanta), US Air (through Charlotte), Continental (through Houston) or American (through Dallas).
Unless you want a long way around, I'd avoid Chicago, Washington or even New York although none of them are such a long way around that they make the journey unbearable.
Which airlines are you looking at?
As a rule of thumb, I'd be looking for a minimum 2 hours connecting time
We have flown with Delta a lot and via Atlanta ,If you make sure you have enough time for changing planes the children can have a drink or something to eat at the many eating places and or just look around the many shops .
The hostess on board the plane are good with children of all ages and drinks are free you only pay for wines , beer and spirits .
Vigin are good as well but it is direct .
MAUREEN
www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1683.aspx
If you Google "legal time connection " plus the name of your airport you'll get websites with that precise information.
Generally speaking if you book your whole journey together the airline booking system will give you sufficient time for your international to domestic connection. And they'll put you on a later flight if you miss your connection, which might be a problem if you're a big family, as you'll be put on the stand-by list. Keep in mind that you'll have to go through immigration, get your luggage, go through customs, and give your luggage back for your domestic flight. The positive aspect of that is when you get in Orlando you're all done[clap].
I always pick flights that allow me at least a 3 hours connection from international to domestic, because I missed a connection once standing in line at immigration behind a plane-load of Polish tourist who didn't have all the necessary papers, and it took me forever to get through.
Personnally I try to avoid Atlanta, but it's a very personal thing. And if the price is good I'll connect in Atlanta. [msnwink] Since you're looking at the best prices, I'd say go for the cheapest, then get all the information you can find about that airport.
In my experience the "minimum connect times" suggested by airlines systems are cutting it very fine these days. Skies are much more congested than they were even 5 years ago, and US immigration is now much more involved, and yet MCTs don't seem to have been adjusted accordingly. Personally I would tend to err on the side of caution and book flights 'manually', and not rely on the suggested connection flights, which often are scheduled barely more than an hour after your international flight scheduled arrival time.
If you miss your connection due to a delayed inbound flight, you will be put on the next flight, with a few caveats:
1 Your domestic flight is on the same carrier as your international flight - if not, neither carrier will care
2 There are seats available on the next flight(s) - if not, you'll be on standby
3 There actually is another flight that day - if not, you'll be waitlisted for a flight the next day and put up in a hotel
If you're travelling in a large group, the chances of 2 & 3 causing you problems are obviously greater...at worst you'll end up getting to your final destination in dribs and drabs, and possibly via a third city if all direct internal flights are full.
I think it depends on where you intend to connect. I've often flown via Charlotte, which is not really a holiday destination and therefore Immigration tends to be fairly speedy. The airport itself is quite small and therefore moving between gates is not too bad. I'd still allow a minimum 1.5 hours though. If I'm going via a larger and more popular hub such as Atlantic or NYC, I'd allow at least 2 hours and probably even more.
As already mentioned, depending on your carrier, you probably won't get a choice of airport, you'll have to go via one of their hubs. If you have a choice of carriers you could choose the one that uses a smaller city as its hub, to reduce immigration times. A smaller hub of course can mean less connecting flights...it's a trade-off..
Make sure that your domestic leg actually departs from the same airport that your international leg arrives at! It's not unknown for a transatlantic flight to arrive at JFK, and the domestic connection to leave from Newark...not good.
Having said that though, I always fly indirect, through necessity rather than choice, and I don't find it an issue. Provided you take into account the points I made above, flying indirect can actually be good - arriving at a smaller, less popular airport can make immigration very easy, and then at Orlando you're a domestic arrival so just pick up your bags and go. Also it's sometimes nice to have a break in the journey and strecth your legs.
Keith
We have travelled on Delta via Atlanta and JFK with no problems and via Chicago O'Hare with AA. For us Chicago always tends to have the longer queues at security and immigration.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:If you miss your connection due to a delayed inbound flight, you will be put on the next flight, with a few caveats:
3 There actually is another flight that day - if not, you'll be waitlisted for a flight the next day and put up in a hotel
[/quote]
I would place a caveat on that statement Keith.
If the delayed flight is the fault of the airline(technical problems etc) then they will put you up in a hotel.
However if the delay is not the fault of the airline - weather being the main reason - the airlines have no responsibility to put you up in a hotel.
Likewise I always fly indirect, but initially for reasons of cost and now because I am 'tied in' to an airline FF scheme.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:If you miss your connection due to a delayed inbound flight, you will be put on the next flight, with a few caveats:
3 There actually is another flight that day - if not, you'll be waitlisted for a flight the next day and put up in a hotel
[/quote]
I would place a caveat on that statement Keith.
If the delayed flight is the fault of the airline(technical problems etc) then they will put you up in a hotel.
However if the delay is not the fault of the airline - weather being the main reason - the airlines have no responsibility to put you up in a hotel.
Likewise I always fly indirect, but initially for reasons of cost and now because I am 'tied in' to an airline FF scheme.
[/quote]
Robert, of course you are right, I should have made that clearer! Even more so, perhaps we should say only if the airline accepts that they are at fault
Certainly delays due to weather, ATC, etc are unlikely to be considered (by them) as their fault. Also if you miss your connection due to delays at immigration, I wouldn't look to the carrier for help.
Keith
We were a bit worried a couple of weeks ago as we realised the AA flight booked for my daughter via Chicago to Columbus only allowed 1 hr 25mins to get onto the next plane, even more so when the flight from London took off 45 mins late. She was due to arrive at Terminal 5 go through immigration nget luggage and get to terminal 3 so we were fully expecting a late night call to say she was overnighting at Chicago as hers was the last flight out to columbus that day.
They made up 30 mins so she only had 1 hr and 10mins and although she said it was a bit manic she just made the second leg. But even though the flight was booked through AA and the flight was Amercian Eagle she said they did little or nothing to help her get through such as making sure she was first off plane etc. Otherwise I'd much rather fly direct.
Babblin Boo
Even though I always fly indirect, if it was through choice I would fly direct.
However flying from Manchester you are restricted to Virgin for direct flights and from London, BA and Virgin. They often charge £hundreds more than for indirect flights.
My main experience of weather related problems has been caused by afternoon storms in Florida delaying flights.
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