Touchdown on Runway to Driving out of Airport.

[KJH]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by KJH
3 times it has taken us 30 minutes from landing to driving out of the airport. Not bad with 5 people and ten cases![/quote]Is that arriving in Miami from the UK or on a connecting flight? I fly into Miami pretty often and have never got anywhere near that.

Given that you have to disembark from the plane, walk through to baggage claim, collect bags, catch the rental shuttle and do the paperwork at the Rental Centre, 30 minutes is amazing.[/quote]Hi

Thats LHR-MIA, John always has to see if he can beat himself (timewise) it drives us all mad, we are almost first off the plane and I can walk pretty fast. We have been pretty lucky in that we have never had to wait at immigration, lots of people behind us though. Our cases are normally within the first few off. Peoples faces are a picture as we grab up to ten cases off the carousel. (No fun trying to get them in the car). Not full outbound but they are coming back.

MCO is normally about 45 minutes if we are very lucky (been a while). Depends on the airline and at which airport as well. MIA - BA, CW was faster than Virgin UC. Tampa has been our worst, CW with BA.

We fly Virgin UC in Feb LGW-MCO, not done that for a while and then UC LHR-MIA in August. I prefer BA but Virgin prices were better for our dates.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by KJH
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by KJH
3 times it has taken us 30 minutes from landing to driving out of the airport. Not bad with 5 people and ten cases![/quote]Is that arriving in Miami from the UK or on a connecting flight? I fly into Miami pretty often and have never got anywhere near that.

Given that you have to disembark from the plane, walk through to baggage claim, collect bags, catch the rental shuttle and do the paperwork at the Rental Centre, 30 minutes is amazing.[/quote]Hi

Thats LHR-MIA, John always has to see if he can beat himself (timewise) it drives us all mad, we are almost first off the plane and I can walk pretty fast. We have been pretty lucky in that we have never had to wait at immigration, lots of people behind us though. Our cases are normally within the first few off. Peoples faces are a picture as we grab up to ten cases off the carousel. (No fun trying to get them in the car). Not full outbound but they are coming back.

MCO is normally about 45 minutes if we are very lucky (been a while). Depends on the airline and at which airport as well. MIA - BA, CW was faster than Virgin UC. Tampa has been our worst, CW with BA.

We fly Virgin UC in Feb LGW-MCO, not done that for a while and then UC LHR-MIA in August. I prefer BA but Virgin prices were better for our dates.
[/quote]

I don't fly Virgin but I take my hat off to you if you can clear MIA and be on your way in 30 minutes arriving on BA. I did get lucky in September but even then I didn't manage that.

Any tips for my flight into there next month?[msnwink]

[wrightbuxton]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by christhear
We know that we will never achieve a quick exit as there is a warrant out for someone with the same name and d.o.b as my husband. So we get taken to secondary immigration everytime we arrive. Asked if there is anything we can do about this i.e. get a Visa but have been told it will not help. Until the real criminal is arrested we will be stopped everytime. Luckily my husband is about 8 inches shorter than the man they actually want.
[/quote]

Same goes for me there is a warrant out for the arrest of someone with the same name as me and I always have to go through a second security screening. We flew to Vegas in October and the friends we were with thought we had left them because we were taken away without being given the chance to tell them what was happening[msnscared]

Even though you are innocent it is unnerving until they allow you through immigration[msnsad]

Julie

[sammibabe]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ellie
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by sammibabe
Thanks Ellie. Flying into MIA was not our first choice but cheapest choice. Saved about £600 doing this way even compared to indirect flights [msnsmile2]
[/quote]

Sounds like you made the right decision, sammibabe. Even if you experience a small delay going through immigration it is well worth it for the saving of £600! [msnwink]

Are you driving straight up to Orlando?

We noticed that the HOV lane is now payable once it gets near to Miami, which is a bit of a shame (High Occupancy Vehicles of 2 or more passengers). We used to love whizzing past all the traffic jams, but now you can only use the HOV lane if you pre-pay - you can't pay the toll at the time. Mind you, I can't blame Miami for doing this as it will save regular commuters much time for a small outlay,and add revenue. Incidentally, the tolls vary according to the time of day - peak time it can be $1.25, whilst off peak is just 25c. Guess you could use it if you had a transponder.
[/quote]
Definately the right choice price wise (August never a good time to go price wise [msneek]) Thanks for the info about the tolls. Yes we will be driving straight up. Bonus is the last day flight not til evening so we are going to be able to spend the day in Miami. Do you know if you can pay for the HOV lane when you collect the car? Or how do you pay, do you know?

[ujpest doza]

At Sanford it's been anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

the lengthy waits have been due to waiting for pushchairs and car seats at baggage reclaim and also problem with getting luggage into a car with a tiny boot.

[ellie]

I am not sure about paying for the HOV lane, sammibabe, you need an SunPass. I believe that the hire cars now have transponders already fitted, and if you go through the Sunpass Lane it activates it, and you can also opt in to the system when you collect the car so I assume you can then drive on the HOV lane, as it will automatically charge you. You can also buy the transponders from Publix, but if your car already has one fitted that would defeat the object as you would be paying twice, I guess.[msnwink]

By the way, the toll varies according to the amount of traffic in the Express (HOV) lane, and can be anything from 25c to $3.50, although it can reach a maximum of $7.00 under certain conditions. When the express lane starts to get busy and slows, the toll is automatically increased. One thing to note is that you cannot move in and out of the new Express lane, but can only, for example, exit at the end of this lane (Golden Glades).

[sammibabe]

Thanks Ellie, absolutely fantastic to get info before we go (that's why I love this site [msnsmile])Now need to look into pros and cons of sunpass [msnwink]

[ellie]

I had a quick look at the FAQ on the car hire site, but couldn't find anything, and we have never used the Sunpass option apart from once when driving up the Turnpike from Fort Lauderdale when we saved a huge amount by paying 'up front' plus we were able to drive straight through without stopping.

I am sure Roger would know the answers you need.

[Karen]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by christhear
We know that we will never achieve a quick exit as there is a warrant out for someone with the same name and d.o.b as my husband. So we get taken to secondary immigration everytime we arrive. Asked if there is anything we can do about this i.e. get a Visa but have been told it will not help. Until the real criminal is arrested we will be stopped everytime. Luckily my husband is about 8 inches shorter than the man they actually want.
[/quote]

Christine, this used to happen to my husband everytime until we told one of the immigration people that it happened everytime, and was there something that could be done about it and he entered a not on the system, and since then he has not had a problem, so worth asking next time [msnsmile2]