Quote Originally Posted by Laurel Oak View Post
Just looked out of curiosity at Easter 2014 Flights (5/4 out and 19/4 back from MAN) for an indirect flight and US Airways are coming in at £697 and Delta are £860 so it looks like you can make quite a saving if you are prepared to go through one of the hubs.
Being pedantic (which should be my middle name) US Airways is £721 for a sensible arrival time at MCO, the cheaper flights get you into Orlando at 9pm or 11pm, and having previously done those I know I'm virtually incapable of driving on the wrong side of the road in an automatic when my body thinks it is 2 or 4 in the morning.

You're absolutely right though, if we could stick to the indirect flights it might have an effect on the prices of the direct flights. In this particular case we are in the fortunate position of being able to afford (if not justify) Thomas Cook's extortionate price and we've gone for it. In the future I expect we'll be back to the indirect routes, but the kids won't be as small by then.

When I was researching all these flights, which my family will tell you has been virtually every waking hour for the last four weeks (including waking up in the middle of the night and having a look just in case for some reason the prices drop when everyone in the USA and UK are asleep!) I came to the conclusion that Aer Lingus via Dublin was the best way to get there. They released their flights before many of the other airlines, at £840 return. Unfortunately there are no flights from Dublin to Manchester on a Sunday morning, so having arrived shattered and jet-lagged from Orlando to Dublin, there was then almost a seven hour wait to do the last 40 minutes of the journey! I think psychologically that would drive the seven of us up the wall!! So they were definitely the best way to get there, but not to get back.

I'm pleased to see I've started such a good debate though.