Flying to Orlando

L.O.F.T

Please,all opinions welcome. Im flying 6th to 13th of May to Orlando. Ive trawled all the sites offering flights. Some direct (Aer Lingus) some with JFK-Atlanta-Boston stopovers(Delta/US Air).
(1)From past experiance here how late would you leave it to get the best deal online.
(2) and who would you fly with.
Tickets from my searching go from €460 to €600 direct. I really appreciate an insight on past experiances.

Lifelike

L.O.F.T wrote: »

Please,all opinions welcome. Im flying 6th to 13th of May to Orlando. Ive trawled all the sites offering flights. Some direct (Aer Lingus) some with JFK-Atlanta-Boston stopovers(Delta/US Air).
(1)From past experiance here how late would you leave it to get the best deal online.
(2) and who would you fly with.
Tickets from my searching go from €460 to €600 direct. I really appreciate an insight on past experiances.

If I were you I'd book it now. Return flights to Orlando with Aer Lingus can cost as much as €1000 at times (dunno why), so €600 isn't that bad at all. Even though you might get a slightly cheaper deal if you leave it late, all you need is one big travel agency or group booking to send the price up.

Su Campu

Try Trailfinders on 01-6777 888. They can be good for long-haul.

castie

www.americanholidays.com do some cheap flights also

denmar

If you can get a ticket for 460 you should take it - that is a very good price. Continental were doing a 439 but I'd say that is gone by now. I find Continental very good to fly with and you can gt a good price with them. Also they do stopover in Newark which is a nicer airport thank JFK but that is just a personal thing.

donkey balls

dead head all the way Dub-MCO EI fly directly tue/thu&sat thats what i do getting to old to be transiting airports:D

Plane Mad

fly direct with aerlingus might be that little bit more expensive but cant beat the direct flight being using that service for years and with the new cabins it does not seem that long of a flight

phonypony

Plane Mad wrote: »

fly direct with aerlingus might be that little bit more expensive but cant beat the direct flight being using that service for years and with the new cabins it does not seem that long of a flight

but the bad attitudes of a lot of their (mostly older) cabin crew and their lack of professionalism can make it the flight from hell. Also only having one flight out there a day, if there are any issues theres no real backup. I go Continental, the 9am flight clears immigration in Dublin, you have 1hr 30mins in Newark and on to Orlando to arrive at 16.30, can't go wrong. It's generally a lot cheaper too and any miles you earn can be used on more airlines than EI's measly list...

denmar

Phonypony I agree totally with your comments. We fly continental out of Shannon and also get in bout 16.30. Aer Lingus would be a last resort for me and I certainly couldn't afford to or want to pay the premium prices they charge just for a direct flight!!

Lifelike

phonypony wrote: »

but the bad attitudes of a lot of their (mostly older) cabin crew and their lack of professionalism can make it the flight from hell. Also only having one flight out there a day, if there are any issues theres no real backup. I go Continental, the 9am flight clears immigration in Dublin, you have 1hr 30mins in Newark and on to Orlando to arrive at 16.30, can't go wrong. It's generally a lot cheaper too and any miles you earn can be used on more airlines than EI's measly list...

But what if you miss your onward connection onto Orlando?

pclancy

Moving to Travel and Holidays

Kit547

Try airlines from Belfast Airport, got great deals last year
Or americah holidays Dublin

Wats_in_a_name

If you misses the connecting flight to Orlando Continental will put you on the next available one. They have flights every hour to Orlando.

Majority of the time I have flown with continental we have arrived early in EWR

BrianJD

Hi

460 a really good price. I'd recommend booking now tbh. Where are you getting it from if you dont mind me asking. I'm looking for value to New York.

Lifelike

Kit547 wrote: »

Try airlines from Belfast Airport, got great deals last year
Or americah holidays Dublin

But the airline who operated the Belfast-Orlando route, Flyglobespan, have gone to the wall. So no flights are available from Belfast to Orlando anymore.

phonypony

Lifelike wrote: »

But what if you miss your onward connection onto Orlando?

It has never happened to me. As Wats_in_a_name says, the flight usually arrives into EWR early and if you do happen to miss your connection, the airline will get you on the next flight to MCO, of which there are many

ncmc

That price of €460 is super, I would grab that asap. Don't worry if it's not direct, I have flown to Orlando with US Air, Continental and BA with stops in Philly, Newark and Heathrow respectively. I have never missed a connection and although it does make the flight longer, if it saves a few hundred quid, I would not hesitate to fly with a stopover again. As someone said previously, you really are paying a premium to fly direct with AL.

Can I ask what airline that price is from and what website you got it on?

L.O.F.T

Thank you to all who replied, my post was moved(originally in aviation) and I just found it here, sorry for delay in returning questions. My original findings at the price of €460 was with ebookers. Today that flight with Delta is €492 via Atlanta. I can go with Continental and stop in Newark and that is now €530. Aer Lingus are bringing up the rear with a price of €555 with a stop in JFK. Direct its €657! Last year I flew the same dates direct with Aer Lingus for €430 all in!!!! Aer Lingus seem to be pricing themselves out of business in my opinion. Orlando via Atlanta looks like my decision with Delta @ €492, I can’t really wait for Aer Lingus to come down on their direct price, pity as its nice to get on one plane and off and your there.

ncmc

Just heard on the radio (on the promo for Joe Duffy so it muct be true :rolleyes:) that Aer Lingus are re-introducing fuel surcharges and that it will add about €100 on to a round trip to New York. Can't find any info on it on their website or rte.ie so not sure if it's true or not. They are some shower, I nearly always try and fly with another company if I can as I think AL are just a rip off.

Slunk

We went with US Airways last year and it was grand. Dub - Phil-Orlando. Missed our connection, which was our own fault, and htey justput us on the next flight which was in two hours. Nice lady waiting with our bags when we got there.

Going continental this year, dub-newark-orlando.

Lifelike

ncmc wrote: »

Just heard on the radio (on the promo for Joe Duffy so it muct be true :rolleyes:) that Aer Lingus are re-introducing fuel surcharges and that it will add about €100 on to a round trip to New York. Can't find any info on it on their website or rte.ie so not sure if it's true or not. They are some shower, I nearly always try and fly with another company if I can as I think AL are just a rip off.

Actually they announced that it has been there since December (I had already noticed it). €40 each way.

ncmc

Lifelike wrote: »

Actually they announced that it has been there since December (I had already noticed it). €40 each way.

Yes I realised that after actually listening to Joe Duffy and it seems it has been there since Dec. They kinda sneaked that in didn't they? This is the first I had heard of it. Would love to know how they justify it when oil is much less than $100 a barrel :rolleyes:.

L.O.F.T

Thank you to all who suggested ideas. In the end I booked with Ebookers. Dublin-Atlanta-Orlando return, €499 all in. Very frustrated with Aer Lingus being almost the most expensive direct and via JFK. I wonder how many seats Aer Lingus would sell if they were more competitive, as a novice its would appear to me they are loosing allot of fares. Thanks again.

ncmc

L.O.F.T wrote: »

Thank you to all who suggested ideas. In the end I booked with Ebookers. Dublin-Atlanta-Orlando return, €499 all in. Very frustrated with Aer Lingus being almost the most expensive direct and via JFK. I wonder how many seats Aer Lingus would sell if they were more competitive, as a novice its would appear to me they are loosing allot of fares. Thanks again.

I still think that's a pretty good price L.O.F.T, I am pricing for Aug to New York and am getting crazy prices, Continental are charging €662 pp, Delta €712, US Air €731 and believe it or not, Aer Lingus are actually coming in cheapest at €510 pp. I am going to hold on another while and see if I can do any better, I know August is school summer time, but my dates are 19th -27th so I would have thought the holiday makers would be tailing off at that stage. It's really turning the US into an expansive destination, especially when you factor in the poorer exchange rate than last year .