Orlando via Miami

[beezer]

A few years ago we flew Lon-Miami- MCO and back MCO-Phili-Lon , it was over £1200cheaper than direct for 3 of us.

[antietam]

Most of the experiences on here are positive but my trip last year through Miami was not great.
2.5 hours in Immigration.
Just 2 booths open the whole time.

This is why when i looked at a similar flight recently that i said no when i saw changeover was only 1 hour 50mins.
I only feel comfortable with 3 hours change now in order to allow for any delays.

Looking at BA for next Summer i see Flying to MCO is coming up cheaper than Miami.

[ianmstewart]

Originally Posted by antietam

Most of the experiences on here are positive but my trip last year through Miami was not great.
2.5 hours in Immigration.
Just 2 booths open the whole time.

This is why when i looked at a similar flight recently that i said no when i saw changeover was only 1 hour 50mins.
I only feel comfortable with 3 hours change now in order to allow for any delays.

Looking at BA for next Summer i see Flying to MCO is coming up cheaper than Miami.

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Would whole heartedly agree with this. We had the same tight connection and as we were 30 mins late leaving Heathrow missed the connection. On the plus side there are (or were, who knows what the post covid schedules will be) plenty of flights later in the day so we were put on the next one and got to Orlando in decent time.

We have also flown to Miami and driven up when we got a great price. That was fine too, was a bit tired towards the last 30mins but the drive is a breeze.

[Pino_Spetzberg]

Received BA e-mail with good prices for Miami using part Avios.
Thinking of booking a stay in the keys.
If nothing else just to have something to look forward to.

[Steve Florida]

Originally Posted by Pino_Spetzberg

Received BA e-mail with good prices for Miami using part Avios.
Thinking of booking a stay in the keys.
If nothing else just to have something to look forward to.

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We've done it twice and both times were great. First time I drove straight to Orlando from Miami and second time did a stop over at West Palm Beach to break journey up. I would 100% do either option again if the price is right.

[Kibibi]

We did it in January 2019 and would definitely do it again. It did take a while (we may not have gone the right way, someone said that there’s an easy way through from where you reclaim your bags to the departure gates and we definitely didn’t find that!) so we were glad there was quite a long gap to our connecting flight. The way back was really easy (one of our bags didn’t make the trip with us initially but that got left behind at MCO so I don’t think the connection was the issue).

[babynugget]

We have Heathrow - Miami - Orlando booked for easter but they have changed our flight time to a little later from Heathrow leaving us with 1 hour 10 mins connection time! Can anyone tell me do we need to clear immigration then go through security again? And would our bags need collecting and checking back in or do they go straight through to our connecting flight as both are AA?

[brody-maddison]

I flew in Miami on September 15. Immigration is all automated. You go to a kiosk to scan your passport, take photo and fingerprints and pass by an immigration officer on your way out. Whole process took 20 minutes and I was straight into baggage reclaim.

That would be the same whether flying into or transiting Miami.

The only downside is it's a long old drive to Orlando so I'd consider an overnight stay and drive up early the next morning.

[stanleycamel]

Originally Posted by babynugget

We have Heathrow - Miami - Orlando booked for easter but they have changed our flight time to a little later from Heathrow leaving us with 1 hour 10 mins connection time! Can anyone tell me do we need to clear immigration then go through security again? And would our bags need collecting and checking back in or do they go straight through to our connecting flight as both are AA?

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Provided you are booked on a through ticket then yes you clear immigration then go to the baggage belt where you pick up your luggage. Then there is a transfer area where you clear customs and re-drop your bags and proceed to your gate. Your connection time of 1hr 10 minutes is really too short taking into account any delays even small ones bearing in mind Miami airport is very big indeed. I would suggest you contact who you booked your ticket through and ask if they could move you on to the next available MIA-MCO flight.

[babynugget]

Thank you for replies, I will contact BA we booked a package a couple weeks back and only noticed the change of flight time at the weekend. If we were to miss the connection and we have a through ticket, do they put you on the next flight without charge?