Which of These indirect Flights Would you Book?

[antietam]

London LHR to Miami @1250
Arrive Miami @1755

Miami To Orlando @ 2001
Arrive Orlando @2116

Or

London LHR to Philadelphia @ 1430
Arrive Philadelphia @1350

Philadelphia To Orlando @2050
Arrive Orlando @ 2331

The flight to Miami is longer but makes the connection to Miami short.
The just about 2 hours changeover worries me with regard to not making the flight and luggage going on ahead.
This connection arrives in Orlando earlier.
There are other flights after this if we miss one.
Also i was stuck for over 2 hours in Miami immigration a couple of years ago which was not good

The flight to Philadelphia is shorter and allows 3 hours changeover which to me is a good amount of time to get through Immigration etc and short delays.
The flight down to Orlando is the last one of the night so if it gets cancelled or we miss it we are stuck in Philly overnight.
The arrival into Orlando is late which is a pain though but not planned much for next day so can deal with this late arrival.

Also the flight to Philly is @1430 which means able to drive on M25 with more time

They both have pros and cons

I am leaning towards Philly but its a difficult choice.

We have booked the Philly flights but the Miami option is the same price.

Direct is over £600 more and out of Gatwick.
Thats a bit too much for me.

Thanks

[Bozza]

Landing at MCO at half past eleven, and then having to wait for your bags etc, won't be a lot of fun, even accounting for the fact you won't have to deal with immigration at that point.

Even as a night owl, I don't think I'd be taking that flight unless I was going to walk off the plane and get my head down to sleep almost immediately, ideally in the Hyatt Regency within the terminal itself.

You can get some reassurance on the Miami routing by checking out how many more flights after the 20:01 flight there are that evening. If there are 2 or 3 more flights, for example, you can have some optimism that you'll be able to be put on another flight should you miss the 20:01.

Worst case scenario with the Miami routing is you get put up in a hotel for the night and get put on an early flight the next day. You'd probably be fresher than you would be on that Philadelphia routing.

[antietam]

Originally Posted by Bozza

Landing at MCO at half past eleven, and then having to wait for your bags etc, won't be a lot of fun, even accounting for the fact you won't have to deal with immigration at that point.

Even as a night owl, I don't think I'd be taking that flight unless I was going to walk off the plane and get my head down to sleep almost immediately, ideally in the Hyatt Regency within the terminal itself.

You can get some reassurance on the Miami routing by checking out how many more flights after the 20:01 flight there are that evening. If there are 2 or 3 more flights, for example, you can have some optimism that you'll be able to be put on another flight should you miss the 20:01.

Worst case scenario with the Miami routing is you get put up in a hotel for the night and get put on an early flight the next day. You'd probably be fresher than you would be on that Philadelphia routing.

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What would happen to your Luggage though if put up for the night?

[JAF]

Originally Posted by Bozza

Landing at MCO at half past eleven, and then having to wait for your bags etc, won't be a lot of fun, even accounting for the fact you won't have to deal with immigration at that point.

Even as a night owl, I don't think I'd be taking that flight unless I was going to walk off the plane and get my head down to sleep almost immediately, ideally in the Hyatt Regency within the terminal itself.

You can get some reassurance on the Miami routing by checking out how many more flights after the 20:01 flight there are that evening. If there are 2 or 3 more flights, for example, you can have some optimism that you'll be able to be put on another flight should you miss the 20:01.

Worst case scenario with the Miami routing is you get put up in a hotel for the night and get put on an early flight the next day. You'd probably be fresher than you would be on that Philadelphia routing.

See more...

We used to pick our son up on late arrival domestic flights at Orlando when he was UNC and the wait at baggage was as bad as the earlier arrivals. Personally would go for the Miami route and as above worst case scenario is you stop overnight in Miami.

[Wolverine]

Personally for me I would go the miami route two hours should be fine unless delayed in the UK but can be made up during the flight and getting into orlando 2 hours earlier

[antietam]

Is it worth Paying extra for seats on the Miami flight to enable getting off aircraft quicker and do the bags get checked through to Orlando so you do not see them in Miami
Same airline for both flights

[Bozza]

I'm assuming this is BA/AA. I've just checked a random date in August next year. After the 20:01 flight there is another at 21:45 and another at 22:35.

I'd have no hesitation in taking the Miami flight knowing that you have two contingency flights, with the later one still only getting into MCO just after the Philadelphia routing.

[munmun]

Are these flights significantly less expensive than direct?

At this time I would try as hard as I could to fly direct, the possibilities of flight time changes, disruptions and cancellations are significant.

I would do all I could even if it meant spending more to minimise the risk.

[Wolverine]

Originally Posted by munmun

Are these flights significantly less expensive than direct?

At this time I would try as hard as I could to fly direct, the possibilities of flight time changes, disruptions and cancellations are significant.

I would do all I could even if it meant spending more to minimise the risk.

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OP says over 600 pounds and from Gatwick so I guess additional expenses or trouble in the uk. That amount is far too much in my eyes not to turn down

[antietam]

Originally Posted by munmun

Are these flights significantly less expensive than direct?

At this time I would try as hard as I could to fly direct, the possibilities of flight time changes, disruptions and cancellations are significant.

I would do all I could even if it meant spending more to minimise the risk.

See more...

Hi yes its a £600 Saving out of LGW or £1200 from LHR