Orlando & Florida - Questions & Answers (Part 1) *CLOSED*

tech

jonnno wrote:

We want to go to Florida Easter 2007 - yes I know it's peak time but we're bound to the school holidays as I work in a school. The kids will be aged 10 and 8 when we go and we'll probably only go once so we want to make sure we do it right. I've been on the net and phoned round some places and got some prices for flights. One of the cheapest quotes I've got is from [URL=http://]www.ocean-florida.com[/URL]. Has anybody ever used them and if so are they any good? They are not ABTA or ATOL bonded but are bonded with the TTA - Travel Trust Association - is this reliable? We were thinking of flying indirect as this is cheaper - is it more or less of a hassle (ie customs are cleared sooner but it is a longer journey). I know this is a lot of questions but I'm confused!!!!

Not sure if they're trusted - they may be fine. You have to be real careful here as the ABTA and ATOL is your 'kite mark' if travelling from the UK. The website you quote is American and quite possibly caters for the American legal and cover but may not give you any safety if you're a british tourist travelling from england. Not to say that they're not totally safe it's just you may have no comeback if something goes wrong or they may have different service levels or benchmarks of service quality. The cheapest flight I've found so far is http://www.travelplanners.co.uk for flights only. Take the MSE advice and try costing out a full holiday from the same company who's just provided your flight only quote and see if it's cheaper. Sometimes it is as they're looking to sell a package rather than a flight. Eg I tried ebookers.co.uk who quoted me £1855 for flights only for 3 adults 1 child but then quoted £1751 yesterday for a full package to the same airport in Orlando on the same date. I could take their package option but on arrival then go off to my villa instead of booking in to the hotel. This is an MSE idea I read last night and within 5 minutes had shaved £104 off the price. In the end though the travelplanners quoted another £103 less. I haven't found anything cheaper than this so far and they are ATOL and ABTA covered

Finishrich

Poppy9 wrote:

Re silver and gold insurance. Both of us want to be insured to drive which with dollar we are on silver it appears. What about the tank of fuel though? If we upgrade to gold insurance we get a full tank of petrol. The extra cost is £30 - would it cost this to fill the car up anyway? Do they give you a full car anyway and you just take it back full. If I remember correctly this is how it worked last time.

Edited to add:
Booked the car with Gold insurance as if you take silver you have to pay for a full tank of fuel upon collection. The charge for this is $80 so it was cheaper to pay the £30 extra here. The base price is a bit of a con really but all these companies get you one way or another. Airline-network were £372 for same car/fuel so I saved £2

We booked the silver and paid locally for the petrol. Just checked the CC statement and the rate they charge the petrol out at is 3 times the local price and we paid $43.87 or £25.02. We booked a 2 door ecomony. The actual car was a 4 door don't know what category but I think it was a Neon Dodge, or something like that.

jasonrat

looking to book a flight to orlando for two weeks including car hire. anyone rate package holidays? we have two children 2 and 5 and hoping to do a week in orlando doing the touristy things then driving down miami and key west. most package offers two weeks accomodation in orlando but only want to spend a week then looking for rooms while we are there? anyone got any money saving tips special offers etc? package or scheduled flights? thx in advance

gizmos

jasonrat wrote:

looking to book a flight to orlando for two weeks including car hire. anyone rate package holidays? we have two children 2 and 5 and hoping to do a week in orlando doing the touristy things then driving down miami and key west. most package offers two weeks accomodation in orlando but only want to spend a week then looking for rooms while we are there? anyone got any money saving tips special offers etc? package or scheduled flights? thx in advance

Jason - first up with two kids and the drive to Miami it will be worth upgrading to a slightly larger car (not the economy) costs a bit more but the space will be welcomed. It is a quite a drive from Orlando to Key West. Also not sure about booking rooms down there on an "whim" as there are certain festivals/events they have and it can get busy. Package holidays will be cheaper and with the ages of the children you should be able to get some sort of free child place

jnd

Finishrich wrote:

We booked the silver and paid locally for the petrol. Just checked the CC statement and the rate they charge the petrol out at is 3 times the local price and we paid $43.87 or £25.02. We booked a 2 door ecomony. The actual car was a 4 door don't know what category but I think it was a Neon Dodge, or something like that.

Unless I get a free tank of fuel I always refuse to pay for it and leave it back full. It's much less of a hassle than paying for it upfront then having to leave the vehicle back empty. You're constantly keeping an eye on the fuel guage to ensure you don't leave much.

funkmaster_2

I now need to sort out a car to collect us from MCO and take us to our Disney Hotel. Also, I need a car to take us from the hotel to Port Canaveral for a cruise (would need a round-trip to take us back again after the cruise ends)

Definiely not going to hire a car, so wondered whether anyone had used a car firm - not trying to be flash, just don't want to drive.

Initial costs would seem to be $60 from airport to Disney and $220 round-trip from Disney to Port Canaveral.

TIA

funky-footprints

Jason Rat - we are spending only a week in orlando in April and have found accomodation ok, after hours of hunting through we have booked at Hawthorne suite orlando , (please dont now post your bad experiences) (kids go free) I have read good & bad reviews, and am hoping it will be fine, (eek) my children are 5 and 3 so similar to yours, our main must was 2 double beds in room and not a double and a sofa bed, as i know either my husband or i no doubt will end up on the 2nd bed !! (that took about 3 days on and off /emails etc research)

booked all our flights through American airlines. (that took an hour to two)

am currently on the great car hire hunt !!! (day 1)

steviesrightfoot

Hi everyone,

Just starting to sort out a 3 week hol next Feb. Me , wife and 3 kids at orlando

had a couple of qoutes ,virgin and thomas cook, approx £5,500

Now going to look at a bit of diy, loads of tips in the threads round here

What sort of money could you expect to save,
Our spec
Flights, Villa with pool, Car hire , Car and hol insurance, 21 days worth of tickets

Any tips or links much appreciated, thanks

funkmaster_2

I ended up booking my honeymoon through https://www.travelfirstonline.co.uk who have been extremely helpful from start to finish. I booked my hotels, cruise and flights through them. You can get round the 0870 number by using 01204-392473 and asking for Joanna. Worth ringing when you have decided what you want. They are specialists in putting together holidays in Florida and were cheaper or the same on every part of my holiday - tickets, flights, hotels etc.

Penny-Pincher!!

Stevesrightfoot-we went to Florida for 3 weeks in March last year. There was 4 (3 adults and 1 child)of us, flew with Virgin (premium economy), 4 bed villa and pool, 7 seater minivan including full plat car ins, pool heating, dolly parton dinner show thingy, 14 day flex tickets 5 park ones, 5 day disney hoppers, tickets for medieval times, gatorland and holiday insurance for around £4000. We went through Mercury travel-if you call them and ask for Toby-Im sure he will do a better deal than that. We have been with them 6 times and never had a problem.

Good Luck
PP
xx