Advice when flying into Miami

If anyone here has any advice to give regarding flying into MIA with BA it would be much appreciated. We are flying CW LHR-MIA, any info on which type of aircraft it might be or best seats to have. There are 4 of us travelling. Normally fly VS PE but this worked out 200 each cheaper in August. Any advice on car hire, any decentish hotels that can be recommended within a 10 mile radius of MIA for the night we fly in would help.
I did a search but nothing came up.

Thanks for any help[:)][:X]

The only advice I can offer with Miami is try to get off the plane and to immigration as quickly as you can. Last time we flew into Miami immigration was a nightmare. Also would suggest that you check in online as early as you can as you will be trying to get 4 seats together.

Weve used the Intercontinental West Miami a couple of times as an over night stop after arriving into MIA.

Its quite a nice hotel & pretty easy to get to from the airport after a long flight across the pond.

As far as flying with BA is concerned, youll more than likely be on a 747, as I dont think they use the 777 at all on the MIA run, although you never know what they might do. All our flights there with BA have been on the 747.

Biggest issue is their darn seating policy for those without status or on a full fare ticket. So I would be hovering over the refresh button at exactly +24hrs, to grab what seats you can, when OLCI opens. Easy enough for the outbound, as youll more than likely be at home. But a lot more difficult on the way back, unless you have a laptop with you.

The one time I've used BA into MIA the aircraft was a 747.MIA is a hellhole - get out as fast as you can (immigration permitting).This thread may help with hotels http://www.v-flyer.com/forum/topic.asp? ... hichpage=1. There are plenty of chain hotels around the airport if all you're looking for is a bed for the night (or try hotwire or priceline?)
Car hire is all off airport. I used Budget and Dollar on our last visit and no probs with either. Have a look at http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/ and http://www.usrentacar.co.uk/
DL

[Scrooge]

Wear something light, the humidity is a killer when you first walk outside.

Hertz at MIA are good, especially if you are a #1 Club Gold member. They have a good Gold Canopy also, and they're open 24hrs (not the Canopy though...) And is fairly easy to get to.

Immigration is a mess, as they seem to be constantly under-manned. Although the agent we got was great to deal with.

We flew on the VS05 flight to MIA from LHR, which is the 747. So getting exit row seats right near the exit, as we did, when you land are the golden seats. On a side note, v-flyer site should be updated to reflect the planes used on the LHR-MIA route? Says the aircraft usage is 100% A340-600 which is fairly out of date now?

Aside from the 'err don't' and as a US friend of mine once said 'MIA is like a third world country' I couldn't agree more with the above. Leg it from aircraft doors open to immigration and judge the queues rightly and you could be OK (e.g. don't get in a queue with lots of non-English as a first language passports!). Practice patience if you get a bad day [:w].

As kered said, get OLCI one second after it opens because of BAs stupid policy of not allowing J's to pre-request seats and you should be OK. Always go for the pairs on the outside but upstairs if you can. MIA should be a 747 and if you post your dates we can look it up to be certain.

I also agree with the Hertz comment, always had good service there. But if you're going to a hotel see if they have a Hertz desk and pick up your car the next day to save the hassle (and cost of an extra day). Look at hertz.com for locations and don't forget to use your VS FC card for the extra miles - I think the MIA Hilton and Marriott can have cars brought to the hotel for you.

Are you going to spend no time in Miami itself? I love South Beach (still).

Thanks for all the info. I have only just managed to log back in as I have been gathering info for Probate on my uncles Estate. At least it's getting easier, I have just finished an Aunts who died in Oct, Father- in -Law in March and now uncle. Whats worse they all made me sole Exectutrix. Sorry about the waffle.

A friend works for BA and she has said she will have access to the seating arrangements 3 days prior, so hopefully we will get seats that we want. We will probably stay 2 nights in Miami then go the our house in Clermont and stay again the night before our return.

Thanks again everyone

Kaz

quote:'A friend works for BA and she has said she will have access to the seating arrangements 3 days prior, so hopefully we will get seats that we want'

BA really need to sort out their seating policy. The CW product is great but it's annoying that you can't pre-select seats. I feel that it is perfectly right that Gold/Silver have priority but when you factor in that people with children under 12, those with infants and seemingly those with friends who work for BA can also pre-select it can leave very limited choices for all others on certain routes especially during the school holidays. We usually travel as a family of 4 but both of our children are over 12 and so pay adult prices. When you are spending thousands of pounds on flights I feel that you shouldn't have to be sitting at the computer desperately pressing the refresh button 24 hours and 1 minute before your flight just hoping that you can get seats together.

Sunsational - this is not a dig at you at all. If I had a friend who worked for BA I would certainly take all offers of help. I just think that if employees of BA are reserving seats for friends then it makes a bad system even worse.

quote:Originally posted by lilyjosh0
quote:'A friend works for BA and she has said she will have access to the seating arrangements 3 days prior, so hopefully we will get seats that we want'

BA really need to sort out their seating policy. The CW product is great but it's annoying that you can't pre-select seats. I feel that it is perfectly right that Gold/Silver have priority but when you factor in that people with children under 12, those with infants and seemingly those with friends who work for BA can also pre-select it can leave very limited choices for all others on certain routes especially during the school holidays. We usually travel as a family of 4 but both of our children are over 12 and so pay adult prices. When you are spending thousands of pounds on flights I feel that you shouldn't have to be sitting at the computer desperately pressing the refresh button 24 hours and 1 minute before your flight just hoping that you can get seats together.

Sunsational - this is not a dig at you at all. If I had a friend who worked for BA I would certainly take all offers of help. I just think that if employees of BA are reserving seats for friends then it makes a bad system even worse.


I agree completely that BA's seating system stinks, I couldn't believe it was impossible to check in prior to 24hrs. Even though said friend works for BA it's not guarenteed that she will be able to allocate the seats.[:#]

Hope you get the seats you want and have a great trip.

We have flown into MIA on many occasions, the most recent time being January this year. We have always flown with VA not BA though.

Whilst immigration can be a pain we were lucky & whipped thru[:D].

We travelled in Y & paid extra for the exit row by the exit doors (not suitable for babies, young children & the infirm) which are only allocated at bag drop/check-in. It was so worth the money for all the extra legroom (we've decided to do this again rather than book PE)& the fact you can leg it from the plane to immigration.

We have overnighted several times at the Hampton Inn, Blue Lagoon/MIA airport [y][y]- we have found it very reasonable, very clean, very quiet & the rates booked direct on their website always include a free breakfast, which is more than enough to keep you going for a few hours. There is a free courtesy transfer bus.

With regard to car hire, we have learnt the hard way. We now go to the hotel & then get the courtesy bus back to the airport after breakfast in the morning, then pick up the relevant courtesy car hire bus to the off site depot. We have found the queues to pick up cars horrendous at times in the evenings when you are tired & it may be dark & sometimes there can be suden torrential downpours,so this is why we cut our losses & have a good nights sleep.[|)]

I hope some of this info may be of use to you. Have a safe flight.
R-P

Thanks again everyone,

Depending on your arrival into MIA, Hertz is still a good proposition if you are a #1 Club Gold member like I said before. You get off the shuttle before regular customers/members, and you have a seperate area just for Gold members to pick up your car. Your name will be on a board, with a bay number next to it. You just walk up to the car, keys are there and you're ready to go. No queuing.

If you have to wait, there usually are just 1 or 2 infront, and the car is driven up to you also. Recently used Hertz in MIA and they were great at the Gold canopy area, which is totally seperate from the main area.

The only downside with hotel pick up, is you are less likely to get op-ups - I frequently get them with hertz when I pick up.

Up and downs to both choices, again - pick which one you want to use based on your expected arrival time.

A quick tip - you can bag yourself a free membership to #1 Club Gold, bypassing the required rentals and getting good rates if you don't have a company CDP already.

Enjoy MIA!!