Miami v Orlando

Quick one;

Looking to go back to Orlando May 2011, (outside of any school holiday period!). Villa, pool, gym, steaks, etc...

The missus, (as she will be by then), has a reward upgrade via VA AMEX - we've missed the 25k econ sale - wedding in 2 months - so it's gonna be the full 50k bumped to Premium using the voucher for her and the cheapest revenue Premium for me.

We don't really like Gatwick; we have to stay overnight before the flight and the hotels there are always way more expensive than LHR. Don't like the old Premium seats. Don't like not being able to get on the upper deck because they've all been saved for V Holidays customers, NOVA, etc... need I say more...

I know there's a chance of getting the new Airbus but doesn't look like there's gonna be any reward seats on that flight.

So what we're thinking is fly to Miami from LHR, drive up to southern Orlando.

We usually stay in the Davenport/Kissimmee/Celebration/Poinciana area, which is not really Orlando - 45 minutes south - so the MIami to Orlando driving time is likly to be less.

Anyone done the drive? Does this sound like a good plan? I love driving in the US so I'm not phased by the prospect of a longish drive - even after a flight. Nothing can be worse than crossing LA to get to Anaheim after the 11 hour flight! Also, the Miami Premium seats look slightly cheaper plus slightly more miles for the flight.

Opinions welcome.

Thanks,

Craig.

we have used both routes. I prefer Oralndo To Miami, immigration is better, car hire is mainly on airport unlike Miami and also from MCO you are on a main road quickly. whereas Miami -one wrong turn and its a nightmare.

granted LGW is better for us than LHR, also for us PE in the bubble is better that on an airbus from LHR. yes the IFE isnt as good but i can live with it

Like flabound says most of the car hire at MIA is offsite and one wrong turn and you're banjaxed v( (have the awful roadworks finished yet???).Those members who have been here a while will remember that I HATE MIA with a vengance following a very unpleasant experience with their immigtration staff a couple of years ago ! ! .That being said I still love the city of Miami.
The drive up to Orlando is an easy one but if there's no hurry I'd recommend staying overnight in Miami and then heading up the next day (and immigration at MIA can be horrendous so the speedy exit you're hoping for may not materialise v( v( ).
DL

Flew LHR to MIA two weeks ago and breezed through immigration no problem. This was my first time through MIA as usually I fly into MCO and I was impressed.

The start of the drive maybe a little tricky but once you're on the highway it's easy. Maybe consider a sat nav to help you out?

If the aircraft comfort/layout is important (as it is to me) I would definately bite the bullet and go for MIA and if it doesn't work out at least you had a new experience to tell the rest of us
Nigel

[Neil]

We've flown in to MIA before and done the drive, which is 3-4 hours (we stay in Davenport) and very boring.

If I were you I would do an internal flight up to MCO. We did this the last time, and paid about $30 each, but it just made the whole thing much easier and saved me having to negotiate out of MIA, which can be tricky, and then endure the long, boring drive after such a long flight.

We used to own at Davenport and fly LGW to MCO and LHR to MIA.
On the whole, we mostly chose the MIA route as we enjoyed staying overnight at the Doubletrees in Ft. Lauderdale. (The water taxis on the inland waterways a fascinating experience).
The drive to Davenport took between 3 to 4 hours depending on traffic. There are several 'tolls' so you should keep some dollars handy. (or purchase a Sunpass). Like Neil, we also flew from MIA to MCO once but when the various baggage restrictions came in to force (we never travel lightly!), going from UC allowances to the internal flight allowance of 20Kg, we gave up on the choice!

Anna

Hi

For this years vacation to Orlando, I flew PE in and out of MIA in September 2010 instead of MCO as could I not get reward flights to MCO.
Went through immigration OK this time (not having severe problems like 2 previous visits)
Baggage reclaim was a nightmare took 45 minutes to get suitcases as no priority was given to UC/PE bags
Then absolutely huge queues to hand in Customs declaration forms, in the end they opened up the gates and we walked through just handing over forms with no questions asked.
Picked up shuttle bus to the new Rental Car Centre, no queue at Budget desk so paperwork only took 5 minutes and was on way out of garage 15 minutes later.
Three and quarter hours later arrived in Orlando via Turnpike.

Return PE journey out of MIA,I had no problem with checking in and security. Inside the departure lounge was abysmal the shops and restaurants were small, expensive ($15 for 2 pints of lager) was not a patch on MCO's facilities.

All in all MIA was very poor compared to MCO and I would only use it to get to Orlando if the price was massively cheaper to direct MCO flights.

Have you thought about flying into JFK and getting a cheap JetBlue flight down direct into MCO - they have roughly one flight per hour so lots of choice and you avoid LGW and MIA!

For what its worth we much prefer MIA there and back, we feel that quality of service is better than a slight inconvenience in travel,so having a much better clubhouse with mojitos, aircraft with better facilities and revivals on your return make it so much of a no brainer for us.
The journey as neil says is boring but an easy one none the less with a sat nav if its your first time.
If getting better overall service out weighs a 3-4 hr journey then go LHR its so much better.
But thats my opinion others love LGW so hey ho.

cheers

alex

Thanks for all the options!

Talk about diverse!!!

Slightly worried about the 'wrong turn' coming out of Miami airport. Wouldn't want it to get all Grand Theft Auto, if you know what I mean. We've got a Sat Nav, but to be fair, I prefer a compass, the sun and instinct! So we'd probably get 'jacked and killed!
Got to wait until after December. We've got a month in the US for the honeymoon so I'm not allowed to spend anything at the moment.

Sort of looked into the fly to JFK and then internal down but it looked a bit of an ordeal - plus the missus doesn't like the take off and landing bit so one flight is preferable. Ditto for flying from MIA to MCO but that sounds like a good option. ($30!!!). Dollar Express at MCO is usually painless.

Need to wait on prices in Jan really. (Unless something really cheap turns up and I 'accidentally' AMEX it!).

Thanks again.

Last time I drove to MIA I did surface roads instead of freeways, no jacking in evidence

i have done both EWR to SRQ and JFK-RSW. the latter is a great run

I have done both MCO direct and MIA with the drive up (parents live in Poinciana) many times over the last 20 odd years. Most recently I did MIA and drove up.

Personally I found the MIA with a drive up to be very painless and pretty easy. I do tend to have a good sense of direction and didn't feel in danger of "straying" into car jacking zone at all. We used Dollar which are located next to all the big boy car rental companies (read off airport but not off the beaten track). We then stayed the night at the IC Miami West so it was a painless skirt around the airport to the IC. The next morning we were up early (due to the jetlag) and then we hit the 821 which acts like a ringroad around miami and joins the Turnpike above the I95 thus avoiding the horrid I95 and all those sketchy areas between the airport and I95. We were in Poinciana (with a couple of starbucks breaks) by midday.

We have done the LHR-MIA with Virgin & BA. We were through customs and to car hire in under 30 minutes from landing. MIA is an easy airport to navigate. No problems at all with the journey, although we do tend to spend 2 days at a beach hotel (Pompano this time) to start the tan and to start the shopping at Sawgrass Mill.

First time we tried the Mia - Orlando drive we stopped at Walmart and bought a SATNAV. Never had any trouble after this and take it with us everytime. Works out cheaper than hiring each time from the car hire.

I did the trip to MIA 2 weeks ago, awful experience and have vowed never to do it again! Major delay leaving aircraft due to lazy MIA crews, 45 minutes immigration, mayhem in baggage claim, followed by 4 hours on the road doesn't get the trip off to a good start!!

Even if the excitement gets you through on arrival, after 2 weeks the prospect of having to deal with the drive back and MIA airport isn't worth thinking about!

On a more positive note, it wasn't too bad getting out of the car rental centre! The road works seem completed and well signposted for the turnpike or i95.

Whatever you decide, have fun!!

I think the fact that you fly out of LHR to MIA is a massive plus, well worth putting up with a slightly slow immigration, didn't help that they were letting families jump the queue, made getting off the plane first pointless. v(

The new intermodal center at MIA is a vast improvement from the all the car rentals being in different places and having to wait for the right bus. Also look forward to not having to wait for any bus and using the new people mover thing they were building.

The drive to Orlando is a bit long and VERY boring, but as I said, leaving from LHR and on a LHR aircraft more than makes up for the downfalls.

Vote here for the VS to JFK then down to Florida. Not nearly as much hassle as u may imagine.