Florida Flights... who to go for?

Narj

Narj

Narj

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I'm looking to spend 2 weeks in Florida (travelling to MCO) in March. I just need to sort out flights and was wondering who has the best legroom for economy as I'm 6'3" - I can stretch (hur hur!) to Premium economy if there's no alternative but would rather avoid if poss. Really don't like being squished in for several hours!

I've only ever flown business class to the USA before so am a bit clueless. I'd rather spend money on the holiday than on a flight.

Any advice much appreciated!
 
Delta used to do £60 upgrades to more legroom seats (think it was 38"). You had to ask at the counter and they went quickly. Not sure if they still do them. Otherwise pretty much all economy seats are much of a muchness, just go with the cheapest/best time. No idea about premium economy.
 
Airtours was dreadful, like a chicken plane, BA and Virgin were decent but the Virgin entertainment was better. Not sure if its still the same as its been a few years.
 
Thomas Cook fly to MCO in the new 787's, they offer Extra leg-room seats (premium economy).

Consider flying with Air Lingus if possible, it's a one-stop flight but that's in Dublin, the bonus is, that you go through US customs in Dublin so once you arrive in the USA you can skip the stupid immigration queues.

Also, have a look at American Airlines, think they only fly from LHR to MCO though. Their extra leg-room seats are great, flew American this time last year to JFK, unfortunately, I flew BA home... wouldn't touch BA again.
 
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Always flown Virgin Atlantic (flying there in January) and my sister has also flown British Airways.

Both decent and if your travelling in the off season to where your going you might get multiple seats on VA flights if the plane isn't fully booked.
 
Check out Norwegian They fly out of Gatwick over to Fort Lauderdale and i think Orlando.

The least expensive option out there I believe. Only started doing transatlantic in 2014, so bought the new Boeing 787 dreamliners.

May not find them on regular sites, may have to go directly to their website...

Oh and finally a Brit who's actually coming to Florida at the best time of yr to come... Clear blue skies all day long every day. Perfect temps... Unlike summer, which is hot, humid and rains every single day with some serious bolts of lightening to add a spark to your afternoon festivities.
 
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All economy seats are pretty much the same these days, although it can be a lottery on whether you get a new/upgraded plane or not which can affect the seat comfortability and IFE you get.

Delta would be my pick. Then American I guess.

If you can pay for a small upgrade then it might be worth it; I know American usually allows you to upgrade to a bulkhead seat for example, which have a fair bit of extra space.

Stay away from BA, Virgin (Atlantic), they're shocking.
 
qqg3 said:
Delta would be my pick. Then American I guess.

Stay away from BA, Virgin (Atlantic), they're shocking.
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Completely useless advice then - neither Delta nor American fly direct to MCO from London. The Delta flights you see advertised are actually code-shares on.... Virgin Atlantic, who you think are 'shocking'. Even if they did fly I can't imagine why Delta would be anyones choice, unless perhaps you are a classic aircraft enthusiast and particularly like late 80's 767's or something.

In reality there isn't much wrong with either BA or Virgin on this route. Norwegian and Thomson will have the newest planes. Norwegian's fleet is very small fleet though and when something goes wrong it can be a bit of a nuisance as they don't have the redundancy in the fleet that a bigger carrier does.

Best bet is to just pick whichever carrier offers the pricing and flight times you are happiest with and then just pay for an exit row seat. Job done
 
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Do Norwegian offer food and entertainment on their flights? Their short haul flights are modelled on low cost airlines, am intrigued to know if their long hauls are more normal.

Also Fox, having flown Delta, BA and a few other airlines Transatlantic I would't say Delta are any worse than the others. If you can get their extra legroom seats (not bulkhead seats) then they are probably better than all others, unless you pay hundreds more for Premium Economy (athough not particularly relevant if they don't fly the route he wants).
 
I've only flown BA on business to Florida. All the other times I used Virgin. They were really good. Their aircraft were brand new only a few years ago.
 
Amp34 said:
Do Norwegian offer food and entertainment on their flights? Their short haul flights are modelled on low cost airlines, am intrigued to know if their long hauls are more normal.
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Yes they do - but you pay for the food.

Also Fox, having flown Delta, BA and a few other airlines Transatlantic I would't say Delta are any worse than the others.
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The fleet is really, really showing its age - most of the UK routes seem to have the 25-30 year 767's on them. As a result the flight duration tends to be longer as well as the 767 has a slower cruising speed.

If you can get their extra legroom seats (not bulkhead seats) then they are probably better than all others, unless you pay hundreds more for Premium Economy (athough not particularly relevant if they don't fly the route he wants).
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Virgin offer the same extra legroom thing as Delta do.
 
Interesting to know about the virgin seats. :)

As for extra time and older planes. They are still pretty much of a muchness and I certainly wouldn't pay extra for one over the other, or go at a less reasonable time to get a specific airline. Flying on a 787 (for example) is nice, but again not worth a price premium.

Choose the best time and price for you, then if there is a choice go through the motions of seeing which is better IMO. For me that would probably just be based on which one was in the correct alliance so I can get more points. None of the Transatlantics are anywhere near bad enough to need avoiding.
 
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