rustinpeace Travel Information Page
Here is some personal advice for traveling arrangements. Please note we do not accept any responsibility for problems arising by using our advice. This is advice for Flight and Car Hire. We do not receive any payments or commissions for travel bookings so the advice here is from our own personal findings and experience.
Flights
All airlines who fly to Orlando/Sanford are very similar, be they Scheduled or Chartered. Scheduled flights are airlines who run regular routes to Orlando usually on a daily basis. Chartered flights are companies who run an aircraft less regularly and are for holiday charters. Chartered flights normally fly into Sanford, although Britannia still go into Orlando International. Most chartered flights can be fairly busy but the quality of service from the ones we have used has been reasonable.
British Airways, these are probably the best in our opinion, but it is marginal, and if you can obtain flights at reasonable prices would use BA to travel. British airways have a very good web site for finding flight prices very easy to use and gives you a good indicator on prices see link below. Virgin are ok but they seem obsessed with telling you what you can and cant do (our opinion), the flights are always busy, which we don't always think is a good thing. We have spent more time queuing at Virgin check in desks than any other airline. The chartered airlines we have used have all been acceptable, we have used most of the current charter companies flying to Orlando. We have tried a couple of the American airlines but they tend to have a stop, which can be annoying and add a few hours to the journey.
Booking, if you are traveling school holidays or peak times try to book flights early. These times are very busy, it is very unlikely companies will discount flights. If you are traveling off peak then wait until nearer the vacation, most companies start discounting the nearer the departure date, but don't leave it too late.
Orlando International, this is used mainly by the scheduled airlines like British Airways and Virgin. It is the closest airport to the villa, approx 45 minutes drive. Car hire available, usually off airport. Luggage at this airport has to be picked up go through customs and then put back on to the carriers and picked up again once you have traveled on the small train to the main terminal. Car hire courtesy buses can be found downstairs once you have picked up your luggage for the second time.
Sanford, this is used mainly by chartered companies. It is approx 75 minutes drive to the villa, albeit an easy route, mainly freeways. This airport has become very busy and it can take a while to get through, it depends on the time and day of travel. Car hire is usually on airport, once you have gone through with your luggage the car hire places are out front of the airport.
Tampa, this is a very easy airport and sometimes bargain flight prices can be found traveling to this airport, British Airways fly here direct from London. The airport is approx 90 minutes drive to the villa. Consideration should be given to this airport as it is usually easier to get through and you can make up traveling time just getting through immigration quicker. Car hire is usually off airport via courtesy busses.
Miami, we have used this airport several times, the distance can be off putting. It is around 4 hours drive to the villa. Having said that this is where the best flight bargains can be found if you want to travel on a scheduled airline like British Airways or Virgin. The drive back to the airport can be very nice along the coastal road, calling into Ft Lauderdale for lunch on the way back to the airport. Car hire usually off airport via courtesy busses.
Car Hire
This is always a moving target, which company is cheap this month may not be cheap next month. On a personal basis we tend to use Holiday Autos, they are reasonably priced, and you can phone and haggle with the price, they offer a price matching scheme against any prices offered on other web sites. One of the advantages with Holiday Autos is they are associated with APH airport car parking, if you used Holiday Autos this will entitle you to so many days free parking depending on how much you spend. We have found this very useful. As a guide expect to pay £160-£180 per week for a compact 4 door saloon, £230-£260 per week for a 7 seater, fully inclusive of all taxes and insurances and a full tank of petrol. When booking ensure the price includes all insurances. Our advice is to book the car you want, don't fall for the upgrade patter when you arrive at the car hire booking desk, they usually work out expensive. If when you arrive they tell you you have a Proton or similar, just explain if you give me a substandard car we will not use you company again, and will return the car if it has the slightest fault. This is sometimes used a ploy to get you to upgrade, we fell for this once and there was not a Proton in sight, but cost a fortune to upgrade. If they offer you a free upgrade accept it, as they probably don't have the grade of car you ordered. If you have a Proton I don't mean to offend. The rep at the car hire desk is on a commission for selling upgrades, this is why they sometimes use hard sell tactics. They don't all do this just be aware that some do.
Hire For Lower vouchers have been refused at Dollar car hire centres, so be aware, this company is not recommended and should probably be avoided. This is not hear say, we have personally witnessed 2 lots of holiday makers have their vouchers refused at Dollar.
If you do a web search and find a car hire company offering very cheap rates then be careful as to what they include, you could be stung for high insurance charges.
Fly drives, these seem to be a thing of the past but again while it sounds nice to have the car included with the flight you will be stung for insurance charges. This is where car hire companies make their money, over charging holiday makers for insurance.
Always book a car before you go, the "walk of the street" rate is very high.
Ensure you have a car hire voucher from the company you use.
Some useful links,
Travel Insurance
Always take out travel insurance this will cover you have medical problems when you are in America. Medical bills in America are very expensive.
Insurance will usually cover you for holiday cancellations if the need arises.
