TMTO Budget: £2000 – £8000 economy class for a family of 4

A family of 4, return economy class flights at the cheapest should be around £2000 – £3000 (approx £500 per person) and sometimes even less if you’ve got a really good deal. Make sure you don’t leave booking flights to the last minute! Prices increase closer to the day of departure – as much as £7000 – £8000. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what constitutes as a ‘good deal’ when looking at prices.

Direct Flight times from the UK are around 9 hours and the time difference in Florida is minus 5 hours.

Having decided what time of the year to travel on our When To Visit page the next step is start looking for flights. This can be a bit minefield but direct flights from the UK you will ultimately have only 3 main choices: Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, or low cost Norse Atlantic Airlines from Gatwick including Orlando International and Fort Lauderdale on Florida’s Atlantic coast a few miles north of Miami. Another option is to use popular package holiday company TUI.

Another popular route is using Aer Lingus from a UK airport and having a short stop over in Dublin or Shannon as here you can pre-clear US customs which should speed up your time through the airport when you land in Florida.

Virgin and BA fly into MCO – Orlando International Airport which is around 30 mins (23 miles) drive to Disney World with light traffic. TUI fly to Orlando Melbourne Airport (MLB) from 2022 on Florida’s Atlantic Coast, about 1hr 30 mins (80 miles) drive to Disney World. Orlando Sanford Airport (SFB) is occasionally used be some airlines and is situated 50 miles north of Disney World (approx 1 hour drive).

Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays have a long standing relationship with WDW and passengers can make use of their morning check-in desks at Disney Springs within Walt Disney World. For a fee of $10 per person you can have your boarding card printed and your hold luggage taken to the aircraft and make the most of the last day in the parks before heading to the aircraft with just your hand luggage.

Passport Validity

Now would be a good time to check your passport expiry date. In order to enter the US you’ll need an ESTA (see further down the page) and a passport which has at least 6 months remaining from the date you are returning to the UK (not the departure date). We would suggest that if it’s got less than a year left it would be worth renewing it before you fly.

Be Flexible

Flight prices vary considerably depending on how popular the route is at that time of year. Airlines use an automated computer algorithm to alter prices depending on demand. Therefore it’s worth shopping around and being as flexible with dates as you can, because this is one part of your initial budget where you can save hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds. Changing flight dates by just a day or so can sometimes have a big impact on the price. Most airline tickets go on sale about a year before the departure date so once you’ve decided what time of year you’re visiting Florida, start having a look at prices. Try not to leave this to the last minute as mentioned before, because prices tend to rise as the departure date approaches.

Virgin and BA also offer a ‘no frills’ option (Virgin Economy Lite and BA Basic) where your seat is allocated to you when you check in at the airport but you’ll pay extra for 23kg hold luggage and often the standard economy ticket where everything is included is often better value.

Norse Atlantic have some appealing fares from the UK to Orlando and Miami and their low cost business model means that you can select whether you want to include baggage and seat allocation for an extra fee. When comparing prices with standard economy flight be sure to factor this cost in.

Although you can book your flights 2 to 3 years in advance if it’s part of a package deal and lock in the price.

Nearby airports

To save a bit of cash also try to be flexible with your choice of airport. MCO is the main hub for those visiting the park resorts but you may find a deal cheaper by flying to one of Florida’s other airports. BA and Virgin fly to Tampa (TPA) near to Florida’s Gulf Coast and is only about a 1 hour 30 min drive to WDW. This is perfect if you’re planning on combining some beach time at the beginning of your holiday as it’s near to the popular Gulf Coast beaches and cities like Clearwater Beach and Sarasota. Another popular route is through Miami (MIA) on the Atlantic Coast. Here you can have a stop over and explore the famous South Beach area of the city or the Everglades National Park or instead hop across Alligator Alley (Interstate 75) to the beaches of Naples on the Gulf Coast before making your way up to Orlando the next day. Miami is also the nearest airport for access to the Florida Keys. BA, Virgin and Norse all have services from London airports to Miami. Fort Lauderdale (FLL) airport is just north of Miami and is served by BA (usually only summer months). MIA and FLL are approximately 3 1/2 hours drive from Orlando so be prepared for a bit of a road trip!

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Travel websites and apps

Skyscanner.net is a great app and website for comparing flight prices from a range of airlines and travel companies. It’s best used as a guide so you can gauge how expensive your flights are likely to be. You can explore with several options including using different routes, direct flights, stop over flights (where you transit through another airport) and which class of cabin you would like. The website has a great calendar view with low, medium and high price indicators day by day each month. You can also set up alerts to notify you when the price for a chosen route changes.

However, many of the prices quoted may be from third party websites like Expedia or lastminute.com. They will usually quote the ‘no frills’ price without bags or seat allocation. It may also be more difficult to change or cancel your trip through these third parties. And in our experience the price you pay at checkout is usually a lot more than what you’ve found on Skyscanner. The most reliable method is to always try to book through the official airline website that Skyscanner is indicating has the lowest price. You’ll get better transparency about the price and you should get more protection should something go wrong. Skyscanner is a great tool but, use it as a guide only.

We also use Kayak a lot which has a similar look as Skyscanner but again, use it as a guide to give you an idea of prices for flights and check back to see if the price goes up or down. Kayak have a price forecast with Buy or Wait indicators when the price is trending high or low over the next 7 days.

Also, flights can be checked on Expedia, Opodo, Lastminute.com, Travelsupermarket.com, and Tripadvisor.

It’s worth looking out for seasonal sales as most airlines will drop some prices in January and some have a November Black Friday sale as well.

Flydrive holidays or add accomodation

Sometimes you can get a really good deal by adding your accommodation or car hire or both with the flight. In recent years we’ve known people who have got great deals by simply including the car hire with the flight booking. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic both have options to add car hire and accommodation when you book your flight.

Codeshares

Both Virgin and BA have codeshares with other airlines. This essentially means that they sell seats on each other airplanes. Virgin have codeshares with KLM, Air France and Delta. BA have agreements with Aer Lingus, American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair. It’s worth also checking these airlines websites for prices as they can be cheaper than the British carriers and if you select a direct flight from Heathrow or Gatwick, chances are you’ll be on a Virgin or BA airplane anyway. However, those with BA Avios points or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles will have to check whether they’ll be able to use these if booking through a codeshare airline.

ESTA

TMTO Budget: ESTA $22 per person

All UK residents will need to complete an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before departing for the USA. You cannot fly to the USA without one.

You need to visit the official Homeland Security website at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ to process it but be aware there are some rogue websites out there that will charge you extra to process this. You will need everyone’s passport details to hand and an address in the USA when you do it. A group application can be completed for the whole family. The cost is around $22 per person and it lasts for 2 years. It only takes around 10 minutes per person to make an application and the decision to approve the application, if you’ve given the correct information, is usually immediate but ensure you do it at least a couple of weeks before you travel just in case of any delays or if they require any additional information.

That’s your flights sorted so now have a look at our car hire and accommodation pages.