We boarded the plane and were sat a few rows from the front. After a short while we noticed a young woman in the front row leaning over the aisle to attend to an older man and at the same time a passenger in another seat was alerting the stewardess to the to the now clearly unwell passenger.

It turned out he was her father who’s name was Sam (Samuel)

Sam had the appearance of continually fainting and she was attempting to keep him awake.

After a period of a few minutes the stewardess announced that due to his condition she would not be continuing with the drinks service until she had attended to him.

It was at this point that everyone on the plane became aware of the total lack of conversation and apart from engine noise total silence.

This activity had taken place in less than 10 minutes.

Over the PA system the stewardess asked ‘THE’ question ‘was their a doctor or a nurse on board’.

It seamed no one on the aircraft moved for a long time; in fact it can only have been a few seconds.

The stewardess stood to the side of Sam with her back to the rest of the passengers.

I told Carol that I would check with the stewardess if there were anything I could do to help. As my offer of help (and the fact that I was a Firefighter from the UK) left my lips I could sense and see the relief on the stewardess face.

Almost instantaneously I found myself in front of Sam medical Oxygen in one hand a first aid kit in the other administering first aid.

I spent most of the remainder of the flight which seemed to last forever in a cold sweat. At one point the stewardess asked me if I thought the pilot needed to divert the plane and my cold sweat turned into a hot sweat.

Sam remained conscious for the remainder of the flight. It turned out he had several medical conditions resulting from a previous heart attack and was taking numerous medicines and drugs to compensate and regulate his condition. As we landed Sam improved and it was suspected that the pressurised interior of the aircraft was the cause of the problem.

We landed in Toronto and I spent the first 2 hours of our visit to Canada filling in medical forms for the paramedics.

We spent the remainder of our time in the airport almost in silence and both Carol and I heaved a huge sigh of relief as we left the airport. We needed a holiday.

 On the tips of the wings are cameras and still photos or a DVD can be purchased after your flight. They are of a superb quality and you also get the negatives if you want to have them enlarged. A 15 minute flight costs $240 but the actual time is about 1/2 hour that you are in the plane, from taxeing to take off and landing. Of course If you are very brave then why not go for the 30 - 60 minute aerobatics flight where you can actually control the plane to do loops and rolls. What a great photo that would be, upside down at the controls with an aerial view of Kissimmee above you. Awesome !!! The “pilots shop”  is always worth a visit. They have shirts, hats and lots of memorabilia there. You can even buy “Warbird bucks” $100 to give as a present towards that special persons dream flight.

Warbird Adventures used to be known as “Flying Tigers” but in 2004 Hurricane Charley came along and put paid to that and Kissimmee Air museum was formed in its place. Opening times are from 9.00 to 17.00, 6-7 days a week but it does depend on the season so check before you go. You can just turn up but it is “First come, first served” Telephone number 407-870-7366.

My husband and I have watched these planes flying over our villa for the last few years and he has been mesmerised by them so guess what I have bought him for his 60th next year. Boy will he be thrilled.

The first thing that hit us when we stepped off the plane was the heat.

The East coast was having a heat wave it was 100f (35c).

During our stay the weather never changed. Even at night the temperature remained in the high 70’s aided by the heat given off by the buildings after standing in the sun all day.

The second thing to hit us was the airport. It felt as though thousands of people had just arrived in JFK airport and assembled in the arrival lounge at the same moment we had.

Definitely not for the feint hearted.

We picked up our luggage and joined what seemed a never-ending queue for a taxi. We didn’t have to wait long it just felt like we did.

We hadn’t been in the taxi long when we both experienced a feeling of Déjà vu. It was one of those occasions when you see something you know you recognise and seems very familiar. You momentarily think it’s in the wrong place, and it shouldn’t be here, yet you know you have never been anywhere near it before.

We were passing the observatory towers of the worlds fair held in New York in 1964 used in the film Men in Black and the ride in Universal.

What we hadn’t accounted for were the images (left from watching TV and films) that had been placed in our memory.

Just on that journey to our hotel we ‘remembered’ buildings, bridges and other structures we had never before seen in real life. Then the real challenge, naming the film, program or series we had seen them in.

It happened on many occasions during our visit, the giant floor piano in the toy shop (F.A.O. Schwartz) in the film ‘big’ with Tom Hanks, The fire station used as the headquarters in the film ghost busters and grand central station bombarded by asteroids in the film Armageddon to mention only a few.

We also had what we would describe as reality checks during our visit.

Seeing the sight of the twin towers, the damage to the surrounding buildings and the narrative given to tourists by an employee of one of the banks who witnessed the events as they unfolded on the day.  

Outside the Dakota building were John Lennon died and his Imagine memorial a short walk away in central park. All truly unforgettable experiences.

 New York is well named as the city that never sleeps. It feels as though every building is illuminated. Even the police station in Times Square is brightly lit with large neon lights letting you know it’s the NYPD.

 I could write pages on our experiences of our short visit. If you have never been New York I would very much recommend you include it as one of your must see places to visit.

Generally we book to fly from our local airport and return in to a London airport.  We find that this is usually the cheapest combination.  We then take the train home.  For the cheapest train tickets, book them 12 weeks in advance (or just less).  If you are taking the train in both directions, it is usually cheaper to get 2 x single journey tickets, rather than a return ticket.  Sometimes cheaper train tickets can also be obtained by splitting each journey down in to two parts (ie say from Leeds to Peterborough, and Peterborough to London Kings Cross, rather than Leeds to London) – it’s just trial and error if you have the time to do this.  Train tickets can be purchased at www.thetrainline.com  

With departing and returning to different airports, this will generally mean changing planes at an American airport.  We have found it costs no extra to leave the plane as it touches down in America, and catch the same plane a few days later.  We stopped over in New York for 3 nights at Christmas, with no extra flight costs by doing this.

We have also booked different returning flights to England, to the flights we booked to Orlando.  Recently we flew to Las Vegas for 4 nights (via New York), before flying down to Orlando (via Memphis).  We then returned to London via Memphis.  We were able to do this combination of flights by booking through www.expedia.co.uk and using the multiple-destination option.

We have also found cheap charter flights by booking the night before, although this option is usually outside of school holidays, and means set durations of 7, 14 or 21 days.  Also, when taking this option, it usually means that baggage is charged extra, but the upside is that these flights are usually direct flights, although in to Sanford Airport and not Orlando International Airport.

We have also found it to be an advantage to be a member of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, register at www.virginatlantic.com . We have acquired numerous airmiles both with Virgin and their network of partners, such as Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Dollar Car Rental.  These airmiles entitle members to reward flights (look out for the special offers) and for miles+money flights, which means reduced flight prices in exchange for 2000 of your acquired airmiles.  Airmiles do not expire as long as you earn or spend airmiles every three years.

We originally had the idea to chill out at our house and during our stay visit other parts of Florida.

After Carol had done her flight costing routine with the Internet she concluded that it would be cheaper for us to do a hop and stop than it would be to fly from Manchester direct to Orlando. It worked out £40 each cheaper.

When Carol had finished she presented me with the following itinerary.

Depart Manchester airport direct to JFK airport, New York. Stop over 3 nights.

We booked a room in the Metro hotel one block away from the empire State building.

Depart JFK, New York, direct to Toronto, Canada. Pick up hire car drive to Niagara Falls. Stop over 2 nights.

The Marriott hotel at Niagara Falls (16th floor) directly over looked the falls.

Depart Vancouver, direct to Miami, Florida, Stop over one night.

Pick up rental car drive to Islamorada Key, Florida. Stop over 2 nights.

Ragged edge resort motel, overlooking the Atlantic.

Drive to West coast stop over one night in Naples. The biggest bed we have ever slept in.

Drive to our house10 night’s chill out.

Fly home from Orlando airport direct to Manchester airport.

I briefly thought (for about 0.01 of a second) that I should point out that the additional costs we would have staying in the hotels ‘we’ had chosen would far our weigh any savings we would make on our flights. However I could see Carol was now in full flight making the arrangements so I thought if I wanted to reach our 26th wedding anniversary I had better keep my thoughts to myself. After she had finished making reservations at hotels, booking flights and renting cars we could barely contain ourselves. The thought of us visiting and seeing some of the ‘must see’s’ in life in one holiday was beyond belief.

When we made our plans, decided what we would do and were we would visit we anticipated that all might not go as planned and alterations to our itinerary may be encountered. It turned out fate had some additional items on our agenda which proved to be every bit as memorable for very different reasons.

I can highly recommend a hop and stop holiday. For us it was totally exhausting but the sights; experiences and memories will stay with us forever.

Brian Pearson

1 Cost

2 The duration of the flight including the number of stops on route.

3 If people have experienced bad flights either due to the weather or the airline they flew with was poor.

Because we are frequent visitors Carol (my better half and is the one that makes all our flying arrangements) usually has a good idea when she see’s a flight advertized if it’s a good, bad or indifferent price.

As well as being able to judge the cost she can also equate in the additional time taken for potential stop over’s, the experiences we have had with the different airlines (if we have flown with them before), the time of year we intend to fly which in turn dictates how close to our departure date before books the flight.

She also takes into account the differences between chartered or scheduled flights.

This is all way over my head so my input is usually limited to a whine if the flight is delayed, there is not enough leg room or we don’t have our own headrest TV’s but credit were credit is due Carol usually says ‘I am a great help’ when I make one of my observations.

When we are asked for ideas from people it usually boils down to 2 main areas depending on individual circumstances.

During high season especially for new visitors to Florida, people who are not frequent flyers or if they are flying with very young children we would suggest a direct flight. Not always the cheapest but you get on a plane 8-9 hours later you get off.

If lowest cost is the main aim then chartered flights with stop over’s can usually be the cheapest way to travel. The main disadvantage is the time it takes to get to your destination.

We once took 24 hours from taking off at Orlando to landing at our local airport Durham Tees Valley. I can’t remember my exact words at the time but in a nut shell I stated I wouldn’t be doing it again in a hurry.

I think that was an occasion when Carol mentioned that I was ‘a great help’.

We have had a number of odd, interesting and unplanned experiences using scheduled flights. If you are interested I will put some of our experiences on the articles site.

 Brian Pearson

Direct Scheduled Flight
This may be the preferred option if you live in easy driving distance of one of the major airports.  There is a choice of carriers from London, and scheduled flights are also available from Manchester, but if you are looking to fly from a regional airport this option may not be available.  The main advantage is the time element - a flight directly to Florida means a mid afternoon arrival rather than later into the evening.  It is also easier to keep youngsters happy on a shorter flight.  An additional advantage is the luggage allowance - this is typically two suitcases each, which is ideal for bringing back all those shopping bargains.

Indirect Scheduled Flights
This option opens up more departure airport choices, and will involve a flight via either an American ‘hub’, or occasionally via a major European airport.  This will involve an earlier start or later arrival, and naturally a longer flying time.  But if this inconvenience is acceptable to you, the costs can make this option worthwhile, particularly during peak times when the demand for direct flights is at its highest.

Check out the luggage allowance - it may be different for the ‘internal’ leg of the flight than the ‘transatlantic’ leg, in which case the lower amount will be the limit.

Charter Flight
Many charter airlines also fly from the United Kingdom to Florida - they tend to use Sanford Airport, a much smaller airport than the International Airport used by scheduled airlines.  It involves a longer drive to the attractions area on arrival in Florida, but tends to have shorter queues through immigration and security, which saves much of this time.

The main advantage to charter flights is that they are direct, and fly from many regional airports.  Many also offer an enhanced service at relatively low cost (although these are sold very quickly).  Their disadvantage is that return dates are usually restricted to 7, 14 or 21 days (which is fine if this fits your holiday plans), and that the luggage allowance is much lower.

Our Recommendation
Our conclusion is that visitors should consider the advantages and disadvantages, and then seek quotes from a travel expert, and base their decision once all the options are known.  The owner of your chosen villa will be able to offer advice as well.

We were delighted when a company called Fly Globespan started a direct flight service from Glasgow International Airport to Sanford Orlando International Airport.

We had previously used Continental Airlines for all our visits to Orlando, but had always to fly via another American city, usually Newark or Chicago. This meant our journey could take up to 16 hours with long stop overs between flights. We also had to retrieve our luggage and then go through passport control when we arrived at the first U.S. airport. Following that we had to check our luggage back in and then sit around waiting for the next flight which was often delayed. Travelling with kids or elderly parents made this a nightmare journey both flying to Orlando or flying back home to Glasgow. On occasion our first flight was so late that we found ourselves literally running through the connecting airport to catch our next flight.

But not any more !!!!!

Thanks to Fly Globespan we now look forward to our trips without the dread of connecting flights. We’ve had very few delays on our Globespan flights so far and the service has been great. Our flight now takes almost half the time and flies us directly to Sanford Orlando International Airport. This airport is about an extra 30 minutes drive from the Davenport area which we stay in when in Orlando, but it’s such an easy drive that we don’t feel that it’s much longer. The airport is also much smaller and therefore much quieter than Orlando International Airport which for us is a positive thing There is still a good Duty Free shop, the usual sweets and magazine shops and a decent place for a sit down snack before your return flight home.

Over the quieter winter months there is a weekly service from Glasgow, but come Easter and throughout the summer season you can normally choose from around five flights per week. So if like us you’re travelling from Glasgow to Orlando any time in the future, check out their website on www.flyglobespan.com and see if they’ve got a flight to suit you needs. It will certainly help to make your trip to Florida an even more enjoyable one.