Since buying our villa 12 years ago we have flown to Florida 2 or 3 times every year. This can be expensive if you are paying for the whole family so we always shopped around for the best deal.

Sometimes this meant taking a non-direct flight, entering the US via an airport other than Orlando. There are of course pro’s and con’s to this, the main advantage for us as a family of four or five is the price. It can work out much cheaper than a direct flight. The main disadvantage is that the overall flight takes longer and there can be time spent waiting in yet another airport. You do clear immigration though so that when you do arrive in Orlando you are straight through.

We have flown with Delta via Orlando and other airlines via Chicago and New York.  On the return journey through Chicago we thought we were going to miss the connection and ran like mad through O’Hare airport only to discover that there is actually a one hour time difference between Orlando and Chicago and we had plenty of time!

One Christmas our in laws came with us and arranged their own flights via Paris. They got back to France to a sudden winter snap, their flight to the UK was cancelled and they had to take the Eurostar, then a train to Doncaster. After being picked up there they had to get their car back from Manchester, not a good experience and they were still in their Florida clothes!

Most of our flights have been direct with Virgin. When our children were younger they would love getting up at stupid o’clock and heading off to Manchester airport. They would be armed with games and things to keep them amused on the 9 hour flight.  Nowadays we almost always have our own seatback TV on the transatlantic flight and depending on the aircraft you can often choose which channel you watch. It helps to pass the time, for me it’s a tedious journey but worth it in the end.

The flight home, well that’s another matter. I can never sleep on a plane no matter how tired I am. The only saving grace is that the flight is slightly shorter.