Chances of Avios booking to Orlando/Tampa

[LST]

Hi all, Avios redemption newbie.

Family of 4 looking to book to go to Orlando next Easter, I appreciate that I will have to call the US number at 1am but what are the chances of securing an Avios redemption for 4? Our travel dates are fixed to within +/- 2 days and I would be happy with PE outbound and Club inbound.

If I can’t get a reservation now, what are the chances of seats appearing later? If I book a PE now, can this be upgraded with Avios later if seats appear?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance.

LST

[SamG]

I actually don’t think it is out of the question – I was looking around for early next year and these are routes that have quite a bit of availability. The taxes and fees are very high now on US routes which I think puts a lot of people off

The Gatwick fleet only has 32 CW seats now so seats beyond what get released upfront are unlikely I’d say but you can always *change* (not “upgrade”) your booking if a higher class appears

[janed9388]

As there are 4 of you I’m assuming school holidays ? In which case it’s probably best to fly to Miami and drive up as there are more flights per day and more seats seem to be released on each flight, at least that’s what I found. It was relatively easy to get availability and saved a lot of stress trying to get the Orlando / Tampa ones.

I’ve been checking seats for this summer regularly as I’d like to push our dates back a week and there hasn’t been anything in August.

[NorthernLass]

Someone mentioned that the US call centre has been refusing to book these so do some research on which number is going to be the best to call. I think once the first tranche of seats has gone it’s very unlikely that more will appear as Orlando is such a very popular destination at this time of year.

What dates are you Easter holidays? I only ask because ours start on April 1st and awards seats for that weekend have already been released.

[NorthernLass]

Also don’t forget there are often only 2 PE seats released.

[LST]

Thanks for the replies. Kids are off from 1st to 25th of April, as it is spring break until the 14th of April in a lot of states, I was hoping to book from 8th-23rd but will be trying for a few days before that and will take it if I get it.

[The Savage Squirrel]

Good luck! As above, if you can’t get your ideal cabin or flights straight away then your chances of later availability opening up are exponentially better with more flexibility. If that’s not possible with dates then put Miami and Tampa in play (and Virgin points too if that’s an option). And even accept 3 seats in CW and one for cash down t’back at a push (stick the family up front and yourself down the back for major brownie points). Seatspy tracking alerts are your friend in this situation.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[LST]

Burning the midnight oil but managed to get online and grab 4 seats from LGW to MCO for 5th April next year 😀, I did get the 4 from LHR into my basket but they got reserved by someone else before I could check out.

I guess it won’t be club suite but it will still be a nice treat for the family. Just need to figure out how I’m going to book the return leg (so I can still use my 2-4-1 voucher and not get stung with the extra fees) on the phone in two weeks…

[Michael C]

Club from LHR to Orlando for 5 April last night online, easypeasy!
Still plenty of PE availability, but as @NorthernLass wisely says, only
2 seats, so maybe that’s affecting your searches.

[LST]

So you were the one who checked out before me! 😂

[FatherOfFour]

Depending on how you are getting to the airport LST you could try for MCO-LHR for the return journey if you want club suites. Good luck.

[Scottpat78]

Glad you got some seats sorted – +1 for the MIA option also, we’ve just returned (4of us) from 12 nights in Florida and we flew into and out of Miami as it had greater availability for reward seats. Very easy drive up to Orlando area.