The first thing you should be applying for is your Esta before you book any holiday. This is a legal requirement to enter the USA. There is only 1 official website, Esta. There are other third-party

Companies that will submit on your behalf but they charge a lot of money and honestly, the Esta website is easy to use. An Esta is currently $21 and are valid for 2 years. All members of your party need one, yes including the kids! Be sure to read each question carefully, a mistake could be costly and you could end up with the are route of a visa. Now, there are certain circumstances you may need to go down the visa route, this could be a criminal record (Even from many years ago) to visiting Cuba after January 2021. 

Visas can take many months to get, so it is always best to apply as soon as you even think of going to ensure you have one to be able to visit. If you also change your passport during when your ESTA is valid, you will need to re-apply for a new ESTA. You cannot update/renew a currently ESTA. So, if your passport is close to expiry, renew the passport first and then apply for your ESTA. Passports need to be valid for your stay but you are not required to have 6 months remaining.

So, you've done your Esta or Visa and it's approved, now what? 

Well, now it's time to look at booking your holiday! Everyone is different of how they like to book, some people prefer a package holiday so it's all under the same booking though some people (including us) prefer to book directly with the supplier and separately as most of the time, it can acutally save you money, we know shocking right! 

There are many, many different places you can book your trip of a lifetime but be sure to chose a reputable company, here are a few from us.

British Airways - You can book flights, packages and car hire through them as well as just hotels. British Airways have their own cabin classes, Economy, Premium Economy, Business Class and First Class (However if flying direct to Orlando, they do not currently offer First Class). 

British Airways Executive Club - With British Airways you can gain Avios points when you fly. (We can already hear you, what's Avois? Keep reading!) Avios points can be gained by flying with British Airways (Selected partners also,see their website for more details) which can be used for furture money off flights, holidays, even upgrades and what's even better, FREE Flights! Yes, you read that right, FREE Flights! Once you have enough Avios points, you can book a reward flight, you just have to pay for the fees and taxes. How many Avios points you need, will be dependant on the time of year you go and if it's off/on peak. It's free to join and you can start getting Avois before you've even left the ground. How, well via shopping online - BA Shopping, if you shop online, then why not get Avios alongside your clothes, tech and even your car or home insurance. 

Virgin Holidays - You can book packages and hotels through them however if you wish to only fly via Virgin Atlantic, you will need to go to their sister website, Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic have their own cabin classes - Economy Light, Economy Classic, Economy Delight, Premium Economy and Upper Class. 

Virgin Altantic Flying Club - With Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays, you can gain Flying Club points, a very similar way to BA. Once you've joined, it's free, you can join Virgin Red. This allows you to gain points towards your bookings for money off and reward flights! 

Walt Disney World - The only offical website for WDW. You can book flights, hotel and a ticket package, as well as hotel only and hotel plus tickets package. There is a lot of information on their website showcasing their resort hotels, from Value, Moderate and Deluxe range. There is something for everyone! WDW has free transportation to their parks from their hotels, depending on where you are staying, this can include, the Skyliner, buses and boats. WDW also offer "Minnie Van" which is basically a taxi service with a play on words but this is a paid for service. If you have a car, you can park at a WDW resort for free if you are staying on property. All WDW resorts benefits from the early entry for guests who are staying onsite. The Deluxe Resorts offer evening magic hours on select dates so be sure to check the app for details. 

Universal Studios - The only offical website for Universal Studios. You can book a hotel and ticket package with them directly, a hotel or tickets. Universal Studios also have their own hotels to choose, from Value, Prime and Preferred with free tranportation to their parks via buses and boats depending on where you're staying. If you have a car, they do charge to park your car daily and this varies depening on your resort. With all of Universal's Resorts, you get early access to the Harry Potter Land, which is a great way to start your day with a hot Butterbeer! A bonus of staying at a Preferred Resort, you receive FREE Universal Express Unlimited to skip the regular lines at their most popular attractions (Not all attractions are included, see their website for more details) 

Discovery Cove - This is the only offical website for Discovery Cove where you can purchase tickets directly. They do have offers on most of the time though black friday deals are typically the best as they have been known to have around 48% off tickets! They have other excursions on the website which you can also book such as, drinks package upgrades, ray feeding and cabana upgrades. 

Booking your car hire can be a daunting process, with different cars to choose from and different insurances. If you are booking a package, normally you can add a car hire onto the booking and select which insurance you prefer, personally we always go with comprehensive as you wouldn't want to fork out $40k to replace a car should you be in an accident. There are lots of places you can book car hire, you can book direct with a car hire firm such as Alamo, Hertz and Avis. Don't forget your driving license as you will need this to show the rental company when you arrive, without it, they will not let you take the car. Always be mindful, if you've arrived earlier than your expected time for your car hire and take the car, you will be required to hand the car back at the same time you took it, even if your reservation says different otherwise you will most likely be charged for another days rental. The car rental company will also try and get you to take their toll pass but this is often more expensive doing it this way. At MCO International Airport, you can get something called a Sunpass, which is a prepaid pass so to speak or you can just pay as you go with cash if you prefer. 

We personally use Discount Florida Car Hire. You can book your vehicle with no deposit and pay 8 weeks before you travel. Insurance is also included and no need to worry which Insurance as you are fully covered should anything happen. If the price goes down after booking, then you can change the booking and get the difference back, no questions asked! They also offer Sat Nav rentals should you need one or you could take your own if it covers worldwide as we do.

Insurance, this is a must for any holiday you book not just to the USA. Book your insurance before you book your holiday (in some instances, if you book your holiday quite far out, you may have to wait to get insurance as some companies only go a set amount in advance). Prices for Insurance will vary depending on your party, any additional activities such as cruise or skiing or any medical conditions. Should you have any issues whilst you are away, you want to ensure you are covered. Always read the small print as well!

You may find you can get cover with your employer if this is something that your company offers or even your bank (though banks tend to be quite limited in what they will and won't cover)

Upgrades on seats

Each airline is different on how they offer upgrades. British Airways offer a set amount to upgrade and Virgin Atlantic work on a bidding system. 

To upgrade via British Airways, you can always call prior however this will be at rack rate and will be the most expensive option. If you don't mind waiting and taking a chance, which is what we do, you can wait until a few days before your flight and then if there is space, you can long onto your account and see if they are making you an offer for upgrading your seats. Prices will vary depending on the class you are upgrading to and also based on how many seats are available but there are huge savings to be made especially going from Premium Economy to Business class, for example, we tried to upgrade prior to the offer being available and we're quoted £8,000 for both ways for the pair of us! This was a crazy amount so we decided to wait and so glad we did as a few days prior we got offer the upgrade for £450 each! Now we could only do it on the way out as that's all that was available but it was absolutely worth it! You can also now upgrade with Avios points, but always check if this is the best option as sometimes you end up using more than the money's worth. 

Virgin Atlantic you can upgrade again via calling but will be at rack rate, so same with above, just wait until a few days before your flight. Virgin Atlantic allow you bid on upgrades and it will depend whether they accept or not. It can go either way, sometimes bidding the lowest bid and they will reject it however we have bid the lowest before and they accepted, it really just depends on the amount of people bidding and how many seats are left. We suggest going just slightly over the lowest bid and see what happens but of course you can bid whatever you feel comfortable with. With Economy Classic and delight, you can upgrade to Premium and Upper Class with Virgin points. The only exception you cannot upgrade from is Economy Light. You can also upgrade from Economy to Premium, Premium to Upper with cash. 

No option to upgrade? Don't lose hope, always ask at the check in desk when checking in for your flight as sometimes there are cancellations/people move into another class or move onto another flight. 

You may prefer to stay at the airport the night before your flight to make it easier and also drop your bags off before you fly. 

Virgin Atlantic only offer this service currently at Manchester for a flight the following day. You can drop your bags off between 16:00pm and 20:00pm. This can be subject to change so we recommend looking at their website to see if they have extended this service to other airports.

British Airways offer a twilight check in service between 18:00pm and 21:00pm at Gatwick for flights the following day before 13:00pm. This is also offered at Heathrow between 16:00pm and 22:00pm so long as your flight is before 10:00am the following day. London City also offer this service from 16:00pm to 20:30pm so long as your flight is before 10:00am the following day. 

This service is great as it means you can drop your bags off the night before, check in and then just relax. The next day you don't know to worry about running around, standing in a long queue with the luggage. You can go straight to security and to the lounge if you've booked one. More on that later. 

There are lots of hotels nearby you can choose from to stay the night before and we would recommend booking sooner than later as prices will continue to rise the closer you get to your date. The Sofitel is right on site at Gatwick and Heathrow and just a jump away to your gate. 

Now, lets talk lounges, there are a number of lounges at the airports. If you're flying in Business (BA) or Upper class (VA) then you normally get free access to their lounges, you will need to check your tickets to see if this is applicable to your flight. You can purchase tickets to certain lounges and it's something we prefer to do. You get to relax in a lounge, watch the planes and eat food you've techinally already paid for, some lounges are buffets and you can eat as much as you like. Some Alcoholic drinks are included, you would need to check the lounge you are looking at for more details. 

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