Local Airport vs Big City Airport

Ricster

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 26, 2016
My options are local airport-Allegiant to Sanford (30 minute drive) or drive 2.5 hours to Columbus, OH and take Southwest. Additional costs would be transportation from Sanford to WDW for 7 people. Any thoughts?

**Edited to add: We are staying on property at OKW and it is a 12-hour drive to WDW from home. Parking at Columbus airport would be approximately $100.
 
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I would probably do the Columbus one, assuming you're staying on property and therefore eligible for DME. I don't know how much it would cost for transportation for 7 people and luggage, though.
 
I would not go on a super budget airline so if that's the only option for local airport I'd make the drive or just drive all the way.
I'm both 30 minutes away from the tiny local airport and the big airport so it wouldn't be an issue for me.
 


When I was making a similar decision, taking a look at allegiant's safety record made it an easy choice.
 
We take allegiant all the time from a local airport to go to Disney World. Usually when you factor in the drive, security times, and the cost, we still come out much cheaper than flying into MCO, even renting a car to get to Disney World. If you be sure you factor in luggage costs, etc. it can really be a good deal!
 
Not enough information. What are the ticket prices? When are the flights? If your flight gets cancelled, what are the options for later flights?
 


Not enough information. What are the ticket prices? When are the flights? If your flight gets cancelled, what are the options for later flights?
Unfortunately, I don’t have the info for the local flights. I’ve only flown twice and am trying to figure it out. If I had both prices, it would probably be much easier. I just didn’t know if it is worthwhile to drive that far for Southwest.
 
I will NOT fly Allegiant ever again
They do fly out of our local airport and they are not worth it. I venture to guess by the time you pay for all their extra fees you will not save any money over Southwest, even driving 2 hours (it's comparable to us having to drive to Atlanta). Especially when you add in what you have to pay to get from Sanford to Disney. Plus consider their limited schedules. And horrible maintenance records. So many risks with them.
We do fly our local airport. I love it. But on legacy airlines. Not Allegiant. I'm shocked they are still in business
 
I do not like to fly from airports, or with airlines, that have limited routes if at all possible. I like to know that if there is an issue that there will be many options for salvaging the trip, it can really make a difference to have options when you encounter hiccups with air travel.
 
If I had both prices, it would probably be much easier. I just didn’t know if it is worthwhile to drive that far for Southwest.

Just a note: Don't assume Southwest is cheapest just because they market themselves as a "low cost" airline. Many times, Southwest can be more expensive than "legacy" airlines like Delta, United, or American.

To get Southwest prices, you have to go to their website. To get prices for other airlines, check an online travel site. (Google Flights is the most comprehensive, in my experience.) Compare the Southwest price with the flight + luggage costs for other airlines. You may discover that Southwest is not the cheapest option.
 
Go read the newspaper articles and review the statistics that show Allegiant has a far higher chance of mechanical failure than other airlines. When Allegiants own mechanics refuse to let their own family fly on the airline I think that is a huge problem.
 
I’m in a similar boat where I’m from. My DH and I have flown Allegiant a couple of times, but now that we have a toddler, I wouldn’t chance it with that airline. Too much stress.

We haven’t flown with our son yet (we drive the 16 hours to FL). If we did, I’d fly Delta from my local airport and connect in Atlanta rather than driving the 2.5 hours (for me, it would be to Midway or O’Hare). Is something like that an option for you?
 
OP: I would estimate that the cost to transport your group from Sanford to your resort and back will be more costly than just paying to park at CMH and taking DME.

Columbus (CMH) is about 90 minutes from where I live with DAY at 30 minutes and CVG at 60 minutes.

I flew out of CMH last year, and I will again in January, as they had the better direct flight times and prices, especially with luggage, when I booked. Last year, I did not take the cost of parking into consideration since I wanted to stay near the airport the night before for the first flight out the next morning. I just booked a stay/park/fly room with a hotel near the airport for about $20 more than the regular rate and took a shuttle to the airport leaving my car at the hotel. For January 2018, I did take into account paying for parking, but I found the best flight price and times for me to be CMH so I will just pay the price.
 
My options are local airport-Allegiant to Sanford (30 minute drive) or drive 2.5 hours to Columbus, OH and take Southwest. Additional costs would be transportation from Sanford to WDW for 7 people. Any thoughts?

**Edited to add: We are staying on property at OKW and it is a 12-hour drive to WDW from home. Parking at Columbus airport would be approximately $100.

What time of year are you flying? I'm lucky in that SW flies non stop out (2x daily) of my regional airport 15 minutes away (as opposed to going to Logan an hour away on a good day). When I've gone to Orlando in the winter, I'm not worried about a blizzard disrupting things too much as there are enough flights (both non stop or one stop out of BWI) for me to get there within a day or so.

On an average day Allegiant might be fine...but if there's weather involved that will disrupt things, having options is nice.
 
I think I've put Allegiant on my "no fly" list.

Some of their extra charges are bizarre:
- charging extra to book online or by phone (what does that leave?: book at the ticket counter at the airport - who does that? Not only that...they generally have so few flights that the counter is closed most of the time)
- $5 charge to print out a boarding pass. Really?
- Not even going to get into luggage, seats, etc.

Ancient fleet.

Small airport disadvantage that if your flight gets cancelled, you have very few options. Small airports are nice for convenience, but alternate options are limited.

Sanford. No DME; car rental options much fewer and usually (not always) more expensive
 
Others have listed many good reasons not to fly Allegiant, but one of the biggest sticking points for me is that they only fly on Saturdays and Wednesdays from my local airport (BGR). If I'm looking at a one-week vacation and something "happens" (weather, mechanical) so that my Saturday flight is canceled, I won't get to my destination until Wednesday, and that's IF there is space on the plane! Same thing with the return. I can just see trying to explain to my boss that my Saturday flight's been canceled and I won't be back to work until Thursday... at the earliest. Sorry... not taking the chance with Allegiant!
 

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