Allegiant air coming to Fort Wayne! $69 to Orlando!!!

[Laz]

It was announced this morning that Allegiant (sp?) Air was coming to Fort Wayne Airport in February starting with 69 dollar fares to Orlando!!!! FINALLY I won't have to drive 2 hours to get a cheap flight to the Mouse. It should also drive the prices down on the other air carriers. I AM SO PUMPED!!!

 

[Edd]

Allegiant is flying into Orlando Sanford International Airport, not Orlando International Airport. It is a one hour drive to the mouse house. Sorry to bust your bubble.

 

[simzac]

Allegiant is flying into Orlando Sanford International Airport, not Orlando International Airport. It is a one hour drive to the mouse house. Sorry to bust your bubble.

I'm sure someone here on the DIS boards can recommend an inexpensive towncar company to pick him up, right

 

[Edd]

Sorry!!!

 

[Laz]

Pssst. I was just advising the lady that Allegiant was flying into Sanford. I already live here so don't need to be picked up.

Actually, I am a man.

A one hour drive is no problem! I like to rent a car anyhow. Fort Wayne airport is so easy to fly in and out of compared to Indianapolis.

 

[snoopy two]

I am excited about Allegiant Air out of Fort Wayne, as well. Can anyone suggest transportation from Sanford to Disney?

 

[Edd]

Transportation from Sanford consists of rental car, taxis or car service. Each has it advantages. The taxis will run you about $110.00 to WDW on a meter. You know the rental car deal. They could run you up to $350.00 depending on Vehicle and length and time you use it.

The car service will meet you in the terminal, help you out with the luggage and kids, take you grocery shipping, if you request it and pick you back up to return to Sanford. Car service is either SUV's, van or sedans depending on the vehicle you need. The charge varies from $190.00 to $240.00 round trip,depending on the company. You can either check the internet for the car service or go to the Sanford Airport website and find companies that are permitted in Sanford. The Sanford airport website is orlandosanfordairport.com.

 

[Lewisc]

DME doesn't service the Sanford airport. Mears doesn't offer a shared shuttle service.

You can rent a car, one way with a drop off at WDW, for about $50, more if you have a need a mini-van. I'm not sure it's worth the aggravation. Alternately you can use a car service for around $200 R/T. IMHO renting a car for one day may be more of hassle then it's worth.

People flying out of Sanford, particularly couples, have to consider the cost of getting from the airport to WDW in deciding if they're getting a good deal. Assume a couple takes a car service. The $69 airfare now becomes $169. That still may be a good deal if Allegiant is flying from a convenient local airport. That becomes a bad deal if you're bypassing a local airport to get the "good fares".

 

[roryc]

I just wanted to chime in that we're flying Allegiant from a different airport. We're renting a car for flexibility and because we'll be going to SeaWorld. Our daily rental is $24.99 thru Thrifty. I guess if you were going for 10 days or more, that might be a bit expensive. But for us, it's nice to have the peace of mind of knowing we have wheels if/when we need them. That and I've heard great things about DME at Orlando getting to WDW; but not-so-great reviews about the length of time required to get back to the airport upon departure. With 2 small children, the thought of being at the airport 3 hours prior to departure makes me cringe. Again different strokes for different folks.

Also, don't jump the gun too quickly on buying your tickets. We bought ours the day the fares came out on a brand new route from Fayetteville, NC to Sanford; $49 down and $79 back; still half of what any other airline fares were. They're now $39 each way. There's a $50 change fee; exactly the difference in what we paid, so it's not worth it yet to change. Just some extra info so you won't be kicking yourself later.

 

[fakereadhed]

Check out mousesavers.com for car rental deals. We got a full-sized for 10 days for $225 using KISS2 code through Dollar at Sanford.

For us, that plus airfare with Allegiant was the same as flying NWA and using DME. I would gladly have paid a little more to not have to put up with the hassle at the major airports.

 

[keys2kingdom]

It was announced this morning that Allegiant (sp?) Air was coming to Fort Wayne Airport in February starting with 69 dollar fares to Orlando!!!! FINALLY I won't have to drive 2 hours to get a cheap flight to the Mouse. It should also drive the prices down on the other air carriers. I AM SO PUMPED!!!

Count me in as "PUMPED" as well!!! We typically drive down to Indy, spend the night before our flight in a hotel and then have a 2 1/2 hour car ride home after the return flight, just to get the lower fares! Ouch! Even factoring in the extended ride from Sanford this still looks like a sweet deal for us, plus the flight is nonstop. We had been accustomed to seeing fares in the upper $300's with 1 connection out of the Fort. Allegiant will be a welcome addition to the Fort's offerings, especially after last year's disappointment with the ATA situation. Sorry Southwest, I'm abandoning you for Allegiant.

(I do feel I should mention that the $69 fares Allegiant will be offering will only be a beginning promotion, that they are a one-way fare and that Allegiant will only be flying this route on Monday's and Friday's.)

Disclaimer aside, I'm still PUMPED too!!

 

[camdensmom]

The drive from Sanford to Disney is actually an hour WITHOUT traffic. I4 can be brutal at certain times of the day. If you fly on a weekend or the "off-business" hours you should be OK. Sanford Airport is very quaint and user friendly.

As for needing to rent a car, there are a lot of advantages. We always rent a car and skip the Disney buses because resort guests get free parking and we find it to be a lot easier (esp. with a baby). Also, if you are dining at other resorts it can be a real hassle changing buses. Some of the larger resorts are spread out and while we enjoy walking (esp in FL in the winter) it is so nice to drive right up to the room at the end of the day.

I don't know about your starting airport, but the other benefit to Allegiant for us is that the airport they fly out of here does not charge for parking!

Congrats! There are surely pros and cons to the airline and flying into Sanford, but see what works for your family.

 

[blessedby3]

We are flying Allegiant for the first time next month. We usually drive 3 hours to Raleigh-Durham and fly SW. I am also excited that we wont have that 3 hr. drive on the way back. The one thing that I dont like is that they only fly out once per day for that flight. That means it flys out at 6:30pm and we wont get into Sanford until 8:30pm and then we have the hour ride to Disney. We have a car service round trip for $180. We dont need a rental car and I figured that the car service can get us there much faster than my DH driving and me trying to read a map or directions in a rental going down the highway. Hopefully this will be a good experience for us and you too.

 

[Shelby5514]

If they open more days up I will be HAPPY to fly out of Fort Wayne. Monday's and Friday's just don't work for us.

 

[AB&C'smom]

Just to let you know Mears does offer service to Sanford Airport. We're flying in there next week and using them. It's their town car service, so you actually get a personalized service rather than a van which stops at a bunch of resorts. It will even make a complimentary stop at a grocery store if you'd like them to. It's running us $104/1 way and $95 for the return trip.