Anyone fly into Sanford Airport?

[yaddakal]

Hello, has anyone flown into Sanford airport? We can get less expensive flights here in NEPA to that airport but then not sure if they do transportation to Universal/Disney area... If we took Allegiant air it would be on a Thursday arriving early afternoon...then we would be going to cruise port Sat am, then get off cruise the following Sat am then fly home Sunday early am. Trying to see if renting a car makes sense or what to do..
Thanks

 

[Donna M]

We used Sanford this past Dec. and then rented a car to get to WDW. On their website they mention some type of shuttle service to all the Disney hotels in the area but it didn't sound good to us.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Hello, has anyone flown into Sanford airport? We can get less expensive flights here in NEPA to that airport but then not sure if they do transportation to Universal/Disney area... If we took Allegiant air it would be on a Thursday arriving early afternoon...then we would be going to cruise port Sat am, then get off cruise the following Sat am then fly home Sunday early am. Trying to see if renting a car makes sense or what to do..
Thanks

We fly Allegiant AVP and ABE, the best bet is to rent a ca. There is a transfer service when you buy tickets I think it's $60 a person. FYI. There are no flights during September Allegiant. They are down for the month.

The airport is smaller, easier getting through security. I used Alamo to rent out of Sanford.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I flew into Sanford last year. It was super easy. We rented a car to get to WDW. I highly recommend.

 

[yaddakal]

Thanks guys we are planning for August leaving from scranton AVP.. Going from Philly is like double the price. Glad to hear good things about Sanford. Renting a car seems like the thing to do. Thanks so much!

 

[goofy4tink]

Loved flying in and out of Sanford. We did almost the same thing you are.....fling in on Thursday, going to US/IoA for a few days, then to port for the cruise. We did a few days at WDW after the cruise. We found renting a car is the best way to go. Yes, you have to pay to park at the US/IoA resorts, and then at port. But we found it was actually cheaper doing it that way, vs a shuttle and/or a car service. Price it out various ways to see what works best for you.

 

[WDW_Diane]

I flew into Sanford last year. It was super easy. We rented a car to get to WDW. I highly recommend.

Question: at MCO you have to report to check in two hours prior to your flight. Do you remember how early you have to check in at Sanford? Looks like we will be trying allegiant out of OKC on a future trip, their prices are enticing! Looks like we can each take a backpack on board for free.

 

[WDW_Diane]

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[Ladygoldenhair]

I got there 1.5 hrs before flight. The security is smaller, but they also are loading 20 min before. You are traveling further back so be attuned to traffic delays.

I have gotten to MCO close to 2 hrs before and it was close.

 

[Epcotgal]

We have flown Allegiant to Sanford and used Happy Limo. I love the fact it is a smaller airport with much less hassle than MCO. I also love the nonstop flight. What I don't love is no Magical Express, longer drive to get to WDW, and while Allegiant's prices are good, once they charge you per person to pick your seats together and luggage fees it's not as good as it initially sounds. However, if total of flight plus those costs + transportation costs are lower than a major airline I'd do it again.

 

[nacho113]

Question: at MCO you have to report to check in two hours prior to your flight. Do you remember how early you have to check in at Sanford? Looks like we will be trying allegiant out of OKC on a future trip, their prices are enticing! Looks like we can each take a backpack on board for free.

Sanford is a small airport that is very easy to get in and out of. Short security lines so your through in no time.
If you have purchased your seat assignment, I think they say that you can arrive no later than 45 minutes before departure.
We usually don't buy the assigned seats (unless the flight is really early). If you are going to let the airline assign you a seat when you arrive at the airport, then the earlier you arrive at the airport, generally the better your seats (check-in starts 2 hours prior to departure).
If the flight is really early (like 6:00am) then we will pay the $12-18 each for the seat assignment since a 6am flight would mean getting to the airport about 4am (for best chance at decent seats) ... which means leaving our hotel in Orlando about 3am .... alarm going off about 2am.
In a case like this the extra cost outweighs the extra hour or so of sleep, for us anyway.

 

[DonnaL]

We have flown Allegiant Air into Sanford from both AVP (Scran/WB) and ABE (Lehigh Valley) several times. We rented a car on those trips. We had no complaints, flights were on time, planes appeared to be well kept, etc. However, as another poster stated you need to be aware that while the fare may be low....they do charge you for everything else.....from seating assignment, both carryon and checked bags, and inflight drinks...even water or soda....also they charge extra for your bags if you choose to wait and pay at the airport when checking in......you can save a bit by paying in advance online. You also need to be aware that since Allegiant is a small company with a very limited number of planes/flights to/from the smaller airports they service...they don't usually have flights every day to/from each airport. So, if for any reason, the flight you are booked on is cancelled...conceivably you may need to wait two or three days to be rebooked on another flight from that airport to your destination...and that's providing there are available seats on the next flight. That's something that doesn't usually happen with the larger airlines.....usually if a flight is cancelled...they can get you out within a few hours ....at worst the next day. With that said...as long as you are aware of these things.....Allegiant can be a great deal and as I said, we had no problems taking advantage of their very low fares (55$ one way) for quick getaways on several occasions.

 

[WDW_Diane]

We have flown Allegiant Air into Sanford from both AVP (Scran/WB) and ABE (Lehigh Valley) several times. We rented a car on those trips. We had no complaints, flights were on time, planes appeared to be well kept, etc. However, as another poster stated you need to be aware that while the fare may be low....they do charge you for everything else.....from seating assignment, both carryon and checked bags, and inflight drinks...even water or soda....also they charge extra for your bags if you choose to wait and pay at the airport when checking in......you can save a bit by paying in advance online. You also need to be aware that since Allegiant is a small company with a very limited number of planes/flights to/from the smaller airports they service...they don't usually have flights every day to/from each airport. So, if for any reason, the flight you are booked on is cancelled...conceivably you may need to wait two or three days to be rebooked on another flight from that airport to your destination...and that's providing there are available seats on the next flight. That's something that doesn't usually happen with the larger airlines.....usually if a flight is cancelled...they can get you out within a few hours ....at worst the next day. With that said...as long as you are aware of these things.....Allegiant can be a great deal and as I said, we had no problems taking advantage of their very low fares (55$ one way) for quick getaways on several occasions.

Thank you for taking the time to write your response. Lots of good information! I had not considered the cancelled flight topic.

 

[WDW_Diane]

Sanford is a small airport that is very easy to get in and out of. Short security lines so your through in no time. If you have purchased your seat assignment, I think they say that you can arrive no later than 45 minutes before departure. We usually don't buy the assigned seats (unless the flight is really early). If you are going to let the airline assign you a seat when you arrive at the airport, then the earlier you arrive at the airport, generally the better your seats (check-in starts 2 hours prior to departure). If the flight is really early (like 6:00am) then we will pay the $12-18 each for the seat assignment since a 6am flight would mean getting to the airport about 4am (for best chance at decent seats) ... which means leaving our hotel in Orlando about 3am .... alarm going off about 2am. In a case like this the extra cost outweighs the extra hour or so of sleep, for us anyway.

Thank you for your response. I am used to flying on SW where we don't have assigned seats, but we do have numbers to preboard. Lots to think about!

 

[SugarSpice]

So we flew allegiant for the first time this past September into Sanford. We did it because it was so cheap. However it was somewhat stressful for me. I went to the airport to book my tickets because I had several questions plus you saved $10 per ticket by booking in person and $4 per ticket if you use a debit card. There were 5 of us so that equals 10 tickets so that adds up! We did not pay for assigned seating however, the guy that sold my tickets said that we need to arrive at least 2 hours in advance and they will automatically put us together because we have kids. I tried to checkin online but the system would not allow me to. I think the guy marked us as "special circumstance" so that when we got there and checked in they would seat is together. They charge you for every single bag, checked and carry on, except a purse or "small backpack". We rented a car to get to Disney since there was no magical express. We love magical express so we didn't like renting a car because we were so worried about it getting scratched or missing a toll, etc. The day before we left to go back home we got an alert from allegiant that our flight was cancelled. It was a Saturday afternoon so I couldn't get ahold of anyone at allegiant, Sanford, or our home airport because all of the offices were closed. We had no idea how we were going to get home. This was literally the only flight until a week later as it is a once a week flight. That night I was finally able to get ahold of someone at allegiant. They said to just show up at the airport. It was an early morning flight plus we had to return the rental car plus show up 2 hours in advance so we had to leave Disney at 3:30 am. After we got checked in and were sitting at the gate they told us that the crew was on crew rest and we had to wait but they did not know how long it would be. They had Knomio and Juliet playing on a tv, we sat through it 3 times before they finally started boarding. It ended up being open seating. We finally got home but it sucked. The people were waiting on us to get there so they could debate back to Sanford so their flight was also delayed that whole time. So, if you can handle all of these things yay you. However, for me with 3 kids it was WAY too stressful!

 

[WDW_Diane]

So we flew allegiant for the first time this past September into Sanford. We did it because it was so cheap. However it was somewhat stressful for me. I went to the airport to book my tickets because I had several questions plus you saved $10 per ticket by booking in person and $4 per ticket if you use a debit card. There were 5 of us so that equals 10 tickets so that adds up! We did not pay for assigned seating however, the guy that sold my tickets said that we need to arrive at least 2 hours in advance and they will automatically put us together because we have kids. I tried to checkin online but the system would not allow me to. I think the guy marked us as "special circumstance" so that when we got there and checked in they would seat is together. They charge you for every single bag, checked and carry on, except a purse or "small backpack". We rented a car to get to Disney since there was no magical express. We love magical express so we didn't like renting a car because we were so worried about it getting scratched or missing a toll, etc. The day before we left to go back home we got an alert from allegiant that our flight was cancelled. It was a Saturday afternoon so I couldn't get ahold of anyone at allegiant, Sanford, or our home airport because all of the offices were closed. We had no idea how we were going to get home. This was literally the only flight until a week later as it is a once a week flight. That night I was finally able to get ahold of someone at allegiant. They said to just show up at the airport. It was an early morning flight plus we had to return the rental car plus show up 2 hours in advance so we had to leave Disney at 3:30 am. After we got checked in and were sitting at the gate they told us that the crew was on crew rest and we had to wait but they did not know how long it would be. They had Knomio and Juliet playing on a tv, we sat through it 3 times before they finally started boarding. It ended up being open seating. We finally got home but it sucked. The people were waiting on us to get there so they could debate back to Sanford so their flight was also delayed that whole time. So, if you can handle all of these things yay you. However, for me with 3 kids it was WAY too stressful!

That sounds terrible!
Thank you for taking the time to write it.