Attention all St. Louis Travelers! Or anyone who has used Transmeridian Airlines...

[vossjemi]

I am from mid-mo, and thinking of coming up to St.Louis for my flight to Orlando. Someone has recommended I use Transmeridian Airlines from the Belleview, Ill airport into Orlando Sanford as their prices are $79pp one way. This sounds like a great deal. However, I'm curious if anyone has flown this route and if they were happy with the service of this airline and locations of both airports. We'll be first going on a cruise so leaving out of cape canaveral, and then after the cruise taking in a few days at disney world. Would you book with TMA or wait to see if you could get better air through southwest?

The website is:
http://www.transmeridian-airlines.com/

 

[jctwizzer]

Based on recent history, that airline won't last til Sept. 05. Being a SWA regular I would stick with them. You're going during the off peak period and I expect SWA's fares would be close to, if not lower, than what you're looking at----again based on prior experience....if something drastic takes place, all bets are off... Once again, historically, the lowest SWA rates for that period will probably pop up sometime in July......anyway that's my opinion

 

[Joy4Ron]

I'm in Rockford, IL, and we have had TMA For a couple of years. I have heard nothing but good reports about them.
The only dissadvantage is their limited schedule, and the fact that it is a bit more expensive to rent a car out of SFB.

jct, why would you say that they will not last until Sept?

 

[jctwizzer]

[QUOTE jct, why would you say that they will not last until Sept?[/QUOTE]

In the past couple of years two different airlines offering bargain flights from Mid America to Florida have gone out of business....indicating that the market isn't there

 

[deltachi8]

[QUOTE jct, why would you say that they will not last until Sept?

In the past couple of years two different airlines offering bargain flights from Mid America to Florida have gone out of business....indicating that the market isn't there [/QUOTE]

of course Transmeridian does fly out of other markets...

My brother has flown them a few times from Syracuse to Sanford and loves them. Service is great and he really likes the Sanford Airport.

 

[CarolA]

Are you flying in a day before the cruise?

If not, I would not take them. As a charter airline they can't "move" you to another airline if your flight is delayed/cancelled. And they may only have one flight that works for you, if there is a problem......

 

[vossjemi]

Thanks for the comments guys. Yes, we plan to fly down a day early. TMA doesn't have their sept schedule up yet, but looking at other days/months, it looks like they typically only have 1 flight per day to sanford. So, that is a risk. I like the idea of a smaller airport and the price, but do worry about getting there and back on time. We just had a nightmare with NWA out of our hometown airport (SGF) that I don't want to repeat if at all possible. I'd love to fly out of SGF instead but the cost will probably be too high and we're bringing the kids this time, so looking at other options. I can't wait to see what SWA deals will be. If its just as good, we'll probably go with them.