Fly Tampa for Orlando trip

[Keacc]

We are going to Orlando in October and paid $300 each round trip on Southwest. We have also decided to get away from the miserable Chicagoland weather for a week in February (11th-18th). I have been watching the fares out of Ohare and they are $320 on US Air plus baggage. I decided to look at fares to Tampa instead. $185 plus baggage on American Even when Southwest posts their flights for February, I doubt that they will be that cheap. We won't mind the 50 minute drive to the Sheraton Vistana and back to Tampa. For the two of us, that is a savings of $270.

 

[JillyT]

I was thinking it was more like an hour and half drive but it still isn't bad. We stayed at my parents in St. Pete Beach and drove over to Disney World for a couple days. You might hit traffic around the airport and Tampa but it's not a bad drive at all and I'd definitely do it for those types of savings. I'm guessing that you were going to rent a car or van anyways depending on where you flew into? If not, then you may want to make sure the car rental doesn't end up costing more than the airplane ticket savings.

 

[dzneelvr]

I've heard rental car prices can be outrageous, so I echo Jilly in making sure that all the little extras don't deplete your flight savings. Have you thought about an all-inclusive jaunt to an island getaway? I hear you about the Illinois winters and the weather in February can be chilly, even at WDW. The Chicago-Rockford international airport in Rockford offers some really nice direct flight packages to Cancun and such. I know friends who go every year and it's something DH and I plan to do as well. Maybe check it out

 

[Buzzsgramma]

My in laws lived in Holiday for yrs....1-1/2 hrs from Orlando.....i am frugal but no way would i fly into Tampa instead of Orlando.

..
Gas prices, car rental and time wouldnt be worth it to me..

Hope it works for you...

 

[MinnieForMe]

It's about 90 minutes to the Sheraton Vistana from the airport. If there are a large number of you traveling, I would definitely do it!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Decent savings.

It might be a bit longer than 50 minutes...but still worth almost half price tickets!

 

[polkadotminnie]

We have done that before and just rented a car and drove. It saved us a lot since there are 5 of us.

 

[Halle]

Did the Tampa to Orlando thing once, never again. Tons of traffic geting out of Tampa and just not worth the hassle.

 

[My3kiddos]

We flew into Tampa a couple years ago and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We saved ALOT even the rental car was cheaper in Tampa and our flight was earlier than anything we could get to Orlando. We drove from Tampa to Clermont and it only took us about an hour. Just make sure your flight doesn't land at rush hour. I thought getting around Tampa was alot easier too. We flew back on a Saturday night and the airport was pretty much empty.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

We are going to Orlando in October and paid $300 each round trip on Southwest. We have also decided to get away from the miserable Chicagoland weather for a week in February (11th-18th). I have been watching the fares out of Ohare and they are $320 on US Air plus baggage. I decided to look at fares to Tampa instead. $185 plus baggage on American Even when Southwest posts their flights for February, I doubt that they will be that cheap. We won't mind the 50 minute drive to the Sheraton Vistana and back to Tampa. For the two of us, that is a savings of $270.

You said you were watching the fares out of Ohare. Have you checked out fares from Midway? We are driving down to midway for our trip in October as it is saving us $400 over Milwaukee fares. Midway seemed to have more flights at better times as well. There were some good flights out of Ohare but I wanted the flexibility of SW in case we need to cancel and rebook over spring break.

 

[swilshire]

I've done the inverse to this many times through the years. We can usually get good fares to Orlando but it is expensive to fly into Tampa. I usually take the cheaper flight and make the drive. No problem.

Sheila

 

[Keacc]

Our rental car is only $40 more for the week out of Tampa. I will be checking frequently to look for better deals.

February flights for Air Tran and Southwest will not be posted for quit a while. We waited to book SW for our October trip and the fare is the highest that I have ever paid for SW.

We are arriving around 3pm on a Saturday and flying out around 12:30pm the following Saturday. Traffic should be no problem.

 

[nextidiot]

Are there any flights from Midway or Ohare to Sanford? We fly into Sanford because of the much lower fares. I have never even seen Orlando International.

 

[leight]

I live in Tampa and sometimes actually fly in and out of MCO because it is less expensive. I agree that if you come into Tampa that you want to avoid rush hour-traffic is horrific.

 

[My3kiddos]

Our rental car is only $40 more for the week out of Tampa. I will be checking frequently to look for better deals.

February flights for Air Tran and Southwest will not be posted for quit a while. We waited to book SW for our October trip and the fare is the highest that I have ever paid for SW.

We are arriving around 3pm on a Saturday and flying out around 12:30pm the following Saturday. Traffic should be no problem.

I think you will be ok traffic wise.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We have flown out of Tampa. It was easy. Our desired flight times out of Orlando were much higher and dropping off at TPA wasn't any more expensive. We were staying west of WDW in Kissimmee so it was about 1 hr drive from there. Not a lot of traffic but there was a lot of construction. This was back in 2006.

 

[maggiew]

We flew into Tampa a couple years ago and I would do it again in a heartbeat. We saved ALOT even the rental car was cheaper in Tampa and our flight was earlier than anything we could get to Orlando. We drove from Tampa to Clermont and it only took us about an hour. Just make sure your flight doesn't land at rush hour. I thought getting around Tampa was alot easier too. We flew back on a Saturday night and the airport was pretty much empty.

I don't know where you are renting your car from, but I found that with Budget, the code on Mousesavers that says "Save 15% off on Florida rentals" gives great rates!

Maggie

 

[mmkk]

Yes, flying in and out on Saturdays should be great as far as traffic goes! It is always an easy drive for us when we go to Disney on weekend days. And I personally think Tampa's airport is easier to maneuver than Orlando's.

 

[polyqueen]

We've done this many times over the past 20 years--it works very well. And, quite honestly, we've never experienced ANY Florida traffic that was as bad as Chicago traffic. Remember, in Chicago there are two seasons: winter and construction.

 

[Keacc]

Are there any flights from Midway or Ohare to Sanford? We fly into Sanford because of the much lower fares. I have never even seen Orlando International.

You have to fly out of Rockford to go to Sanford on Allegiant Air. Free parking right at the terminal.