Flying from Syracuse for the first time

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Truth be told: I am not a fan of flying. It freaks me out just a little (okay, more than a little ). Yet the thought of a 20+ hour drive from Ontario to Florida in the winter freaks me out even more. So we are booked to leave Syracuse on a Jetblue flight on December 31st.

Our previous plane trips have all originated at Pearson. This is our first time flying out of Syracuse.

As our flight leaves at 7 a.m. , I currently have us booked at the Comfort Inn & Suites Airport for a park and fly package at a good rate. Tripadvisor shows some pretty negative reviews on this property, so I was considering cancelling the ressie and switching to Candlewood Suites (higher cost, and no pool, but the option of booking a suite with a separate bedroom.....giving us some better sleeping opportunities, as we can sequester the family snorer in his own room while the other two of us get some much needed shut-eye). Just wondering if any of our fellow Disers have stayed here and what they thought of the property? Just looking for clean, comfortable, and close to the airport.

Also, what are the breakfast options at Syracuse airport? It doesn't appear that they have any chain fast-food options onsite? I probably won't have any kind of appetite (being apprehensive kind of zaps my desire for food in general) but DS and DH eat like horses and will need some nourishment before being cooped up in the plane for 2.5 hours.

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[absolut_mandy]

Truly you are going to wonder why you haven't flown out of Syracuse before. It is a dream (especially compared to Pearson!)

I've never stayed at the Comfort Inn b/c I always stay at the Best Western. It's so close to the airport and it provides breakfast (english muffins, toast, yogurt, cereal, juice etc). It's not fancy but the people are really nice and it's a 1 minute shuttle ride.

Breakfast at the airport is pretty limited. There is a little store that has bagels, muffins etc, nothing too fancy. You are right there is no fast food option at the airport.

Don't worry about leaving early either. i love that flight, you get into Orlando so early and it's great. Only thing about flying out of Syracuse is to make sure that you give yourself a lot of time getting there (assuming you are driving from Ontario). If there is a storm, you will have to drive through a snow belt and it is really a snow belt!

Have a great trip!

Mandy

 

[Sprockie]

My daughter and I stayed there for two nights - not for a park and fly, but the pool is very nice, rooms are clean and there is a breakfast included there which is perfectly fine. I dont' know when that starts however - likely not early enough for your flight. It's not super fancy, but I am sure it will do you just fine for the night. I seem to recall there are no coffee shops, or places you can pick up something for breakfast in the very near vicinity of the hotel.
You will love flying out of Syracuse. It's small and so much nicer than a huge airport.

 

[disneyba]

We stayed at Candlewood a few trips ago. It was not new but clean and quite adequate. Very close to the airport (a few minute drive).

The room we had was called a suite, but it was really just a hotel room with double beds and a mini kitchen area. Don't know if they have other room configurations. I don't think they offered a free breakfast, but we left so early next morning anyway, we would have missed it.

Breakfast options at SYR are limited to a few counter service places. But they do offer bagels, muffins, cereal, sandwiches, coffee, juice, etc.

Have a good trip.

 

[kwannabee]

i live about 3 hours away from SYR and will be flying out of there for the first time in FEB 2012, so i havent decided yet what hotel to book, or even if we need to. Our flight leaves at 7am also, so technically if the weather was good (and who knows what might happen in a 12 hour period around here ) we could just leave home late the night before...let the kids sleep in the car and hangout at a McD's until its time to get to the airport around 4am...havent decided yet...


anyway i did take a sunday drive over the boarder to see what it all looked like, checked out the area and the airport. As others have said there wasnt alot to the airport, quite small and easy to figure out, but about 10 minutes away there is a huge mall and every kind of fast food place you can imagine. If the hotel doesnt offer a free breakfast im sure theres somewhere to stop along the way, IF you're not taking a shuttle i guess

I was planning on bringing some instant oatmeal and fruit bars with me, but i read somewhere there are sniffer dogs who smell food (i could be wrong on this but its something i just read) So i dont think im going to chance that...i just dont want the hassle...i wonder if anyone else has had experience with taking food into the airport?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thanks for the input everyone. I am hopeful that the boys will find something to eat at the airport.....anything to keep the tummies from rumbling....to tide them over until we reach Orlando. Stopping at a fast food chain along the way won't be an option as we are, indeed, taking the hotel shuttle from wherever we end up staying.

Still haven't cancelled Comfort Inn and rebooked elsewhere......I am completely on the fence as to where would be best! The Holiday Inn Express looks great but its $179.99 plus tax for the night we need. Granted that includes a free breakfast but we'll be leaving too early to take advantage of it. The Comfort Inn totals just $140 with taxes and parking included. I keep thinking the difference in price would better be saved towards extra stuff to do in Orlando ... yet I don't want to start our vacation at a hotel that may be a big disappointment.

Can you tell I tend to over-think things? lol

Your replies and input are great, though. I appreciate all the wonderful feedback here on the Dis!

 

[2forMe]

i live about 3 hours away from SYR and will be flying out of there for the first time in FEB 2012, so i havent decided yet what hotel to book, or even if we need to. Our flight leaves at 7am also, so technically if the weather was good (and who knows what might happen in a 12 hour period around here ) we could just leave home late the night before...let the kids sleep in the car and hangout at a McD's nuntil its time to get to the airport around 4am...havent decided yet...


anyway i did take a sunday drive over the boarder to see what it all looked like, checked out the area and the airport. As others have said there wasnt alot to the airport, quite small and easy to figure out, but about 10 minutes away there is a huge mall and every kind of fast food place you can imagine. If the hotel doesnt offer a free breakfast im sure theres somewhere to stop along the way, IF you're not taking a shuttle i guess

I was planning on bringing some instant oatmeal and fruit bars with me, but i read somewhere there are sniffer dogs who smell food (i could be wrong on this but its something i just read) So i dont think im going to chance that...i just dont want the hassle...i wonder if anyone else has had experience with taking food into the airport?

I would not plan to arrive at the airport that early..it is small and i doubt it would be open. Plus you do not need to arrive that early for a domestic flight

 

[kwannabee]

you mean we dont have to shlep the boys into the airport at 4am?

i thought you had to be at the airport 3hrs before the flight! This means if the weather holds out we could leave our house at midnight after having a good nap and save on a hotel all together! We'll definately have to keep an eye on the weather closer to the day, but i agree with pp, id rather spend that hotel money when im actually IN Orlando!

 

[Sprockie]

you mean we dont have to shlep the boys into the airport at 4am?

i thought you had to be at the airport 3hrs before the flight! This means if the weather holds out we could leave our house at midnight after having a good nap and save on a hotel all together! We'll definately have to keep an eye on the weather closer to the day, but i agree with pp, id rather spend that hotel money when im actually IN Orlando!

How long you need to be at the airport depends on where you fly from. Syracuse is a very small airport, and don't forget, you've already gone through customs at the Ivy Lea Bridge, so an hour and a half before the flight is ample for Syracuse. It's a domestic flight, so no need to be there super early.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

How long you need to be at the airport depends on where you fly from. Syracuse is a very small airport, and don't forget, you've already gone through customs at the Ivy Lea Bridge, so an hour and a half before the flight is ample for Syracuse. It's a domestic flight, so no need to be there super early.

Okay, that kind of information makes me want to .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh! And I almost forgot ... (Sprockie got me all excited with her arrival time information ) ...

I bit the bullet and changed the hotel reservations. Snagged the Holiday Inn Express (right across from the airport) for a very cool $60 plus parking .

Total for the hotel stay will be $67.80 taxes in, and parking will be $35 for seven nights (no tax) for a grand total of $102.80. Now THAT is the kind of rate I was looking for! It dawned on me, out of the blue, that I had been accumulating points under the various hotel programs every time we went to another tournament for my son's basketball teams. We always seem to be staying at somewhere different (basically at whatever property will offer a favourable team rate) so I have points under a host of different membership plans. For the heck of it, I decided to see if I was eligible for any savings under the Priority Club (which covers the Holiday Inn family of hotels) and voila! I would have preferred to have a separate bedroom (to faciliate a better nights sleep when its going to be short!) but that was a reasonable sacrifice to make for the right hotel.