Flying into Tampa to save $400? MANY QUESTIONS???

[soontobewed07]

Well we went from driving to flying and flights out of Boston are INSANE!
It would cost us $836 so now I am thinking of flying into Tampa to save some money.

Has anyone done this before? What did you think?

How are the car rental places?

How is the Drive to Orlando?

Any general advice?

 

[webworm]

Yep I have done this before! It is just over 1 hr drive over to Orlando from Tampa. Tampa has a very nice airport. It was no more expensive to rent a car in Tampa either.

 

[soontobewed07]

Thanks anything I should be aware of traveling with a 3 year old?

 

[cccdisney]

In November we are flying into Orlando but out of Tampa on our return flight.

Our return flight is on Thanksgiving weekend and leaving from Tampa is saving us about $600. However, we now must rent a car - something we hadn't originally planned on doing. But it will still save us hundreds of dollars.


Also, we did find the rental car prices higher in Tampa. But we found a good price for a flight into MCO so we are renting the car in Orlando and returning it to Tampa Airport.

 

[Pembo]

We've done it to save money as well. The Tampa airport is very nice and smaller than MCO. Car rental is easy and the drive is straight over on I-4. I like the Tampa airport better than MCO...

 

[shoes99]

We flew into Tampa this past June to save $400 on a last minute trip. We returned home to EWR from Orlando. We rented from National at the airport, and returned the car to the Disney Car Care Center, and took Disney's Magical Express back to the airport. Our flight was late and we did not arrive until after 9PM. The shuttle came within 5 minutes, took us to the National/Alamo location, we were Emerald Aisle, so we just took a car, and went to the booth to check out. We were given instructions to get to the interstate to get to I4. I probably took DH just a little over an hour as there was no traffic at 9:30PM... We got to ASSp and there was no one in line to check in.

 

[chabs]

My mother frequently drives back and forth from Tampa and Orlando, so I hear about the traffic (especially if there is an event going on-like a game or something) or during rush hour. I would just make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to get back to the airport.

 

[a1tinkfans]

we did it once this summer. We had another obligation nearby, We rented from Alamo, without issue. We actually returned the car at Disney car care. TPA is a great little airport, easy to navigate and car rental for us and drive up to Orlando was simple... For us it was longer, but we came from Clearwater area
Leave plenty of time if you are returning home from Tampa, especially being conscious of traffic "rush" hours and possible delays. Personally I would plan on at least 3 hours "just in case" You need time to return car, check in etc...ya just never know..........MCO is easier, has ME but if its make or break a trip, ya gotta do what you have too.....Have a great trip....

 

[DCTooTall]

I did the flight into TPA a couple years ago to save some money and it was a pretty easy trip. As others have said, in general you are looking at about a 1hr drive from TPA to Disney, but keep in mind that traffic can impact that drive time if you have to factor in things like Rush hour. (the airport is on the other side of Tampa from Disney).

I rented from Avis, so for me to get my rental is was just a matter of walking across the shuttle bus drive to get to the car rental counter and my car.


As an aside, there are some REALLY nice beaches in the Clearwater area. I actually extended my trip a couple days so that when we flew in we just drove down to the beach and spent a couple nights there before making the trek to Orlando for our Disney vacation. The combination of the beach, plus the fact I avoided going from a plane ride straight into an hour car trip made for a very relaxing and fun trip.

 

[jeff968]

We've done as well so go for it. The drive from Tampa to Orlando is easy AND the rental cars are usually cheaper in Tampa. save your money.

 

[soontobewed07]

Thanks everyone I am booking the flights now and Saving money
It seems like a nice little airport and since we are flying in a night early I think I will book a hotel in Tampa and just Leave very early the next AM to check into Wilderness Lodge and head to MK.

Any Tampa hotel suggestions? Maybe something near the water in a safe neighborhood?

 

[DJT]

As an aside, there are some REALLY nice beaches in the Clearwater area. I actually extended my trip a couple days so that when we flew in we just drove down to the beach and spent a couple nights there before making the trek to Orlando for our Disney vacation. The combination of the beach, plus the fact I avoided going from a plane ride straight into an hour car trip made for a very relaxing and fun trip.

This is what we would like to do. Can you recommend any hotels/beaches? Thanks!

Donna

 

[DCTooTall]

This is what we would like to do. Can you recommend any hotels/beaches? Thanks!

Donna

We fell in love with St. Pete Beach. Its about a 20min or so drive from the airport but the area is really nice and lots of hotels on the beach in the area.

We ended up staying at a beach front/view room at the Beachcomber hotel in St. Pete. Parking was a bit interesting just because of the layout of the hotel/parking lot, but it was nice between the room location and the beach/hotel bar access.

It wasn't bad for the price/location.

 

[SilverMickey]

We love TPA! We always start and finish our vacation on the beaches! The drive to Disney is right around an hour. 1.5hrs from St Pete beach. Have fun!

 

[LadyBeBop]

Donna, if you get in early enough, I'd have a good Greek supper in Tarpon Springs (about a half hour north of Tampa).


You can stay in Tarpon Springs, or you can go south into Clearwater.

 

[MickeyCrazed]

We flew into TPA last December for the first time, and are repeating the experience again this year due to substantially lower prices on our flights. The trip was relatively pain free, but it amazes me that everyone on the boards always estimates the trip at just about an hour. It took us 1.5 hours each way, and we don't drive slow.

Just wanted to prepare you for a slightly longer trip so your pleasantly surprised if you get to WDW quicker.

 

[Gi19]

We flew Bos to Tampa in June and plan to do so again in Dec. Saved us a lot of $, and the ride to Orlando isn't bad approx 1.5hrs, because Tampa is a smaller airport it took us no time to get off the plane pick up luggage and arrive at the car rental counter!

 

[jadejazzkayla]

Well we went from driving to flying and flights out of Boston are INSANE!
It would cost us $836 so now I am thinking of flying into Tampa to save some money.

Has anyone done this before? What did you think?

How are the car rental places?

How is the Drive to Orlando?

Any general advice?

soon - have you thought about flying out of providence instead of boston?

i live in ct and fly out of pvd. better prices than hartford and for some reason more non-stop flights via pvd.

i go to fl twice a year - pvd to tampa and then mco to pvd. my father lives in sarasota.

some companies charge $50 for a one way car rental - dollar does and i know there is at least one more company that does also. so stay away from them.

also keep in mind of the car rental companies that are on-site vs shuttle in tampa if that matters to you.

The drive to orlando as others have said is about an hour. If you could psych yourself up and drive to disney area the night of your flight - you probably will be able to get a good hotel at a good price there.

i have pricelined a room twice in tampa - 3 1/2 stars for $62 and $65.

 

[soontobewed07]

soon - have you thought about flying out of providence instead of boston?

i live in ct and fly out of pvd. better prices than hartford and for some reason more non-stop flights via pvd.

i go to fl twice a year - pvd to tampa and then mco to pvd. my father lives in sarasota.

some companies charge $50 for a one way car rental - dollar does and i know there is at least one more company that does also. so stay away from them.

also keep in mind of the car rental companies that are on-site vs shuttle in tampa if that matters to you.

The drive to orlando as others have said is about an hour. If you could psych yourself up and drive to disney area the night of your flight - you probably will be able to get a good hotel at a good price there.

i have pricelined a room twice in tampa - 3 1/2 stars for $62 and $65.

We tried PVD but not luck with cheaper flights we got Jet Blue one way to TPA for $79 each and they are direct from Boston. We are just trying to figure out time now and I will book TPA to Boston the flights are $89 each way which isn't too bad I guess.
As for the car rental I don't really car too much I just will priceline a standard car and what we get we get. I'm not too picky about it.

 

[MrMarv]

Tampa is about 75-85 miles from WDW, and flights are frequently a lot cheaper, but do not rent a car at either airport.

I've been an Auto Club member for 25+ years, and have never saved less than $100.00 on a one-week rental out of TPA or MCO by renting my car at the Hertz Local Edition location at the Airport Mariott Hotels in either city, as well as in many major cities nationwide.

The 'junk fees' you'll pay at too many airports to mention nationwide can add 20% or more to the cost of your rental car, and frequently a lot more.