GREAT News for Folks Flying From Windsor,Vancouver or St Johns

[wee-haggis]

Just read about new flights being run by National Airlines (they are based in Sanford/Orlando) .
Flying from Windsor,Vancouver and St Johns directly to Sanford starting Dec 17th.
They only show flights up to May 2016....but they are supposed to be year round.
I checked prices from Windsor and they are fantastic !

 

[Tinkershelly]

No kidding! I just plugged in leaving St. John's on the first day they fly (Jan 18) and returning one week later and the fare is $195 including all taxes and fees. Just be careful when you compare these with other carriers, they only show their fares in US dollars.

 

[wee-haggis]

No kidding! I just plugged in leaving St. John's on the first day they fly (Jan 18) and returning one week later and the fare is $195 including all taxes and fees. Just be careful when you compare these with other carriers, they only show their fares in US dollars.

Yes....the option to show in Cdn $ is not there yet (may come eventually)........but even with the prices in US$ its still a great price ($195 US is about $260 Cdn including taxes and fees ) . Also, they don't charge for first bag.....choose seat for free......and a free snack on board

 

[Tmarmac]

Wow! Thanks for posting. It's also a direct flight from Vancouver which is rare. I will definitely keep an eye on this.

 

[Frank4202]

For me in Windsor, its still cheaper to fly Southwest out of either Metro Detroit or Flint. Also, remember that Sanford does not have a Magical Express pick up.

 

[wee-haggis]

Actually living in the Windsor area myself I did check (identical dates) on Southwest out of DTW and it was $213 US (no non stops only one stop).......and from Flint it was $245 US (this was a non stop). So, price wise National is very competitive.
Agreed that the Magical Express could be an issue.....but I always get a rental car (even for on-site stays). The convenience of flying out of a nice little quiet,close-by airport like Windsor is a big plus for me.
The drive time (and border cross) would be about 1 hour to DTW and 2 hours to Flint. A con would be clearing customs in US (as opposed to doing it at the other end via Windsor).
The other disadvantage of Windsor departures is there are only 2 flight per week (as opposed to several a day out of DTW and Flint). Luckily for me,I took an early retirement so scheduling is not an issue.
One other important con is its an unknown (National was freight company until recently and they on;y have 2 x 757 Aircraft for their passenger flight)
All in all, I think it looks very promising and I might give it a try . The prices are certainly quite attractive and Canadian companies are even close in price.

 

[Madame]

We live outside Windsor. Just the 2 flights / week is enough to scare me off. What if your flight is cancelled?!? My DD's dermatologist had to cancel (after we'd waited 4 months for an appt), b/c he was circling Windsor airport in the fog Monday unable to land.

I can see how this might work for some with flexible schedules. As a teacher I can't just shift my vacation to a week later in the winter.

 

[sullymom]

We booked a National Airlines roundtrip flight departing just before Christmas. I will report back when we return on how the service and experince went.

 

[Jhnny407]

Hey Sully - My wife and daughter are booked to fly with National later this month - just wondering how your experience was flying out of Windsor, and how you got from Sanford down to the World?

 

[DnA2010]

Did anyone book Vancouver?

 

[sullymom]

Hey Sully - My wife and daughter are booked to fly with National later this month - just wondering how your experience was flying out of Windsor, and how you got from Sanford down to the World?

Our flight from Windsor went well. We arrived early for our flight and were lucky we did. We were one of the first people who booked and unfortunately there was a glitch in the system that booked our family of four in one seat. The attendants sorted it out quickly and reduced our ticket price for the mix up and upgraded our seats. There are no T.V's on the aircraft. We had Ipods with movies that kept the kids entertained during the flight. We were served ham and cheese sandwiches, that had a red pepper pesto spread and a brownie (muffin). We had the same sandwich served on both flights. (I apologize that it's upside down, I couldn't get it to flip at work)

The attendants were very friendly. We would fly with National again. We wish we lived closer to Windsor but the ticket price made it worth the drive.

 

[Jhnny407]

Great to hear! Glad you had a good trip - the price for the flight is really good, and the convenience of not crossing the border and dealing with Metro will be really nice. The food is certainly something you don't see on Delta anymore!
Did you rent a car when you were there, or did you have a service take you from Sanford down to WDW?

 

[sullymom]

We luckily have family in Florida so they picked us up and we spent a few days with them prior to going to WDW. Once at Disney we used their transport. On the return from WDW we used Uber. It cost us $80 from Caribbean Beach to the Sanford Airport.

 

[mickeymorse]

We have a flight booked July 31st. Family of 4 round trip 1060 C$. Including 1st bag and a meal. Windsor airport is less than 20 minutes from home. We have a rental car booked for the week through Costco with Alamo total price 253 US$. I figure the cost savings not eating all meals at a Disney restaurant will make that back or at least close to it. Staying in a 1bdrm at OKW so we will have breakfast in our room before heading to the parks for the day.