Louisville KY airport

[enzy65]

I’ve only ever flown out of IND, so at my age of 60 I am now trying something new because of tickets prices. Is SDF smaller than IND?? I looked it up on their site and it seems that way.
Any real experiences out there than can clue me in??

 

[Mikey15]

While I'm not personally familiar with SDF, I have flown out of small-market airports before (DAY, FWA, SYR) but actually looking on Google Maps just now, SDF looks bigger than SYR by a good chunk and way bigger than FWA. Still looks manageable.

Small airports:
+Generally smaller security lines due to fewer flights
+More compact to navigate, with fewer concourses
-Fewer flights per day means a delay or cancellation (mechanical, weather, etc.) can have a big impact if you have to, say, wait a full 24hrs for the next flight to your destination

What is it you're looking to know?

 

[enzy65]

I think you said most of it. We normally park offsite at IND and will be parking onsite at SDF, just hope it’s not confusing. I have looked at maps of the parking already. We will allow plenty of time in case we get lost or confused. It looks like few eating/shopping places than IND. I’m really thinking we might like this better, we shall see.

 

[IndyToThere]

We live near IND airport, so we're usually flying from there. I've only flown once from Louisville (about 10 years ago) - I don't recall it being much bigger (or smaller than IND). The only main difference I recall was that parking in the lot was right by the airport building, so you walked from your car into the building (instead of taking a shuttle bus).

 

[jimmymc]

Louisville is a little smaller. Only one check in and security area. There isn't much to do there, but it's easy for flying in and out of.

 

[mickeybaby]

We did this exact thing - typically fly from IND but drove to Louisville to use SDF. Parking is a dream there, surface lot and very close. Easy to walk from the lot to the terminal! And the airport seemed to me like the old Indy airport. Not bad at all!

 

[kymickeyfan717]

I live in Louisville . Our airport is small but mighty. Easy to manage. Parking can be a challenge. I use the pre pay east lot as it’s closer to southwest baggage claim. You can prepay online and you get a QR code you scan at the gate. It’s actually easier to use than the main parking lot. I never park in the garage because it’s expensive. Let me know if you have any other questions

 

[enzy65]

Louisville is a little smaller. Only one check in and security area. There isn't much to do there, but it's easy for flying in and out of.

This sounds great!!

 

[enzy65]

We did this exact thing - typically fly from IND but drove to Louisville to use SDF. Parking is a dream there, surface lot and very close. Easy to walk from the lot to the terminal! And the airport seemed to me like the old Indy airport. Not bad at all!

Good to know, sounds like I might like this airport better.

 

[enzy65]

I live in Louisville . Our airport is small but mighty. Easy to manage. Parking can be a challenge. I use the pre pay east lot as it’s closer to southwest baggage claim. You can prepay online and you get a QR code you scan at the gate. It’s actually easier to use than the main parking lot. I never park in the garage because it’s expensive. Let me know if you have any other questions

More than likely we will park in the garage, not much more than we pay for fast park in Indy. Do we need to prepay and reserve or can we just show up, I did look it up on the SDF website but wasn’t 100% sure.

 

[djmeredith]

More than likely we will park in the garage, not much more than we pay for fast park in Indy. Do we need to prepay and reserve or can we just show up, I did look it up on the SDF website but wasn’t 100% sure.

You do not need to pre-book the garage. However, they might offer a discount if you do. The shuttle van lot offers a discount if you pre-book, but I'm not sure about the garage.

 

[enzy65]

You do not need to pre-book the garage. However, they might offer a discount if you do. The shuttle van lot offers a discount if you pre-book, but I'm not sure about the garage.

Thanks I will keep that in mind.

 

[K9pal]

We also live in the area and SDF is our home airport. We love it because it is small and very easy to navigate. One TSA area that is usually never very busy. Not much choice of dining, but there are several nice places to grab a decent meal. Parking is easy but I would suggest making a parking reservation - that way you are assured of a spot when you arrive, and there is a discount. The garage can often be full or close to full, but the website tells availability in real time.

 

[enzy65]

I have looked at the SDF website and scoped it out, it looks like I will enjoy this airport. Prices to fly out of IND are ridiculous. I like the real time availability they show for parking which helps out with planning. Thanks for responding.

We also live in the area and SDF is our home airport. We love it because it is small and very easy to navigate. One TSA area that is usually never very busy. Not much choice of dining, but there are several nice places to grab a decent meal. Parking is easy but I would suggest making a parking reservation - that way you are assured of a spot when you arrive, and there is a discount. The garage can often be full or close to full, but the website tells availability in real time.

 

[_19disnA]

To me the size of the airport doesn't really matter. I have lived in various places where there was a choice of going to a 'smaller' airport or a larger one that was farther from my house. To me it mostly depended on where I was flying and cost of tickets and/or which ones had the best connections. If in your example, the flights go from SDF to connect through IND, you might as well fly out of IND. If there are non-stop flights and/or better prices to where you are going matters more to me then if the airport is large or small. Generally at smaller airports you can park closer to the terminal, they are less congested and usually easier to navigate.

Depending on your destination, you might find the smaller airport works better and has non-stop flights. As with most questions about flying, where you are going matters since every airline doesn't offer service to every destination. Where there is more competition, you tend to find a range of options/prices. Good to check out your options by using one of the many online ticket price websites you can find.

Larger airports also tend to have those off-site 'park & fly' lots where they drop you off right at the terminal. Those work great since you don't have a long walk through some dark/deserted parking garage compared to self-parking at the airport.

 

[enzy65]

To me the size of the airport doesn't really matter. I have lived in various places where there was a choice of going to a 'smaller' airport or a larger one that was farther from my house. To me it mostly depended on where I was flying and cost of tickets and/or which ones had the best connections. If in your example, the flights go from SDF to connect through IND, you might as well fly out of IND. If there are non-stop flights and/or better prices to where you are going matters more to me then if the airport is large or small. Generally at smaller airports you can park closer to the terminal, they are less congested and usually easier to navigate.

Depending on your destination, you might find the smaller airport works better and has non-stop flights. As with most questions about flying, where you are going matters since every airline doesn't offer service to every destination. Where there is more competition, you tend to find a range of options/prices. Good to check out your options by using one of the many online ticket price websites you can find.

Larger airports also tend to have those off-site 'park & fly' lots where they drop you off right at the terminal. Those work great since you don't have a long walk through some dark/deserted parking garage compared to self-parking at the airport.

We only fly nonstop when we go to MCO, have been flying from IND since the 90s. Always good prices on air tran(gone), delta express(gone) and SW. This year the prices are just ridiculous so that is why I’m trying SDF. I looked at all the different airlines/cheap websites and the flights were awful times or not nonstop or ridiculous priced or flew into Sanford FL. We are used to parking at fast park in Indy, so parking at airport will be different. I just couldn’t believe it was way cheaper to fly out of SDF than IND to MCO, just crazy.

 

[enzy65]

So we just flew out of SDF on 4-4 and returned on 4-12, parked in the garage. Everything was so easy to navigate, I like it better than IND. Only issue was the few food places were all very packed and people lingered at their spots.
If the price is better than IND, I will fly out of SDF without hesitation.
Thru conversation on our cruise others used Ohio airports instead of IND because of price.