Sanford airport... Anyone fly into it before

[Lynzer4]

In my hunt for the cheapest air fair I have discovered Allegiant Air that flies from the local Base Airport into Sanford.

Has anyone flown into Sanford? I will have a rental car. has anyone rented a car from that airport before. Did it take a long time? It looks to be about a 45 min drive to WDW, is that correct?

Any thoughts or concerns would be helpful. It will save me over $400 on airfare! Thanks

 

[mazoo77]

We used Allegiant through Sanford the past few years with great success. We rent a car and drive to WDW. It's just under an hour drive and it's an easy drive. The airport is small and very easy to navigate with minimal lines through security.

We used Alamo for our rental but there are a couple rental companies on site at SFB in case you have a preference. I am traveling in July and used carrentalsavers.com to book our car rental. You may want to check that out as well.

Hope this helps!

 

[goofy4tink]

Just love Sanford. It's very user friendly...small, compact. The last time we flew in there, dh and dd went to baggage claim claim to get our bags while I went to get the car. I walked with them to baggage claim, and then walked another little bit to the car rental counters. I could still see the baggage claim area from the car rental counter. I was the only person renting at that time. I was just getting my keys when dh and dd walked up with the bags. Out the door, across the street, and to the lot....we were driving away about 25 mins after getting off the plane.....so nice.

 

[LetsDoDisney!]

We try to fly Allegiant whenever possible so we use SFB about 1/2 the time we fly to Disney.

Love the small airport, there is a bit of a hike to the car rental stations (outside, across a street, etc) so we make sure to take rolling luggage only or you could rent one of those carts.

With that said, the one thing I DON"T like about SFB is that the car rental prices are higher. At least for us they are. Right now, looking at our 9 day 15 hour rental it's about $125 cheaper at MCO, I assume due to that fact that MCO is much bigger and busier and has more competition.

I'm looking at well over $300 for my car rental this trip, sigh. It doesn't go down like the reservations I've had at MCO did either. Anyone else have the same experience? Car rental at SFB much higher than MCO?

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

Car rentals I found lower two-three weeks out. I start with a basic starter rental then watch. Get on the the offers they have like special cards and on the transportation board there are threads for codes to give a better discount.

I like the smaller airport, less hassle, no sprints to the other side of the airport, security line much, much shorter.

For me the direct flight at $79 was the big seller. I first started watching rates when they first came out, $150 one way, now it's nearly half the cost 4 months out. I was really scared for awhile at the really high rates.

 

[goofy4tink]

We try to fly Allegiant whenever possible so we use SFB about 1/2 the time we fly to Disney.

Love the small airport, there is a bit of a hike to the car rental stations (outside, across a street, etc) so we make sure to take rolling luggage only or you could rent one of those carts.

With that said, the one thing I DON"T like about SFB is that the car rental prices are higher. At least for us they are. Right now, looking at our 9 day 15 hour rental it's about $125 cheaper at MCO, I assume due to that fact that MCO is much bigger and busier and has more competition.

I'm looking at well over $300 for my car rental this trip, sigh. It doesn't go down like the reservations I've had at MCO did either. Anyone else have the same experience? Car rental at SFB much higher than MCO?

I have found that the car rental area at Sanford is much better than a lot of other airports! First, the counters are very close to baggage claim...and on the same level (ground level). We have yet to walk more than 2 mins to our car..but we may have been lucky. So much better than a lot of airport car rental lots...at least there are no shuttles involved!!

 

[mazoo77]

We try to fly Allegiant whenever possible so we use SFB about 1/2 the time we fly to Disney.

Love the small airport, there is a bit of a hike to the car rental stations (outside, across a street, etc) so we make sure to take rolling luggage only or you could rent one of those carts.

With that said, the one thing I DON"T like about SFB is that the car rental prices are higher. At least for us they are. Right now, looking at our 9 day 15 hour rental it's about $125 cheaper at MCO, I assume due to that fact that MCO is much bigger and busier and has more competition.

I'm looking at well over $300 for my car rental this trip, sigh. It doesn't go down like the reservations I've had at MCO did either. Anyone else have the same experience? Car rental at SFB much higher than MCO?

I found MCO to be cheaper on last year's trip but this year after comparing the rental prices, SFB is cheaper, at least for my rental. We leave in 2 wks, 10 day/18hr rental, full size Alamo - $211. Found MCO to be higher by about $100 although the rates change daily. I'm happy with $211 but I'll keep checking daily in case there is another drop. I do prefer using Alamo vs some of the other rental companies.

 

[KrazeeK120]

The last time I flew to FL, I flew into Sanford. It was so easy! It took about 45 minutes to get to our resort from there.

I got a deal on a rental car when I booked my flight - I booked them as a "package" so to speak.

I highly recommend flying into Sanford.

 

[Sunseadisney]

45 min enjoyable drive from Sanford. Very fast process too. Few toll on way but if the flight is cheaper it's worth it. I'd rather spend money in Disney than on airfare !

 

[travelcoupons]

You might also find this map helpful: http://rentalcodes.com/FL/sanford.html#GAS. It has prices & locations of gas stations near the Sanford airport for refueling before you return your car.
Since the Sanford airport is located away from commercial areas, there aren't any gas stations next to the airport so you have to plan your refueling before you get close to the airport.

 

[SB in KY]

Well I may be the lone dissenting voice here, but I am not crazy about Sanford or Allegiant either for that matter. They now charge not only for checked bags but also for carry on bags, they charge if you want to pick out a seat ahead of time, if you want to be in anything but the last boarding group and on and on. Then you get to Sanford....small airport but the car rental counter was quite a hike.....it depends on who you rent from, some are really close but Hertz and Alamo/National are a long hike. Rentals are more expensive in our experience, sometimes a lot more sometimes just a little more. No by passing the counter options. The drive isn't bad, really just 15-20 minutes more than from MCO. The real annoying factor as far as I am concerned is when you go to leave from SFB.....Allegiant usually has exactly 2 people working the counter and 1 of those is for passengers that pay for some level of enhanced service, and they will not let you check in online for your flight unless....yes, you guessed it you paid extra. So you have to stand in a huge and very slow moving line to get your boarding pass. Granted there is not usually a very long security line but that seems small consolation when you just spent 45 minutes waiting to check in.
I have concluded that by the time I add in the cost of a rental car and gas (I can use DME when we fly into MCO) and checked luggage I really don't save very much at all using Allegiant (especially when there are just 2 of us traveling.....it sometimes pays off if there are 5 or more of us flying). I save the aggravation, pay a little more for the plane ticket and ride DME.

If SFB does work best for you be sure to allow extra time on your return to get through Allegiant's check in line.

Oh and here's my advice for flying Allegiant. Assuming you do not pay the $ for selecting your own seat you will find that they assign you a seat at check in. It will be a middle seat near the back of the plane and they will separate everyone in your party (everyone will be in a different row). I assume this is a tactic to convince you that you really do want to pay the $$ to pick a seat. However I have learned that you can just wait and board the flight at the very end....every seat in the back half of the plane will be filled and hardly anyone will be seated at the front of the plane. So I just wait until they have called the very last group and get on at the very end and then sit myself down in a nice empty row at the front of the plane by myself. I am sure the 2 people at the back that wind up with the empty seat between them are pretty happy I did too.