St Augustine Airport to Universal?

[Kevenswife2]

How can my family get from St. Augustine Municipal Airport to Universal? (and then on to WDW and back to St. A.)

I want to rent a car, but the local rental places are closed on our arrival day, Thanksgiving.

Any ideas which won't make us go broke?

You'd think, with Skybus flying into St. Augustine, they'd have to have some kind of transportation for everyone.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[dburg30]

Well they havent even started flying there yet. Enterprise is closed on thanksgiving??

Remember, skybus flys into secondary airports most times, and some of them are regional and dont have all the cool stuff. ie: st augustine isnt even set up to do commercial flights..

I'm going to try them out in august to greensboro and have tix for dec to st augustine. For the prices I've seen at this point since SW doesnt have their fares up yet for December, 2 tix from columbus to st augustine, with all the 'addons' that skybus has, ie: first seating etc are less then $200 round trip, for 2 tix. I was goin to rent a car anyway, so I'll drive the 2 1/2 hours to save 370 bucks for the airfare.

 

[Lewisc]

I wouldn't book the air until you solve the problem. It's too far to expect a good deal from a car service and I'd expect to pay extra on a holiday.

Your best, economical, solution may be to book a hotel near the St. Augustine Airport and rent a car the next day.

 

[Edd]

I would toss them tickets out the window and fly into Sanford or Orlando. You will run into a lot more problems than you can anticipate landing that far from the area you want to visit.

 

[dburg30]

I would toss them tickets out the window and fly into Sanford or Orlando. You will run into a lot more problems than you can anticipate landing that far from the area you want to visit.

OK, I'll bite, what kind of problems are you going to run into 2 1/2 hours away as opposed to 20 minutes away?

 

[Lewisc]

OK, I'll bite, what kind of problems are you going to run into 2 1/2 hours away as opposed to 20 minutes away?

The cost to take a cab or to use a car service is prohibitive. The OP already said car rentals aren't available the day they plan to arrive.

 

[Edd]

Do you know for sure what time you will arrive in St. Augustine. One of the biggest problems with the regional carrier is that they have on-time problems. If the plane breaks down in your city you won't leave until the next day. Regionals do not have back ups or other flights you can take.

Back a couple of years ago Sanford had a couple of regionals like that(Pan Am, Southeast, both are now gone) and I know of cases where passengers did not arrive to the destination until the next day. Southeast and Trans Meridian went belly-up one day and passengers had to get new tickets from other airlines. Many passengers arrived at the departing airport to find the airline went bankrupt and that shot their vacation. Now you trying to save $180 per ticket and it may end up costing you more than that in the end.

 

[Kevenswife2]

Well they havent even started flying there yet. Enterprise is closed on thanksgiving?.

Yes, unfortunatly all 5 local Enterprise locations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. I'm hoping things change once Skybus starts their flights to St. Augustine in July. I'm not the only one arriving on Thanksgiving Day. What are all the other passengers going to do for transportation?

Any forums for Skybus users? I need to talk.

 

[dburg30]

Do you know for sure what time you will arrive in St. Augustine. One of the biggest problems with the regional carrier is that they have on-time problems. If the plane breaks down in your city you won't leave until the next day. Regionals do not have back ups or other flights you can take.

Back a couple of years ago Sanford had a couple of regionals like that(Pan Am, Southeast, both are now gone) and I know of cases where passengers did not arrive to the destination until the next day. Southeast and Trans Meridian went belly-up one day and passengers had to get new tickets from other airlines. Many passengers arrived at the departing airport to find the airline went bankrupt and that shot their vacation. Now you trying to save $180 per ticket and it may end up costing you more than that in the end.

It's a chance of course, but they are based out of columbus, they are all nonstop flights to the destination. They have one flight daily to st augustine, it arrives at 3pm, which is why the St Augustine enterprise is now open til 4 on saturdays when just a month ago they closed at 2 on saturday . It's a chance you take on all low cost airlines, but I'm willing to risk it. Plus I think between the tix they have been selling and the backing cash they had, they'll be good for at least this year.

 

[dburg30]

Any forums for Skybus users? I need to talk.

I doubt it . Being a small airline, that it seems just about everyone is against I dont think I'd like to hang out there anyway. Everyone that is except for folks that actually live near the airports they fly into.

 

[Lewisc]

Hertz has an office that services that airport. I wouldn't count on being able to get a great rate. If you can't book call, they might be extending their hours to accomodate Skybus.

Skybus is servicing airports that don't currently have commercial service. Skybus may have one or two flights a day in/out of those airports. I have no idea what kind of amenities; food, rental cars etc or how good TSA will be.

AFAIK Skybus is leasing aircraft from Virgin. Those planes will be gone as soon as Virgin is able to start US service.

Skybus isn't booking connecting flight. Passengers have to claim and re-check their luggage. Passengers have no protection/rights if their flight is late and they miss the next flight. Not an issue for passengers flying N/S.

 

[dburg30]

That's actually one of the things they are rushing right now, they have to get the TSA stuff set up for there. Hey if it works out I have no problem being a little bit out of the way. I also have no problems paying $5 to check each of my first 2 bags, or for food, or a pillow that I get to keep. Folks can knock it all they want, and they could easily go under. But at this point, I have my tickets, I have my car rental booked, and at this point I've saved between $350 - $400 bucks. Yes I'm jaded as they fly into greensboro NC which is VERY close to where I have a large group of relatives living , so until they tick me off, I'll be a Skybus fan!

 

[Lewisc]

That works for you but passengers who are planning on booking a second flight from Columbus to their final destination won't believe how screwed they'll be if they miss their second flight, due to their incoming flight being delayed, until it happens.

Skybus doesn't provide a phone number. I can't imagine the problems if bad weather closes the airport for even one day. A Disney guest drives to St. Augustine. Problem with Skybus the passenger can't fly another airline without driving to another airport.

A rental agency is overbooked. At MCO you'll get a car. The agency may arrange to get it from another agency. Some of the Skybus airports don't even have rental cars. A local location brings in cars to meet reservation.

Paying to check a bag, for a can of soda etc isn't really the issue.

That's actually one of the things they are rushing right now, they have to get the TSA stuff set up for there. Hey if it works out I have no problem being a little bit out of the way. I also have no problems paying $5 to check each of my first 2 bags, or for food, or a pillow that I get to keep. Folks can knock it all they want, and they could easily go under. But at this point, I have my tickets, I have my car rental booked, and at this point I've saved between $350 - $400 bucks. Yes I'm jaded as they fly into greensboro NC which is VERY close to where I have a large group of relatives living , so until they tick me off, I'll be a Skybus fan!

 

[dburg30]

Oh I'm not dis-agreeing with you, I'm just stating the fact that I know it could blow up in my face, and I'm willing to chance it. I do understand the whole 'you get what you pay for' saying, but I also understand the whole 'oh look at what you get FREE' thing, that costs you 2-3x as much as it should when you dont want those 'free things'.

 

[LeslieG]

This is kind of off topic from the original post, but I live in Ohio and have been watching Skybus. I know they have some small airports that they are servicing, but they also fly to Burbank and Oakland in CA which are very main-stream airports. I'm waiting and watching how things go for them, because I'd like to snag some of those cheap tix for our trip to CA in late December.