Transportation from Sanford

[jumoo044]

My local airport here just started non-stop flights to Orlando 2 days a week on Alegiant Airline. But they land at Sanford airport, not MCO. Does Sanford have shuttles to WDW? Or will I have to rent a car or take a taxi? I really don't want to drive myself. How much would a taxi cost? What are my options? Help!

 

[cranbiz]

Alegiant does offer a shuttle service for about $20 per person one way. It's available when you book your tickets. You can also hire a town car service for about $220 r/t.

A taxi from Sanford is going to be really expensive as it is a 50 mile trip.

I would consider renting a car. you can rent one way going and coming and then you won't have a car sitting during your vacation.

 

[Edd]

You can find Car service for up to 7 or 8 persons for around $180.00 - $220.00. This would involve checking the Sanford Airport website for permitted companies. I wouldn't take the shuttle service offered by Allegiant. There are better choices available to you.

http://orlandosanfordairport.com/taxi_limo_shuttle.asp

If you are considering a shuttle keep in mind that they do not leave the airport immediately. They will fill up their vehicles before the head down the road. The car service picks your family up, helps with luggage, loads their vehicle and you are on your way. If you want to shop for groceries just find the company that offers that.

The taxi service is there if you did not make a decision before you reached Sanford, but their prices are a little bit higher than car service.

 

[ducklite]

My local airport here just started non-stop flights to Orlando 2 days a week on Alegiant Airline. But they land at Sanford airport, not MCO. Does Sanford have shuttles to WDW? Or will I have to rent a car or take a taxi? I really don't want to drive myself. How much would a taxi cost? What are my options? Help!

I'd give serious consideration to the bolded words above. If your flight is cancelled for whatever reason, it could be several days before they could rebook you on another flight, and I don't believe that other carriers accept their tickets. Just food for thought.

 

[Edd]

I'd give serious consideration to the bolded words above. If your flight is cancelled for whatever reason, it could be several days before they could rebook you on another flight, and I don't believe that other carriers accept their tickets. Just food for thought.

Could you point out any examples of this happening!! Allegiant has proved to be a dependable carrier landing Sanford Orlando Airport.

In order to stay in the air you can't be running half full flights every night. Allegiant seems to be able to handle the non-stops to Sanford from many small airports, not usually serviced by the bigger airlines, in an efficient manner. It am told many times, by passengers, it is nice to get to Florida in 1 to 2 hours and no stops or changes in the process. Upon landing they comment on how great it is to travel in the small airports, rather than the big airports. Allegiants load factor seems to be among the highest of all airlines and many have reported the prices save them money over landing MCO, which includes ground transportation.

 

[ducklite]

Could you point out any examples of this happening!! Allegiant has proved to be a dependable carrier landing Sanford Orlando Airport.

In order to stay in the air you can't be running half full flights every night. Allegiant seems to be able to handle the non-stops to Sanford from many small airports, not usually serviced by the bigger airlines, in an efficient manner. It am told many times, by passengers, it is nice to get to Florida in 1 to 2 hours and no stops or changes in the process. Upon landing they comment on how great it is to travel in the small airports, rather than the big airports. Allegiants load factor seems to be among the highest of all airlines and many have reported the prices save them money over landing MCO, which includes ground transportation.

Edd, the OP is flying from MAINE. It snows there in the winter. Flights to the northeast get cancelled regularly in the winter. Usually at least a couple times each winter the northern airports close for 24 hours. As you stated, Allegiant flies full. So if they cancel flights, it's that much more difficult to rebook their passengers.

I know of several people who have had flights cancelled on Allegiant. One of my coworkers flies them from Sanford to SC every month, and has been cancelled twice in the past year. Once he was here and ended up just driving, the other time he was stuck in SC and missed two days work until they could rebook him.

Convenience is great if things go as planned. But when things go south with small carriers that have limited service to various cities, it can take them a week or more to get back on thier feet. They just don't have the equipment capacity to reroute their planes and get their routes back on schedule in a day or so.

Or were you going to tell me that no Allegiant flight has EVER been cancelled into or out of Sanford in the past two years, just like you tried to tell me that no cruise ship was ever late returning to Port Canaveral. I suppose you've got a direct line to the president of Allegiant with full access to their arrival and departure logs too.

 

[Edd]

It seems as though every other airline will have the same problems under the circumstances you have sited. That problem is not only with smaller carriers as I have known it to happen to many passengers landing Orlando and the bigger carriers. If one airline can't fly all the rest can't so everyone is stuck unless they have a magic carpet.

Usually Allegiant will cancel a flight when the load factor is real low and that could be the reason for your friend coming out of SC. It certainly wasn't weather. Yes, other airlines do not cancel when the load factor is low. They fly, that being the difference between landing airlines in Orlando and that in Sanford.

 

[ducklite]

It seems as though every other airline will have the same problems under the circumstances you have sited. That problem is not only with smaller carriers as I have known it to happen to many passengers landing Orlando and the bigger carriers. If one airline can't fly all the rest can't so everyone is stuck unless they have a magic carpet.

You are missing the point. If United has to cancel flights because the airport is closed, they can catch up the next day, because they've got a bunch of flights going in and out. If Allegiant cancels flights, they don't have flights the next day, or the day after, or maybe not even the day after that, so it can take a week to get everyone situated again. And because most other carriers don't accept their tickets, they aren't able to use unfilled seats on other carriers to help get their schedulesback together and pasengers to where they are going.

Usually Allegiant will cancel a flight when the load factor is real low and that could be the reason for your friend coming out of SC. It certainly wasn't weather. Yes, other airlines do not cancel when the load factor is low. They fly, that being the difference between landing airlines in Orlando and that in Sanford.

Another good reason to avoid them. "Oh, I'm sorry, we're not flying there today because we haven't sold enough tickets. You need to get home? Well, can't you can wait for a few days until we fly that route again? On your dime of course." You've GOT to be kidding me.

I've been on legacy and SW flights with 4-10 other passengers on the entire flight, but they still flew. In one case with AA when I arrived at the gate they told me that they had cancelled my flight, but had already booked me on a Delta flight that departed and arrived within five minutes of my original AA flight. They also credited me with the FF miles I would have earned on the AA flight and a bonus 1000 miles for my "inconvenince" and handed me a pass to their Club that I could use that day or any other at my convenience.

 

[Allison]

It am told many times, by passengers, it is nice to get to Florida in 1 to 2 hours and no stops or changes in the process. Upon landing they comment on how great it is to travel in the small airports, rather than the big airports. Allegiants load factor seems to be among the highest of all airlines and many have reported the prices save them money over landing MCO, which includes ground transportation.

You could be quoting me. We've been very happy with Allegiant.

In the past we have done a rental but this time we will be using a car service. It was much cheaper than renting over the Christmas holiday and I'm looking forward to relaxing and letting someone else worry about the drive.

 

[winterman]

Ducklite,

Allegient flys from Bangor, Maine. This is not some tiny airport in terms of runway space, over twelve thousand feet of runway. More importantly, the airport prides itself on remaining open during all kinds of winter weather. The snow banks may be ten feet high but the airport is open.

 

[localdriver]

My local airport here just started non-stop flights to Orlando 2 days a week on Alegiant Airline. But they land at Sanford airport, not MCO. Does Sanford have shuttles to WDW? Or will I have to rent a car or take a taxi? I really don't want to drive myself. How much would a taxi cost? What are my options? Help!

The MEARS TAXI estimator says about $94 1 way.

http://www.mearstransportation.com/TaxiFareEstimator.asp

Yellow cab, operated by MEARS is onsite and services Sanford airport.

If you want to explore other car services, this should give you an idea as to what to expect.

 

[Edd]

The taxi estimator is giving you the price to the northern part of Disney. The resorts run anywhere from $105.00 tp $115.00 on the taxi meter if you go I-4 to Disney. Sometimes it is not smart to go I-4 because of traffic so 417 will run you a bit more. Like $110.00 to $120.00.

You can find a car service for about $180.00 to $220.00 round trip. A car service cna be quite a bit cheaper than waiting to get to Sanford to get a taxi.

 

[ducklite]

Ducklite,

Allegient flys from Bangor, Maine. This is not some tiny airport in terms of runway space, over twelve thousand feet of runway. More importantly, the airport prides itself on remaining open during all kinds of winter weather. The snow banks may be ten feet high but the airport is open.

That's all well and good. But that doesn't mean that the plane isn't hung up on a runway in some other state waiting to go to Orlando before it goes to Bangor. It doesn't have to be snow. It can be a mechanical problem or not enough passengers, or any number of other issues that cause a flight to be cancelled. And if you're on an Allegiant flight that's cancelled, it could very easily be several days before you get to your destination. I'd just be wary of any airline with such minimal service to my area.

 

[Edd]

Who the heck worries about all the small stuff. Alarmnists do that type of worrying. Some people make a .01 percent chance make it look like a 50 percent chance and that's is all you are doing. I don't worry about those small things. When the problem comes up I will solve it.

 

[ducklite]

Who the heck worries about all the small stuff. Alarmnists do that type of worrying. Some people make a .01 percent chance make it look like a 50 percent chance and that's is all you are doing. I don't worry about those small things. When the problem comes up I will solve it.

I wouldn't consider the possibility of not getting to my destination until three days after I was supposed to arrive a small thing. I'd consider getting there a few hours late a small thing. But I'd be really worried flying on a carrier that doesn't have a reciprocal agreement with the other carriers.

And Edd, Alliegiant cancelled four percent of their flights last year. While it's not a huge number, because of the limited service to the OP's airport and the lack of reciprocal agreements, it's 4% too many for my comfort.

 

[jumoo044]

Thanks for the responses! And giving me some things to consider. It would just be so great to get to Orlando at 11:30 am, on a non-stop flight, instead of 6:30 pm or later. But it would suck if something like what Ducklite was describing, happened. Hmmmm...
Well, it's all hypothetical right now, anyway, since I just got back from WDW a couple weeks ago, so it wont be any time soon!

 

[Edd]

Don't worry about what Ducklite says. She is a very negative thinker. If I ran my life thinking the way she thinks sometimes, I would have a very miserable life. Already you starting to throw cold water on the fire started because you found a cheaper and faster way to get to WDW. Do it, don't worry about it and when you get older you will have less grey hairs in your head and no ulcer or stress problems. It works everytime.

 

[ducklite]

Don't worry about what Ducklite says. She is a very negative thinker. If I ran my life thinking the way she thinks sometimes, I would have a very miserable life. Already you starting to throw cold water on the fire started because you found a cheaper and faster way to get to WDW. Do it, don't worry about it and when you get older you will have less grey hairs in your head and no ulcer or stress problems. It works everytime.

Edd, trust me, my life is far from miserable. My advice was constructive, and the OP had the intelligence to understand what I was saying.

 

[Edd]

Ok.

 

[CarolA]

Don't worry about what Ducklite says. She is a very negative thinker. If I ran my life thinking the way she thinks sometimes, I would have a very miserable life. Already you starting to throw cold water on the fire started because you found a cheaper and faster way to get to WDW. Do it, don't worry about it and when you get older you will have less grey hairs in your head and no ulcer or stress problems. It works everytime.

And this was positive?????


If you don't agree with a poster there are nicer ways to do it then attack them.

I will not fly a lot of these "el cheapo" start up airlines for the very reason that if THE plane breaks you are out of luck. They give you a refund and tell you to have a nice day. They have NO inter-line agreements, they have no other flights to try to put you on etc. In other words you are STUCK!!!!! I have seen it happen and it's not worth it IMHO. Others may disagree, but I don't think understanding the risk vs savings model is "negative" it's "Informed". Just because you don't like the facts does not make them wrong as is often pointed out here.