St. Augustine - fly into Jacksonville or Orlando?
 

My husband and I are planning a long-weekend trip to St. Augustine in early May. We live in Chicago. Airfare to Orlando is cheaper (about $50 less per ticket), but I know that Jacksonville is closer to St. A. Does anyone know if there's a compelling reason to pay more to fly into Jacksonville? Is traffic in and around Orlando pretty bad?

$100 extra versus 120 extra miles to drive?

Pick which one is more important to you and you'll have your answer.

Ribeyefan, I thought I saw on Mapquest that Orlando was less than two hours' drive from St. Augustine. That's probably about 120 miles, right? How close is Jacksonville, then?

Jacksonville is about 40 miles and Orlando is about 105 miles.

I've flown into Orlando several times and have never had a major problem (traffic, congestion, etc).

For the heck of it I mapquested it....you go up highway 4...yuck yuck! I hate that road. Florida drivers are the absolute craziest and every time I'm on 4 there's a bad wreck. Yes it can get congested! I would pay the extra for the easy drive from Jacksonville. Have you tried Southwest? I know Orlando is the cheapest, but still....last time we went to Fl, we flew into Orlando, but we drove south west from the airport toward Canaveral, and that was very easy.

I have a friend who used to live in FL, and she says the same thing about Highway 4. But another factor will be flight times; there seem to be more options when flying into Orlando than to Jacksonville. We'll just have to think about it some more. Thanks, everyone.

Jax is on the north side of Jacksonville, so it is around 55 miles from St. Augustine. And if you think I-4 through downtown Orlando is bad, try I-95 through downtown Jacksonville!

If you take the Orlando flight, use 417 north til it merges with I-4.

You could also try Daytona. We are heading to a resort right outside of St Augustine and Daytona Airport is less than an hour away and is actually as close as Jacksonville. We were able to get very good rates on flights through Air Tran. Just another option!

It is a 2 hour drive from Jax to Orlando. It is a long boring drive and you hit terrible traffic as you approach Orlando, not to mention the traffic in and out of Jacksonville.
If the airport is about 20-30 min from downtown, and St Aug is about 30 minutes more on 95- you can get there in an hour or less.
We used to go to St Augustine all the time from our home in Jax, there are various routes and we never had a terrible drive .. but I hated those drives to and from Orlando.

Thanks for all the info. There aren't any direct flights from Chicago to Dayton, and we prefer nonstop if possible! It's just so much faster (and less chance of losing our bags).

Not only the drive, but consider the airports. Jax is a joy to fly in and out of. Can't say the same for Orlando. As has been mentioned on this board before, the security line at Orlando can be very, very long.

You will be in and out quickly in Jax. That alone is well worth $50 to me (per tix). It's a weekend trip for goodness sake. That's several hours more you have in your weekend to have fun!

There's a great article about St. Augustine on travelingmom.com.

The Orlando airport absolutely sux...and planes going in and out of it are almost always covered up in small children and screaming babies. Not that there's anything wrong with kids...but if only adults are traveling in your party and you want the best chance for a serene and relaxing flight in and out of St. Augustine, I would definitely pay the extra $$ and fly into JAX.

Signed,

The Voice of Sad Experience

Another vote for JAX as far as airport is concerned & absolutely way closer & less traffic than Orlando. However, I know strass would like a nonstop flight & United/AA are the only carriers flying NS to JAX. I would check expedia & those carriers direct sites to compare fares again. I know SWA has lots of flights & low fares between Midway/Orlando. Tough decision and I would hate to fly to Orlando.

I feel your pain. The inlaws have lived near Jacksonville for about 12 years, and we fly there from Chicago a couple of times per year. There isn't much competition on that route and the fares can be high. That said, I've done the drive from/to Orlando, and concluded that I'd rather spend the extra money to fly to JAX. As mentioned, it's a nice smaller airport--very easy to get in and out of.

what....you don't like the screamin babies in princess dresses and mouse ears? LOLOL!!!

Are you sure that you can't get a direct flight to Daytona? Two months ago, we flew out of ORD on United 7430 which is operated by United Express/Mesa Airlines. Didn't take the time to check online reservations, but did pull up a copy of our itinerary to check the flight #.

Dear Voice of Sad Experience,
How about a little sympathy for those of us who live in the area and HAVE to use Orlando? My DH refers to it as the airport filled with "amateur travelers."
Signed,
My World and Welcome To It

I think we're going to aim for Jacksonville and pay the extra $$. This IS supposed to be a relaxing getaway, after all. :) Once again, thanks for everyone's advice!

Here's a big, sympathetic hug for 321go. :HUG: We have a wonderful airport here in Tampa...it might almost be preferable for your hub-unit to drive over and fly outta here. :D We are east of the city, and have twice made the mistake of electing to fly in and out of Orlando to take advantage of an exceptional fare. Never again. No amount of savings is worth it.