Which airport for Florida panhandle
 

Which airport should we fly into for a vacation in the Florida panahandle? We don't mind driving a little ways if it will save us some money on air fare and/or give us more flight options / fewer connections.<BR><BR>Thanks in advance.

Depends on where you want to go, of course! You have Mobile, Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach as options. AirTran flies to Pensacola so the fares may be lower there.

My cousin lives in Destin--flies in and out of Ft. Walton Beach but has to connect almost anywhere she goes by going through Atlanta. I think she just told me they were planning to build a new airport now that the area is becoming so popular.

Ever since Air Tran quit flying to Ft. Walton Beach I now fly into Pensacola. Going to Destin which is where my parents live takes a little while longer but the money I save is worth it.

My family vacations every year near Panama City and I have flown in and out of the FL panhandle a lot. Here are my opinions.<BR><BR>My favorite airports are Pensacola, Panama City and Tallahassee. Tallahassee is probably the biggest and has the most jets flying in and the most options. Panama City remodeled its airport a few years ago and even though they only have 2 gates, it's nice, spacious, clean and traveller friendly.<BR><BR>I would NOT recommend the Ft. Walton airport. It's small - no - it's DINKY - and not set up well.<BR><BR>I think the only other airport along the panhandle is the Ft. Walton/Destin airport (not the same as the Ft. Walton airport). I've never flown into this airport and know nothing about it.<BR><BR>Personally, my first choice is always Panama City or Tallahassee, but a lot depends on where you are going.

Warning - flying out of Tallahassee is VERY expensive so I can only guess that flying into Tallahassee is also expensive. Jacksonville is much cheaper to fly into than Tallahassee. I can't answer for the other airports, but you might want to do some homework online before you make plans.

I fly into this area regularly (from San Francisco) to visit my family. Pensacola is the airport served by the most airlines. Their airport taxes are very high and airport tax on car rental is high there, however. Ft. Walton Beach is much more convenient to the Emerald Coast beaches. I think Panama City Airport is served only by Delta. Most flights from Atlanta connections are on smaller aircraft.

Donna is right, if you want more choices of carriers and jets instead of prop planes, you will probably have to fly into Pensacola or Tallahassee. If you are going to Destin or Ft. Walton, pick Pensacola (or even Mobile). If you are going to St. George, pick Tallahassee. If you are going to Panama City, it's about in the middle of the two cities. One of the things I like about flying into the panhandle is that you do have options - prices of flights will vary considerably.<BR><BR>Personally, when I flew into Ft. Walton and they slapped a $25 "tourist tax" on my car rental bill, that was the last straw for that airport for me (sorry, don't remember the rental company). <BR><BR>Oh, and Northwest flys into Panama City also.

Nancy:<BR><BR>It is no longer expensive to fly to Tally now that AirTran has gates there.<BR><BR>Otherwise, I concur with Marie.

That's right, I forgot about AirTran. Thanks for reminding me Marie!

We go to Seaside every year and a few times I have saved money by flying into Mobile. Airport/rental car situation was about the same but it adds about 1.5 hours to the drive from Pensacola to Seaside.

Ft Walton is by far the most convenient to Destin/Sandestin/Seaside. It is small, but so what. That makes it easier to cheack in, go through security and claim luggage. Ft Walton (VPS) is served by Delta and Delta Express to Atlanta (8+ flights per day, both jets and turboprops), Northwest to Memphis by jet, and US Air to Tampa. I believe the number of daily flights is higher than Panama City. <BR><BR>PS -- Marie, there is no Ft Walton/Destin Airport. Destin has a small airport for private planes, but no other airport in the area has commercial flights.