Help! Trying to save on air...

[star10]

How far is West Palm Beach from Ft Lauderdale? The rates for Philadelphia to West Palm Beach are soooo much cheaper than if I were to fly into Miami or Ft Lauderdale.

 

We sail out of Ft Lauderdale in Feb.

 

Can we get a cab? Is it in the hour range?

[Sue L]

I think is it closer to an hour and a 1/2, mapquest it. Also in Florida there is a shuttle service that basically goes around to different areas of the state and picks up cruise passengers. You might want to check into that.

[star10]

:rolleyes: Why didn't I think of mapquesting it? You're right... it's about 40 minutes! I'm excited... It's a lot cheaper.

[wmsherwood]

Just so you know-- depending on the time of day, it can take over an hour from WPB to the port of Miami. Of course, there are times 40-50 minutes is very doable! It's an easy drive down I-95, but that's a very busy road. I'm not trying to discourage you, because WPB is a great airport. If you're in a day early, it's probably easiest and cheapest to rent a car then stay somewhere in between and return the car the next day. If flying in same day, just leave yourself a couple of hour cushion and have a great time.

 

Sorry, I don't know what the cab fare would be-- it'd probably be best to have pre-arranged with one of the car services.

 

Enjoy!

bill

[wrp96]

How much is the fare difference? If the fare won't cover the difference in transportation costs, then it isn't worth it.

[LHP]

I would definately fly in a day ahead if possible.

[Cruisechik]

you can get a Budget rental car at WPB airport and drop it off at the cruise terminal. Shop for rates - I linked to Budget's site through United's site and got a much cheaper rate than going to Budget directly. There was a promotion code available through United.

[HurricaneSally]

What date are you looking at?

[auntiecruiser]

How far is West Palm Beach from Ft Lauderdale? The rates for Philadelphia to West Palm Beach are soooo much cheaper than if I were to fly into Miami or Ft Lauderdale.

 

We sail out of Ft Lauderdale in Feb.

 

Can we get a cab? Is it in the hour range?

 

The rates from Milwaukee to Palm Beach are cheaper for us also. We too are sailing out of Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) in February. We are planning on flying to Palm Beach and taking a shuttle service to Fort Lauderdale the day before we sail.

[auntiecruiser]

I think is it closer to an hour and a 1/2, mapquest it. Also in Florida there is a shuttle service that basically goes around to different areas of the state and picks up cruise passengers. You might want to check into that.

 

There are many shuttle services, do you know of any that have a good reputation?

[HurricaneSally]

I just did a sidestep search and from saturday to saturday in October the rate from PHL to FLL was 139 pp, to west palm beach it was 142 pp. How much cheaper is soooooo much cheaper? Three dollars?

[star10]

Thanks for all the responses. I"ve been searching from Newark/Phili and Atlantic City as they are all about an hour from me. I can't find anything below $400 pp. Last year I paid around $300 for the same week.

 

It's President's Week... 2/17 - 2/25. I found a rate below $200 into WPB. I thought that was fantastic. And there are 11 of us going... so it will be a huge savings.

 

There's no way we can get there a day earlier with my dad and my husband's work schedules. My husband is a chef and I'm surprised that they are letting him get 2 Saturdays in a row...

 

I'll look into pricing for 2 cars to the port from WPB. It's got to be better than paying $400pp.

[EJ'S MOM-MOM]

star10,

did you try kayak.com or airfarewatchdog.com for rates ??

[Boston6]

I just did a sidestep search and from saturday to saturday in October the rate from PHL to FLL was 139 pp, to west palm beach it was 142 pp. How much cheaper is soooooo much cheaper? Three dollars?

 

Why the snotty attitude? Obviously, the OP wouldn't go out of their way for $3. As it turns out, they're looking at a combined savings of over $2200 and I think that surely qualifies as "soooooo much cheaper".

[wmsherwood]

Thanks for all the responses. I"ve been searching from Newark/Phili and Atlantic City as they are all about an hour from me. I can't find anything below $400 pp. Last year I paid around $300 for the same week.

 

It's President's Week... 2/17 - 2/25. I found a rate below $200 into WPB. I thought that was fantastic. And there are 11 of us going... so it will be a huge savings.

 

There's no way we can get there a day earlier with my dad and my husband's work schedules. My husband is a chef and I'm surprised that they are letting him get 2 Saturdays in a row...

 

I'll look into pricing for 2 cars to the port from WPB. It's got to be better than paying $400pp.

 

Great savings! Definitely cheaper at that price and the cost of two rental cars (or vans). There are many car services, though, and you probably could even get a single vehicle (stretch SUV or something) that'd take you all. Though, that may be more than 2 rentals.

 

Just get in early enough to make the trip down the coast. Have a great trip!

bill

[nealstuber]

Thanks for all the responses. I"ve been searching from Newark/Phili and Atlantic City as they are all about an hour from me. I can't find anything below $400 pp. Last year I paid around $300 for the same week.

 

It's President's Week... 2/17 - 2/25. I found a rate below $200 into WPB. I thought that was fantastic. And there are 11 of us going... so it will be a huge savings.

 

There's no way we can get there a day earlier with my dad and my husband's work schedules. My husband is a chef and I'm surprised that they are letting him get 2 Saturdays in a row...

 

I'll look into pricing for 2 cars to the port from WPB. It's got to be better than paying $400pp.

 

Sounds like a reasonable plan. Got from Miami to WPB in an hour in a rental car. Up and down the coast same day is a safe enough plan so long as you're not doing connections and get the first flight of the day.

 

I would stongly advise against any connecting flights the day of the cruise - the variables just compound too much - even more so with a large party. Please, please, please don't try to fly Airtran through Atlanta the day of your cruise.

 

You might consider having part of the group come in the night B4. You could get away with one rental car (this would offset the price of the hotel room). One person who has the previous day to learn the airport and the port can greatly expedite the arrival of the same day passengers in your group.

[Lisa0719]

We flew from Philly to WPB and back for a cruise out of Miami in Dec 05. It saved us a bundle for the 13 of us. We rented 2 mini-vans from budget, picked them up at WPB return at Miami. In Miami they have transportation to the port (or at least they used to). When we returned from the cruise we did the same in reverse ---- it went off without a hitch.