MCO or MLB

[Messunderstood]

We will be porting out of Port Canaveral in September. We are now looking at airline tickets. Which airport is better to fly into, Orlando or Melbourne? Opinions?

Ticket cost is essentially the same so far for either airport.

[boo214]

Originally Posted by Messunderstood

We will be porting out of Port Canaveral in September. We are now looking at airline tickets. Which airport is better to fly into, Orlando or Melbourne? Opinions?

Ticket cost is essentially the same so far for either airport.

melbourne. its much closer.

[Oviedo32765]

Originally Posted by Messunderstood

We will be porting out of Port Canaveral in September. We are now looking at airline tickets. Which airport is better to fly into, Orlando or Melbourne? Opinions?

Ticket cost is essentially the same so far for either airport.

Define "better."
The distance/time (according to Google Maps) to Port Canaveral:

1. Orlando International Airport - 44 miles / 45 minutes
2. Melbourne International Airport - 32 miles / 43 minutes

There are advantages and disadvantages to each. I'm familiar with Orlando International. It's a large airport with lots of flights in and out. It is also crowded and getting checked in and thru security can take some time.

A friend of mine recently traveled thru Melbourne. It's a smaller airport so flights are fewer than Orlando, but it is less crowded and getting checked in and thru security is faster.

My son and his wife recently flew in to Orlando/Sanford International Airport to visit us. We picked them up at the airport which is also small, but the price of the tickets were a bargain! Like Melbourne, it was easy for them to clear security.

Do your home work by checking each airport for available flights in and out (as well as price) and also check to see how much transportation to and from the port will be.

[Messunderstood]

Thanks for the response Boo and Oviedo.

In my opinion a smaller airport is better!

When I googled the distance for both, the drive times were fairly similar although the actual distance of both vary quite a bit.

I would much rather NOT having to deal with traffic and such with MCO unless for some reason there are worthwhile advantages to doing so.

We are flying my parents into Florida for the cruise although the rest of the family is driving (Griswald-style) from Kentucky. They are older and a 15+ hour drive would wipe them out. Adding that it that will be an area we have only driven in two or three times ourselves, MCO would be bigger ordeal I do believe.

It seems like we can retrieve our parents and head back to Cocoa beach much easier if we go with the Melbourne Airport.

Thanks again!
We are planning on arriving prior to my parent's arrival and retrieving them from the airport ourselves

[EatonDoolittle]

Melbourne sounds like a better plan for your folks. Small, friendly and easy to navigate.
Nice to hear you found good pricing. Since there are only a few air lines that come to MLB, many local travelers (myself included) must go to Orlando to get more options and often better pricing.

You can use US1 along the river from Cocoa if you like, no need to even mess with 95

[skrufy]

If you are looking to save some cash and can get a flight into and out of Sanford-Orlando its worth it. The draw back is it takes approx. an hour to get to Port Canaveral, and you have to travel a two lane highway (Rte 46 west) to U.S. 95. We live close to the Sanford-Orlando Airport and take this route to the port. Its a nice easy drive with very little traffic. Good luck whichever way you go.

[Jman1118]

Orlando is usually cheaper by a couple hundred dollars, but my cousin uses Melbourne so we do not have to drive to Orlando to pick them up. Melbourne is a very small airport about a mile or two from US 1, which you can just drive north on to get to 528 to get to the port. Orlando is a straight shot to the port the 528 while Melbourne takes a little longer since you have to take US-1.

[SuchAVirgo]

Many flights into Melbourne also have a layover. I always just fly into MCO.

[papalapa]

What airlines fly into Melbourne vs Orlando? Southwest does Orlando-as far as I know not Melbourne-Usually they(Southwest) have much better pricing-no baggage fees etc.-

[thinfool]

Originally Posted by papalapa

What airlines fly into Melbourne vs Orlando? Southwest does Orlando-as far as I know not Melbourne-Usually they(Southwest) have much better pricing-no baggage fees etc.-

US Airways and Delta serve MLB.

[Jman1118]

If you choose Melbourne, you will probably have a layover in Atlanta. Many more airlines fly direct to Orlando for cheaper than it would cost to go into Melbourne. Sometimes you can get a cheaper flight into Melbourne, but it may take longer as you will have one or two layovers. I live in Melbourne and my relatives live in San Diego and they fly into Melbourne for convenience even though they may have a three hour layover in Atlanta. The one nice thing about Melbourne is it is almost always empty unless a plane is disembarking.