How get Salt Lake to FLL?

Hi

Not sure where best to post this so I'm going to try a couple different boards.

Looking for some advice from Utah cruisers please.

Just found out hubby has to goto a business conference right before our cruise.

Wondering if anyone can tell me the best ( - ie short duration, easy stopover, best hub for transfer, best airline, etc ) way to get from

Salt Lake City Utah to Ft. Lauderdale on a Saturday in March.

We'll take Miami, Tampa or Orlando too. He can drive from one of them.

Yes the cruise leaves on Sunday so its not "day of". No he cannot leave Fri nite.

We'll fly down from Toronto, he'll meet us at the hotel in Ft Lauderdale.

Any advice is welcome as I'm not used to booking US flights!

Thanks much!!

While I have no experience with Utah (never even been there), that doesn't matter - the easiest way is to go to Expedia and look SLC-FLL (and other airports) on the specific date, and sort by shortest duration. That will provide the quickest way to get between the two. Then, go to the airline directly to book it.

There are no nonstops SLC-FLL or Tampa, but there is a seasonal (not sure which season) nonstop on AA to Miami, and nonstops to Orlando on JetBlue and Delta.

A few thoughts:

-For searching, use ITA Matrix (https://matrix.itasoftware.com) to see your possibilities. As well as searching MCO and TPA, be sure to include PBI (West Palm Beach) in your search. For March 12, the non-stop options really don't look that great, so more than likely he'll be looking at a stop somewhere. Beyond that...

-How is he getting from YYZ to SLC? Has this ticket already been purchased? Because I'm wondering if you can't get this booked as a multi-city, i.e., YYZ-SLC-FLL(or wherever)-YYZ. Which again begs the question...

-I'm assuming that you had already booked a YYZ-FLL return ticket for him. If so, note that it's more than likely that if it's booked as a round-trip and he doesn't take the initial flight (YYZ-FLL), his return ticket will automatically be cancelled. Be sure to sort that out before the trip.

Go to Kayak, put in the flight and sort by duration, there is your answer.

You may want to rethink the "can't leave Fri nite" idea. Most flights are red-eyes so they leave late at night. That means he would have to stay in SLC all day Sat for a late night flight and not get to FLL til Sun morning. Perhaps leaving late Fri night would work better getting into FLL Sat am instead? Also most of these flights are very long with long layovers somewhere - think 12 to 20 hours total time.

The best option (for me) is AA leaving SLC at midnight Friday, stop in CLT (nice airport) with a 1 hour layover, arriving FLL at 9:30 Sat morning.

Also, it appears most flights to anywhere in FL are red-eyes, so same scenario applies to them as well.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

You may want to rethink the "can't leave Fri nite" idea. Most flights are red-eyes so they leave late at night. That means he would have to stay in SLC all day Sat for a late night flight and not get to FLL til Sun morning. Perhaps leaving late Fri night would work better getting into FLL Sat am instead? Also most of these flights are very long with long layovers somewhere - think 12 to 20 hours total time.

 

The best option (for me) is AA leaving SLC at midnight Friday, stop in CLT (nice airport) with a 1 hour layover, arriving FLL at 9:30 Sat morning.

 

Also, it appears most flights to anywhere in FL are red-eyes, so same scenario applies to them as well.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

I did look for the nonstop SLC-MIA on American Airlines and it does appear to operate on Saturdays in March...but it is a redeye. It leaves Saturday morning at about 12:45am and gets in to Miami at about 7:45am. This might be the best option as it gets him closest to FLL.

(the search I did was for Saturday, March 12th)

I did look for the nonstop SLC-MIA on American Airlines and it does appear to operate on Saturdays in March...but it is a redeye. It leaves Saturday morning at about 12:45am and gets in to Miami at about 7:45am. This might be the best option as it gets him closest to FLL.

 

(the search I did was for Saturday, March 12th)

Thanks Zach - didn't notice that. It still negates the 'can't leave Fri nite' idea. But I see it also leaves same time Sun am. So I guess the Q is - can the he leave late Fri night, or stay in SLC all day Sat to arrive MIA on Sun am?

I also noticed the price is somewhat more (to be expected for a non-stop), but the OP is from Cda, so we have to add 30-35% onto the cost. Personal decision for them to make.

Have you checked flights on Delta connecting through Atlanta? I see several possibilities on their website. There are several flights a day SLC-ATL and then several more ATL-FLL. And there's even more ATL-MIA flights.

This is the WEB site I use https://www.google.com/flights/

This is what I found.

Flying in on 3/12 (I take it you want one way).

SLC to FFL

https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=SLC;t=FLL;d=2016-03-12;r=2016-03-16;tt=o

SLC to MIA

https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=SLC;t=MIA;d=2016-03-12;r=2016-03-16;tt=o

SLC to MCO

https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=SLC;t=MCO;d=2016-03-12;r=2016-03-16;tt=o

SLC to TPA (no direct flights showing)

https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=SLC;t=TPA;d=2016-03-12;r=2016-03-16;tt=o

 

There are no nonstops SLC-FLL

Delta used to have nonstop service between FLL and SLC. Have they ended that route?

Delta used to have nonstop service between FLL and SLC. Have they ended that route?

There are no direct flights listed for those dates for that route.

The only direct non-stop flights are to Orlando.

Delta used to have nonstop service between FLL and SLC. Have they ended that route?

DL no longer has the SLC-FLL nonstop, nor SLC-MIA. They're routing everything via MSP/DTW/ATL

Hopefully he didn't have a round trip, YYZ/FLL with needing the return FLL/YYZ?

OMG you are all AWESOME!! Thanks so much! I've got lots to look at now! Thanks! :D

In answer to a couple of your questions - he has an event that is part of the conference on Fri nite so no, he can't leave then. Sat am is the earliest.

Yes we have a YYZ-FLL flight already booked, and I'll be working with Air Canada get him to SLC instead on their flight/codeshare. They have steep steep change fees but his work will pay for all of this so I'm not too fussed about cost.

I just want to ensure I get the "best" flight from SLC to Florida that we can to make sure he gets there in time for the cruise without spending a ridiculous amount of time traveling! Thanks much for all of your research & ideas - I'm going to go thru them all!

OMG you are all AWESOME!! Thanks so much! I've got lots to look at now! Thanks! :D

 

We're all happy to help. Let us know what you decide.

Sadly the only nonstop from SLC-MIA is via American Airlines. Delta is generally cheaper of the airlines out of SLC to FLL/MIA, but you can usually get cheaper if you fly into Orlando, but that is another 4 hrs to drive after the long flights. By the time you rent a car for 1 person, it is usually just as cheap to fly straight to FLL/MIA.

Just do NOT do any airports but FLL or MIA. Make sure there is an alternate flight after your chosen one if it does not go. Better yet, come in day early.

Just do NOT do any airports but FLL or MIA. Make sure there is an alternate flight after your chosen one if it does not go. Better yet, come in day early.

Exactly what I'm looking for - making sure there are additional options just in case of a delay! He can't leave SLC til mid morning Saturday, and the cruise leaves Sunday - we have some cushion at least!

Thanks , we are still working thru the options!