Fort Lauderdale or Miami Airport?

Hi guys... I have a cruise out of Miami but wondering if flying in and out of Fort Lauderdale is my better option... I want to fly in the day before... price wise they are coming in about the same.

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If there isn't a good reason to fly into a specific airport or on a chosen airline, fly to the closest airport to where you want to be. Miami and Ft. lauderdale airports are used by people cruising out of both ports.

Hotels are cheaper at FLL, Do the complete math to see which option is better for you

There is lots of up to date info on the Florida Departures board, under North American Homeports. EM

Yea not sure why you wouldn't fly to Miami. Plenty to do for a day. We live close by and don't see any advantage of flying into FLL.

Have fun!

We just booked into FL of a cruise out of Miami in Sept. We like to use SW as it is cheaper and no baggage fees. We go the day before and staying in FL will get a shuttle the next morning as recommended in east coast departures. We did this last fall and all worked out well for, but stayed in Miami but have a nice hotel in FL and cheaper.

We did the math and works for us but depends on what airlines you prefer/hotels.

Consider schedule as well. If you can get a direct flight to/from one airport at times that meet your desired schedule (and price is similar), go for it. For example, maybe you can get a return flight from one airport late morning and the other isn't until evening,

Hotels are cheaper at FLL, Do the complete math to see which option is better for you

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FLL. MIA is a mess. In fact, the clerk told us it was less stressful to just fly into FLL and take transportation from there to the MIA port day of sailing.

Yea not sure why you wouldn't fly to Miami. Plenty to do for a day. We live close by and don't see any advantage of flying into FLL.

Have fun!

If we lived close by I'd agree with you.:rolleyes:

Depends what's important to you. If you're looking to minimize cost, a little hotel/flight research will give you the best answer. We travel to FL 2 days ahead of time and look at it as part of our vacation. We stay at nice hotels and often have the best meals of the entire vacation during our pre-cruise stay. So for us it comes down to whether we want to spend the time lounging by the pool being served pina coladas (Miami Beach) or enjoying the action of the Ft Lauderdale strip. There are excellent restaurants at both place, but sometimes we stay in Miami Beach just to eat dinner at Quality Meats.

If costs are a factor, consider hotels in FLL probably cheaper but not as deluxe as Miami. Consider the transportation costs to get from FLL to Mia. On the other hand, FLL is a substantially easier & a less chaotic airport than MIA. We try to avoid MIA as much as possible.

FLL. MIA is a mess. In fact, the clerk told us it was less stressful to just fly into FLL and take transportation from there to the MIA port day of sailing.

I live in SFla and use both.

Not sure I agree with MIA being a mess. FLL is no picnic especially those crazy TSA lines.

Hi guys... I have a cruise out of Miami but wondering if flying in and out of Fort Lauderdale is my better option... I want to fly in the day before... price wise they are coming in about the same.

 

 

If it cost about the same I definitely would take Miami if you are cruising from Port of Miami. If, on disembarkation day, you have to get back to Fll you will have to take a flight later on in the day to feel safe you'll be on time. The traffic between Miami and Fort Lauderdale can be very busy and you run the risk of getting there too late for your flight.

 

Good luck!!

Personal preference based on IMO more desirable and easier to manage airport, but whether we depart from FLL or POM we prefer - and usually get better airfare - with FLL over MIA.

We fly from Toronto and the flights are consistently less expensive to FLL than MIA, so we always plan on flying to FLL and taking a shuttle down to Miami. Sometimes we do it the day we land, and sometimes we do it the morning of the cruise, depending on the time of our flight. Usually for us, the hotel and the shuttle on top of a FLL flight still make it worth our while. We have had a couple times where we got a good price on a flight to MIA, but that's unusual for us. You just have to make sure your flight on disembarkation day gives you enough time to get up to FLL again... which we have done successfully many times.

You just have to make sure your flight on disembarkation day gives you enough time to get up to FLL again... which we have done successfully many times.

We have as well and to add, Uber has been excellent for us both to and from FLL. And the one nice thing is that from the POM to FLL you can reserve Uber in advance to assure a good pick up time for a timely return.

We have as well and to add, Uber has been excellent for us both to and from FLL. And the one nice thing is that from the POM to FLL you can reserve Uber in advance to assure a good pick up time for a timely return.

Do you use a private or shared Uber ride? We've used SAS in the past and also for our most recent cruise. Never again! Long story short they dropped the ball big time! The owner Steve and his driver couldn't get their lies straight as to why they forgot to pick us at the meeting spot. :mad:

We typically fly into and out of FLL but that is because our preferred airlines JetBlue and Southwest fly there. We ended up flying home on United this summer and we used Miami as an option and just went with whatever was cheapest and worked with our schedule!

Do you use a private or shared Uber ride? We've used SAS in the past and also for our most recent cruise. Never again! Long story short they dropped the ball big time! The owner Steve and his driver couldn't get their lies straight as to why they forgot to pick us at the meeting spot. :mad:

We use a private UberX - larger car with plenty of room for all our luggage and us. I have his name / number if you would be interested - give me an email. Have used the same driver a couple of times. Very reliable.

Avoid Miami at all costs. We always fly out of Ft. Launderdale.

We go out of Detroit and find flying into FLL is always cheaper, even including the shuttle. Coming back Miami and FLL are a wash.

Avoid Miami at all costs. We always fly out of Ft. Launderdale.

Although we do not avoid FLL at all costs, we prefer Miami when returning.

In Miami you can check in your luggage at anytime (at least on AA) and you do not have hundreds of people sitting around with their luggage. Also there are several Admiral Clubs in Miami.

FLL. MIA is a mess. In fact, the clerk told us it was less stressful to just fly into FLL and take transportation from there to the MIA port day of sailing.

200% agree. There is a night and day difference in the congestion, traffic, hotel rates, and ability to easily catch an uber or taxi. Even if we embark from Miami, we fly to FLL and pay the extra transportation by shuttle. Plus airfares are usually less from Philly and more non-stop choices.

We definitely prefer FLL, but fly out of MIA when necessary (or much cheaper). We have the United Club pass and there is no United Club in Miami but there is one in FLL (go figure) so that sways our decision. United Club aside, Miami is just not nearly as nice an airport as MIA either, comfort-wise. But for one night, if the cost is cheaper or close, I would pick MIA just for the convenience.