Airport questions

[fourkittys]

I am planning a cruise on the Breeze next fall out of Galveston or a Nieuw Amsterdam cruise out of Miami via Ft. Lauderdale.. From Indianapolis it seems the flights are cheaper although farther away to/from Texas.. Exactly what airports would we be flying in/out?. When I type "Galveston" it comes up with Houston airports and when I type in Ft. Lauderdale (where I want to fly in/out of) it lists Miami. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks in advance for your help!

[singbluesilver1]

There is a airport in ft lauderdale but not all airlines fly there, you can get transfers to Miami from the airport

 

And I think I've read that the airport in Galveston is really far from the port

[6rugrats]

For a Galveston cruise, you are going to have to fly into HOU or IAH. HOU is closer.

 

What does "Miami via Ft. Lauderdale" mean?

 

I don't know why it's defaulting to MIA. Perhaps the airline you are checking doesn't fly to FLL. Or, some airlines will let you choose all the airports in the area (such as BWI, IAD, DCA) for the Washington DC area. Make sure you aren't doing that.

[CruiserBruce]

Are you sure N. Amsterdam is sailing out of Miami? That would be unusual.

[waterbug123]

For what it's worth, the cities of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are about 20 miles apart. Both have a large commercial airport, and both have a cruise port. Are you set on the N. Amsterdam cruise if you cruise out of Florida? If you're finding better flight availability into FLL, perhaps you can find one of the many cruises that sails out of Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale). Very convenient, as PE is only about a 10 min cab ride from FLL.

By the way, what airline are you searching that only shows you flights to MIA? The FLL airport is large, serves many airlines so it's surprising that you are only finding flights to/from Miami. Make sure you are entering "FLL" for the Ft. Lauderdale airport code.

Edited January 3, 2016 by waterbug123

[4774Papa]

Southwest Air flies into FLL as well as HOU. Not sure if they fly out of Indy.

[awhfy]

Houston Hobby is a hub for Southwest. Be advised it is at a minimum of 45 min from Galveston. Rental cars are a total pain (no companies open on Sunday). IAH (George Bush International) is farther from the port. There are shuttles, some quite expensive

[damiross]

Houston Hobby is a hub for Southwest. Be advised it is at a minimum of 45 min from Galveston. Rental cars are a total pain (no companies open on Sunday). IAH (George Bush International) is farther from the port. There are shuttles, some quite expensive

Southwest* has nonstops and 1 stops between IND and both Houston Hobby and Ft Lauderdale. Many of the one stop flights involve a connection.

 

The advantage of Southwest is that you won't be charged for your first two checked-in bags.

 

You won't find Southwest flights on sites such as Kayak or Expedia. You'll need to go to Southwest.com to find the flights.

 

 

*Southwest, contrary to popular belief, does not have hubs. It is a network airline as opposed to a hub-and-spoke airline like American or Delta.

 

A true hub is where flights are scheduled specifically for connections. In other words, they have a lot of flights that all arrive within a short period of time then there's a lull in flights, and then there's a large number of flights all departing within a short period of time.

 

Southwest's flights are not timed like that. Because an airport such as Hobby or Oakland has a lot of flights going through it there is a probability of getting a good connection is higher.

 

Sorry - as an airline geek it is a pet peeve of mine that people consider Southwest has having hubs. I'll get off my soap box now. :)

[waterbug123]

 

A true hub is where flights are scheduled specifically for connections. In other words, they have a lot of flights that all arrive within a short period of time then there's a lull in flights, and then there's a large number of flights all departing within a short period of time.

 

Southwest's flights are not timed like that. Because an airport such as Hobby or Oakland has a lot of flights going through it there is a probability of getting a good connection is higher.

 

 

 

You're a little off in your definition of a hub airport. Try finding the "lull" in Delta flights at ATL, for example, and you won't have much luck. You have the principle right.... bring people in to a central point on flights from all over and then send them back out again from that central point on different flights, but the flights run constantly at most big hubs, and because of that, you typically have many options to choose from for connections, unless you are coming from or going to a truly small town, podunk airport (in which case it's unlikely Southwest is going to provide options that are any better.) :)

[damiross]

You're a little off in your definition of a hub airport. Try finding the "lull" in Delta flights at ATL, for example, and you won't have much luck. You have the principle right.... bring people in to a central point on flights from all over and then send them back out again from that central point on different flights, but the flights run constantly at most big hubs, and because of that, you typically have many options to choose from for connections, unless you are coming from or going to a truly small town, podunk airport (in which case it's unlikely Southwest is going to provide options that are any better.) :)

Let me put it another way: Delta, American, and United purposely schedule flights with connections in mind. Southwest doesn't. According to their statistics, over 70% of the Southwest passengers fly on nonstop or direct (i.e. no change-of-plane) flights.

 

I checked Atlanta's historical data for Delta for the month of August 2015 at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. While there are flights throughout the day I could see that there was a pattern. There would more arrivals during a given hour with less departures. During the next hour or two there would be more departures than arrivals. Granted, it's not much of a lull but there is lull in either the departure bank or the arrival bank.

 

But the bottom line is: Why fly one of the "legacy carriers" with their high fees when you can fly Southwest, assuming it's going to your destination or within a hour or so drive of your destination and save $25 to $50 or more on baggage?

 

This will be my last words on this in this thread because I realize it is very off topic now! :)

Edited January 5, 2016 by damiross

[waterbug123]

 

But the bottom line is: Why fly one of the "legacy carriers" with their high fees when you can fly Southwest, assuming it's going to your destination or within a hour or so drive of your destination and save $25 to $50 or more on baggage?

 

 

Because you may well find that a ticket on a legacy carrier is cheaper even if you have to pay bag fees. Southwest isn't always cheaper, despite some of the misconceptions that abound. ;)

[TruckerDave]

Let me put it another way: Delta, American, and United purposely schedule flights with connections in mind. Southwest doesn't. According to their statistics, over 70% of the Southwest passengers fly on nonstop or direct (i.e. no change-of-plane) flights.

 

I checked Atlanta's historical data for Delta for the month of August 2015 at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. While there are flights throughout the day I could see that there was a pattern. There would more arrivals during a given hour with less departures. During the next hour or two there would be more departures than arrivals. Granted, it's not much of a lull but there is lull in either the departure bank or the arrival bank.

 

But the bottom line is: Why fly one of the "legacy carriers" with their high fees when you can fly Southwest, assuming it's going to your destination or within a hour or so drive of your destination and save $25 to $50 or more on baggage?

 

This will be my last words on this in this thread because I realize it is very off topic now! :)

 

I wish this myth that Southwest is cheaper would die. I lived in Houston for almost 20 years and United was routinely cheaper than Southwest on many routes. (and that is with direct nonstop flights, none of the 1 or 2 stop nonsense on Southwest.) And by cheaper I am talking a few hundred dollars sometimes.

 

As far a baggage fees on the legacy carriers....anyone who flies more than once or twice a year and pays a baggage feee really needs to educate themselves, there are many ways to avoid these. I fly both AA and UA and have NEVER paid a baggage fee.

Edited January 5, 2016 by TruckerDave

[6rugrats]

Yes, right now you can avoid a baggage fee simply by taking your bag through security and gate checking at no charge.