West Palm Beach airport

[Smyles]

I am sure this has been asked many times...but with the search function down...

 

How feasible is it to fly out of West Palm Beach from Fort Lauderdale (Harmony).

 

How early a flight on Saturday would be do-able? Says the cruise ends at 6:15am. Should we just book a multi-segment trip and fly out of Fort Lauderdale? We are coming in a week early and the West Palm Beach airport works best for the beginning of our trip, and is over $350 cheaper to fly out of, just wonder how much more of a hassle it is to depart from!!

[Clarea]

At best, you are looking at about an hour drive from Port Everglades, and with traffic that could be much worse. I'd not want to book a flight before 1pm.

[Smyles]

At best, you are looking at about an hour drive from Port Everglades, and with traffic that could be much worse. I'd not want to book a flight before 1pm.

 

 

Ok, thanks Bob. We will be traveling with our not quite 5 yr old so would need time for bathroom and food before boarding so that rules that option out! There was a extra cheap 12:20flight I was eyeing. The rest of the flights aren't cheap enough to even consider the extra commute. We'll stick with Fort Lauderdale! Thanks for the help!

[Clarea]

Ok, thanks Bob. We will be traveling with our not quite 5 yr old so would need time for bathroom and food before boarding so that rules that option out! There was a extra cheap 12:20flight I was eyeing. The rest of the flights aren't cheap enough to even consider the extra commute. We'll stick with Fort Lauderdale! Thanks for the help!

How were you planning to get to PBI? If you do a private car service or taxi (not a shared shuttle or rental car) and choose self assist disembarkation, you should have enough time to make that 12:20pm flight as long as the ship is on time.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I am shocked to hear PBI is cheaper! I live 20 minutes from there and about 45 from FLL and I always fly from Fort Lauderdale because it’s cheaper! PBI is a nice calm airport. Not crazy and easy to get around.

 

That being said- it’s doable. Saturday’s aren’t typically crazy traffic. You’ll need at least an hour for the drive- so give yourself time.

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

PBI is an absolute joy to deal with compared to FLL. It is a small airport and easy to navigate the relatively small concourse/security areas. As stated, if you had a private car, I don't think a 12:20 flight would be any issue. I think if you walked off the ship by 7:30 you'd be more than fine.

[LMaxwell]

I am shocked to hear PBI is cheaper! I live 20 minutes from there and about 45 from FLL and I always fly from Fort Lauderdale because it’s cheaper! PBI is a nice calm airport. Not crazy and easy to get around.

 

That being said- it’s doable. Saturday’s aren’t typically crazy traffic. You’ll need at least an hour for the drive- so give yourself time.

 

 

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I wonder if it is a Delta flight? I live about 10 miles from PBI and 40 miles from FLL and if I am flying Delta prices are usually the same or slightly better for PBI.

[Russ Lomas]

PBI is an absolute joy to deal with compared to FLL. It is a small airport and easy to navigate the relatively small concourse/security areas. As stated, if you had a private car, I don't think a 12:20 flight would be any issue. I think if you walked off the ship by 7:30 you'd be more than fine.

I agree with this 100%. PBI is our favourite Florida airport to fly out of. Much less of a hassle than the larger airports. We have had no issue with traffic at all making Saturday and Sunday flights on the March break week. We typically fly around 1pm, but if you do self-disembark and go straight to PBI, you should have no issues. It takes at least half an hour off your time in the airport over using FLL or MIA.

[Smyles]

I'll assume PBI is West Palm Beach airport?? We hadn't thought that far ahead as to how we'd get there! My husband is overseas for work and left me the task of booking our flights since it is black friday weekend. That was the airport that worked best for our week in Fort Pierce before our cruise. I hadn't thought ahead to the fact it wasn't as close to the Port until right now. With this weekend's sales there were a few really cheap flights at random and somehow our roundtrip to West Palm Beach was cheapest. Then I realized we need to get there :-)

 

We did self-disembark on our last cruise and found that worked fine for us. My husband has Nexus but I don't (likely too late to get it before our trip) in the past having our daughter with us always bumped us to the front of the lines in airports...but I feel like that didn't work on the return from our cruise last year. In Canada for some reason a child is a free pass to get by the security lines, but I don't think it did in the US :-)

 

I will try and connect with my husband before I book. But I currently can't remember what country he is in, or what time zone he is in so we'll see what flights are left when I do connect with him!! But, it sounds like it might be do-able. My husband travels so much for work he is a super elite gold star whatcha-ma-call-it on the airplanes so when he misses a flight they just rebook with no fees and no fuss and I 'think' that might also cover my daughter and I for rebooking if we didn't make it in time. But I'd rather not test that theory out :-)

[Smyles]

I wonder if it is a Delta flight? I live about 10 miles from PBI and 40 miles from FLL and if I am flying Delta prices are usually the same or slightly better for PBI.

 

Air Canada flights. We get free luggage with them through my husbands frequent flier program so we generally just look at those flights now since luggage costs so much and there are 3 of us travelling for 2 weeks...that and the lounge access etc. It wasn't all the flights with this sale price just a few random ones marked quite low :-)

[Clarea]

I'll assume PBI is West Palm Beach airport?? ,,,

Correct.

[Ryanmountz]

Youll be fine with a 12:20 flight, I regularly fly from either PBI, FLL, and MIA and saturdays and sundays are much different than the weekdays especially if you get off the ship early there will be little to no traffic on I-95 at that time. Unfortunately Port Everglades is right next to FLL which is convenient, but its all highway to PBI and will take 45 minutes if its a personal car and an hour if taxi or uber at most, unless there is a freak accident but even at that, there are so few cars on the road at 7-8am on the weekends that they could shut down a lane and things would still flow smoothly. Much easier to go 95 north to palm beach than go 95 south to miami.

 

I have Uber'd from FLL to my house in wellington (7-8 miles west of PBI) and it cost $55 which is a good estimator from Port Everglades to PBI as its about the same distance. Taxi would have been well over $100. Odds are if you get off with the first group, figure 7am'ish, and get your Uber by 7:30 you will be at the airport by 8:30, and as people have stated PBI is much easier through security than FLL and MIA so probably through security and at your gate by 9 assuming everything goes perfectly, but that does leave you 3 HOURS for things to not go perfectly.

 

Hope this helps.

[RSLeesburg]

I am shocked to hear PBI is cheaper! I live 20 minutes from there and about 45 from FLL and I always fly from Fort Lauderdale because it’s cheaper! PBI is a nice calm airport. Not crazy and easy to get around.

 

That being said- it’s doable. Saturday’s aren’t typically crazy traffic. You’ll need at least an hour for the drive- so give yourself time.

 

 

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We must be neighbors. We are about 20 minutes from PBI and 45 minutes from FLL. I never noticed cheaper flights from FLL I will start checking. I was only using FLL when I wanted direct flights to West Coast.

 

To OP. If you use taxi or Uber, and self-disembark, you should be able to make it. The highways are generally wide open early in the morning, and PBI is usually a breeze to get through security.

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

We all must be neighbors; central Palm Beach County has taken over this thread :)

[Smyles]

Thanks all. I went for it. I booked our return trip using West Palm Beach airport. It was cheapest and least complicated for us so with your assurances it is possible I decided to bite the bullet and book it.

 

I will ask, are we best to rent a car, use uber or have the in-laws pick us up at the Port and get us to West Palm Airport (in-laws would be willing but would likely be out of their comfort zone of being in the port trying to find us). I am leaning to Uber but figured I will ask here before having my husband decide.

 

The flight was $213 CAD out of West Palm versus $368CAD from Fort Lauderdale. With us needing 3 tickets that savings made it worth considering the extra hassle.

[JohninDC]

I would lean toward Uber over renting a car - with a 12:20 flight you do not have time to mess around with renting the car, stopping for gas, etc. I would also price out private car service - Larry's Limos, Holland Limo, Go Airport, and South Florida are often suggested on these boards.

[Bernie by the sea]

Only issue with Palm Beach airport now is if the President decides to do a visit. Could cause additional security issues!

 

 

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[Sunkissed Mommy]

Only issue with Palm Beach airport now is if the President decides to do a visit. Could cause additional security issues!

 

 

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I’ve noticed he flys in Friday evenings, and out Sunday nights/Monday mornings. So they should hopefully be okay the morning of disembarking a cruise.

 

My vote is to Uber. Less hassle than renting on your own and less expensive than a taxi.

 

 

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[waterbug123]

I am shocked to hear PBI is cheaper! I live 20 minutes from there and about 45 from FLL and I always fly from Fort Lauderdale because it’s cheaper! PBI is a nice calm airport. Not crazy and easy to get around.

 

I go to Boca frequently so FLL and PBI are about equidistant. I usually fly in and out of FLL just out of habit, but I try to remember to check the price of both. Usually they are pretty close, but sometimes one is a bit more than the other; it's a supply and demand thing. Neither is ALWAYS cheaper or ALWAYS more expensive.

 

PBI is an absolute joy to deal with compared to FLL. It is a small airport and easy to navigate the relatively small concourse/security areas.

 

FLL is indeed bigger than PBI, but FLL is divided into 4 completely separate terminals, each with its own separate check-in, security, and baggage claim areas. In other words, it's like 4 separate airports. Each individual terminal is thus pretty small and easy to navigate. Terminal 2 for example, is just 10 gates that house only Delta and Air Canada. Once you're through security there it's pretty much one big open space that requires very little walking.

[js]

My flights too are cheaper out of PBI but I have six people with six pieces of luggage. How would you suggest we get from Fort Lauderdale port to PBI if we also decided togo this route? Approximately how much would I have to spend to get us there? From that price I would need to determine if leaving later and the difference in price would be worth it. Thanks.

 

 

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[Clarea]

My flights too are cheaper out of PBI but I have six people with six pieces of luggage. How would you suggest we get from Fort Lauderdale port to PBI if we also decided togo this route? Approximately how much would I have to spend to get us there? From that price I would need to determine if leaving later and the difference in price would be worth it. Thanks.

Check the Florida Departures forum for transfer ideas: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=672

[waterbug123]

My flights too are cheaper out of PBI but I have six people with six pieces of luggage. How would you suggest we get from Fort Lauderdale port to PBI if we also decided togo this route? Approximately how much would I have to spend to get us there? From that price I would need to determine if leaving later and the difference in price would be worth it. Thanks.

 

For me personally? I'd arrange a private car service. The problem with Uber is that even if you request a larger vehicle (Uber XL) it can be a tight squeeze to get 6 pax + 6 luggage. With a pre-arranged car service you can be assured that they'll send a vehicle that can will work. I haven't taken a car service from PE to PBI, but I would guess that the cost would be less than the difference in airfare x 6. If it isn't, then obviously the difference in airfare to fly out of FLL instead of PBI wouldn't be all that great and I'd just do that.