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Air Travel | Car Travel | Cruise Travel | Ferry Travel

Air Travel

Average flying times to Florida’s international airports are 3 hours from New York, 4 hours from Chicago, 2¾ hours from Dallas, 4½–5½ hours from Los Angeles, and 8–8½ hours from London.

Airports

Florida has 21 commercial airports, the busiest being Orlando International Airport (MCO), Miami International Airport (MIA), Tampa (TPA), and Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL). Flying to alternative airports can save you both time and money. Fort Lauderdale is close to Miami, Palm Beach International (PBI) is close to Fort Lauderdale, and Sarasota Bradenton International (SRQ) is close to Tampa. FLL is a 30-minute drive from MIA. And what you might lose in driving time between Sarasota and downtown Tampa, you’ll make up for in spades with shorter security lines and fewer in-terminal navigation woes at SRQ.

TIP Flying to secondary airports can save you money, so price things out before booking. Sometimes one-way car rentals in Florida can be more cost-effective than shared van shuttles.

Ground Transportation

SuperShuttle service operates from several Florida airports: Miami, Orlando, Sarasota-Bradenton, St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Tampa, the Palm Beaches, and Fort Lauderdale. That said, most airports offer some type of shuttle or bus service.

If you book a shuttle from your hotel to the airport, allow at least 24 hours, and expect to be picked up at least 2½ hours before your scheduled departure.

Cab fares from Florida’s larger airports into town can be high, and there can be a departure fee from an airport. (In Fort Lauderdale, that airport departure fee is $3.) Note that in some cities airport cab fares are a single flat rate; in others, flat-rate fares vary by zone; and in others still, the fare is determined by the meter. Private car service fares are usually higher than taxi fares.

Shuttle Service
SuperShuttle. | 800/258–3826 | www.supershuttle.com.

Flights

American Airlines.
Flies to Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Fort Walton Beach, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Key West, Melbourne, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. | 800/433–7300 | www.aa.com.

Delta.
Flies to Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Fort Walton Beach, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Key West, Melbourne, Miami, Orlando, Panama City, Pensacola, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. | 800/221–1212 for U.S. reservations, 800/241–4141 for international reservations | www.delta.com.

Frontier.
Flies to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville/St. Augustine, Orlando, and Tampa. | 800/432–1359 | www.frontierairlines.com.

JetBlue.
Flies to Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Sarasota, Tampa, Key West, and West Palm Beach. | 800/538–2583 | www.jetblue.com.

Southwest.
Flies to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Key West, Orlando, Panama City, Pensacola, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. | 800/435–9792 | www.southwest.com.

Spirit Airlines.
Flies from Fort Lauderdale to Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach, as well as assorted cities elsewhere across the United States. | 801/401–2200 | www.spirit.com.

United.
Flies to Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Fort Walton Beach, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Key West, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, Sarasota/Bradenton, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. | 800/864–8331 for U.S. reservations, 800/538–2929 for international reservations | www.united.com.

Car Travel

Three major interstates lead to Florida. Interstate 95 begins in Maine, runs south through the Mid-Atlantic states, and enters Florida just north of Jacksonville. It continues south past Daytona Beach, the Space Coast, Vero Beach, Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, ending just south of Miami.

Interstate 75 begins in Michigan at the Canadian border and runs south through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, then moves south through the center of the state before veering west into Tampa. It follows the west coast south to Naples, then crosses the state through the northern section of the Everglades, and ends in Miami. Despite its interstate status, the Interstate 75 stretch between Naples and just west of Fort Lauderdale levies a toll each way per car, with higher tolls for motor homes, boat carriers, and such.

California and most Southern and Southwestern states are connected to Florida by Interstate 10, which moves east from Los Angeles through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. It enters Florida at Pensacola and runs straight across the northern part of the state, ending in Jacksonville.

SunPass

To save time and money while on the road, you may want to purchase a SunPass for your personal or rental vehicle. It provides a discount on most tolls, and you’ll be able to sail past collection booths without stopping. You also can use SunPass to pay for parking at Orlando, Tampa, Palm Beach, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale airports. (SunPass now interfaces with North Carolina’s Quick Pass and Georgia’s Peach Pass.) With SunPass—transponders can be purchased for $4.99 to $25, at drugstores, supermarkets, or tourism welcome centers—you can charge up with a credit card and reload as needed. For more info, check out www.sunpass.com.

Rental Cars

Unless you’re going to plant yourself at a beach or theme-park resort, you really need a vehicle to get around in Florida. Rental rates, which are loaded with taxes, fees, and other costs, sometimes can start around $35 a day/$160 a week, plus the aforementioned add-ons. In Florida you must be 21 to rent a car, must have a credit card, and need to know rates are higher if you’re under 25.

Contacts
Alamo. | 600 Corporate Park Dr. | St. Louis, Missouri, United States | 877/222–9075 | www.alamo.com.
Avis. | 6 Sylvan Way | Parsippany, New Jersey, United States Minor Outlying Islands | 973/496–3500 | www.avis.com.
Budget. | 6 Sylvan Way | Parsippany, New Jersey, United States | 800/218–7992 | www.budget.com.
Gold Coast Car Rental. | 300 S.E. 6th Ave. | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States | 800/421–8752, 954/522–0665 | www.goldcoastcruiseandflyparking.com. Family owned and operated since 1976, Fort Lauderdale-based Gold Coast Car Rental offers a fleet of some 200 vehicles from compacts, mini-vans and SUVs to convertibles for enjoying Florida sunshine. Courtesy telephones are in the Fort Lauderdale airport baggage claim area. If you are departing from Miami International or West Palm Beach, Gold Coast can provide transport for a fee after your vehicle is returned to the car rental check-in. Gold Coast also offers “Cruise & Fly Parking” for your own vehicle where valets drive you in air-conditioned shuttles directly to your terminal.
Hertz. | 999 Vanderbilt Beach Rd. | Estero, Florida, United States | 800/654–3131 | www.hertz.com.
National Car Rental. | 600 Corporate Park Dr. | St. Louis, Missouri, United States | 800/227–7368 | www.nationalcar.com.
Sunshine Rent A Car. | 321 W. State Rd. 84 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States | 888/786–7446, 954/467–8100 | www.sunshinerentacar.com.

Road Conditions

Downtown areas of major cities can be extremely congested during rush hours, usually 7–9 am and 3:30–6:30 pm or later on weekdays. TIP Florida has a website (www.fl511.com) with real-time traffic information for six regional zones.

Rules of the Road

Speed limits are generally 60 mph on state highways, 30 mph within city limits and residential areas, and 70 mph on interstates, some Orlando area toll roads, and Florida’s Turnpike. Supervising adults must ensure that children under age seven are positioned in federally approved child car seats. Infants up to 20 pounds must be secured in rear-facing carriers in the backseat. Children younger than four years old must be strapped into a separate carrier or child seat; children four through five can be secured in a separate carrier, an integrated child seat, or by a seat belt. The driver will be held responsible for passengers under the age of 18 who aren’t wearing seat belts, and all front-seat passengers are required to wear seat belts.

Florida’s Alcohol/Controlled Substance DUI Law is one of the toughest in the United States. A blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or higher can have serious repercussions even for a first-time offender.

Cruise Travel

Many major cruise lines make Florida a point of embarkation for itineraries to the Caribbean and Mexico. Occasionally a cruise line actually offers an itinerary in which Florida is a port of call, most often Key West or Port Canaveral, and sometimes Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades.

The port of Miami has the world’s largest year-round fleet. It also handles more megaships—vessels capable of transporting more than 2,000 people at a time—than any other port in the world.

Port Everglades, 30 miles north of Miami in Fort Lauderdale, is also a cruise-ship mecca, and it’s been vying to eclipse its neighbor to the south. Port Canaveral, 60 miles west of Orlando, is the home port for some Disney Cruise Line vessels but increasingly other cruise lines as well, including Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Other cruise ships homeport in Jacksonville or Tampa.

Ferry Travel

If you would like to avoid road traffic to the Keys and make the trip a watery adventure, Key West Express ferries people from Fort Myers Beach on a daily basis (and Marco Island in season) to Key West’s historic seaport. The trip, just under four hours, is cheaper than airfare, and doesn’t require months-in-advance booking.

Contact
Key West Express. | 1200 Main St. | Fort Myers | 888/539–2628 | www.keywestexpress.us.

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