What airport do we use?

[jackie]

Hi,
Don't know if this is the right place to post this, but we will be spending the winter in Santa Rosa Beach and we have friends and relatives that will be coming to visit. We are from the Chicago area as are our guests. Where are the nearest major airports in the area? I'm having a hard time finding any that have flights from Midway or O'hare. Any help and advise will be much appreciated. TIA

 

[Smiling JOe]

PFN (Bay County International Airport - Panama City, FL)
VPS (Okaloosa Regional Airport - Valparaiso, FL - aka- Niceville)

Each are about the same distance and time travel to Grayton Beach.

 

[SGB]

Smiling JOe is right, but lately we've had the most luck with VPS. We also occasionally use Pensacola due to great deals now and then on Air Tran and other airlines - not sure if they go to your airports. Pensacola is about 1.5 - 1.75 hours from the west end of 30A as long as there isn't traffic.

 

[barefootguy]

We tend to find the best deals flying from Pensacola (PNS) to Midway, but occasionally you can get a good enough deal flying into Valparaiso (VPS).
I don't know if any airline goes from Midway to VPS. Our best deals have always been Midway to PNS or O'Hare to VPS

AirTran and Delta are the best airlines to start your search with.

 

[Rudyjohn]

We're from Chicago area too. We use VPS, PFN, and sometimes PNS.
We've never flown out of Midway, only ORD. And almost always Delta thru Atlanta. Occasionally NW Air from Ord/Mem/VPS.

 

[howlin'enterpri]

I've never flown into Midway, however; I fly to Lambert (St. Louis) and always have to catch a connecting either at Memphis or Atlanta depending on who has the best deals, but I always fly out of Panama City (PFN). Also just for the record I found some great deals on Hotwire the last time I had to fly, which was on short notice.

 

[iqueequeg]

You can also check out Atlanta. Kind of a pretty drive to Sowal if you don't mind driving 6 hours or so. It's usually $50-$100 cheaper per ticket than other options (for us from Boston), and since there's five of us flying, it's a significant savings.

 

[Panhandler]

VPS is great - not busy - usually on time -clean, etc...and I can usually find some deals going from there toward the west...

 

[Beachlover2]

From O'Hare to VPS you have Delta - NW and now as of about a year ago American. Lately American has been having the best prices - but you have to fly through Dallas. Prices are usually around 300 RT. My son just booked tickets on NW for the end of November for 279. RT.

 

[beachmouse]

If you're looking to book a Delta flight, check the flight numbers carefully. The area airports are served by a mix of Delta- the parent company proper (pretty much midpack in terms of large airline quality) and Delta's commuter service (at one time named Satan's Commuter Airline by a major American custmer service survey)

As you might guess, I'd suggest avioding Delta's commuter flights altogether. Delta's also prone to more flight delays than other area carriers, probably because of congestion problems at their Atlanta hub.