Flying St. Louis to Destin area and returning in late Sept.

Anyone aware of the flights that might accomodate me? I am pretty sure there are no direct flights, but is there anyone that has flown into Gulf area from St. Louis quickly and cheaply?

Flying St. Louis to Destin area and returning in late Sept.

There use to be one direct flight a day via American Airlines direct from STL - don%26#39;t know if they still have it - use to leave around 6 pm.

Flying St. Louis to Destin area and returning in late Sept.

Air Tran goes from STL to Pensacola.

Try Northwest or Delta. My choice is Northwests because the majority of Delta flights are operated by ASA and they are awful. You can%26#39;t pay me enough money to step on another American Airlines Flight.

I have yet to find anything cheap in or out of here.

Northwest%26#39;s hub is Memphis so all their flights go through there for this area.

We drive from the St. Louis area.

By the time you figure up how much time it takes to drive to the airport, arrive to the airport 1+ hour early. The actual flight.....with a stop... and some time in that airport...then the next flight....then arrive and get baggage....then get a rental car. then maybe drive to Destin, depending on where you fly into (Pensacola, etc).... you%26#39;ve really not saved that much time, maybe 4 hours at the most?? We just haven%26#39;t found it to be worth it and always choose to drive.

Someone I work with in the St. Louis area recently flew into New Orleans and drove over...first time I%26#39;ve heard of that one.

thanks all...big mac fan, yes , we have gone to destin probably 25 times in a dozen years and we agree, that driving is smarter and not much different in time. However, I will be traveling by myself to a 3 hour condo owners meeting and driving 24 hours in 2 days is not very smart, so I will be getting in and getting out of Destin via plane for the first time.

I see.....makes sense!

HPI - I traveled Northwest the end of July (Monday the 30th) and they had all sorts of problems due to financial difficulties. It took me over 17 hours to fly from VPS to Chicago. I was leaving VPS on the 6 am flight and didn%26#39;t get out until 10 am (crew didn%26#39;t show) then I missed the connection in Memphis. They rebooked me on the 2pm flight out of Memphis - but they had more delays - maintenance issues. All the while I am in Memphis (10 hours I think) I am seeing on the TV at the airport on how Northwest is having problems and cancelling flights (they cancelled over 500 the previous Sat and another 500 on the Sunday) because crew isn%26#39;t showing etc. They said to expect it to happen again the end of August unless Northwest solves it financial woes. Right now I wouldn%26#39;t think of flying Northwest at the end of the month until they solve some problems.

As a frequent flier, I would avoid the following:

1. Northwest

2. ORD or any airport near there.

3. American or United

Of the 40 or so flight segments I%26#39;ve taken year-to-date, all but 4 on United have been either delayed or cancelled

Can you get Delta out of STL? They connect to the area. Also, I second using AirTran. I know folks who use them all the time to fly to their condo on Pensacola Beach.

hPI Fan, check your PM.

S

We flew into Pensecola with AirTran and rented a car to drive to Destin. Airfare on AirTran for that week was $39.00 each way. Now with the cost of gas we always watch AirTran%26#39;s rates and decide whichway is cheaper to fly or driving.