St Louis vacationers to Sanibel..

Hi Some of my very good friends are considering meeting us this spring In Sanibel. They just moved to St Louis. Can anyone from that area give me help with best airline to take to Ft Myers, or any other advice for them to help me, help them plan?

Thanks in advance.

St Louis vacationers to Sanibel..

Hi Sunnyvaca - I%26#39;m not from St Louis but I believe American has direct flights to Ft Myers for a very reasonable price.

St Louis vacationers to Sanibel..

USA 3000 and American do both have a non-stop in season, but it looks like it might be just 1 non-stop flight a day.

Thanks you guys - My friend is pulling her hair out leaning a new airport and different airlines. Doesn%26#39;t help there are 5 of them traveling!

Try Southwest also. They have pretty cheap rates from St. Louis to Fort Myers.

Southwest to Fort Myers; various airlines to Tampa or Miami. You would book out of Lambert International... We have done it both ways and prefer the Fort Myers but last year had a stop and layover in Miami.... the direct flight from Tampa even with the 2 hour drive would have been faster.

Thanks Sue.

Dad! I knew there was someone from St L here, just couldn%26#39;t remember who. If I have further questions, is it ok if I pm you? Good info, thanks. I told her to check both Ft M and Tampa.

My family and I have been going to Sanibel for eight years.

We have taken American Airlines and rented a car and have also driven from St. Louis. For the past several years it has been much less expensive (even with high gas prices) to drive, without renting a car.

If time permits, driving is still less expensive.

We drove from St. Louis on August 3rd. It took 13 hours to Valdosta GA. Spent the night and then five hours to Sanibel. On the way back we drove to Paducka (?) and then just a four hour drive. We were home on Sunday at noon.

Our next visit will be December 22 to 29. It appears that it will cost about $600 per person to fly. So at this time we will be driving.

The one thing about driving, is that you can take many things you would have to buy, once on the island.

AirTran looks ok, as far as price, but keep in mind that bad weather may cancell flights. USA 3000 has flights, but they don%26#39;t seem to work with our schedule.

I just looked on AA.com this AM and it was $750 per person to fly for this week. For 3K it is much less expensive to drive, if you can get an extra day off of work.

Thanks Fang - I think they would consider driving if they did not have three kids under the age of 6. Bit of a nightmare, when you factor in the screaming in the car and the amount of potty stops.

But I will tell them your time frames from driving from Missouri to Sanibel, that might be helpful in their decision. Thank you so much for you advice.

When I was a kid, we drove from Louisville to Sanibel twice. My dad drove the entire trip since my mom didn%26#39;t do interstates. It took us 2 1/2 days back then (speed limit was 55), but that was part of the fun! There were three of us. The first time we were 6, 3 1/2, and 1. The next time we were 8, 5 1/2, and 3.

Mom would pack a big picnic lunch, and we%26#39;d stop at one of the rest areas with a lot of trees and eat and chase and collect pine cones. We%26#39;d play Mother May I? and have races and unknowingly wear ourselves out! Then we%26#39;d be tired in the car and fall asleep for awhile. We%26#39;d stop around dinner time, eat, and then hit the hotel pool for a couple of hours. Seriously, those ';stop-overs'; are some of my favorite memories. I can still remember my poor dad treading water in the deep end and catching us as we%26#39;d jump off the diving board!

One of the things we%26#39;ve found to be helpful with long trips (besides the DVD player in the van) is McDonald%26#39;s Playlands. My in-laws live 16 hrs away, and when we%26#39;d have to visit them, we%26#39;d drive for 4 hours or so and then get out for a potty break/snack at McDonald%26#39;s that had a playland. We%26#39;d let the kids run wild for 20 minutes or so, use the restroom, get a snack and then say, ';Okay, let%26#39;s go find another Playland and see if it was a good as this one!'; Worked every time! I think you can check on-line for Playland locations.

We just drove to Sanibel this past June. Our kids were a little older, 11, 8, and 5, but they did okay. We just made the journey part of the trip like my parents did, and didn%26#39;t push, and everyone did fine.

We borrowed books on tape from the library for a change from the DVD%26#39;s and they were a big hit! Since their kids are so little, they could get the Disney books on tape instead.

Tell your friends not to let the thought of traveling long distances deter them from meeting you. My kids started out early driving around the country, and now that they%26#39;re a bit older, we have it down to a science! Seriously, they are awesome travelers. When it comes time to go, they know what to do. Even my 5 year old. It was a bit of work getting her, but totally worth it!

I have friends/family and business partners that routinely fly from St. Louis to Fort Myers. They catch the American flight that puts them into Fort Myers aroun 11:55am. It is rarely late but it can sell out quickly.