Orlando Sanford Airport

Orlando Sanford airport stinks. There are only 4 places to get food in the entire airport. There is plenty of seating, but every seat at every gate has armrests, so if you're flight happens to be delayed until after midnight, there is no place to lay down except the filthy floor. The gate agents are also all employed by the airport (not the individual airlines) and they are not helpful or friendly. They keep saying SFB stands for Safer, Faster, Better. I seriously doubt it.

I first used this airport in 1997 and it's barely changed since then. Quite a few folk have mentioned how fast it is to arrive and depart from - well, that's not my experience. On my most recent trip (arriving late May 2016), we were on a Thomson Flight from Glasgow. We were at the back of the plane and hence at the back of the queue for immigration. We waited nearly 1.5 hrs. A Thomson flight from Manchester arrived just behind us. I estimate those at the back of the Manchester plane would have waited 2.5 hours minimum to get into the USA. Nearly everyone in the queue had small children - families are the primary demographic for these flights from the UK, so you can imagine the overall stress levels for the bulk of the passengers. On our return, their check-in computers crashed. We waited nearly 2hrs to check in and then our plane was delayed as a result as it had to wait on the other passengers to check in and get through security. Also, airside facilities are dire - if you have a delay here, you better have a good book or fully loaded iPad. The wifi when I was there was flaky at best when we first arrived and had stopped working entirely by the time we were airside and wanted to use it. On the positive sides, it is small and car rental is nearby and walkable. It is well signposted and easy to get to and from using Interstate 4. The ease of getting in and out of the airport complex due to the relative quietness of the surrounding area is offset by the fact it's nearly 30 miles north of Orlando though, so longer journey times all round. I can't recommend this airport. Even if I got an amazing flight price deal, I'd still consider using Orlando International (MCO) before this for its all round "large" airport approach to facilities.

Flew in and out of Sanford from Manchester, UK, on Thomson 787. The airport mainly handles domestic flights, so we were through the place and into our hire car in 40 minutes. A bit longer going back, but still acceptable. We found all of the staff to be polite and efficient. There was plenty of seating and adequate catering on the return, but not much in the way of shopping. However that is hardly important after two weeks with all the malls you could wish for. If you have a Alamo hire car, it pays to drop of your luggage at the terminal, which you have to drive past on your return, as it's quite a long walk back from the car drop off area. We would be quite happy to use this airport again.

On arrival found parking to be $13.00 a day in the open lot and $15.00 in the parking structure. Opted for the open lot but parking costs were more than my airline ticket for a 7 day trip. Was floored by the cost at this small airport. Parking at Bluegrass Airport (LEX) is only $8.00 a day and it's a much larger airport. Also airport smelled strongly of mould.

Just flew back from Sanford International Airport on TOM123 on the 5th May 2015. I was also ripped off for excess baggage of 1 Kg ie 27 USD. I had weighed both bags on my scales which read 19kg before leaving for the airport. Are these scales not certified by weights and measures. What was even more annoying was some of the bags being checked in at the other check in were weighing sometimes 22kg and they were not being charged anything. I had plenty of time to watch as it took at least 10 mins to get my change. I certainly agree that Orlando International airport is a much better run airport which in future I will use.

Flew in on the 3rd September first time here in years having used MCO - long wait in a slow queue for passport control then ages at desk checking our passports by the time I got to the car rental desk there was only two cars left. Coming back I checked my bag weight before leaving for the airport under the 20kg limit checked it on the scales at the airport - under 20kg when at the check-in desk was told to put it on scales at next desk 22kg on that one. Removed stuff from bag re-weighed it on a 3rd set of scales spot on 20kg back to check-in desk which says 21.8kg. Ripped off for $54 excess baggage charge. The airport is tatty and staff are slow MCO is miles better now that they have automated passport machines twice this year it has been off plane passport machine get bags shuttle to terminal car and out with no holdups. The only downside is the security check coming back once which can take a while. I would need an exceedingly cheep ticket to suffer going back to this dump of an airport again.

This is our airport of choice when flying into Orlando. Its much smaller than Orlando International (MC0) and therefore much quicker to pass through. On our last visit on 17th August 2014 there was a 15 minute wait for immigration friendly staff and once through our luggage was already on the carousel. Straight into the car hire office and out in 5 minutes driving down Lake Mary Boulevard within 30 minutes of landing. fantastic. Compare this to MCO where you would still be queuing in immigration. There's not many shops in the departure lounge but after 2 weeks and many shopping malls later does anybody still want to shop?

Having flown to Orlando airport 5 years ago I compared it to a cattle market I decided to try Sanford and for the last 4 years it has been superb. From getting off the aircraft passport control are very quick the luggage is waiting immediately which I can only conclude they have some pretty efficient staff (shame Manchester airport can't be as quick). Luggage is scanned and away we go 20 minutes from start to finish same time comparison on departure back to Manchester very efficient. I always fly with Thomson for the simple reason they use Sanford. OK Orlando international may be nearer your destination but who wants to be stuck in an airport for over 2 hours and fight through the crowds plus the staff at Sanford are politer.

If you are not a tourist please beware of this airport when arriving from a foreign destination. I did so as a student and it was pretty clear that immigration was unfamiliar with anyone other than a tourist. This caused quite a bit of delay not exactly something you would want as a connecting passenger. For the rest the airport is small but has the necessities you'd need as a traveler.

We chose to fly into Sanford for its close proximity to Daytona Beach and flew with Icelandair . Arrival in the evening was stress free luggage arrived quickly cleared customs and rented a car and cleared the airport all within half hour. Departing the airport we parked the rental in the car park 10 metres away from the departure terminal handed the keys over to the renter checked in cleared customs all in 15 minutes. I have to agree with the previous poster in how friendly everybody was. Icelandair was the only international flight out so the lounge was not crowded. Royal palms lounge was a huge disappointment as it does not meet international standards for the business traveller. One coffee pot kettle for hot water chips (crisps) pre- wrapped biscuits and cookies. No hot or cold food. If you want food they can order it for you from the outside caterers for which you have to pay.