JetBlue out of RIC (Richmond, Va) - how is it?

[MaidMarian444]

Hi, any Virginians here who fly to MCO? Trying to decide between a shorter easier to drive to Richmond and take Jetblue (one flight per day leaving at 2:50 pm) or drive two hours to Dulles to take one of many United flights to MCO. They're priced similarly.

I'm worried that if there are any issues with that Jetblue flight, we'll miss our first day at Disney, whereas I'd imagine that there are enough flights from Dulles to MCO that if there were issues with our flight, we'd still make it to WDW in time. However, driving to Dulles and dealing with that airport is a way bigger pain than the easy hour to RIC and that airport can be quite pleasant.

Anyone had issues flying Jetblue to MCO in winter?

 

[scjo68]

Hi, any Virginians here who fly to MCO? Trying to decide between a shorter easier to drive to Richmond and take Jetblue (one flight per day leaving at 2:50 pm) or drive two hours to Dulles to take one of many United flights to MCO. They're priced similarly.

I'm worried that if there are any issues with that Jetblue flight, we'll miss our first day at Disney, whereas I'd imagine that there are enough flights from Dulles to MCO that if there were issues with our flight, we'd still make it to WDW in time. However, driving to Dulles and dealing with that airport is a way bigger pain than the easy hour to RIC and that airport can be quite pleasant.

Anyone had issues flying Jetblue to MCO in winter?

I have flown Jet Blue out of RIC several times, most recently a few weeks ago. I have never had a problem, other than once the flight was a couple hours late. Of course that does not mean there could not be winter weather issues so I can't say how they would handle any issues. I agree that RIC is so easy to get in and out of and the airport is fairly calm and not usually busy.

If you fly Jet Blue into MCO you will arrive in the new Terminal C. It is nice and new but very big. We did not rent a car but I understand renting/returning a car when flying out of terminal C can be a pain ( or was a few weeks ago. It may have improved since then). We took Mears connect to our resort directly from Terminal C but when Mears took us back to MCO we had to take a shuttle from the main terminal to Terminal C.

 

[rwdavis2]

The one time I tried this the return flight changed from direct to a layover in Boston then back to RIC.

 

[Mikey15]

I guess I get why a 10hr drive can be outside of people’s comfort zones, but having recently driven Orlando to Richmond, and then another Orlando to Richmond’s worth onward to Canada, my mind just thinks of that as a reasonable drive. No arriving 2hrs early for security, no risk of the one flight a day getting postponed or delayed… I respect that it’s not for everyone though.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve flown JetBlue, but we always fly from a similarly small airport (SYR) with one direct flight per day. Never had an issue and we love Jet Blue’s service.

 

[scjo68]

I guess I get why a 10hr drive can be outside of people’s comfort zones, but having recently driven Orlando to Richmond, and then another Orlando to Richmond’s worth onward to Canada, my mind just thinks of that as a reasonable drive. No arriving 2hrs early for security, no risk of the one flight a day getting postponed or delayed… I respect that it’s not for everyone though.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve flown JetBlue, but we always fly from a similarly small airport (SYR) with one direct flight per day. Never had an issue and we love Jet Blue’s service.

I actually agree with this!
The vast majority of the time we do drive from Richmond to Orlando. We consider it a very doable drive and in a lot of ways it is simpler than flying for us. For our “ regular” week long family vacation for 4 people we always drive.
We fly if only one or two of us are going and it is usually for a shorter trip of just a few days. Also, I have only ever flown on a direct flight to Orlando. I think taking a flight that involves changing planes would take so long it would be easier to just drive.

 

[MaidMarian444]

Thanks for responding everyone! It’s just a 4-night trip and kids are missing school, so we wanted to fly this time. We booked JetBlue and will pray for mild weather!