I’ve lived in Miami for many years, and I recently wrote about how Miami International Airport (MIA) is kind of awful (to acknowledge the obvious). However, I still go out of my way to fly out of there rather than Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), so I wanted to talk about that in a bit more detail in this post.
Admittedly flying out of Fort Lauderdale can often expand options in terms of airlines, fares, etc., but it takes a lot for me to choose to fly out of there. In this post I wanted to share my take on why I take that approach. After all, I know a lot of people traveling to Miami try to decide between the airport options, and wonder if Fort Lauderdale is materially less convenient than Miami.
Why I prefer flying out of Miami over Fort Lauderdale
I have a strong preference for flying out of Miami rather than Fort Lauderdale. It’s not that I’m unwilling to fly to or from Fort Lauderdale, but rather there has to be a compelling reason for me to choose to fly out of FLL over MIA. Why? Let me explain…
Miami is so much more convenient
I live 10 minutes from MIA without traffic (and I usually fly early in the morning, when there’s no traffic). Otherwise, never in my life have I lived less than 30 minutes from an airport, and I can’t even begin to say how convenient that is. It’s one part of my travel journey that causes zero stress.
I can leave for the airport an hour before departure, and still get to my gate before boarding starts. If I’m picking up Ford from the airport, I usually leave home a few minutes after he touches down to pick him up, and then it’s timed perfectly.
Living so close to a major global airport truly is one of my favorite things about living in Miami, and for that matter, is one of my favorite aspects of the airport. From where I live, it’s an extra 20 miles to get to Fort Lauderdale, and that’s quite a difference in terms of convenience factor.
For example, as I write this post, my phone says it would be 10 minutes to MIA, while it would take 34 minutes to get to FLL. During busier traffic periods, that difference can be significantly bigger.
Admittedly not everyone lives in the same area, and some people live to the north of Miami, where FLL may even be equally convenient. But if you live in the south of Miami, or in Brickell, Downtown, Midtown, etc., there’s a huge convenience factor.
Driving to Fort Lauderdale scares the heck out of me
One thing I don’t love about Miami (and Fort Lauderdale, and the entire area) is the drivers. I’m convinced this region has the worst drivers of anywhere in the world I’ve ever been.
Here’s the thing — I can totally adapt to just about any driving style, but the problem with South Florida is the variety of drivers. It’s like combining the driving style of The Villages with the driving style of Bogota or Caracas. It’s just awful.
In particular, I-95 between Miami and Fort Lauderdale has to be one of the least pleasant stretches of highway out there. The drivers are horrendous, there’s not proper separation between lanes, and more often than not I feel grateful to get off the highway alive.
It’s rare I don’t see a major accident or a major appliance falling out of someone’s pick-up truck on this stretch of highway. Honestly, driving to Fort Lauderdale gives me anxiety, and I’m so much more at ease if I can avoid it.
Lastly, there’s no practical public transportation alternative. I adore the Brightline, but that would require first getting to the Brightline station in Miami, and then getting from the Brightline station in Fort Lauderdale to the airport. The entire process probably triples travel time.
American has a great network out of Miami
While I’m hardly a cheerleader for American, there’s no denying that American has a solid network out of Miami, whether you’re looking to fly domestically, to Latin America, etc. The airline has become pretty operationally reliable, and at least offers high speed Wi-Fi, which are honestly the two things I probably value most.
Furthermore, nowadays I avoid connections whenever possible, so American can get you nonstop just about anywhere. I also appreciate how American operates quite a few wide body jets on domestic flights, which is a great way to get a comfortable ride even on a shorter flight.
Furthermore, unlike some other fortress hubs, pricing out of Miami generally isn’t that crazy, as there’s still a fair bit of competition.
Miami has better lounge options than Fort Lauderdale
Miami’s lounge options are far from great. If you’re departing from Concourse D, there’s the Amex Centurion Lounge, American Admirals Club, American Flagship Lounge, and Turkish Airlines Lounge (well, in Concourse E, but it’s connected airside).
Frankly I barely ever use these lounges, and that’s because when departing from Miami, I can just time my arrival at the airport so that I get there shortly before boarding.
Traffic up to Fort Lauderdale is much less predictable, so I’d have to leave more of a buffer. Unfortunately the lounge situation there isn’t quite as good.
There’s a Delta Sky Club and United Club if flying with those airlines or their partners, but the only accessible lounge when flying American is potentially the Escape Lounge, where there’s often a line to get in. So I do prefer how I can at least pretty reliably access lounges in Miami.
When I’ll consider flying out of Fort Lauderdale
Like I said, it’s not that I’m unwilling to fly out of Fort Lauderdale, but I just strongly prefer Miami. So, under what circumstances will I fly out of Fort Lauderdale? Here are some general considerations:
- I’m more likely to consider flying out of Fort Lauderdale for a very early morning flight or on the weekends, when traffic to get there isn’t as bad
- The savings would need to be substantial (let’s say $100+) for me to consider it, without sacrificing convenience (if an extra connection is required, the difference would need to be greater)
- I mainly consider Fort Lauderdale in situations where there’s award availability from that airport, or where I can secure first class at a reasonable price, but the same isn’t available from Miami
Bottom line
It’s not that I’m unwilling to fly out of Fort Lauderdale, but to me there’s something so nice about being just 10 minutes from a major global airport, where you can hop on a nonstop flight to many destinations. Not only does it take more time to get there (and is more expensive if using ride share), but I-95 also scares the hell out of me.
To other 305ers, where do you stand on this? Under what circumstances do you choose FLL over MIA?
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