• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Ideas for Best Way to Drive from Michigan to Bonita Springs FL in March?

Sugarcubesea

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
4,029
Reaction score
2,939
Points
449
Location
Novi, Michigan
Resorts Owned
QH, HBC, VBHC, & Pinestead Reef
Need some help everyone.

I have been looking for a reasonable flight for over 7 months now for March 25 to April 1. I have the Hyatt Coconut Beach Plantation Booked but the cheapest airfare I can find is $1,047 per person for the flight. I have looked at flying from DTW - Detroit (the airport I normally fly from), GRR-Grand Rapids, FNT - Flint and they are all in the $1K range for round trip.

So I am resigned to drive down. For those that have made this drive, is the best route, to start early in the am and drive from MI to GA (thinking of trying to get to Locust Grove GA and spending the night.

I'm open to any and all suggestions and if anyone has any ideas on other airports to try to book out of, I'm open to that idea...
 

moonstone

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
2,761
Reaction score
2,766
Points
599
Location
Moonstone, ON
Resorts Owned
The Beach Club at St. Augustine Beach, FL (1 floating week, purchased in 1982)

77,000 RCI points (Sunrise Ridge Resort, TN)
It appears that Novi, MI is right near I-75, so the best, most direct route would be I-75 all the way to Bonita Springs! Locust Grove GA (just south of Atlanta) is about a 11hr, 20 min drive time (not including stops) from Novi according to Google Maps. Be sure to time your drive to avoid going through Atlanta on a weekday during rush hours. I hear Sunday mornings are good! From there you will just have an 8 hr drive to Bonita Springs.

We live north of Toronto and much prefer driving to Florida rather than flying. It is a 20hr drive (not including stops) to our condo in St. Augustine for us and we do it in a day and a half. By the time we drive to the airport to get there 3 hrs ahead of the flight time, after parking the car, fly down, get a rental car and drive to our destination we could be more than 1/2 way there if we were driving. Plus by driving we can bring as much stuff as we want and not worry about lost luggage or liquids in carry-ons. We (I) pack a lunch, drinks and snacks for the road and we look for a the cheapest clean motel we can find since we only spend about 8 or 9 hours in the room. With the high cost of airfare and rental cars, driving down is a no-brainer for us.


~Diane
 

b2bailey

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2007
Messages
3,682
Reaction score
2,620
Points
598
Location
Santa Cruz CA
Need some help everyone.

I have been looking for a reasonable flight for over 7 months now for March 25 to April 1. I have the Hyatt Coconut Beach Plantation Booked but the cheapest airfare I can find is $1,047 per person for the flight. I have looked at flying from DTW - Detroit (the airport I normally fly from), GRR-Grand Rapids, FNT - Flint and they are all in the $1K range for round trip.

So I am resigned to drive down. For those that have made this drive, is the best route, to start early in the am and drive from MI to GA (thinking of trying to get to Locust Grove GA and spending the night.

I'm open to any and all suggestions and if anyone has any ideas on other airports to try to book out of, I'm open to that idea...
I am shocked by this airfare.
 

rapmarks

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
4,764
Points
649
Terrible price for airfare. 75 all the way and get in the hov lane to go through Atlanta. We always had more traffic north of Atlanta and south of Atlanta and kept a pretty good speed through Atlanta in the Nov lane. If you do have 11 hours to at,Antarctic, you will miss rush hours
 

Snazzylass

Guest
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
Messages
945
Reaction score
878
Points
153
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Resorts Owned
Sedona Pines
Son2 who lives in the Midwest was explaining to me last fall that airlines have changed their pricing model. Previously, it was rather flat, and let's face it, business travel isn't what it used to be. This may be what forced airlines to update pricing. For years, business travelers supported us vacationers.

He told me that airfare to FL is dramatically higher due to high demand this time of year. A friend here wanted to fly to Nashville for a family wedding and it was $1k per person from Phx. Nashville is another popular destination. I think of it as the new Las Vegas...very popular with the younger set. Funny, back in the day, it seemed flights to LV were cheap! Thanks, again to convention/business travelers.
 

elaine

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
5,174
Reaction score
2,093
Points
648
Location
DC
Resorts Owned
HGVC Eagles Nest, DVC-AKV, HHI
Did you you try Tampa, Orlando, Miami, palm beach, Ft. Lauderdale? All except mco are 2-2.5 hrs.
 

bnoble

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
11,627
Reaction score
5,364
Points
798
Location
The People's Republic of Ann Arbor
Spring airfare is definitely higher, and not just to FL. We are going to Oceanside for my son's spring break week at UCLA, and airfares have hovered around $1K-$1.2K round trip from DTW, unless I want to fly Spirit. I do not want to fly Spirit. I'm going to play the waiting game until 30 days, and then I'll take what I can get.

I did manage to catch a dip in prices to MCO for another March week. The Google Flights alerts were very helpful.
 
Last edited:

Sugarcubesea

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
4,029
Reaction score
2,939
Points
449
Location
Novi, Michigan
Resorts Owned
QH, HBC, VBHC, & Pinestead Reef
I am shocked by this airfare.
@b2bailey, I have been shocked as well. Hubby got all excited found a flight on Allegiant, then added in the cost of 1 large suitcase for us and both of us bringing down our computers, (work computer for me and personal for him) and the flight was right up there...

I refuse to fly allegiant, as the one time I did for business I was stuck in the outbound location for an extra two days, the President, has never again tried to put me on that airline again to save money... I missed two important meetings that cost the company more money because I was not there in person
 

Sugarcubesea

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
4,029
Reaction score
2,939
Points
449
Location
Novi, Michigan
Resorts Owned
QH, HBC, VBHC, & Pinestead Reef
Spring airfare is definitely higher, and not just to FL. We are going to Oceanside for my son's spring break week at UCLA, and airfares have hovered around $1K-$1.2K round trip from DTW, unless I want to fly Spirit. I do not want to fly Spirit. I'm going to play the waiting game until 30 days, and then I'll take what I can get.

I did manage to catch a dip in prices to MCO for another March week. The Google Flights alerts were very helpful.
Thanks, I'm going to set up more Google Flight Alerts
 

bnoble

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
11,627
Reaction score
5,364
Points
798
Location
The People's Republic of Ann Arbor
One year we drove to Columbus to get to MCO via Southwest. Depending on how badly you want to avoid that drive, that's an option. CLE is also in range. Once you commit to two days each way, there's no reason not to consider staying overnight near another airport a little farther away to get there and back.

My mom snowbirds in Tampa, and I've helped her drive it when she doesn't have someone else going with her. It's an awkward distance. It's a hard drive to do in two days, (at least for me), but three days is longer than it needs to be.
 

MrockStar

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
4,926
Reaction score
2,607
Points
348
Location
Detroit MI
Was going to suggest Alligiant, but see what happened on your two day delay. Sorry that happened. We love their direct reasonable flights to smaller airports and bags are free for retired military. YMMV.
 

Sugarcubesea

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
4,029
Reaction score
2,939
Points
449
Location
Novi, Michigan
Resorts Owned
QH, HBC, VBHC, & Pinestead Reef
@Kozman thanks for the heads up about flying out of Dayton, OH, have been travelling for work so did not see this post till today...just set up a google search for that airport...
 

pierrepierre

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2017
Messages
188
Reaction score
127
Points
154
Location
Alden, MI
Resorts Owned
Palace Resorts
Check out Alligiant airlines.......however at this point, it is Spring Break and you'd be lucky to find any affordable seats.
 

rickandcindy23

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
31,892
Reaction score
8,998
Points
1,049
Location
The Centennial State
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge,Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau;Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms; WKORV-OF (2),Westin Desert Willow.
We like the drive. Enjoy it more than flying and renting a car, which all takes so much time. But this last trip we hit some pretty severe weather through Kansas.

We planned to go to Orlando again in April, and Rick is looking at another drive. He will be away from home a long time, if we drive, and he will worry about the yard the entire time.

I so want to move into a shiny new house with almost no yard, maybe just a big deck and rock all around it.
 

louisianab

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Messages
383
Reaction score
304
Points
173
Location
Michigan
Resorts Owned
SVV and Vacation Village at Williamsburg.
It appears that Novi, MI is right near I-75, so the best, most direct route would be I-75 all the way to Bonita Springs! Locust Grove GA (just south of Atlanta) is about a 11hr, 20 min drive time (not including stops) from Novi according to Google Maps. Be sure to time your drive to avoid going through Atlanta on a weekday during rush hours. I hear Sunday mornings are good! From there you will just have an 8 hr drive to Bonita Springs.

We live north of Toronto and much prefer driving to Florida rather than flying. It is a 20hr drive (not including stops) to our condo in St. Augustine for us and we do it in a day and a half. By the time we drive to the airport to get there 3 hrs ahead of the flight time, after parking the car, fly down, get a rental car and drive to our destination we could be more than 1/2 way there if we were driving. Plus by driving we can bring as much stuff as we want and not worry about lost luggage or liquids in carry-ons. We (I) pack a lunch, drinks and snacks for the road and we look for a the cheapest clean motel we can find since we only spend about 8 or 9 hours in the room. With the high cost of airfare and rental cars, driving down is a no-brainer for us.


~Diane
I live on the other side of MI, so we go Indy to Louisville then onto 75. It's really the only way to go. We did the drive in 2021 to Sanibel and I did it about 10x as a kid on Spring Break.
 

yodaDaenerys

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2022
Messages
89
Reaction score
32
Points
78
Resorts Owned
HGVC Orlando
HGV Max
have you checked flying from cleveland, chicago or toronto? i've found those cheaper than DTW at times.
 

Sugarcubesea

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
4,029
Reaction score
2,939
Points
449
Location
Novi, Michigan
Resorts Owned
QH, HBC, VBHC, & Pinestead Reef
We like the drive. Enjoy it more than flying and renting a car, which all takes so much time. But this last trip we hit some pretty severe weather through Kansas.

We planned to go to Orlando again in April, and Rick is looking at another drive. He will be away from home a long time, if we drive, and he will worry about the yard the entire time.

I so want to move into a shiny new house with almost no yard, maybe just a big deck and rock all around it.
@rickandcindy23, I was the same way when we had our big house, I was always worried about the house, something would break, the snow shoveling, grass cutting etc. We downsized last year into a condo in MI and I have never been happier, all those worries are now gone and I can enjoy the weekends a bit more...
 

Sugarcubesea

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
4,029
Reaction score
2,939
Points
449
Location
Novi, Michigan
Resorts Owned
QH, HBC, VBHC, & Pinestead Reef
Check out Alligiant airlines.......however at this point, it is Spring Break and you'd be lucky to find any affordable seats.
I have been looking since I booked this trip last April, back in April and May of 2022, the prices were all at $1.5K-$1.7K, they have now dropped to the $1K price point or sometimes I see when I search I can get an 12 or 18 hour flight for $850 round trip at that point is when we said we would drive if we had to still pay that high of a price and it take that many hours...
 

rapmarks

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
4,764
Points
649
I have been looking since I booked this trip last April, back in April and May of 2022, the prices were all at $1.5K-$1.7K, they have now dropped to the $1K price point or sometimes I see when I search I can get an 12 or 18 hour flight for $850 round trip at that point is when we said we would drive if we had to still pay that high of a price and it take that many hours...
Right. Suggestions that you drive three hours to an airport and then another three hours from the arrival airport just don’t make sense
 

Quilter

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
3,368
Reaction score
784
Points
498
Location
Plymouth, MI
Just sent you a PM that I looked on Expedia and jet blue has $570 roundtrip.

Sorry, I thought it was your dates but Expedia changes dates to what's available and it was a day early in both directions. In fact, did a couple more searches via United and Southwest and it looks like prices are much different going mid-week to mid-week. Instead of the days on the road you could have extra days in Florida exploring things you haven't seen before. This is when those free nights from credit cards (like Hyatt) come in handy.

We live in Plymouth, MI and drive to our timeshare in Palm Beach Shores, FL. I was going to say we don't use 75. Years ago I decided to make the days on the road part of the vacation. It changed my outlook on such a long drive. Our daughter found a route through Ohio that we like so much better. 23; 35; 77; 26; 95 to 75. Time on the road is comparable. There are tolls. The scenery is beautiful. We have regular stops for food, starting with the Whole Foods in Columbus. 3 hours from home, perfect time for brunch, hot bar, quick in an out with no waitress or kitchen hassles. We can buy snacks to get us through to next stop which is Tamarack in Beckley. Delicious food and their marketplace is an interesting art gallery. We generally spend the night in the area. Savannah is another 7-1/2 hours. Have nice dinner and spend the night. The rest of the trip is about 7 hours.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 3, 2019
Messages
101
Reaction score
36
Points
89
Resorts Owned
vacation village parkway and links golf and raquet
It appears that Novi, MI is right near I-75, so the best, most direct route would be I-75 all the way to Bonita Springs! Locust Grove GA (just south of Atlanta) is about a 11hr, 20 min drive time (not including stops) from Novi according to Google Maps. Be sure to time your drive to avoid going through Atlanta on a weekday during rush hours. I hear Sunday mornings are good! From there you will just have an 8 hr drive to Bonita Springs.

We live north of Toronto and much prefer driving to Florida rather than flying. It is a 20hr drive (not including stops) to our condo in St. Augustine for us and we do it in a day and a half. By the time we drive to the airport to get there 3 hrs ahead of the flight time, after parking the car, fly down, get a rental car and drive to our destination we could be more than 1/2 way there if we were driving. Plus by driving we can bring as much stuff as we want and not worry about lost luggage or liquids in carry-ons. We (I) pack a lunch, drinks and snacks for the road and we look for a the cheapest clean motel we can find since we only spend about 8 or 9 hours in the room. With the high cost of airfare and rental cars, driving down is a no-brainer for us.


~Diane
have you tried flights to orlando or miami, or tampa?
 

moonstone

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
2,761
Reaction score
2,766
Points
599
Location
Moonstone, ON
Resorts Owned
The Beach Club at St. Augustine Beach, FL (1 floating week, purchased in 1982)

77,000 RCI points (Sunrise Ridge Resort, TN)
have you tried flights to orlando or miami, or tampa?
Yes, we have priced them all. Orlando is usually the cheapest. We live about 2hrs north of Toronto and our condo and home timeshare is in St. Augustine Beach. So we have close to a 2hr drive (if no traffic/weather issues) to get to YYZ, park the car and get the shuttle to the airport, need to be there 3hrs ahead of International flights, then a 3hr flight, time to get luggage, a rental car, drive time to the condo or timeshare and we are looking at close to 10hrs. We spend about the cost of 1 airfare on gas, a motel in each direction, and meals, to drive down and back. We still prefer to drive so we can bring or take home what we want and save money to spend on more vacations. The time it takes to drive down isnt an issue for us since we are retired and consider the drive as part of our vacation.

~Diane
 

Sugarcubesea

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2014
Messages
4,029
Reaction score
2,939
Points
449
Location
Novi, Michigan
Resorts Owned
QH, HBC, VBHC, & Pinestead Reef
@moonstone, we have made the decision to drive down, as we can leave when when we want on that Thursday after I work, I will probably go in early and leave early to get a head start. @Quilter gave me a nice route to try and places to stop at, so I'm now very excited about this drive
 
Top