I have used SRQ but I would rather use Fort Myers Airport. I live in North Port and Fort Myers is easier to get to plus it's faster parking, checking in and returning! 5 stars for Fort Myers and 2 stars for SRQ.

The flights from SRQ are way more than $27 more than Tampa. Plus the parking is more expensive and it's not even covered! The worst part is you can never get a direct flight to where you want to go. I'd much rather drive across they bay for a cheaper direct flight. You will save time and money in the long run.

Jet Blues addition of LaGuardia disapoints. It requires people to go to and from Long Island which like JFK are in Queens County of New Yor City. Had they chosen White Plains, they would have really offered travelers from NY, CT & NY an opportunity to save a boat load of time and traffic hastles.

They'll get more traffic by lowering their landing fees, so United/Continental will restore service to Newark!!

Long term parking rates: TPA - $15 per day / SRQ - $11 per day. And smart people would generally get a ride or take a shuttle/taxi to the airport for lengthy trips to avoid parking fees, especially if SRQ is closer to home, which is the point of this effort. They are trying to get Sarasota residents to use SRQ. I also challenge anyone to truly compare the ease of use to another airport. How could anyone say that an airport is easier than SRQ? It literally takes me an average of 15 minutes from the time I pull in the airport to the time I'm at the gate I'd pay $100 more for a trip out of SRQ over TPA, and I happen to like TPA.

We love flying in and out of SRQ but are forced to go through Tampa (and to rent a car) because the non-stop flights from Boston are few and if you dont grab them months in advance the fares are prohibitive. The 1 stop flights take twice as long, so the 1 hour drive to and from Tampa is the better option.

We need new manegment at SRQ, all they do is continually TRY to get people to fly from there...now they're laying a guilt trip on us for making our own choice.
Do you know how many millions of your tax dollars are wasted at SRQ every year-with no results...it's a crime. Fire Piccolo, get a new board and start over.

I travel frequently for business and always check SRQ first as the drive is about 1/2 the time of the drive to TPA. Unfortunately, I usually need a morning flight out and an evening return flight. There are not many options out of SRQ at a reasonable price. Example: Flight to Cincinnati-SRQ - $460 Delta thru Atlanta. Tampa - $282 NON-STOP. SRQ to NYC - JetBlue doesn't have an early am flight - Tampa has several and at a lower price.
It's very considerate of Mr. Piccolo to consider the multitudes of travelers coming in to our area for spring training two months each year, but there are 10 more months. I'd like to see how many persons are coming in annually from which originating city. Yes, Tampa is a long drive, but you can get through security faster - SRQ has the slowest security I have EVER gone through, even when it isn't busy.

Would love to us SRQ, but they never have cheaper or direct flights to BWI. I have two children who are only 12 and 10 and don't want to pay the unaccompanied fee for the most airlines. But Airtran allows 12 to fly as an adult. Why are they leaving!!!

I live in Sarasota and would love to use SRQ to fly south to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. American Airlines stopped using SRQ which was an enigma because ALL of their flights were packed solid. They could not have been losing money. They actually needed larger planes to accommodate the amount of potential customers they had and maybe add another flight in the am and the pm. There are NO NO flights out of SRQ going to the Miami area and am not sure some 20-passenger plane is going to do it for me - I get claustrophobic in small planes. I hate having to drive to Tampa but it is true that the prices are cheaper. Recently, my husband and I found a one-way ticket from SRQ-ATL-STT for about $75 more than the TPA flight. We paid the extra money and was sooooo happy to leave out of SRQ. If the prices with the same airlines in TPA are so much cheaper -- WHY??? Why is it so expensive on Delta to go SRQ>ATL than TPA>ATL? SRQ desperately needs a South Florida connection. Please do that and I will use SRQ forever.

Love flying out of the SRQ, easy to reach in 15 minutes from home and never paid higher than $25.00 more for a trip to Boston, My only concern we need more Airlines with a Direct flight to Boston and I know we would have more people using SRQ for convenience.

We check the cost of using SRQ rather than TPA everytime we travel. In TPA we figure parking, the drive and time, and cost (or renting a car at each end). SRQ is chosen if within $50 per person more. SRQ rarely wins. We recently flew from Paris to Miami to TPA. Flying into SRQ would have been $700 more per person.

As snowbirds from Canada with a home in Sarasota we would love to use SQR but, as many have noted above, the fares are always more expensive than Tampa or Ft. Meyers and there are seldom any direct flights from the Niagara / Buffalo airports. SQR needs to partner with a discount airline to attract more passemger traffic.

SRQ is allways the most expensive by $200.00 or more than TPA or RSW sorry cant use it when im not a 1% er

Here's one comparison I had wrote in December when Delta said they would fly daily from SRQ to LaGuardia: "As of Tuesday night, a flight from SRQ to LaGuardia on Dec. 15 in economy class sells for $309.60 through Delta. A return flight on Dec. 17 sells for the same price. The same nonstop flight from Tampa costs $219.60." That's a $90 difference in a case scenario, admittedly during a peak travel period. The airport didn't provide us a detailed breakdown of the calculation of the averages.

I love Southwest. It's my favorite airline and it has direct flights to where my mom lives. I love to fly in and out of SRQ, but when I compare convenience on trips to visit my mom, Tampa is much more convenient with its direct flight and cheaper tickets. I do support SRQ when I can, but I won't be signing any pledges.

SRQ could have a Parking Incentive for Business Travel. One to Three Days - Parking Free in Long Term Lot. After 3 Days - Discount.
Other travelers - with Airline Ticket Discount Parking on Sliding Scale.
I can Park Offsite at Tampa for $7.00/day with one day free after 6 days. Am bussed to,and picked up, at Gate upon arrival from flight. Since it takes me from my home in Sarasota 1/2 hour to SRQ, and one and 1/4 hours to TPA, with lower costs and direct flight to Northeast from TPA, SRQ is hard to use.
Also, when people are visiting and arrive at SRQ, to only have 20 minutes free parking for pickup is cheap. Tampa allows 1 hour free !!!!!

Correction on my latest comment.

It takes me 75 minutes to get to TPA. (Not 1/4 hour as stated !).

A lot of us from Ohio would love a direct flight from Dayton to Sarasota. Something that compares with the price going into Tampa ....see what you can do...

I have flown Air Tran from Chicago Midway to SRQ. When service stops next month we will have to start flying into Tampa as non of the other airlines servicing SRQ fly out of Midway. Need more flights between MDW & SRQ.

As to my previous comment relative to SRQ Parking - It may be run by a private company, but SRQ has in their budget money collected from Parking. Therefore, I assume that SRQ could give more slack on Parking fees etc.

I have flown into SRQ for 50 years and saw the change when the airport was renovated. No longer the friendly walk to the plane kind of place. And along with the modification came the price increase and loss of airlines. I fly from Detroit and it is almost imposssible to come to SRQ. It isn't such a small town place anymore. I hate having to drive to TPA from Lido Key to catch a flight, getting there an hour and a half to two hours before flight time to get through TSA. Bring back convenient SRQ.

Update: Delta to offer direct flights to BWI, Pittsburgh airports in time for spring training http://patch.com/A-wyxY

We have been going to Srq from Bwi for 30 some years. I don't know what we will do without non-stop. The Srq airport is wonderfully bright and we love the fish. It has evolved from walking down the steps to a small hut. Any ideas on the best way to get to you in the shortest time, ?

Jeff

I fly from Reagan National non stop to SRQ for business and for pleasure. I have an office in Bradenton and a condo on Longboat Key. More people are flying direct from DCA for vacations and business. I love how easy and pleasant it is to arrive at or depart from SRQ. "Meet you at the big fish tank"

I love flying into SRQ from ATL for vacation every summer ! It's so convenient because we stay on Siesta Key. The airport is clean, beautiful, & the employees are so friendly (well except for the TSA agents). BUT this year with AirTran no longer servicing SRQ I had to look for a substitute. My options were to fly into SRQ on Delta for $320 (round trip) or fly into TPA for $96 on AirTran. Yes that's round trip ! So as much as I LOVE SRQ I have to look for the deal. Hopefully in the future there will be more economical options available.

I use SRQ almost every time I fly.....I hate driving to Tampa and I prefer our smaller airport, less craziness. However, there are not always flights available that people need.