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Non Region Specific Airport preferences based on convenience

Ogg

Skiing the powder
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Jun 3, 2017
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3,484
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Long Island, NY
Great place to live as a beach lover (surfer/fisherman/whatever)! :)

Can't have everything.
Sadly I have little interest in that stuff and would much rather spend my time in the mountains. :huh: Maybe I just burnt out on it when I was younger.
 

crosscountry

Out on the slopes
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Jun 6, 2021
Posts
1,721
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all over the place
Sadly I have little interest in that stuff and would much rather spend my time in the mountains. :huh: Maybe I just burnt out on it when I was younger.
I lived on the island for 2 years, "thanks" to work.

I wasn't too much of a water lover (can barely swim) when I got there. But I picked up on it because 1) I was indeed "stuck" (going anywhere else was a big long delay); 2) Everyone else was into boating and beach combing so I got dragged along.

By the time I left, I was into kayaking and surfing! :) Glad to leave though. ;)
 

James

Out There
Instructor
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Posts
24,420
I was feeling sorry for myself for a while there but I'm much better now. Long Island. Trapped.
Heh. Years ago had a roommate from Long Island. This was when there had been a spate of weirdos from LI making headlines. Guy who had a secret basement, Joey Buttafucco/Amy Fisher, seemed to be endless. He used to joke that it was because LI is the longest dead end.
(I did point out Florida was longer)

I have worked in VT with someone who used to take the Orient Point-New London Ferry every weekend they came up. Which was a lot, and did it for decades.

Anyway, LIRR to Jamaica, then Air Train. As the US goes, not bad.

Did the DIA train to Union Station in May 2018 when it was pretty new. I had time to kill before a flight. They let you check bags, or would hold them, forget, near the hotel at the airport. Tried that this year on arrival, no go.
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DIA End

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Before the buildings. May be houses here now. They’ve gone crazy.

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Union Station end.

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Union Station front. The Rockies play down the street.
 

Lauren

AKA elemmac
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Jun 7, 2016
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The Granite State
Haven't been on a small plane for some time, I forgot...

When you "gate check" your carry on, do you get it back when you deplane, even when you're about to get on a connecting flight?

(come to think of it, all my flights on small planes are final legs. Never gone from small plane connecting to another flight)
Sometimes you get a gate check tag and then your bag back on the jet bridge when you deplane. Sometimes they'll put a regular luggage tag on it and you need to pick it up at baggage claim at your final destination. I'm not sure what determines which one of these things happen though.

And yes...they will manage to lose a carry-on that is checked at the gate... :nono:
 

skidrew

Getting off the lift
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May 1, 2017
Posts
643
FWIW I love the regional jets, particularly the Embraer . Less time to board and deplane, travel time almost as fast as larger jets and just as comfortable IMO.
+1. It's odd that, at least in economy, the smaller the plane the more comfortable. The 2x2 seating in most RJs is better than the 3x3 seating in the typical 737/A320, which itself is better than the 3-4-3 or 3-3-3 seating crammed into many of the widebodies being flown today.
 

tball

Unzipped
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MarkP

Saturday, and Saturday, and Saturday...
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Jul 15, 2017
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1,180
Location
Maryland
Southwest is the first thing I look for ... free luggage.

Oh, you're right. It's nonstop on Southwest.

1. Southwest... free luggage
2. Nonstop if possible
3. Convenience (car rentals close to terminals, etc)

I've been fortunate (for flying) to live near BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) for the past 40 years. Southwest has grown to be the prime carrier there over that time. For much of that I had the added benefit of having an airport shuttle bus go right through my work parking lot (free, secure parking!) every 20 minutes since we provide a huge volume of passengers; sadly, over the years, non employees (pilots and flight attendants, even) learned about this sweet setup and it got to be problematic for facility security, insurance, etc. So now I have to choose between walking 10 minutes to a shuttle stop or park at the airport. Anyway, SW so far goes to everywhere I like to ski, or within an acceptable drive.

Nonstops. Denver, Albany, NY, Manchester, NH, yes. SLC, RNO, no. If there's a stop, avoid Midway at all costs in the winter.

I do like the smaller airports where I don't have to load my gear into a shuttle bus to get to a rental car. But the destination dictates the airport, not the other way around, so not a big deal. Manchester NH, Albany NY come to mind.
 

4aprice

Out on the slopes
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Apr 2, 2018
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975
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Lake Hopatcong, NJ and Granby Co
I feel pretty lucky. Live 35 minutes from Newark. At the current time really only flying to two destinations, Denver where my son lives and we now have a place up in the mountains and West Palm Beach where the family has a condo at the beach. Newark and Denver are both United hubs and there always seem to be plenty of flights on a daily basis. Did get caught by a cancellation back in May trying to get to Florida for a quick weekend but overall we are satisfied with United and plan to stay with them.

While there is a family connection in Salt Lake City which we visit every season, we keep equipment in Denver with the boy so I usually fly with my Transpack Backpack (Boots) and a smaller bag. Salt Lake is a lot more expensive flight then DIA.

One of these days we plan to get out west for entire winters and explore much more of the west by car.
 

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Team Gathermeister
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Maine
Salt Lake is a lot more expensive flight then DIA.
Yup. This is always a trade-off. SLC is SO much more convenient once you get there:
  • Super easy rental car pickup and dropoff
  • Close to skiing
  • No I70 issues (appended photo from my trip to Summit county in May)
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4aprice

Out on the slopes
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Apr 2, 2018
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975
Location
Lake Hopatcong, NJ and Granby Co
Yup. This is always a trade-off. SLC is SO much more convenient once you get there:
  • Super easy rental car pickup and dropoff
  • Close to skiing
  • No I70 issues (appended photo from my trip to Summit county in May)
View attachment 174541
I-70 can be bad but I've been in SLC when BCC/LCC and Parley's have been closed as well.
Place in the mountains so the "slog" from Denver is only up and down.
Rental car is N/A as son provides transport for now. Will get our own transportation when we start spending more time out there ( a few of more years till retirement).

Love both SLC and Denver and what's in between and around them. Got several ski safari's planned when we get out there for winters with bases in Denver,, Grand County CO, Evanston WY, and Cottonwood Heights UT. In the mean time will make as much use out of the Denver-Newark route as much as possible.

In the mean time I hope to do some safaris in "Old New England" and hit some of the good ones one last time before getting out west to ski for good.
 

New2

Out on the slopes
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Joined
May 3, 2017
Posts
728
Location
Spokane
I suspect the allure is a little less now that so many people on this site have big multipasses, but Alaska Airlines' Ski Free deals can be very nice. I've skied free at Red and Schweitzer after flying home to Spokane in recent years, and a few years back I got a free day in Utah... Snowbasin I think? https://www.alaskaair.com/content/explore/ski I think lists the '21-'22 partners... at any rate, I'd recommend double-checking any particular deal for the coming year if it's going to be a decision factor for you.

I've done ski trips through Fresno (China Peak/Badger Pass), Sacramento (Sierra-at-Tahoe), and Reno (Heavenly)... all three airports seemed very easy, and much smoother than the big-city airports that I've been to.
I was forgetting about Spokane, it has non-stop flights from most large cities in the West, and from Chicago, Minneapolis, Atlanta and DFW. I haven't actually ever flown in or out but it seems like it's easy to get around the airport, and it's under 2 hours to Schweitzer and a number of other ski areas in the region, and under 3 hours to Rossland (Red Mt) and a little over 3 hours to Nelson (Whitewater). Hmm... might have to do a mid-winter ski trip next year there just for fun, and so I can speak more authoritatively.

What becomes a stumbling block for many is connecting flights might go through Denver or SLC, and you might wonder why you aren't skiing there instead of connect to another flight and traveling an extra 1:45 to 2:30 hours. Or often flights will connect in SEA or Portland (OR) to get to Spokane.
The Spokane airport is great. They've got two terminals... the smaller one with American and Alaska is super-convenient, but even the bigger terminal with the other airlines isn't bad. And just a couple minutes to/from I-90... landing to skiing on Mt. Spokane is probably possible in just over an hour, Schweitzer in 2 hours.

We've got flights scheduled this winter to Paine Field... that probably means it's the perfect season for you to try flying into Spokane, @David Chaus
 

James

Out There
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Dec 2, 2015
Posts
24,420
Yup. This is always a trade-off. SLC is SO much more convenient once you get there:
  • Super easy rental car pickup and dropoff
  • Close to skiing
  • No I70 issues (appended photo from my trip to Summit county in May)
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That was your acclimatization time. It worked.
 

Bad Bob

I golf worse than I ski.
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Dec 2, 2015
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5,843
Location
West of CDA South of Canada
For going to regions with skiing Spokane is not bad for a 2nd tier city. Denver, Salt lake city, Reno lots of direct flights. Small enough to be easy to navigate lots of rental cars and long term parking.
If you are arriving your probably headed for Schweitzer inside 2 hours, or Red Mountain about 3 hours.
 

blue

Putting on skis
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Joined
Jul 27, 2022
Posts
171
Location
minnesota
MSP - Minneapolis Saint Paul has great layout and is extremely easy to navigate, the title did not mention it has to be a ski town.

SLC for skiing, great resorts closeby, great people in UT, better snow than most places in NA.
 

Pat AKA mustski

I can keep a Secret
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Nov 15, 2015
Posts
4,865
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Big Bear, California
Southwest Airlines is getting too expensive and not nearly as convenient as it once was.
That said… if I have to connect, I prefer Denver or Minneapolis because they have their systems down.

as much as I hate LAX, I always choose it for international travel for the advantage of direct flights. We always plan a hotel night each way and use the “cheap parking” apps which let us park at hotels for next to nothing. We’ve parked up to a month. We stay at the same hotel and use airport shuttles which makes it super easy.
 

mikel

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
Jul 3, 2016
Posts
1,882
Southwest has been reliable in Denver. Now I wonder about them. Family members flying from Tampa to Denver didn’t have much fun that not only included the flight leaving late but everyone’s baggage being left in the carts! Yep, apparently the bags were unload but they just left them in the carts. 2 hours later and a lot of unhappy passengers they got them. Around 2:00 a.m.
 

VickieH

Contrarian
Skier
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
Posts
1,928
Location
Denver area
Nonstop flights, it's the first thing I look for.

Southwest is the first thing I look for ... free luggage.

Oh, you're right. It's nonstop on Southwest

Changing my vote back ... nonstop is THE priority.

I just did a trip on Southwest. One stop with plane changes each way. The stop added 2 hours of travel time each way. Ugh.

I'm looking at United non-stop for the next trip.
 

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