HHI - Where do you fly into?

[Minnie824]

So, I was looking at Hilton Head and we definitely want to go there sometime, but where do you fly into? Coming from the Chicago area specifically, if anyone knows of which airlines would have direct flights to somewhere close, that would be great. I did a little searching but couldn't find anything direct.

 

[hellerjw]

The closest mid-sized cities would be Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC. Try looking for flights into those areas. I believe the drive from Savannah to the resort is about 45 miles.

 

[SusieBea]

You can fly right onto the Island, but I imagine that would be significantly more expensive. Best bet for us has always been to fly into Savannah, which is an easily navigable airport. The drive from there to the resort is then 45 minutes to an hour depending upon the time of day.

 

[GEB@okw]

Delta flies into Hilton Head but Savanah is an easy drive. We have also used Charlston. One trip we flew into SAV and returned from CHS.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

From ORD United flies N/S to Savannah, which is only an easy 45 minute drive from HHI. Also Delta & US Air fly w/ one stop and out of MDW you can fly Airtran to Savannah. US Air flies to HHI via Charlotte, but as noted above it is usually quite a bit more expensive. You will want a car anyway so SAV is an easy alternative.

Generally the flights are not usually priced super low, we go every September and usually have to pay around $260-$275 for the N/S on United. I was checking for this year and right now they are $401. They usually come down about 90 days out, but it depends on when you go, summer is prime time down there and you pay for it. If you have the time and like to see the country you can also drive. As I recall I've made it in about 17 hours from Elgin in the NW burbs.

 

[Laurabearz]

Yeah getting from Chicago to HHI is not the cheapest/fastest thing around...

We have just opted to drive it.

Sox Fan got all the details right.. United is the ONLY non stop, and you pay for it...

 

[KiminChicago]

Hey Sox Fan, when you said 17 hours, was that with stops for meals and bathroom breaks? We're planning on driving from the Elgin area to HHI for Labor Day weekend -- we have a 2 br villa for a Friday through Tuesday stay. We're thinking of leaving mid-day on Thursday, stopping for the night somewhere along the way and arriving early on Friday morning and I'm trying to get some idea of how that will work.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

Hey Sox Fan, when you said 17 hours, was that with stops for meals and bathroom breaks? We're planning on driving from the Elgin area to HHI for Labor Day weekend -- we have a 2 br villa for a Friday through Tuesday stay. We're thinking of leaving mid-day on Thursday, stopping for the night somewhere along the way and arriving early on Friday morning and I'm trying to get some idea of how that will work.

West Dundee, hey neighbor! It has been a long time since I drove it, back when the speed limit was still 55, (I'm sure we might have driven an bit faster) and now that I think about it, it may have been more like 18 then. Google says 15:45, I would think you can do it in less. As far as stops go I'm more of a stop for gas, go to the restroom, grab some food and get the heck back on the road kind of guy. If I'm gonna sit in a restaurant I could be sitting in the car making time.

If you have the time I would stop and spend the night on the way down. That way you can get there about check-in without driving all night. On the way home we just hit the road early and drove straight back. Asheville is a nice place to stop, very scenic, and you can stop and take tour of the Biltmore Mansion to see how the other 0.1% lived.

 

[RumpleMom]

We have flown to Atlanta. Mapquest says 4 hours 20 minutes to HHI.

It wasn't a bad drive. We were on 95 only for a short time.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

Did that in reverse once. Our flight from HHI was canceled due to a bird striking the plane as it left ATL. This was a Saturday in the summer and everyone is leaving so all the flights are full. Instead of waiting in line I called Airtran to see if there was a later flight from ATL. There was and she booked us on it. I was lucky enough to find a rental car that had come from ATL and had to go back so I rented it and drove to ATL, just over 5 hours with a stop for lunch. The only bad part was we hit the road right away, I figured we'd eat on the way. The interstate once you leave Savannah is BF Georgia. There was nothing. We wound up getting off at one exit and driving about 10 miles to a TGIFridays. In the end it all worked out.

 

[Disneyaholic]

We live in the NW suburbs of Atlanta and have done the drive to HH many, many times.

I-16 from Macon to Savannah is pretty desolate. It's about a 150-mile stretch.

We usually try to time the drive to be able to stop in Macon to get something to eat; or maybe I should say we stop to eat in Macon no matter what time it is because it has the best options! (Exit #169 of I-75 has several places right near the exit.) Other than that, there are only two decent exits: Dublin (which is about 50 miles outside Macon) and Metter (which is about 50 miles from I-95). Both of those exits have a few chain fast-food places close to the Interstate.

I often make the drive solo and tend to plan my stops for the Interstate rest areas, since they're normally kept pretty clean and also have security. On the way from Atlanta to HH, there are rest areas in Macon (just before the I-75/I-475 split), Dublin, and the SC Welcome Center. On the way back to Atlanta, there you have the Georgia Welcome Center and Dublin. (The one in Macon is along I-475 for northbound travelers, so you miss it.)

It's really an easy drive. There is rarely much traffic on I-16. I like to download an audio book for the trip so I don't have to play around with finding radio stations. Usually by the time the drive is over, the book is pretty much done as well!

 

[Laurabearz]

Hey Sox Fan, when you said 17 hours, was that with stops for meals and bathroom breaks? We're planning on driving from the Elgin area to HHI for Labor Day weekend -- we have a 2 br villa for a Friday through Tuesday stay. We're thinking of leaving mid-day on Thursday, stopping for the night somewhere along the way and arriving early on Friday morning and I'm trying to get some idea of how that will work.

It's 15-17 hours depending on how fast you drive, how many stops you make, and how rush hour is int he varoius citys you rive through....

We seem to luck out and not only get rain, but heavy clouds/fog as we are driving through the mountains, and that can add to the time quite a bit. Sadly I am getting used to horrid weather through the mountains

With that said, we enjoy the drive and look forward to it.