MASS/NH flyers, help us please

[mbb]

So if we drive from the East Coast, we're looking at 2, maybe 3, possible scenarios...

1) Manchester with SW... parking$$, hotels and shuttles to/from the airport. Is the airport "busy", ie, really big and lots of walking?

2) Portsmouth with Allegiant...again, parking $$, hotels, and shuttles?? (found a picture of this airport on a website, and don't think we have to worry about how big it is

3)Logan with Jetblue, Delta, et al....again, any good recommendations/tips for parking, etc.. I think this might be our least desirable option

Any help is much appreciated.. Bangor is still on the list, but flights are still in the over $300 pp range, and doubtful they'll move much.

TIA!!

 

[Disneynutbsv]

So if we drive from the East Coast, we're looking at 2, maybe 3, possible scenarios...

1) Manchester with SW... parking$$, hotels and shuttles to/from the airport. Is the airport "busy", ie, really big and lots of walking?

2) Portsmouth with Allegiant...again, parking $$, hotels, and shuttles?? (found a picture of this airport on a website, and don't think we have to worry about how big it is

3)Logan with Jetblue, Delta, et al....again, any good recommendations/tips for parking, etc.. I think this might be our least desirable option

Any help is much appreciated.. Bangor is still on the list, but flights are still in the over $300 pp range, and doubtful they'll move much.

TIA!!

1. MHT is not that big, its hard to get lost in here. There is long term parking at $8/ per day. Or you can get a hotel there and they will shuttle you over to the airport and you don't have to pay parking fees.
http://www.flymanchester.com/
2. Allegiant Air in Portsmouth..I believe there are no parking fees
Not sure about Logan, never flew out of there.

oh and not sure how close you are to Vermont, but you can fly out of burlington, vt. jet blue is there also.

 

[dougsmom98]

Hi. We have flown out of MHT. It is not very big. We like to fly out of there. We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Manchester. They were running a stay, park and fly deal. We stayed over night, got free breakfast, could park our car for up to 14 days and got an airport shuttle all for $72. It was a promotion that they were running until May 14. I don't know what your travel dates are, but they may extend it so it wouldn't hurt to check.

My niece flew with Allegiant Air. She liked it. I don't think you pay for parking there. One down side to this airline is that they only fly on certain days.

Personally, I always go by prices of the flights. I can put up with all the other stuff, if I know I am getting a good deal.

 

[Jeanne B]

No parking fees at Portsmouth. We flew Allegiant last October and were very pleased with them.

Logan has become a lot more attractive to us since we discovered C&J Trailways in Portsmouth. Free parking, r/t bus fare is $39, kids ride free with paying adult and you don't have to deal with the hassle of driving into Boston or the expense of parking at Logan (and the park and fly hotels are quite pricey). www.cjtrailways.com

MHT is a great airport also - this is the airport we've flown out of the most. We've done a park and fly at Tage Inn (now a Holiday Inn I believe). They have an indoor pool and their rates were very reasonable.

I know what you mean about Bangor - it's just over an hour north of us and I would LOVE to fly out of there but I can't ever find any decent fares (maybe I don't spend enough time searching BGR fares). We usually save $200/pp or more by flying out of MHT, BOS or Portsmouth - well worth the 2-1/2 to 3 hr drive IMO.

 

[rdsx28]

Hi, I have never flown out of the other two but have flown out of Logan. Parking is totally outrageous! It will cost you a small fortune. We have started taking the logan express out of Natick to cut down on the cost. I would go with your other choices first. I do know Allegient at least out of Worcester has fairly lousy flight times and you have to fly into Sanford vs MCO so you may want to take that into consideration as well. Good Luck and have a great trip!

 

[taheenee]

Logan has become a lot more attractive to us since we discovered C&J Trailways in Portsmouth. Free parking, r/t bus fare is $39, kids ride free with paying adult and you don't have to deal with the hassle of driving into Boston or the expense of parking at Logan (and the park and fly hotels are quite pricey). www.cjtrailways.com

.

Yup!! I've done this a couple of times and it works really well.

 

[TheWog]

MHT is a great airport. Easy to get to, easy parking and easy access. You won't get lost. There is primarily one main entrance and the main stairs/escalators to get you to the gates. Very traveler friendly. Parking is reasonable as well, especially with one of the hotel deals.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I thnk as long as the dates work for you, Allegiant out of Portsmouth is your best bet. Parking is free, the airport is VERY small (Allegiant is the only airline, or only commercial airline, there) and Portsmouth is most likely your most convenient choice. Second would be Logan, using that C & J Trailways bus from Portsmouth as suggested above. Manchester airport is small - although larger than Portsmouth - and easy to get around/through. The only reason I'm placing it third of your selections is there's no super-direct route for you. You'd either have to use back roads or go somewhat out of your way to use the highways. One option you didn't mention is Portland. I don't know that the flights would be any cheaper than Bangor, but it can't hurt to investigate.

 

[Paticake]

We love flying out of Manchester. It is our first choice if possible.We had a 7:20 am flight in Jan. We stayed at the Highlander Inn at Manchester airport for $89/night. You can park at the hotel for $4/night if you stay there. they have on demand shuttle service to the terminal. If you don't stay at the hotel you can still park for $8/night or $7 if you have AAA. We are already booked again for an August trip. I highly recommend this hotel and parking!

 

[mbb]

See, this is why I love these Boards Thanks so much with your suggestions and experiences everyone

Our dates are Aug 20 - Sept 30 at WDW...and Allegiant flies those dates.. we'd like to stay a few more days, but we'd have a 14 hour drive home from BOS, and Labor Day weekend traffic to boot - so I think we're going to take the weekend to make our way home

My nephew and his wife live in Beacon Hill, and wouldn't mind "mini-van sitting", so Logan might not be so far down the list after all..

We'll see

 

[pumpkinboy]

Well, I always try to respond when someone on my buddy list need travel info. How've you been old friend?

I am sorry that Bangor has been so expensive of late. All of the options you mention are a really really long drive from Nova Scotia. One option you don't mention is flying out of Portland Maine (PWM - or the Portland International Jetport to use the complete name). Note that JetBlue now serves PWM via JFK, so that might be a decent option; I highly recommend JetBlue for decent prices and great service, tho Continental, US Air, Delta and United also fly there. PWM is a lovely little airport, among my favourites. Parking is easy and not that pricy, and it's only an extra 2.5 hours from Bangor, all of it on the highway.

You ask about Allegiant out of Portsmouth; PSM is a sweet little airport (former Air Force base), and really should have more decent flights, but it doesn't. Given Allegiant's lack of track record, and the spotty history of other charter carriers out of PSM, I don't think I would trust my money and vacation plans in their hands. It just strikes me as too risky. It would be a bit more than three extra hours after Bangor.

Manchester NH (or Manch-Vegas, as it is known locally for some reason) is your best option for non-stop flights to MCO. As far as I know, Southwest is the only airline that flies MHT-MCO non-stop. For airlines that fly connectors into MHT, the prices are now pretty close to PWM (within $20 r-t), so I would recommed skipping the extra hour in the car and just flying out of the "Jetport" in Portland if you're going with a connecting flight. For a non-stop flight, SWA is running about the same as a JetBlue connector out of PWM. It is almost 4 additional hours after Bangor to get to MHT, and not all of that is Interstate highway.

It is of course even cheaper to fly out of Boston, and you have the added advantage of plenty of non-stop flights to MCO. Now BOS will be about the same time and distance for you as MHT, just more of it will have been on the highway. However, the difference in airfare will likely be eaten up by parking and transportation charges. Your best bet in Boston would likely be a Park 'n Fly deal with one of the nearby hotels. You can get the Logan Express bus out of Peabody, right off I95 north of the city, and that would likely cut out the airport congestion and parking nonsense. Since you will have been driving all day from Nova Scotia, perhaps the overnight in Boston isn't such a bad deal, and it's only two hours more than Portland, four hours from Bangor.

I guess the question is, will it be worth it to drive the 11 hours from Nova Scotia to Boston (or MHT), add in a hotel stay, parking, wear & tear and gas to save $250 per person on your flight... or $200 per person and 9 hours for Portland... or $125 per person and 7 hours for Bangor. What you folks need is a reliable discount airline flying out of Halifax (yeah, right ), but we have only just now gotten one in Portland; maybe you all should lobby JetBlue to add service to Bangor.

Good luck with the transportation options!

 

[pumpkinboy]

I see we had a bunch more posts while I was composing my "tome of wisdom" there . Hey, if you have folks to visit in Boston. it's only a few more hours; after all that time in the car down from Nova Scotia, what is an extra hour or two? DW's Dad's people are from Digby County, so we know the Novie commute from Boston a bit. I would expect that you would want a night on either end of the trip wherever you fly out of (unless it's YHZ of course), which would enable you to take early morning and late night flights, which really bring costs down.

MBB, I have only just discovered www.Kayak.com as a means of checking airfares, and I would highly recommend them. It is not a travel agent, but rather simply a search engine. And when it finds a fare, it links you up to the website where it is being sold.

Again, I would be very careful with newer charter airlines like Allegiant, as we have seen far too many of these come and go in recent years, often leaving people stranded.

Good luck!

 

[mbb]

Thanks again, everyone!

And PWM is looking like a big winner..$254 on USAir pp, return, USD$$ - but our exchange isn't too bad right now

...and only 2 hours past BGR for a $400 difference in fares..

We really wish the Scotia Prince Ferry was still operational *That* would have been fabulous..An overnight sail from Yarmouth NS right into Portland, and a cab to the airport...oh well..maybe next year

Ditto on the www.kayak.com , pumpkinboy. They use the same search platform as www.itasoftware.com (Actually Kayak purchased the software platform from ITA..sorry, little OT stroll)

Anyway!

Thanks again for everyone's help - I think we're Florida/Free Dining bound!!