NEED ADVICE FAST: Song from BOS or SWA from PVD?

[Figment&Piglet]

HELP! I only have 'til 8:15 a.m. on Friday to make up my mind. Can anyone in the Northeast give any sage advice?

Scenario: I waited and waited for SWA to open up their schedule for Nov/Dec, and this morning around 8:15 I booked SWA for 11/27 - 12/2 from PVD-MCO, but wasn't overly thrilled with the fare ($69 on the return, but $140 on the departure!).

But now I see that Song out of BOS for the same dates and roughly the same times is a total of $200 cheaper for the 3 of us! ($486 instead of $682!)

I called SWA, and found out I do have a 24-hour grace period to cancel my SWA and get a full refund, so seriously considering switching to Song, but have to do it before 8:00 a.m. Friday.

My question for those in the NorthEast who've done both:

How much more of a hassle is traffic from BOS than PVD? Does the new T.W. tunnel make it better? We're coming in on the Pike from Central Mass, and would be flying out the Saturday after Thanksgiving at 11:25 a.m. and returning on that Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (Rush hour by the time we get our luggage and car?)

Also, parking: Found Logan Park & Go online which is only $40 more for the 6 days than parking at an off-site lot near PVD, so I'd still be in money. It's in Chelsea, I think. Is it a good place? Easy to get to from Mass Pike?

What about the security check -- much longer lines? How about Song vs. SWA? Just as good?

Anything else I should consider?

Thanks for your help!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Don't know how much help I can be even though I live in MA. Chelsea is just north of Boston so I don't think you could use the TW tunnel to get there. I don't think you'd have much trouble getting there on Sat but coming home at rush hour Thursday night might not be fun. Could you eat dinner at the airport or along RTE1 after you get your car back to avoid the rush hour traffic? You'd probably want to just get home. Maybe you could try Logan Express out of Framingham and leave the traffic headaches to someone else. Don't know what they charge for parking and then you need to pay for the bus too.

I have flown Song and was very happy with them. I'm looking forward to flying with them in Oct. They didn't have the TVs when we flew with them in Jan.

I've never flown SW or anyone out of PVD. I wouldn't like that SW doesn't assign seats but others deal with it.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[Bo'sMom]

If you can get the off site parking cheap enough, go out of Boston. I love flying out of Providence, but I'm south of Boston, so for me, it makes sense. However, Song is a great airline and getting rave reviews. If it were me, and I could save $200.00, I'd definitely fly out of Boston.

 

[debster812]

Logan is getting easier and easier to get to. I would suggest that if you are coming in from Central Mass, to look into the Logan Express out of Framingham. You park your car there, and take the bus in and out of the airport.

We have flown Song, SWA, and JetBlue in the past year. All of them were fine. If you are going to save serious cash, I say go for Logan.

I'm also going to make you more crazy here. Check out JetBlue's fares as well. They have similar flight times to Song, and I just priced 3 tickets for your dates, and came up with $486 as well. Given a choice out of Logan, I would do JetBlue over Song.

Good Luck!

 

[TammiMcMan]

Hi there, I actually drive the TW tunnel every day and it's great. I live on the North Shore and it cuts my commuting time in half. I also love Song airlines. They are very comparable to JetBlue, but I like their TV program options a little bit better and they offer food for purchase. You really can't go wrong with either one.

The past few times that I've flown out of Logan, the security lines haven't been bad at all. They have a system, that if it does start getting crowded, they will only allow passengers through that are within an hour of their flight. No problem though, there are plenty of spots to grab a drink or snack while you wait.

Have you checked out the parking at Logan? They have an economy lot right inside the airport and you can park there for a maximum of 6 days. You can check out their website at www.massport.com but I believe their rates may be lower than the Logan Park & Fly. As for the convenience of the park & fly, instead of exiting towards the airport from the TW tunnel, you stay on the Mass Pike, which becomes 1A. There's an exit for route 145 about a mile down the road and the park & fly is fairly close.

Hope that helps.

Tammi