OT -Portland, Maine

[maciec]

Can someone tell me why it is so expensive to fly in and out of Portland, Maine?

I just can't catch a break flying there and we are flexible with our dates In December and January.

I would be flying out of BWI if that's any help.

 

[salmoneous]

Lack of competition will do that to an airport. One option is to check Manchester, NH. It's about 1 1/2 - 2 hours from Portland and has direct SW flights from BWI (so you should be able to find a good price) and won't take you any longer than a non-direct flight to ME.

 

[mbb]

We use www.kayak.com

Great search engine to help find cheaper flights. SW isn't on it, though.

HTH!!

 

[Tinkim]

If you're willing to fly into Manchester as another poster suggested, I am seeing prices for Southwest for $49 Baltimore to Manchester each way every day in December except for the 22nd. Might want to check that out. The drive from Manchester to Portland isn't too bad. HTH

 

[kaytieeldr]

What about Amtrak to Boston, then fly from Logan to BWI? There's a train that runs between Boston and Portland several times a day...

 

[winterman]

Several options: Fly to Manchester & drive to Portland
Fly to Boston and bus to Portland
Fly to Boston and train to Portland

If it is any consolation: Portland is in very southern Maine, Try pricing an airfare from Bangor which services Central & Northern Maine. That's EXPENSIVE!

 

[maciec]

Flying into Manchester is easy from BWI. The problem that we face is that we have to drive 2.5 hours to get to BWI, fly to Manchester and then drive another 90 minutes to my in-laws house in Raymond, ME.

By the time that we take the drive to Baltimore, wait for the plane, fly to Manchester, wait for luggage, and then drive to Raymond, we could have driven there. Well, give or take a couple of hours (we drive through the night so the kids can sleep).

We were hoping that one day we could just fly right into Portland without the extra drive. What would even be better is if USAir (the only carrier out of our rinky-dink airport) would lower their rates flying to Portland. It stinks being a dreamer sometimes

 

[maine_jennifer]

My only other suggestion would be to try to see if you can get a flight to Boston, then use the Concord Trailways bus to Portland. Course, you'd still have to find a rental car and drive to Raymond, unless you had someone meet you there. Which would be a pain in the butt.

Sometimes you have to pay extra for convenience. I fly from PWM to MCO even though it's more expensive simply because I hate having to deal with the drive to Manchester or Boston.

Good Luck!

 

[snowbunny]

Flying out of Portland has become more reasonable with Jet Blue. Our PWM-MCO flights next month are $99 down and $59 back

 

[mbb]

MAybe this will make you feel better...

We're driving to Portland to fly JetBlue for our trip this Christmas.

We live in Nova Scotia.

It's a 12 hour drive to Portland.

To fly from our local airport - Halifax International -would cost approx $3200.

We're thrilled to be paying $99OW

We too, dream about the day that low cost airfares become available here in Canada!! LOL!!

Have a great day - good luck finding fares!!

 

[tracys2cents]

Don't all the planes from Baltimore to Portland have a connection somewhere? There isn't any nonstop service, is there? So Manchester is definitely the best bet for the savings. Yes you have a 1.5 hour drive to Portland, but you are saving that time by not having to make a connection in Newark or Philly or Boston or wherever.

How about Dulles? Doesn't Washington Dulles have nonstops to Portland? Can you drive to Dulles?

 

[maciec]

Don't all the planes from Baltimore to Portland have a connection somewhere? There isn't any nonstop service, is there? So Manchester is definitely the best bet for the savings. Yes you have a 1.5 hour drive to Portland, but you are saving that time by not having to make a connection in Newark or Philly or Boston or wherever.

How about Dulles? Doesn't Washington Dulles have nonstops to Portland? Can you drive to Dulles?

Yes, we can drive 3 hours to Dulles, but it's really not worth our time to do so. It's hard enough to drive the 2.5 hours to Baltimore.

We don't care about having a layover somewhere. We are just looking for ease and a lower price.

 

[simba2]

I share in your frustration with PWM. It would be easier for us to fly out of Portland, but there are no direct flights anymore. We were excited to have JetBlue come to town recently, but all their flights stop in LaGuardia. I'd rather drive the 1 1/2 hrs. to Manchester and get a direct flight rather than lay over in NY. I wish SWA would come to Portland. They certainly would give these other airlines a run for their money. Flying from Portland is so inconvenient and so expensive.

 

[yayagoofy]

You can fly from Portsmouth, NH, to the Sanford Orlando airport on Allegiant Airlines.

 

[maciec]

I share in your frustration with PWM. It would be easier for us to fly out of Portland, but there are no direct flights anymore. We were excited to have JetBlue come to town recently, but all their flights stop in LaGuardia. I'd rather drive the 1 1/2 hrs. to Manchester and get a direct flight rather than lay over in NY. I wish SWA would come to Portland. They certainly would give these other airlines a run for their money. Flying from Portland is so inconvenient and so expensive.

That would be wonderful! I would make the drive to Baltimore then!

 

[MPeter]

You can fly from Portsmouth, NH, to the Sanford Orlando airport on Allegiant Airlines.

Careful though. Allegiant just announced they are cutting all flights to Orlando for Sept 21 until around Thanksgiving. They claim they will not pull out of Portsmouth completely, like they recently did in Worcester, but time will tell.

 

[tracys2cents]

Huh? You can get nonstop, cheaper flights into DULLES, but you don't want to drive the 30 minutes longer that it is than Baltimore?

You'd rather take connecting flights to Baltimore and risk missing a connection etc? Connecting flights to Baltimore take a lot longer than the 30-minutes-longer drive to Dulles!

Am I missing something here???????

 

[snowbunny]

I share in your frustration with PWM. It would be easier for us to fly out of Portland, but there are no direct flights anymore. We were excited to have JetBlue come to town recently, but all their flights stop in LaGuardia. I'd rather drive the 1 1/2 hrs. to Manchester and get a direct flight rather than lay over in NY. I wish SWA would come to Portland. They certainly would give these other airlines a run for their money. Flying from Portland is so inconvenient and so expensive.

Actually JetBlue connects though JFK not LaGuardia, and all the departures are in the same terminal there. I'm finding it quite reasonable cost wise - $99 down and $59 back. The drive to Manchester is long, boring, and heavily trafficked, I'm glad to be able to avoid it now.

 

[tracys2cents]

"The drive to Manchester is long, boring, and heavily trafficked"

Well, the FLIGHT to JFK is just as long, just as boring, and with much more chance of delay and lost luggage. If the Jet blue fares are low it's probably a tossup, but when you can save $75 per person by driving to Manchester, it's a no-brainer, especially if there are 4 people traveling.

60 minute FLIGHT to JFK and needing to arrive 1 hour before flight time, plus a one hour layover at JFK equals 3 hours to fly versus 2 hours to drive.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Actually JetBlue connects though JFK not LaGuardia, and all the departures are in the same terminal there. I'm finding it quite reasonable cost wise - $99 down and $59 back. The drive to Manchester is long, boring, and heavily trafficked, I'm glad to be able to avoid it now.

I flew JetBlue from PWM to MCO twice last month. They have free wi-fi in their gate areas and the layovers really aren't that bad. My first flight, I walked off the plane, went to the restroom, and got in line at the same gate to get back on the same plane. Within 15 minutes they started boarding again. It was great. Will be flying JetBlue PWM to MCO again in two weeks. I would MUCH rather fly JetBlue than make the drive anywhere. At least there's options out there for everyone to choose what they prefer.