stever

So I'm planning another trip out west to do 6 more state high points. I've done 35 so far and this trip I plan to fly into Denver from DC, drive straight to ND to hike that the 2nd day, SD's highest pt the 3rd day, then NE, KS, OK and finally NM. I've been watching Southwest Air and Frontier Air. The rates are all over the place. 3 weeks ago the best price I could get was $410 RT surprisingly enough. Then a couple weeks later it was $340 RT. Yesterday Southwest Air dropped priced to $144 each way so $288 RT. Pretty great price so I thought.

I was thinking of locking in. I know they in theory they give you a credit if the prices go lower but that means nothing to me. I usually lose credits or forget about them. Just looking for advice on when to buy, how low can things go, etc. Is this a great price for a RT flight from DC to Denver?

Is it too early to buy for August 5th, when I need the flight? Leaving 8/5 and returning 8/15.

2 1/2 weeks later I"ll fly back to Las Vegas to do AR and NV's highest points. So excited. In a perfect world I'll be at 43 state points by the end of the year. By 1998 736 people had summited Mt Everest. A year later, less than 100 people had done all the 50 state high points. So which is the bigger adventure?

Thanks in advance,
Steve R
Gaithersburg MD


PS - Here's the full list and my goal is to do at least 46 or 47 of them by the time I die...


U.S. State High Points

Rank State Peak Elev-Ft Range (Level 3)
1. Alaska Mount McKinley 20,320 Alaska Range
2. California Mount Whitney 14,495 Sierra Nevada
3. Colorado Mount Elbert 14,433 Southern Rocky Mountains
4. Washington Mount Rainier 14,411 Cascade Range
5. Wyoming Gannett Peak 13,804 Greater Yellowstone Rockies
6. Hawaii Mauna Kea 13,796 Hawaii
7. Utah Kings Peak 13,528 Western Rocky Mountains
8. New Mexico Wheeler Peak 13,161 Southern Rocky Mountains
9. Nevada Boundary Peak 13,140 Great Basin Ranges
10. Montana Granite Peak 12,799 Greater Yellowstone Rockies
11. Idaho Borah Peak 12,662 Idaho-Bitterroot Rocky Mountains
12. Arizona Humphreys Peak 12,633 Colorado Plateau
13. Oregon Mount Hood 11,239 Cascade Range
14. Texas Guadalupe Peak 8749 Southwest Basins and Ranges
15. South Dakota Harney Peak 7242 Great Plains
16. North Carolina Mount Mitchell 6684 Blue Ridge Mountains
17. Tennessee Clingmans Dome 6643 Blue Ridge Mountains
18. New Hampshire Mount Washington 6288 Northern U.S. Appalachians
19. Virginia Mount Rogers 5729 Blue Ridge Mountains
20. Nebraska Panorama Point 5426 Great Plains
21. New York Mount Marcy 5344 Canadian Shield
22. Maine Katahdin 5268 Northern U.S. Appalachians
23. Oklahoma Black Mesa 4973 Great Plains
24. West Virginia Spruce Knob 4861 Appalachian Plateaus
25. Georgia Brasstown Bald 4784 Blue Ridge Mountains
26. Vermont Mount Mansfield 4393 Northern U.S. Appalachians
27. Kentucky Black Mountain 4139 Appalachian Plateaus
28. Kansas Mount Sunflower 4039 Great Plains
29. South Carolina Sassafras Mountain 3554 Blue Ridge Mountains
30. North Dakota White Butte 3506 Great Plains
31. Massachusetts Mount Greylock 3488 Northern U.S. Appalachians
32. Maryland Backbone Mountain 3360 Appalachian Plateaus
33. Pennsylvania Mount Davis 3213 Appalachian Plateaus
34. Arkansas Magazine Mountain 2753 Ozark Highlands
35. Alabama Cheaha Mountain 2405 Appalachian Ridges
36. Connecticut Mount Frissell-South Slope 2372 Northern U.S. Appalachians
37. Minnesota Eagle Mountain 2301 Midwest-Great Lakes Area
38. Michigan Mount Arvon 1978 Midwest-Great Lakes Area
39. Wisconsin Timms Hill 1951 Midwest-Great Lakes Area
40. New Jersey High Point 1803 Appalachian Ridges
41. Missouri Taum Sauk Mountain 1772 Ozark Highlands
42. Iowa Hawkeye Point 1670 Great Plains
43. Ohio Campbell Hill 1549 Midwest-Great Lakes Area
44. Indiana Hoosier Hill 1257 Midwest-Great Lakes Area
45. Illinois Charles Mound 1235 Midwest-Great Lakes Area
46. Rhode Island Jerimoth Hill 812 Northern U.S. Appalachians
47. Mississippi Woodall Mountain 806 Appalachian Plateaus
48. Louisiana Driskill Mountain 535 Ozark Highlands
49. Delaware Ebright Azimuth 442 Northern U.S. Appalachians
50. Florida Britton Hill 345 Piedmont-Southeast Coast

obxgirl

I think it's a good price. I've seen better but not enormously better. Normally I'd say April is a little early to lock into an August trip but in the current context of upward fuel prices, you might be wise to just grab it.

Have you checked Frontier?

Your list is very cool. Best of luck as you go about checking off the destinations.

stever

Thanks for the quick reply. Guess I should have grabbed it. It's gone like the wind from just yesterday and the prices are back up again on Southwest! I need to watch it better and jump on it next time. I actually would prefer to pay a bit more and do Frontier because they have a non-stop that leaves from DC instead of BWI or Dulles and I don't have to pay to park since I can take metro to the airport, saving me $100 in parking fees for the 10 days.

Yep, that logic actually cinches it. I have to fly Frontier out of DC now, not Southwest. It's one less thing I have to check now - another airline's website. I can focus all my energy on that one airline. Frontier rocks with those DC flights out and the non-stop aspect of it all, getting there so much faster than a 1 stop flight. I never even flew Frontier before. They're charging $398 RT out of DC so hopefully that price may come down if I check it every day...

Cheers,
Steve R

tomfuller

Amtrak has a station at BWI with a free shuttle bus from station to terminal. It's a lot less than the parking fee.

tomfuller

This airline might save some if you wanted to go to Las Vegas from Grand Rapids Michigan. http://www.allegiantair.com/aaIndex.php
Allegiant does a good job of bundling tours, shows and rental cars with their airfare.
Amtrak also sells 15, 30 and 45 day USA Railpasses that would save some vs. airfare to many cities.

stever

Thanks folks. I have to drive to the airport or talk the metro from work. Amtrak isn't a possibility for me. Strangely enough, the Frontier flight that was $379 a week ago, $398 yesterday, is now...$434 today! I'll never understand the daily, dramatic fluctuations in price from day to day. In two weeks that same Frontier flight could be $350... I hope!

yestravel

U can take the metro to Union Station and grab Amtrak there. I've done the metro to Amtrak to BWI and its quite inexpensive and easy.

Gretchen

As you see, you should have jumped on it, and I can tell you from personal experience, get your flight NOW for that time in August. That is about the last weeks before school starts, and the Denver airport is a zoo then. This is from personal experience --crowds and crowds of families on vacation!!

stever

Thanks for the tips. The next time the price drops then I'll jump for sure, if there's a next time.