cferrb

Hello all,
My mother and I will be traveling to visit my daughter in Amherst, MA at the end of March. I have used both Hartford and Boston airports for this trip previously, but I have not settled on which is the most efficient when considering the cost of the airplane ticket and the rental car, and the length of the flight.

So, does anyone have any wisdom to share about the most cost-effective way to make this trip? What about time-effective? Is there an airline that I should be looking at for best selection of direct flights? I would prefer not to have my mother sitting in the hard plastic chairs in Dallas or Atlanta for three hours waiting for a connection

I understand that there is probably an inverse relationship between cost and efficiency on these flights. I am looking for the best combination of the two.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

RoamsAround

American, Delta, Jet Blue and united all have (multiple) non-stops from LAX to BOS for around $337 R/T in March.

You won't find any non-stop flights from LAX into Hartford but pricing will be about the same.

Seems like a "no-brainer" - fly into BOS.

clarkgriswold

It's not a no-brainer until you check the car-rental rates at both airports. Hartford is easier to get in and out of from Amherst especially at certain hours of the day so that would be two points in favor of Hartford.

Dukey1

I just checked arbitrary dates in October 2015 for N/S flights from LAX top both BOS and Hartford using Kayak and the costs were fairly similar.

What was not similar for Bradley were the connection points which obviously depend on the airline used. And no, DFW is not the only connecting point which might be MSP for Delta and Raleigh-Durham for someone else.

Obviously Bradley is closer to Amherst than is Boston Logan so in reality, what is THE "most important" factor for the person who isn't even ON this thread? The time it takes to drive from the airport to the final destination? The amount of probable traffic?

"Best or most efficient" can be so much more than simple costs.

clarkgriswold

They're traveling in March. L.A. to Bos has consistently low fares due to competition from Virgin, Jet Blue etc. L.A. to Bradley is subject to sale fares popping up etc. I would probably wait til mid Jan to check the March sale fares to Hartford. Car rental looks like possibly $100 less per week plus the convenience factor of not dealing with Boston traffic.
The main problem with connecting flights flying eastbound is that you usually arrive quite late, unless a 7am departure from LAX suits you (does getting to LAX at 5:30in the morning suit your mom's bathroom schedule?) OP doesn't mention wanting to avoid LAX morning rush-hour traffic so maybe they're close to LAX?

RoamsAround

OP wanted to avoid having his "mother sitting in the hard plastic chairs in Dallas or Atlanta for three hours waiting for a connection" that's a big factor in why I said flying non-stop to BOS is a no-brainer. A person's "time" has some value.

OP has to weigh the difference in wait time between connecting flights and the car rental cost vs. taking a non-stop-flight.
a d paying more for the rental car.

emalloy

Getting from Boston to Amherst is not bad EXCEPT between 2:3O to 7:30 pm -I doubt they would get in before 2:30 from LA given the time change and flight times. Getting from Hartford to Amherst is usually not bad and going through Springfield at rush hour can't compare to Boston.

Sometimes we seniors need to get out of the airplane and walk around a bit, use a bathroom you can actually sit down in, eat something other than peanuts, etc. so a stop in the middle of the flight can be ok as long as it long enough to do those things and not too long.

nytraveler

It would seem to me that a non-stop flight (can;t you fly direct LA to BOS) would always win out over a connection with all of the obvious and potential issues - unless the cost were much higher.

Once on the ground in Boston there are a bunch of options - not like being stuck in some random airport for who knows how many hours.

Also, in March the chance of bad weather delays is increased by the number of stops you need to make - while a flight direct from LA might just fly over the weather.

But I thin the OP should run options past his mother - to see which option would present the least problems for her.

jubilada

I would always prefer to fly into Bradley, an easy airport to deal with and an easy drive to amherst.
Obviously a direct flight is good, but Boston traffic can be a nightmare, so it might be worth a layover not to deal with it and to pay less for a rental car and cut an hour ( at least) off the drive in MA.

sandragoodlife

Have you thought or looked into Albany NY airport? Easy drive on rte 90 to Amherst....approx. same time as from Boston but a much better drive.

cferrb

Thank you all for your input. I will look into the Albany option. I had not even considered that.

gail

You are going to have to balance cost, comfort and time. You mention not having your mother sitting in hard chars at an airport - but add trudging through multiple airports and making connections to the comfort issues.

The only non-stop flights I could find were BOS-LAX, as Bradley, Albany and any other reasonable option include changing planes. Add to that March can still have nasty weather - if not snow, then spring rain and winds - to me the only reasonable balance is non-stop, renting a car to complete the trip. When I looked at non-stop flights there were several that were at the top for all 3 - comfort, time, cost.

gail

PS-entering random March dates, the cheapest flight (regardless of airport, # stops) was still JetBlue non-stop. So that might eliminate the question of alternate airports all together.

Christina

When you say direct flight, do you mean nonstop? Because I fly Southwest a lot in the US and they have some direct flights that are not nonstop. At least you don't have to worry about missing your plane or luggage getting lost, and the stops usually aren't long.

If you prefer BDL, you can do Southwest from Burbank or LAX for about $425-450 roundtrip end of March, with one stop each way (DEN or LAS usually). The layovers aren't that long, maybe an hour or 1.5 hrs. Returning from BDL to LAX is direct, but has a stop somewhere.

cferrb

Thank you again. I think I have decided to wait until August/September to do this, so that I can avoid the possibility of snow and ice. Jet Blue sounds like a good alternative.

clarkgriswold

August is an expensive time to rent a car at Logan Airport, wait until after Labor Day and you will probably have much better pricing and availability.

cferrb

And yes, the OP lives very close to LAX so that is not an issue.

dfrostnh

I just did non-stop from BOS-LAX and return. 6 1/2 hours to LAX, 5 hours to BOS. An older person really needs to get up and walk around to it's ask the person with the aisle seat to let you out and then try walking back and forth to the restroom and then further because you need to move your legs. I'm not sure I liked a non-stop. Usually connections I make are about an hour. Just time enough to run through a terminal, maybe grab something to eat. But, yes, sometimes the distance that has to be walked is far and confusing. I think I've liked the Dallas connection to BOS. I purposely took a red eye returning to Boston because I can sleep on the plane to make the flight seem shorter.

Tabernash2

Southwest flies LAX-BOS, with one stop:

https://www.southwest.com/flight/sho...E348C4B5E&int=

Also LAX-Albany:
https://www.southwest.com/flight/sho...E348C4B5E&int=

And LAX-Hartford:
https://www.southwest.com/flight/sho...E348C4B5E&int=


We like SW best, for their customer service, ease in making changes in the itinerary, and two free checked bags.