Advice on quick trip to Yellowstone August 2019
 

Hello,
I'm hoping for thoughts on itinerary for a quick August trip to Yellowstone. Due to school calendars and other commitments, these are the only days that we can go. The group is 2 parents and a pre-teen (reluctant traveler) and high school-aged teen. Our home airport is SFO. The problem with this itinerary is that it follows a family reunion where we will all be together in a hotel room for 3 nights. Then it puts us in a different hotel every night for 4 nights, see below. I'm trying hard to get consecutive nights at one place in the park, but no luck so far. Do people have suggestions for alternatives? Maybe staying outside of the park somewhere nice and driving in for 2 days instead -- if so do we fly in/out of a different airport?
Thank you for your thoughts! [See itinerary below]
BMarie

Sun -- fly to JAC arriving late afternoon, rent car, explore Jackson Hole, stay at Modern Mountain Motel Jackson Hole
Mon -- drive up east side of loop road to Canyon Hotel (we have a 2Q room and dinner reservations)
Tues - drive around top of loop road, check in to Old Faithful Inn (we have a 2Q room and dinner reservations)
Wed -- check out of Old Faithful Inn, continue to sightsee in the area of OFI ** I am trying to get this night at OFI too, no luck so far **
-- we have a room reservation at Lake Hotel, which seems out of the way as we fly home the next day
-- alternatively drive back to Jackson Hole, especially if taking the 7 am flight home the next morning
Thurs -- fly from JAC to SFO, I see there is a 7 am Nonstop on United JAC to SFO. Has anyone taken this flight? Otherwise, we can take a connecting flight which significantly increases the flight time.

It takes about 5 hours to drive from the SLC airport to Jackson Hole. Is there an earlier flight out of San Francisco (or Oakland) to SLC (possibly cheaper)? The rentals may be cheaper from SLC than Jackson.

I just checked Southwest, and I see what you mean about connecting flights.. how about using Oakland to SLC? There are a few options without connecting flights. If you can go Saturday vs. Sunday, the fares are generally better but still pretty good on Saturday. With your short timeframe, perhaps consider West Yellowstone. There are a number of lodging options so you wouldn't have to move every night. Although normally I would urge in-park accommodations, this might be a compromise for your "reluctant traveler" who might chafe at in-park amenities (e.g., lack of TV, little/no phone signal, etc.).

Flying into SLC will add about 10 hours of driving to your trip. I'd keep checking on cancellations inside the park. You could book a cancelable backup outside the park if necessary. You can look into using BZN but it's also a small airport so schedules may not be any better. BZN is 90 minutes from the north entrance at Gardiner. There are also seasonal flights to WYS.