My son has received his apppointment to the Academy and we are going to orientation next month. The airline prices are significantly different between flying into Denver as opposed to flying into CS. The difference is about 150$ for the three of us. My question is, is it worth the savings to fly into Denver? How is the ride to CS from there(looks to be about 1.5 hrs) ? Any one eles out there make this trip and in the same situation?
Thank you for any advice

It is a little longer drive to the AF Academy from Denver International than it is from Colorado Springs Municipal, but not the full distance because the Academy is north of the Springs while the airport is southeast of the main part of the city.

The drive from Denver is about 80 to 85 miles, which will take you about as long as you estimated.

The only aspect of the trip you might check on is the cost of a rental car at the Denver airport versus the one in Colorado Springs. The tax add on when renting at Denver International is quite a bite. I do not know the differential in tax rates.

I doubt, however, it would be so much as to cancel out the savings in air fare.

In making the drive, I strongly suggest skirting downtown Denver, that is, don't take I 70 into the city to the junction with I 25. Take the beltway route.

Is it a savings of $150.00 (X 3) per person or $150.00 total? If it is only $150.00 for all 3 of you I would fly into Colorado Springs. If it is going to save you $450.00 I would definitly go to Denver. The drive time is correct, could be longer if you are driving during rush hour. (4-7PM) could be busy if you fly into denver on a weekday and drive up. You WOULD NOT drive into Denver for this unless you want to see the city. You have two options:

Pena Blvd (leads in & out of DIA) to I-70, take Southbound I-225 exit. Head south on I-225, merge onto Southbound I-25 which you will follow to the AFA.

Pena Blvd to southbound E-470(which is a toll road), follow until you get to Southbound I-25 and then you have about 60 miles to go on I-25 to AFA. E-470 is an easier/faster drive but you do have to pay the tolls.

And what if there is a terrific snowstorm around Castle Rock? I remember a 30" snowstorm overnite while living in Colo Sprgs around the first of April. Other than a possible bumpy flight along the mountains, I would fly into Colo Spgs, IF it's only total of 150.00 cheaper.

I think it's better to rent a car in Denver and drive down to CS. It would probably take about the same amount of time to fly to CS and then drive up the the Academy as it would to just drive from Denver. And you would be renting a car in CS anyway, right?

From the Denver airport you can take E470 which is a toll road that goes around the city and connects up with I25 south of Denver. The toll is less than $5 and there is literally no traffic - can drive 80mph the whole way. Then you take I25 into CS. The Academy is on the north end of town. You might hit a little traffic on I25 depending on the time of day, but it will thin out quickly.

My company has an office near the I25 and E470 junction and I have family in CS, so I am quite familiar with this route.

The chances of it snowing 30 inches is not likely going to happen. Although we did get snow almost everyday a week or so ago, we are in a bad drought. It would be amazing to get 30 inches in castle rock let alone the mountains.

It is unusual that Denver would be cheaper because lots of folks fly to Col. Springs for cheaper fares. Since you will still need to rent a car in the Springs why not save the $150. To rent a car in Denver for the best value try Priceline. I go to Hotwire and find their best price which will include taxes (considerable at DIA--about 25% total as I recall). You don't have to accept HOtwire's quote immediately. Then I bid on Priceline with the knowledge of what the taxes are. I have been able to save as much as 50% this way. Last month I did get a very good price on Travelocity without the nervousness of not being able to cancel for any reason. Tourism into Denver is really down even during the ski season which is probably the reason for your good fare. Car rentals are also more reasonable. Congratulations to your son.

I disagree, Colorado Springs has a much more limited amount of flights and fares are usually more expensive. I used to sell airfare and almost always made the recommendation to check Denver in addition to COS because they typically had lower fares.

Hello,
And congats to your son!
In ny opinion I would fly into cos, I live in Falcon, 1/2 hour from Academy, I dislike Denver drive. And it is spring, the weather as the others have said is very unpredictiable. 30inches in Castle Rock or Monument is not unheard of, and March/April are the snowiest of the year. The car rentals will be higher in Denver due to taxes. Good luck and remember this is only how I feel, but time is worth $$$$.
Liz

Just saw on news this am that there seems to be a lot of snow coming down south of Denver. lenleigh, hope your not caught in it. Thank you meggss for your input validating my 30" snow possiblity. I was there, shoveling, and saving tree limbs from breaking, so I know it CAN happen.

Well, I never said it couldn't happen. I said the likelyhood that it would happen was not very big, when was the last time you can remember the highway being shut down and schools closing? It takes a great deal for that to happen and it doesn't happen often, not even once a year. They say a storm like this has not been seen since 1997 and even then it hasn't happened all that often. We stayed home the last two days so I haven't even attempted to get on the roads but Colo Springs is doing a lot better than Denver is. Family in Denver has said they had snow around 4feet (probably most of it is from the wind). Same thing here, in certain areas of our yard you can see grass and in others it is about 3 feet deep or more. I'd have to say though that from the reports we expected it to be much worse. Most of the Highway around Colorado Springs had no snow on them they were just wet. Even still, we definitly took advantage of the extra time off!