jillebean

Trying to plan my fourth trip to NO for Jazz Fest, but the steep airfares from NYC to MSY are making it a challenge. Can anyone suggest another airport I can check fares to which would be within reasonable driving distance to New Orleans? Would prefer no longer than a 3 hour drive...
Thanks!!!
Jillebean

doug_stallings

The problem is that the other airports will be almost as expensive because they are less-used. You do have a few choices. You could fly into Baton Rouge (90 minutes; Pensacola, FL (maybe 3 hours); Birmingham (5 hours); or Houston (maybe 5-1/2 hours). I think there are some smaller airports as well, but they'll be even more expensive. Baton Rouge is probably the best bet, but you'll have to fly through Dallas or someplace else ... no nonstops.

Grcxx3

You might also look at Jackson, MS - which is only about 3-4 hours away.

Callaloo

How steep is too steep?

I looked at fares from LGA to MSY on Expedia and found some for $258, and others under $300 (using the dates 5/1 - 5/5). That's pretty good for Jazz Fest!

If not MSY, try Gulfport. Found fares for the same dates under $200. That's less than a 2 hour drive to New Orleans. Mobile, however, is pricier than either Gulfport or MSY.

Good luck planning. Wish I were going!

dfr4848

Agree with Doug. Most places within 3-4 hours of MSY are smaller and you're probably not going to find any breaks in fares. Though SW does serve JAN and BHM, so it may be worth a look. Probably most competitive fares would be Houston at IAH (CO) & HOU (WN). Jetblue also flies from JFK to HOU. Otherwise, I'd agree that fares in the range of $258 are pretty good for Jazz Fest.

TheWeasel

Agree with Callaloo. Try Gulfport (GPT).

Don't know if you were renting a car or not, but GPT looks to be $5-10/day cheaper than NO as well.

Dan

Baton Rouge and Gulfport/Biloxi are the easiest choices. I also am unsure as to why you're having trouble with airfare prices unless you're committed to one airline. I found several $200-300 roundtrips from NYC-MSY for random Fest dates.

tampatiger

Baton Rouge resident here. We actually drive to New Orleans to fly out of Louisiana for most every trip. You probably will not do much better fare-wise. I'm not sure if anyone mentioned Lafayette, Louisiana. Nice airport there, but probably not much cheaper.

Generally, the rates aren't bad into NOLA considering it's not a hub.

By the way, one thing about Lafayette is that there is usually a very large, well attended music fest there at the same time as Jazz Fest...so you'd get two for one if you want.

BlueSwimmer

Hi jille-

We flew into Mobile and rented a car to drive over to Nola for the fest last year (after USAir cancelled our flight to MSY at the last minute and couldn't rebook us until a week later! There was almost a riot at DCA when all the Jazzfest-bound passengers heard the announcement.)

It wasn't a bad drive- maybe 2 hours? Not sure if it would be cheaper since USAir just rebooked us.

Do you do first weekend or second weekend? I wonder if there is a fare difference?