I am thinking of landing at Logan instead of driving to Boston from CT this year. Now, a part of me is very scared. I'm going solo this year. Would someone that knows this situation very well please respond in detail re: the following:

What is it about landing at Logan and renting a car there (which I must do) that makes it something we are told to avoid at all costs? Is it b/c of the traffic leaving? is it because of the big dig? If it's not rush hour, how long would it take me to get out there? I'm headed towards Braintree.

Other concerns: Reason I say I'm scared is that although I've left from Logan and returned a car there (with no stress or hassles), last time I landed there, I took a taxi. WHAT SHOULD I KNOW about renting a car at Logan and landing there. Any tips or hints please? This may ruin my vacation as any feedback will aid me in deciding whether I land in CT and take two planes to get there and then DRIVE to Boston or just "do Logan." Thank you in advance. I'm sorry for all the questions. Thanks for your time also.

Hi Marilyn-
I'll throw in my $.02
I live in Boston and use Logan frequently. I mainly return on weekends and rarely have problems with traffic. However, I was recently at Logan picking up a friend on a Thursday evening around 7 and can now understand why some people HATE Logan. Traffic was a nightmare. That said, if you do decide on Logan, come in on a weekend, or if it's during the week, try to avoid late afternoon/early evenings. A HINT that only us locals seem to know (why I'm telling you this I don't know is that on weekends and during the week if there is a lot of traffic trying to get through the tunnel, they open up the Ted Williams Tunnel to all traffic (it's usually only for commercial vehicles). You sail right through.
Another airport that is very popular is Providence RI if that fits into your plans.
Any other opinions out there???????
Good Luck!

Oh Betsy, you are so sweet. Thank you. One of the thoughts I had was precisely forcing myself to fly into Logan, BECAUSE I'd have to take two planes to Providence, for example, or another location. I kind of figured it was traffic. I'm going to try to fly in on a Saturday or Sunday. How much time on a weekend, picking up a rental car (do they have rental car shuttles there?) do you tink it would take me to leave there? Let's say I take the Ted Williams tunnel, which way do I head towards Braintree? and if I take Sumner (is that the name?) which way do I head to Braintree?

Also, saying I fly into Providence, how far in hours is it from Boston.

I SO appreciate your hometown tips. Bless you!!

I truly am a little frightened and want to calm myself as much as possible by loading myself up with the best information and you've have been kind enough to provide lots of it. THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH AGAIN.

Marilyn,
Check out these web sites, they might answer some of your questions.
www.massport.com
www.loganairport.com

I have rented cars at Logan many times. The airport itself is like most others. It has shuttle busses to the rental car companies from the terminals. I know Avis and Hertz have locations on the airport property. I have used Avis mostly.

The main airport road is in the shape of a 'U'. The Avis/Hertz locations are near the entrance to the airport, so I have to drive in towards the terminals and come back around to get towards the city. The T.Williams tunnel exit is off of this main road. I don't know the details of who can use it at what times. I've heard it's restricted to cabs/busses etc. The exit to the highway which will take you to the old tunnel is at the end of the 'U'. Here is where it can get tricky. There are basically 3 ways to go.
1.Veer left and you go through to the subway station and the loop back into the airport.
2. Veer left/straight to go south towards the tunnel. I think the sign says it goes to the tunnel and downtown Boston.
3. Veer to the right and you go North on rte 1 away from the city.
This would be simple except that at peak periods when the tunnel is backed up, the police block off the lane that goes to the tunnel, and make everyone head north on rte 1. This isn't as bad as it sounds because there is an easy way to get back in the other direction.
Stay on rte 1 and get off at the first exit on the right hand side. At the bottom of the ramp take the FIRST left back under the bridge, then just turn left again and go up the ramp on the other side. This is a standard route that the police have set up to reduce gridlock.

Once you're heading towards the city (you'll know because you can see downtown in front of you) you will get to the tunnel, which is OLD and NARROW. It has two lanes - both going in the same direction. There is a toll booth at the entrance to the tunnel ($1?). Be sure to be in a regular lane, and not one that requires a pass.
Once you're through the toll booth, there are about 8 lanes of cars trying to squeeze into 2 lanes of traffic. Don't be intimidated, just inch forward like everyone else, and you'll get in. Just remember that no-one else wants to be there either. If you see an opening - take it!

At the other end of the tunnel I'm not sure which direction you should go, since I'm always heading North on 93.
Braintree is South on 93. I'm sure some other Boston posters here would be able to help.

Did you know that Braintree is on the subway system? Maybe, you don't need to rent a car at all. Or, at least wait until you're down there before you do.

I hope this helps.

Marilyn--
Yes there are rental car bus shuttles. However, I've never used one, so I'm not sure if I can answer your questions regarding car rentals. Hopefully someone else will read your post and will be able to help you.
The Sumner Tunnel brings you right to I-93 which is the road you need to take to Braintree. Take I-93 south. Again, I can't really help w/timing because I live West of the city and Braintree is South.
The Ted Williams Tunnel is a little trickier because it brings you into South Boston and you have to take side roads to get to I-93. Signage isn't all that great because of all the construction. If you are not used to city driving, Boston can certainly be intimidating!
I highly recommend Providence Airport (TF Green is the official name), especially for people visiting areas south of the city. It's about 45 minutes South of Braintree. The airport is small and user friendly. Again, can't help w/rental car info.
I certainly can't guarantee that you will not run into traffic problems at Logan. If there's an accident in the tunnel, forget it! I'm just giving you my observations over the past couple years--maybe I've been lucky w/traffic??!! Anybody else out there w/some advice????

Joe is right on w/directions. To go south on I-93 from the tunnel, be in the right hand lane in the tunnel. When you come out of the tunnel, follow your lane to the right. At the 1st light, take a left. This brings you right onto I-93 South.
Ted Williams Tunnel is closed to general traffic during the week and is open to all traffic on weekends. Occasionally it opens up to all traffic during the week if there are traffic problems in the Sumner. There is a sign at the exit to the Ted Williams Tunnel from the airport roadway that tells you it's status.

I do this frequently, but I always insist on arriving at Logan before 2 pm, the earlier the better; and I depart in the morning either before 8 am or after 10 am.

However, why not consider not renting a car at all but taking the T or the water-taxi or a taxi to get to South Station and take the train to Providence or CT and renting a car there?

Assuming you're flying into Boston to stay in Boston, you can relax. The Big Dig is a huge inconvenience, but it's not that bad. Your best bet is to reconcile yourself to a bit of annoyance and allow plenty of time getting to and from the airport. Most of the time (depending upon the day and time), it's no big deal. Even if a taxi from Logan to your hotel takes an hour rather than 15 minutes, so what? You will get there eventually. Still more convenient and less time consuming than driving from CT.

My goodness. Okay. I'm scared enough that I'm seeing my travel agent today and asking for Providence or even Hartford. I just don't want to take I95. Is there anyway out of Providence headed to Boston where I DON'T have to take 95? Thanks again SO VERY MUCH FOR EVERYTHING. YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WONDERFUL!

Marilyn--
I-95 is the quickest most direct way from PVD to Boston. The airport is actually right off I-95.....

Marilyn, as noted above, the problem isn't Logan, it's getting out of Logan. Except on weekends and holidays, the lone access across the harbor and into the city is the monstrosity called the Sumner and Callahan Tunnels. These are the choke points than can back up traffic into the airport road system.

Betsy is correct that between the hours of, say, 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., the traffic flows out of the airport and through the tunnel with minimal congestion. However, I've flown into Logan at 8 p.m., an hour when logic would say the inbound traffic should be nil, and found a 45-minute delay.

My strong vote is for Providence's TF Green airport, even if it involves a change of planes. First, you'll likely find that fares to and from Providence are substantially less than Boston. Why? The presence of Southwest Airlines. Second, the Providence Airport is adjacent to I-95, which is a breeze to navigate (kind of freeway "lite"). It's 40 miles up to the center of Boston and I've made it in 45 minutes. If you are in fact headed for Braintree, Providence is even closer, and you'll completely avoid the mess that is the Southeast Expressway.

I've lived in Boston (not anymore unfortunately) and I've also flown into both Logan and TF Green for business in Braintree. Logan is a pain to get in and out of, especially if you've never driven in Boston before. As stated earlier, signage is very poor due to contruction and it is tricky to get out of Logan onto I-93 south to Braintree. I vote for TF Green in Providence. I have rented a car from TF Green and they, too have shuttle busses to the rental cars, but it is very quick and TF Green is so user friendly. Also, if you're paying for this trip yourself, the rental car taxes at TF Green are less. It's literally a straight shot up I-95 to the junction of I-93 to Braintree with very little traffic. Just my 2 cents!

Marilyn, you haven't really stated why you think you need a car. Here's my two cents then...Take the US Shuttle van from Logan to Braintree. If you were just renting a car to get from point A to point B you may not really need a car. If you do need one beyond your stop in Braintree you would probably be able to rent one there and avoid the drive to/from Logan. The van is a flat rate shared ride system so that even if there are traffic delays you won't have a meter ticking while stand still. You can put in a reservation via their website.

The Williams Tunnel is a breeze to travel through, and it lets you out south of the worst stretch of road through Boston. That said, it's still really tricky to negotiate if you don't know the area.

Ann and all. Thank you for the information. Ann, I can't locate the US shuttle van website. That's a great tip! The travel agent I saw today said that if you fly in on a weekend, (like everyone here agreed), I shouldn't have that much of a problem, I'm checking to see if I can get in before 2 or 3 pm even if it is on a Saturday, which is when I'd be arriving. The hotels even in Cambridge and Newton and Quincy seem overpriced, so I may just stay in Braintree for my whole trip, go to the Cape and one night before I leave, stay at one of the hotels in the city, check out the city and leave the next day. That's my tentative for now. Thank you and if you have any other tips, please feel free to tell me here or email me. Thanks so much. ANN, If you have it, please remember to post for me the US shuttle van web site. Thank you again.

Marilyn,
This is Massport's website's page about getting to and from Logan Airport.
Hope it helps! If you go to the Logan shuttle link, I notice there's one for Braintree. I've taken the Woburn one many times. The drivers will ask the passengers if anyone needs a taxi and then radio the base to have them call.
Maybe it's just what you're looking for.

Enjoy your trip!

http://www.massport.com/logan/getti.html

Bless you all with good health and a happy life and family. Thank you so sincerely much.

__
Marilyn:

I've taken the 'Logan Express' bus service from the airport to Braintree and vice versa. If you go into the Massport website (previous poster has the URL), you probably can pull up the schedule of this Braintree shuttle service. It goes around the airport terminals picking up passengers and then drives directly to Braintree arriving in a parking lot behind the Sheraton Tara Hotel - located just off junction of Rte 37 / Rte 93 on Forbes Road, across from the South Shore Plaza Mall. Think a one way trip on Sat or Sun is $6.00 (Mon-Fri, $8.00).
If you happen to be staying at the Sheraton Hotel, you can tell the bus driver so that when the bus pulls into the parking lot, they can have a shuttle to take you down the hill to the hotel (maybe 1/4 mile?).

Marilyn, the url for the US Shuttle is www.us-shuttle.com
I found this by going the the Massport webpage (see above posting) and looking under

oops! hit the wrong button while juggling windows! Sorry.

So, look under the pulldown menu for getting from Logan. Then the menu for shared vans. That takes you to the US Shuttle site.

The Logan Shuttle to the parking lot in Braintree is probably much less expensive, and if you can arrange a car rental from your Braintree hotel, that would be the easiest of all. The difference in services is that the US Shuttle goes door to door, while the Logan Shuttle is a park and ride service where you can pay for long term parking (but of course you don't have to leave a car in order to use the shuttle). Logan shuttle would also be faster as you wouldn't have to wait for other passengers to be dropped off if they're ahead of you.

Don't worry about using Braintree as a base for coming into the city. It's on the T and a quick ride into Boston proper (without your car). Have a good visit.

You are getting directions from leaving logan. If you are renting a car, you won't be leaving the airport itself. What rental car agency will you be using? You might have to deal with the tunnels anyway, as that is the only way to get to Braintree from the airport AREA. Anyone provide input on this? You previously said you'd get there a weekend by 12 noon, you should be okay and you can use the TED WILLIAMS tunnel, since it's a weekend, it's allowed.