Where to fly into for best fare
 

Hello!

I am in the process of seeing all 50 states and am now down to the ones where I cannot seem to get great fares. I am flying out of LAX.

Anyone have suggestions for the least expensive places to fly into to see any of the following states?

North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Arkansas, Mississippi, Iowa, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kansas.

I guess my question back to you would be what has your research found?

To answer your question, the best fare for;

North & South Dakota is Minneapolis/St. Paul then drive. If fare is actually less important than driving time, then Rapid City SD.

Michigan is Detroit or Chicago

Arkansas will be Dallas then drive.

Mississippi is ?? (Houston?)

Iowa is Chicago

Virginia = DC or Baltimore

WV probably Pittsburg

Kansas = Denver then drive.

If you are bent on actually being on a flight that lands in that state or not driving too far then you'll surely need to pay for the extra leg to smaller airports.

Kansas = Kansas City, MO has relatively inexpensive fares and the airport is about 10 miles from Kansas. And Iowa is only a couple of hours away.

Keith

Michigan - Detroit (it should be inexpensive)
Iowa - Chicago (about 3 hour drive west)
Virginia - Washington DC (next door)
West Virginia - Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cincinnati (all short drives)
Kansas - Kansas City, Denver is a possibility but it's a good few hour drive.
Arkansas - if Little Rock is too expensive, Dallas is a possibility, but it does involve a good drive.
Mississippi - Memphis
North and South Dakota - you will just have to pay the high fare. :-)

Good luck!

Hi EnjoyLife,

J62 is correct, you will usually see great fares LAX to MSP (Minneapolis-St. Paul, especially on NWA (MSP is one of their hubs). And then you could either drive or take a commuter flight.

All 50 of our states, how wonderful. Would be interesting to hear your observations after you have accomplished your mission!

Safe journey, T.

Southwest flies into Tulsa. It's a quick drive to both Kansas (the eastern part of the state is much prettier than the west) and Arkansas.

What a great task! What's your favorite state so far?

Memphis (MEM) gives you Arkansas (across the bridge) and Mississippi (down the freeway) as well as excellent BBQ and blues.

i've got 3 more to go. miss., ND, SD. i'll get around to rapid city in the next couple of years and knock out SD and ND

now that my girlfriend no longer lives in miss, not sure when i'll be there. good luck! (i'd fly into rapid city)

for miss, you might consider a gulf coast vacation and fly into pennsicola, that would likely be a connecting flight from memphis.

I'd probably fly into New Orleans to see Mississippi. Memphis is quite expensive comparatively. Southwest, Frontier, America West, etc. all serve N.O. Mississippi's state line is just 20-30 miles from N.O., too!

They do have two airports with extensive services in MS - Jackson (JAN) and Gulfport/Biloxi (GPT). Fares I am seeing from LAX is similar to New Orleans. You don't need to fly into a neighboring state afterall.

Thanks, Rkk. Jackson would be the easiest airport to see most of the state. New Orleans will have nonstop options from LAX. Don't think Jackson or Gulfport/Biloxi will. Probably a quick connection in Houston or Dallas.