Bret Ancowitz
Photo from the RI Secretary of State’s website
I just returned from a brief trip this past weekend and noticed with a bit of sadness that this was the fourth straight flight I’ve taken from Boston’s Logan and not from T.F. Green. The last Green flight I did was December of 2007. Now, granted, two of these flights were international, which changes things a bit, but two were domestic.
When searching for flights of late, I’ve just noticed that Green’s offerings just don’t have the hours I want. They’ve tended to be super early in the AM or smack in the middle of the workday, certainly not afterwards. Also, logan isn’t the nightmare to get into and out of that it used to be and, if you do economy parking there, you don’t need a loan to pay the bill. Given a choice, say, between a 6:25 AM flight out of TFG or a 3 PM flight out of Logan at near equal prices, I’ve chose the later, especially given that the Boston option lets me work a half day and not need a complete day off…
Don’t get me wrong… I want to fly Green, and searching for PVD options is the first thing I do, but it hasn’t worked of late. Has anyone else noticed this in their own trip planning?
Jef Nickerson
I don’t know, TF Green has always worked for me. One of the problems of being a small hub is that the flight times can be iffy, but i’ve never really had a problem with them. I guess it also depends on where you’re going.
I almost always fly out of PVD. The flights generally work for me. I go to a conference every year at a different college and I’ve had only one issue in the 4 years I’ve gone and that was, in my opinion, the airline, not the airport.
However, I’m going to Atlanta to visit some family in a couple weeks. We booked AirTran out of Logan purposely because it saved us a couple hundred dollars, even if you take into account the cost of gas and parking. I feel bad. I love flying out of PVD. It’s easy, close, and I don’t feel all rushed like I do in larger airports.
I will also likely fly out of Logan if I ever fly to Toronto again. The 18 seat turbo prop I took out of PVD last summer was loud, uncomfortable, and too small to carry all our luggage (meaning I didn’t get my luggage until after 4pm the following day, luckily, it was on the return trip). I realize that’s an issue with the airline, not the airport though.
Flying out of PVD has been great for all sorts of trips for me though: San Diego (through O’Hare), Detroit, Baltimore, and my most frequented trip to Philly (thank god I don’t have to do that one anymore, that airport is hell).
I’m worried about TF Green, though. Southwest now flies out of Logan. That was one of the biggest draws for people to fly out of Green instead of Logan. With the economy the way it is, I see that as pretty bad news for Green.
I just did a weekend in DC and it was my first time using Green. It was great for me. A 9:20am flight to National, Metro into the city, I was out having lunch on Capitol Hill by noon. And a 9:34pm flight back meant I had the whole last day as part of my vacation, and not a travel day.
What I’m sad about is that Amtrak was not an option on price or time. 🙁
I actually just flew out of Green this morning to Chicago. I did notice it was either a 6:45 am flight, or after 6pm. I didn’t necessarily mind the early flight though. I was through security and in the boarding area between 20 and 30 minutes from the time I was dropped off outside. I also agree with Jef, that it’s too bad that Amtrak is never a reasonably priced option to go pretty much anywhere. Their only business must be from short trips and those afraid to fly.
I’ve pretty much always flown out of Green in the past, but I’m actually considering flying out of Logan for a trip to San Francisco this summer. I can actually get a nonstop flight from there, for a bit cheaper than flying on a connecting from Green. It’s just a matter of whether I’d rather hassle with getting to Boston first, or hassle with connecting in the middle.
Parking on airport at PVD is $55 a week in Lot E or in garage C. A week of parking on airport at BOS is well over $100.00. Their “economy lot” is in another town (Braintree)! Choosing a nonstop flight but driving to Logan is about the same time as not having to drive to Logan and taking a connecting flight from PVD, nevermind if you hit Boston traffic or an accident, etc. Supporting Logan will only give the airlines more and more reason to scale back PVD even more.
Round trip gas to/from Logan: $10.00
Parking differance: $50.00
Tolls: Ted Williams to go up to $7.00 effective 7/1/09
Hassle factor, ease of using PVD: self-determined
Certainly when traveling with 2+ people, there could be cost savings, but Logan needs to be at least 100 bucks less for me to even consider it.
I snapped a quick pic of the skywalk on my way into the Terminal on Friday:
I would’ve chosen to fly from Green had the AirTran flights to Atlanta not been close to 50% less than the cheapest flight from Green (that’s for 2 round trip tickets).
ATL is probably THE worst market from PVD in terms of having few flights and outragious fares. West coast, Caribbean, and Europe nonstops from BOS often make clear sense over PVD as well (depending on price). Places like CHI, BWI/WASH, PHL, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, and Phoenix are the ones that should be just about automatic from PVD even if a little more than BOS. Any place that Southwest can get you with 1-stop from PVD should also get favor whenever possible so they have incentive to add more flights here (think Ft. Myers, West Palm Beach, Houston, Denver, LAX, San Diego, etc.)