Alternative Airports Bring Lower Fares
At least check alternative airports for lowest airfares. You could save 100s of dollars.
Budget airlines focus on lesser known airports like Hobby in Houston, which brings fares of all airlines using these down. That puts money in your pocket.
Some alternative airports, such as Midway for Chicago and Oakland for San Francisco, may be just as convenient for many travelers,
During peaks times like spring break, Jacksonville FL gives excellent access to Orlando and Daytona Beach, as does Ontario, CA to Disneyland and Palm Springs.
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Alternative airports Canada & United States
Some airport options in North America:
- Atlantic City — Philadelphia (PHL)
- Austin — San Antonio (SAT)
- Baltimore — Washington (DCA - rail connection)
- Boston — Manchester, NH (MHT), Providence (PVD)
- Cedar Rapids and Iowa City — Des Moines (DSM), Moline (MLI)
- Charleston, SC — Savannah (SAV – often much cheaper)
- Chicago — Midway (MDW)
- Colorado Springs — Denver (DEN)
- Dallas/Fort Worth — Love Field (DAL)
- Fort Lauderdale — Miami (MIA), West Palm Beach (PBI)
- Houston — Hobby (HOU)
- Lincoln, NE — Omaha (OMA)
- Los Angeles — Burbank (BUR), Long Beach (LGB), Ontario (ONT - fairly close but lots of traffic), Orange County (SNA - ditto)
Surprisingly, also San Diego (SAN). Amtrak operates 12 trains a day from near the airport to downtown Los Angeles and Anaheim (Disneyland) along the coast. - Madison, WI — Milwaukee (MKE), Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
- Miami — Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
- Monterey and Carmel — San Jose (SJU – usually much cheaper)
- Montreal — Burlington VT (BTV - only if renting a car anyway)
- Napa Valley (Santa Rosa)— Oakland (OAK), Sacramento (SMF)
- New Haven—Hartford (BDL)
- New York City — See below
- Orlando — Daytona Beach (DAB), Jacksonville (JAX), Melbourne (MLB), + Tampa (TPA)
- Orange County (SNA) (Disneyland) — Long Beach (LGB), Ontario (ONT) + LAX
- Palm Springs — Ontario (ONT)
- San Antonio — Austin (AUS)
- San Francisco — Oakland (OAK)
Also, San Jose (SJC) - an hour away outside of rush hour. Transfers without a car can be either time consuming or expensive. - Santa Fe — Albuquerque (ABQ - usually much cheaper)
- Toronto — Billy Bishop (YTZ - nearly downtown), Buffalo (BUF), Hamilton, ON (YHM)
- Tucson — Phoenix (PHX)
- Vancouver, BC — Bellingham WA (BLI - if will rent car), Seattle (SEA)
- Washington, DC (DCA) — Baltimore (BWI), Dulles (IAD)
Who wants to drive 3 hours or take an airporter bus from Vancouver to Seattle, which can take longer with customs delays at the border?
Well, high Canadian airfare taxes and high fares fostered by less competition are a powerful motivator.
Alternative airports NYC
Even though LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York City sits closer to Midtown Manhattan, Newark (EWR) and JFK airports are often cheaper. Although served by airporter bus transfers, LaGuardia lacks the convenient public transit options the others have.
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International alternatives
Alternative airports work around the world. For example, London has 5 busy airports: well-known Gatwick (LGW) and Heathrow (LHR), but also London City (LCY), Luton (LTN), and Stansted (STN).
Paris has 3 choices; Barcelona 2.
With high-speed rail access found at many European airports, you can, as an example, land in Brussels and be in Amsterdam in under 2 hours by train. Worth doing if you save 100s of dollars.
Enjoy your alternative airports savings!