<p>I was wondering how long after your planned departure from Tuscaloosa you could realistically book a flight out of Birmingham. How busy is the airport there? Do you need to be there 90+ minutes ahead or would an hour suffice? How hard is it to return rental cars?</p>
<p>I am asking because I started looking at flights for Bama Bound. USAirways has one non-stop a day from Birmingham-Philadelphia but it leaves at 1:55 pm. Does Bama Bound go all the way till noon on the second day? Is it totally out of the question to make a 1:55 flight out of Birmingham?</p>
<p>If that is too tight, the connecting flight option is at 3:05 pm. Is that one doable if we leave Tuscaloosa at around 12?</p>
<p>On a different note, I checked Southwest also, and the flights all connect through St Louis, Chicago or Tampa, which all seem stupidly out of the way, and the fare is nearly $500! It’s not an option anyway because the only flight on the day we would leave is at 9 am, but do any of you fly Southwest to/from Philly? Is this the norm?</p>
<p>It might be pushing it trying to make a 1:55 flight on the 2nd day of BB. The airport, while fairly small and easy to navigate, is a good hour’s drive from campus. You wouldn’t be allowing any time for traffic, bad weather or lunch. </p>
<p>Your student can leave right when they are done registering. I don’t remember exactly what time we were done.</p>
<p>Added - my friend had either a 2:00 or 3:00 flight last year and made it ok. I know they read this board - maybe they will post and answer.</p>
<p>Birmingham is a small airport, and it’s easy to navigate. The airport is right off the highway and the rental car return is convenient. The drive from Tuscaloosa is about an hour. That said, I like to leave time for accidents, traffic, security issues, etc. You should be able to easily make a 3:05 flight if you leave Tuscaloosa shortly after Bama Bound ends, and if the planets were aligned you’d make a 1:55 without a problem. Since my planets never seem to be perfectly aligned, if I had to make a 1:55 flight I’d probably skip whatever the last program was and leave early. Registration is completed long before that. When we were at BB last year we took our time after the official programs ended on the 2nd day - we had a leisurely lunch, opened a credit union account and walked around the strip before we left for the airport - it was nice to have a later flight and not have to worry about rushing.</p>
<p>One other thing to consider is if the if you are at the first BB session and your student’s RMs are coming in for the second session, it may be possible to meet up on the day you leave/ they come in if you take a later flight.</p>
<p>I think at least one of his RMs is planning to come to the first one too, and one can’t come till July. </p>
<p>Now I’m thinking about coming an extra day earlier (Sunday of Memorial Day weekend) so we can take the nonstop down and not get in too late, and then we can do some leisurely exploring on Monday. And then I may go ahead and book the 1:55 nonstop home and we will just hope for the best and hope we can leave early. At least I know there is a 3:05 if we miss our flight. I’m usually neurotic about leaving plenty of time, but the appeal of a nonstop in both directions is just too great to pass up. :)</p>
<p>Lisa6191,
The car return was a breeze. Just drive right up to the terminal entrance and the car return is right there. Drop the keys in the bin and your off. Terminal entrance is 30 ft from car drop off. The airport security check was the fastest and shortest line I’ve ever experienced. You could easily get there 1 hour before flight time and catch your flight. The security check is literally feet from the terminal gates.</p>
<p>Lisa, I just took that flight today! I normally fly Delta because of the flight times and prices, but sometimes you can get a good deal on USAirways. Personally, I’d be nervous about being done in time to make it to the airport. I know many students finished early, but I think my DD had to wait a bit for her turn at the computer. The non-stop flight is very attractive, though. Good luck.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, USAirways has the only nonstop flights (and I think those are a recent addition - I don’t remember seeing them when I checked a few months ago). Where does Delta connect through?</p>
<p>Lisa, if you don’t mind a bit of driving and can be away one more day, another option for you may be to fly into an alternate airport. For example, you can get a direct flight from ACY to ATL arriving Atlanta on Monday at 12:30 and leaving Atlanta on Thursday at 2:00 for $200. </p>
<p>We’re north of Philly. Better options for us are Newark and Atlantic City if we aren’t using PHL. I can see how long driving to BWI would take, but I think it would be close to 2 hours. May be worth it for a nonstop though (can you tell I hate to connect?).</p>
<p>Flying Delta will require a connection in either Atlanta or Detroit. Flights through Atlanta will generally be on mainline rather than regional aircraft. I connect in Atlanta around 10 times per year and while very busy, it is simple for infrequent flyers to navigate and has great food options in the international terminal (Terminal F), which is about a 5 minute train ride away from Terminals B and C, which usually handle flights to/from BHM.</p>
<p>Personally, I would not book a flight leaving before 3:00 PM and even then I’d usually book one which departs around 4:30 PM or later so I can have extra time to spend in Tuscaloosa and still have multiple flights options to get to my destination.</p>
<p>If we want to fly to PHL, the latest flight option is 3:05 pm. We are coming in a day early to spend some time in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>I checked google maps and BWI is 2 hours from us. Newark and AC are both 1 hour and 20 minutes. I guess we will need to research our options, since this will be a recurring issue.</p>
<p>Edit: forgot to say, thanks Class2012mom, that matrix website is cool and will be very helpful.</p>
<p>Only PHL and BWI have direct flights from your area. If you’re planning on 4 years at UA, best to get comfortable with connecting flights. You will have trips home where connections will be your best or only option. Freshman DS from NY has already connected through Charlotte, Baltimore, and St. Louis with no problems.</p>
<p>However, if you’re just thinking about Bama Bound, consider Atlanta. As long as you’re renting a car anyway, it works. ATL is about 2 hours further drive than BHM, but lots of nonstop flights to everywhere.</p>
<p>I’m sure DS will survive connections just fine. I’m more concerned about my trips to T-Town. :)</p>
<p>I was able to use FF miles for the Bama Bound flights so I am doing the USAirways non stops PHL-BHM. I will definitely look at the Atlanta flights for future trips though. On our only visit to UA we drove from Atlanta (after GA Tech visit) and the drive didn’t seem bad at all. I guess either PHL-ATL or BWI-BHM ends up about the same, adding 2 hours of driving time. But might be worth it for no connection.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all the suggestions! I love this board. :)</p>
<p>Interestingly, there are flights into Huntsville, about 2 hours away, that are cheaper than flying into Birmingham. Probably still have connections though.</p>