<p>My daughter is applying to Smith and we are planning a trip up over spring break. I'm having trouble finding any reasonably priced flights, unless I want to change planes. I'm wondering if I'm missing something obvious. I've been checking flights between DC and Bradley International. Any better advice for us?</p>
<p>One thing to do is to look into Southwest flights from Baltimore Washington to Bradley. They're not listed on the websites like Travelocity or Expedia, so you have to go straight to the Southwest website. You can take the green line metro to Greenbelt and then take a bus to BWI and that way you avoid the parking and tough traffic. Plus Southwest lets you bring two checked bags for free still, so not only do you save on fare, but you save on fees. </p>
<p>Or if time is no option you can look into taking the train from Union station to springfield. It's less expensive than flying, but it takes 9 hours. Of course, if you have nine hours to spare, you might as well drive up here too I guess.</p>
<p>I can zip up to Noho/Amherst from NoVA in less than 7 hours. The KEY is to take the ny thruway to the tappan zee bridge, and instead of looping down, to go 684 to brewster to 84...etc... instead of messing around on gwb/95. It's a pretty painless drive unless it's Thanksgiving time.</p>
<p>I've taken the train to springfield before and it was horrible. each leg was another opportunity for delays or being caught behind a train having problems.</p>
<p>I second Southwest. I'm from central PA, but I usually flew between Hartford and BWI (which is a two-hour drive or I'd get dropped off at the light rail stop on this side of Baltimore and take the train to the airport).</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you. That helps a lot.</p>
<p>Also, you might want to check into flights between DC and Albany--it's not much further from there to Smith than it is from Bradley to Smith...you will likely need to rent a car though (a cab would be quite expensive, and I'm not aware of any shuttle services)</p>
<p>D is flying up to Smith from DC before Spring break. As with S&P, she found Baltimore/Friendship to Bradley via Southwest to be the best deal.</p>
<p>Wahington to Providence is also an option. Though you would probably want to rent a car.</p>