Flight costs have gone through the roof lately, I can’t believe it. The sooner you book the better, especially because most airlines you can at least change and use the credit. I would check to see if there are other airports you can drive to and get a cheaper fare first to avoid a red eye. Even if you have to drive a few hours. I know it’s a pain but you’ll be happy you do that. Taking a red eye and then moving your kid in will be exhausting and if it’s late or something you end up losing more time. If you’re like me and my daughters, then you’ll also have to deal with extra crabbiness. Flights are also more crowded lately so you can’t even guarantee you’d have an empty flight to lay down in and get that extra rest.
My son lives in SF and when he would travel to NY for business stuff the flights were never ideal and often kill an entire day. That was always the big negative going from one coast to the other I remember.
Probably Syracuse. Southwest flies to Albany and we’d get free baggage, so trying to compare prices. Rental cars are more expensive in Albany. So many moving pieces!
Oh that’s good. I think it is only 45 minutes from Syracuse. I would think you could rest on the plane, even if you don’t sleep resting will help. Drink some caffeine when you get off the plane and you should be good for a few hours. Make sure to get early check in at your hotel.
I PM’d you with what I do when I have to do red eyes for work. You usually plow ahead and go off adrenaline and crash the afternoon at the destination or try to get some sleep on the plane.
I made a poll in Homerdog’s D21 thread so we can all vote for the school we think Homerdog’s D21 will choose! Suspense is in the air as we eagerly await her decision!
Can you get on any Southwest flights? You could try to book a few options and then cancel the ones you don’t need. I’ve spend the past four years flying my D back and forth to NY (she flies into LaGuardia and then does shuttle and train north) and my Southwest points have saved me. Other option is 5 hour energy!
In the car this last week:
S14: "Did you know it’s easier to get into Harvard than to get accepted for a Chik-Fil-A francise?
D17: If he doesn’t STOP TALKING I’m getting out and WALKING.
Oops didn’t see that you are flying to Albany. Would it be less expensive to fly into NYC and rent a car from there? Or take the train as far north as it goes? Not sure if it gets anywhere near Hamilton. My D gets off in Poughkeepsie.
I’m looking at either Syracuse or Albany, maybe Rochester. The thought of flying into any of the NYC airports and then taking a train or driving from there just about gives me a panic attack!
If you’re a member of costco check rental car prices through there. They’re always the cheapest. Also, I don’t know how far the school is from Buffalo, but we quarantined in Buffalo last year before driving to Ithaca and it was soooo much cheaper to fly in there.
I am flying into Syracuse in May to help my daughter pack up and store her stuff and I had to change my weekends because they just cancelled my flight as they are now switching to bigger planes and they made the new flight too late. I normally prefer Ithaca but the flights are both sky high and lousy times not to mention it’s Ithaca College graduation. Syracuse is an easy in/out airport though which is nice.
Can also check Binghampton or Elmira. Delta flies to both of those airports. My daughter was having me check into flying to those airports today but ultimately I could fly nonstop to 'Cuse for less and it was only 10 mins further.
Agree, @Creaky check BUF. And check prices on different days of the week. For flight shopping, I typically use a combination of Expedia and Southwest websites and then make the purchase on whatever airline’s actual site.
Maybe a good time to get a credit card that accumulates miles.
I wonder if it’s a bit early to be booking for August - maybe prices will improve. (I’m more of a 3 or 4 weeks ahead booker.)
Demand has been low so flights have been more limited. But, as demand improves, maybe flights will be added and prices might not be quite so high. I just bought a ticket to Dallas for fifty bucks (one way), ten days ahead. I like to buy my one ways separately rather than round trip, seems to make changes easier.
Yes, this reminds me. Weekends are often most expensive, Tuesdays are cheapest, especially for rental cars. I had a rental car woman that I used to see every few weeks tell me that they always changed their rates on Tuesdays and then put them back up higher for the weekend and that I should never book them until then. But Costco is still always cheapest and I do it on Tuesdays or another weekdays if I remember.
@littlerobot my company says this all the time, although it may change after the increase this year. Our acceptance rate is usually less than 5%. But our yield is usually better than Harvard.
Ideally, when driving the final leg of your trip, set your navigation system for W Park Row in Clinton. Then proceed toward the college. In seeing the school for the first time, this will offer perspective on Hamilton’s connection to its village.
Your S21 should go to Cal. With a 1550 on the SAT, it appears he has the chops to hang in CS there. And if he is really interested in Cal but decides to go elsewhere, he’ll regret it.
