<p>My S is starting this fall at Y and I'm just curious if those families who must travel by air to Y from the midwest have a preferred routine with certain preferred airports, airlines, connections, etc. The only time we have visited we went from Omaha to Chicago to Hartford. We could also go through Mpls, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and then non stop to the coast. Is Hartford the best option? I believe Southwest is starting to fly to LaGuardia - do people prefer going into NY or Newark and then the train to NH? What should be avoided - what works best - any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>I always preferred Hartford (I flew from Detroit). The shuttle ride to NH is about 45 minutes vs the 3-4 hours from NYC/Newark. A train from the NY/NJ airports is cheaper but takes a lot more effort. Unless the cost diff is monstrous, I’d recommend Bradley.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that NH/Tweed airport sometimes has good connections. When booking, it’s worth checking that option too. That’s a cheap taxi to campus.</p>
<p>If parents are visiting, renting a car from BDL is a good option. Use the package deals from the airlines’ own websites. Great combo deals can be had (the last time I was at Yale for about a week, my rental car cost only $120).</p>
<p>Never to Newark because you have to cross the entire NYC region. JFK is on the far side of Queens and the traffic can eat you. LaGuardia is the NYC choice; it’s a 2 hour limo ride, over the Whitestone and up 95. You don’t get the city backups. </p>
<p>Hartford is, suprisingly, not much closer, maybe 20 minutes because the airport is actually closer to Springfield, MA in Windsor Locks, CT. The choice depends on who flies where at what cost. </p>
<p>There are limo services that run on schedules. Like Connecticut Limousine. The train is dog slow.</p>
<p>DS preferred BDL/Hartford too. The only downside is that the ticket tends to be slightly more expensive.</p>
<p>A related question: Once in a while, the CT Limo (which takes you from BDL to NH/Phelps Gate and vice versa) would not come at your reserved time (usually once every two hours). How do you handle this problem if this happens to you? The taxi from BDL to NH costs $111. If there are no other students who happen to be in the same situation (i.e., are “stood up” by CT Limo as well) and are willing to share the taxi cost , it really costs too much to take the taxi by yourself. (BTW, if this happens to you and you ends up paying the taxi fare together with other students, I heard it may be a big hassle to get back the money from CT Limo.)</p>
<p>I raised this issue because it did happen to us at least two times in the past. And I wonder whether you have some better idea. Most students are not old enough to rent a car.</p>
<p>A year or two ago, some students (maybe together with some student organization like YCC) tried to establish an alternative Limo service. The “experiment” failed only after one or two services I think ;-( Is the potential trouble mostly caused by the fact that the business volume is not large enough? SuperShuttle.com never fails us where we live.</p>
<p>I think this is one of the (rarely happened) unpleasant “Yale experiences” for an OOS student!</p>
<p>From O’Hare, if neither car rental nor a ton of luggage is in the picture, we’re finding that the best and cheapest bet is to fly into La Guardia, take a taxi or bus to Grand Central, and take a $15 train ride (Metro North line) to New Haven. The train lets you off 6 blocks from campus. The nice thing about La Guardia is that there are so many daily flights from O’Hare. If you miss one flight or it is cancelled, there’s another one in an hour. </p>
<p>If you plan to rent a car on the other end, the best bet is to fly to Hartford and rent a car there. It’s a 45-minute drive.</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone - this helps a lot for future planning.</p>
<p>Although it only flies to Boston, I’m very partial to Midwest Airlines (connects in Milwaukee). I get great fares and delicious, warm cookies when I fly them. The train station isn’t too far from Logan Airport, and Amtrak is about a 1.5 hours commute from Boston to New Haven (with a $35 price tag).</p>
<p>And by 1.5 hours, I mean 2.5 hours. But it’s a nice trip.</p>
<p>I’ll second wjb on the LaGuardia option. We’re also Midwest Airlines lovers, but they discontinued their direct flight from Milwaukee to Hartford, which had been our preferred route. Since then we switched to flying either Midwest or Airtran to LaGuardia, take New York Airport Service van to Grand Central (way cheaper than taxi, and readily available right outside baggage claim; you can book in advance online) and then Metro North to New Haven.</p>
<p>^^I don’t think my son knows about the NY Airport Service Van. I’ll pass that info along. Thanks, Clarimom.</p>
<p>D has always flown into and out of LaGuardia. RT air fare on Northwest from Detroit is always in the $100-150 range, due to the competition from Spirit and American. I always check all three. She then goes into Manhattan and takes Metro North out to New Haven, which off-peak is $14 one-way.</p>
<p>You can get a flight from Philly to Tweed/New Haven - I just did that using US Airways, and it was fairly inexpensive. Note though, between Philly and Tweed, you’re in a smallish Prop Plane. It can be a little… ugh… bumpy.</p>
<p>wjb, the New York Airport Service is actually a bus, not a van–sorry, my fingers were typing too fast. You can book a round trip ticket online for about $20-21, or a one way for $12.00. That is considerably cheaper than a taxi ride, and I have found it to be very convenient.</p>
<p>I’ve found it very convenient to fly on Southwest through Chicago Midway and then into Hartford/Bradley. I fly from the West Coast, but if I book far enough in advance, I find that Southwest is usually the cheapest way to go.</p>
<p>A little more about limos: This spring, on the busiest single travel day for Yale students, the day they are released for spring break on March 6th, Yale provided bus shuttle service to Hartford. I have no idea if they provided ground transportation to other regional airports, and I also don’t know if the service was offered on other pre-break dates, but this was a really nice gift: no cost to the student, and a convenient, reliable ride to the airport. </p>
<p>I don’t know if this will be offered in the coming year, but have your student watch for more information as the holidays approach.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>After the spring break in March, when DS went back to Yale, the CT Limo van he was waiting for did not show up as scheduled. He ended up taking the bus provided by Yale from BDL to Phelps Gate. It was a pleasant surprise to him as he did not know about the bus in advance. Otherwise, who knows how long he needed to wait there!</p>
<p>At the end of one semester, when many Yale students need to take their shuttle service to Hartford/BDL, CT limo somehow dispatched a small van. It is just stupid! To its credit, CT Limo later dispatched a large bus. But the students needs to wait there shivering for another 20-30 minutes.</p>