<p>To estimate some plane fares, have you tried using one of those search engines, such as Kayak.com or Expedia.com? Google them and research it. </p>
<p>Pretend you’re scheduling a flight with 3 or 4 weeks’ advance notice. Just type in a date several weeks from today. Try out some fares on different days, too, because sometimes that varies the price. Try out your cities.</p>
<p>Once she’s enrolled and attending a school, you’ll know a few weeks ahead so can buy plane tix ahead. That’s why you shouldn’t just look on the search engine tonight for the fares this week; they’ll all be higher than what you’d get once she’s in college with predictable, scheduled dates around exam times. The hardest to arrange are for Thanksgiving; once she’s in somewhere, go ahead and book that one half a year in advance if you wish.</p>
<p>Don’t type in a particular airline; let the search engine show you all the airlines. Important to also note whether it’s a nonstop or one-stop flight.</p>
<p>Your kid might want to look into getting friends at college that live in the same general region as yourself. While I took the train from Pittsburgh home a good number of times (a 5 hour car ride turns into a 10-14 hour train ride plus the 45 minutes on local bus transit to the train station and then another 45 minute ride home from the train station), it was much easier when I’d carpool with friends.</p>
<p>Usually one kid’s parents would make the drive out, pick up their kid, plus another one or two of us, and give us a ride to some reasonable drop-off point. Later on, once I started bringing a car with me to school, I’d give my friends rides and they’d help cover gas/tolls for the ride.</p>
<p>I know a number of people that used to get rides from random people on my school’s online webboard, and they didn’t seem to have any really negative experiences, so they could give that a shot as well.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone said this yet, but unless something changes, with fuel prices going up, planes are raising prices almost daily. I think over 4 years you may not see your $99 flights anymore, and probably within the first year. Something to think about.</p>
<p>My D has used Amtrak to get from NY to Providence most visits home this year. She has the Student Advantage Card, and at times, has upgraded to Business Class to make sure she got an outlet for her laptop. She also has to take the commuter train into Penn Station, which adds about another hour to her total travel time. But, she has had no problems and it saves us the trip into NY to get her. I usually drive her back (with a trunk full of bottled water and other supplies - LOL). The actual time on the train is about the same as the driving time - unless we hit the usual traffic somewhere on the CT turnpike. In the fall, she may try the new bus service from NYC to Boston, called Bolt Bus, which has $15.00 fares one way. It is being advertised as the alternative to the Fung Wah busses - which I have told her not to ever consider taking. We are an hour south of Boston, and about 20 minutes from the Amtrak station in Providence, with the difference being dealing with the Boston traffic. Just found out yesterday that an old friend of hers is going to the same school in the fall, so her mom and I already discussed potential car-pooling.</p>
<p>I traveled on Fung Wah to NY from Boston four years ago and had good experiences–always arrived on time. The drivers often did go quite fast. In the last few years, however, FW has had several accidents where buses were overturned and passengers have been stranded on the highway. Also, FW has been in trouble with various regulatory groups. I wouldn’t recommend using FW. There is a bus service called Limoliner that goes between Boston and NY. It’s a very nice bus–you can read, do work. The bathrooms are clean. The fare for round trip (reserved seat) is $189, which is definitely cheaper than Delta or US Air to NY. (It takes about the same time as driving–which is the downside if you need to get back and forth quickly.) My husband uses Limoliner if he’s going to NYC for more than a day. </p>
<p>On trips to Philadelphia from Boston–my youngest is in school in Philadelphia and my experience has been the same as Interesteddad–Southwest is the way to go the majority of the time. It’s almost always cheaper than the other airlines and definitely cheaper than Amtrak.</p>
<p>Flying is usually cheaper than Amtrak, but after the American Airlines debacle recently, I was very happy that my d hates to fly and took Amtrak to a station at which we could pick her up!</p>
<p>If Florida is origination or destination point and s/d is bringing a car to school, I recomend the autotrain. Heading north daily - leaving from Orlando at about 3 PM and arriving following morning at about 9 AM outside of Washington. Very reasonably priced and comfortable and beats the hassle of staying overnight (or maybe 2 overnights) in motels/hotels along I 95 where it is recommended that all baggage be removed from cars in parking lots. - autotrain - load up once…</p>
<p>Has anyone out there tried it??? Great for kids going or comng from the mid Atlantic and New England states.</p>
<p>My D is going to college in Orlando and the thought crossed her mind about taking her car for an off campus job. We were thinking of the autotrain to get her (and the car) down there. Any thoughts on the autotrain?</p>
I wouldn’t recommend this, personally–I had a really terrible experience doing this in college.
In terms of physical comfort, I think the train is hands down the best. You can get up, get something to eat, bathrooms are usually decent, seats pretty roomy and comfortable. This is not as true with the bus, and you know what flying is like now.</p>
<p>I disagree about the train, at least going South. AmTrak does not have a good reputation in Atlanta – delays are not uncommon. It is generally not cheaper than the discount airlines.</p>
<p>I also disagree with fares rising. My children go to sleep away camp and this year was the cheapest in about three or four. At least from Atlanta, bargains are plentiful. The last Airtran sale was $59 from Atlanta to Baltimore. Delta and everyone else generally matches. Assume about 15-20 dollars extra in fees (not including luggage.)</p>
<p>Train travel between Chicago and DC is notoriously bad. On the west-east route, the train has been known to run as much as 8 hours late by the time it reaches Cumberland, Maryland (where my informant boards the train). I love riding the train and wish it were more reliable and less expensive. For Chicago, BWI to Midway on Southwest is pretty good. I also use Southwest a couple of times a year from BWI to Providence and to Hartford; fares are cheaper than the train. I haven’t flown SW into Logan yet.</p>
<p>My S flies to St. Louis and takes the airport bus/limo to his school. We have found excellent fares this year on Southwest and American–better than they were last summer. There are good fares out there if you keep checking. H just flew to St. Louis today for $86 one way.</p>
<p>My kids have been using Amtrak but recently discovered the wonderful Bolt buses. A mere $20 between NYC and Boston, and also go to Phillie and DC. You get your ticket online in advance, or take your chances when the bus comes. Pick up is on the street in NYC- 34th and ???- no station there for Bolt, which may help explain the prices…</p>
<p>We will be doing Maine (mid state) to DC and after investigating, it will be air travel for D. Train takes forever and then its still an hour home from the train station, plane is 1 1/2 hours. Then 1 hour home. For moving in and picking up, I learned from D #1 who was in Pittsburgh. I flew out and rented a minivan at the airport. Packed it up, drove home and swapped to my SUV. It kept mileage off my vehicle and saved time (I didn’t want to use my vacation time doing the 15 hour drive which ended up using 3 days and I was really tired). For moving D #2 to DC I will rent a minivan, drive her down in it and fly back. Again, I don’t have a lot of vacation time and I want to keep the mileage off my car. If you get a cheap flight it can be pretty equal costwise, and I look for AAA or similar discounts on the car. So far it has worked well.</p>
<p>We live about 45 minutes from Atlantic City and Spirit Airlines occasionally has sales on flights to Orlando, where D will be starting college. Flights from our area to Orlando are plentiful, with Newark and Philadelphia airports within 1 hour from home.</p>
<p>Several things- The Autotrain leaves from Lorton, VA around 11AM and gets to FL,just outside Orlando, early the next morning (about 8AM if all is going as planned), Those who use it love it, as it’s a no fuss way to travel,but that convenience doesn’t come cheap and it’s quite often booked solid months in advance
[Amtrak</a> - Routes - South](<a href=“Amtrak”>Amtrak)</p>
<p>Flying is also really dependant upon where you live. There is no way on earth that I would put my D on any one of the “commuter lines” or “low fare” airlines. I cite today’s news regarding the February plane crash in Buffalo as evidence. Cost cutting has forced even the bigger, major carriers to lay off their older, more experienced pilots and a goodly portion of those that are driving the ship have “degrees” from flight schools which haven’t given them adequate flight time or experience. Others may be comfortable with it, but I won’t get on a plane where a member of the flight crew is 23 years old. Despite having flown all over the world, I am a nervous flier and want to know that the person in the front has a lot of experience and that the plane has been serviced by folks who read the updates to the maintainance manuals! Also, airports tend to be on the outskirts of metropolitan areas and that requires additional transportation to get to and from the terminals. And I haven’t mentioned the odd delays which trap passengers on planes out on the tarmac for hours, causing havoc with connections. Eldest S spent last night in Miami, unplanned, when his flight from LAX to Florida sat on the runway for such a long time that he missed his flight to Argentina by 4 hours!
Not a fan of busses, in general, and D tends to carsickeness! Would that affect her on a large bus? The terminals here and on the other end are in “iffy” locations.
D will be going to school in Cleveland, about a 4 1/2 hour drive away. The trip is pleasant and the highways good, but in wintertime, it can be a nightmare! Black ice, blowing snow obliterating the road entirely, not fun at all. That leaves me with Amtrak. Now, train service runs on it’s own time schedule, which never seems to resemble what they have printed! We are looking into having her take the train back and forth for those 4 day breaks, especially in November and February. It’s the Lakeshore Limited, which runs from Chicago to NYC and stops in Cleveland, Buffalo and then here in Rochester. It is scheduled to leave Cleveland in the very early morning though, and my concern is that she will go through the hassle of getting to the station, only to find out that the train is running hours late just on the leg from Chicago through Indiana. Have any of you taken that leg of the trip or have your kids? I’d like to know experiences with Amtrak outside of the NE corridor.</p>
<p>OP - I echo the suggestion above to use Kayak.com and get a rough idea of what the flights cost between any given pair.
I’m not sure if Southwest is on Kayak, though, so you may want to search Southwest separately.
For your Chicago trips, don’t forget that there is both O’Hare and Midway. While Midway is more convenient for someone looking at U Chicago and O’Hare is more convenient for someone looking at Northwestern, both are certainly do-able.<br>
Whatever you find on Kayak though … I’d add $100 for estimating purposes. Flight prices change all the time and there’s no guarantee you can get the flight you just priced out.
Don’t forget to count in costs of a subway, bus or taxi at the other end. Those can add up too. Good luck!</p>