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[Gilligan]

What are your experiences with airports within 3-4 hrs drive from Branson? Sand, aren't you from Kansas City? Chittlins, you fly frequently? Looking for airfare from Branson to San Francisco.  What airport do you suggest? Kansas City, Springfield, Bentonville area? Come on guys - help me out.

[Swoosh]

MCI is more of a hub for Southwest and Frontier.  I don't think STL is a hub for anything anymore. 

[sanddunerider]

What are your experiences with airports within 3-4 hrs drive from Branson? Sand, aren't you from Kansas City? Chittlins, you fly frequently? Looking for airfare from Branson to San Francisco.  What airport do you suggest? Kansas City, Springfield, Bentonville area? Come on guys - help me out.

I am ctually from the topeka kansas area..   I am sure you could get a flight form KC to frisco, with a pitstop in denver.     
would be very surprised if springfield didnt offer the same thing, if not maybe a layover in phoenix or dallas...

I dont fly, so not much help...  LOL

[Joy]

The times my family and I have flown out to California, it's been from Kansas City. I like the airport there; I'm very familiar with it. I haven't flown into San Fran, though; just Fresno, Los Angeles (LAX), and... I can't remember which airport in the Bay Area (there are so many!).

I really like Southwest. Their planes have always been very well-kept and their rates have always been pretty decent.

[HumphreyHawk]

When I fly on my dime....I've usually flew out of MCO or TUL for the best deals which are both pretty far from my home in Northwest Arkansas.  They both have Southwest and Frontier to go west and I've used them both before.  I also have family near MCO that have dropped kids off at to help us get away;)  I've flew out of Springfield before on Allegent to Orlando a few years ago too.

XNA (Bentonville/Fayetteville) is a great airport to get in and out of and growing airport and I use it all the time for work travel but it has some of the most expensive fares in the country (sometimes 2-3x more than TUL or MCO) since it's such a biz hub and doesn't have any very many discount airlines there (only has allegent that flys to Orlando and Vegas).  I know the airport has been begging for more airline to come in to help with the competition and increase the non-biz travel.  I know they have direct flights to LA but I'm not sure about San Francisco. 

I've notice billboards up advertising that American is flying out of Joplin with free parking....might check on that too.

[chittlins]

When I fly on my dime....I've usually flew out of MCO or TUL for the best deals which are both pretty far from my home in Northwest Arkansas.  They both have Southwest and Frontier to go west and I've used them both before.  I also have family near MCO that have dropped kids off at to help us get away;)  I've flew out of Springfield before on Allegent to Orlando a few years ago too.

XNA (Bentonville/Fayetteville) is a great airport to get in and out of and growing airport and I use it all the time for work travel but it has some of the most expensive fares in the country (sometimes 2-3x more than TUL or MCO) since it's such a biz hub and doesn't have any very many discount airlines there (only has allegent that flys to Orlando and Vegas).  I know the airport has been begging for more airline to come in to help with the competition and increase the non-biz travel.  I know they have direct flights to LA but I'm not sure about San Francisco. 

I've notice billboards up advertising that American is flying out of Joplin with free parking....might check on that too.

Yes, there is a nonstop on United from XNA to San Francisco

There is now a nonstop to Regan National (DCA) Wahington DC via American from XNA as well.

Pricy isn't the word for it unless you have some comp on a route, you can snag good fares for nonstop NYC service if booked a bit in advance, was even cheaper till Delta backed off the route. It was a rare route that had three carriers. A leasure passenger focused  airline like Spirit hasn't set up shop is beyond me. Here's the reasons i've heard. It couldn't handle the possible influx in growth of passengers all of a sudden and two things need to happen. More parking, specifically a garage and the new access road.

The 412 bypass is underway so the access road in about 3 to 5 years away but the deck is supposed to happen real soon.

I fly out of Memphis using Southwest most of the time when the destination is a long way off. I will really be using Southwest in the next year and 9 months (see my Companion Pass. We drive there and Mom dog sits and does the pick ups and drop offs for us. It used to be blanking expensive to fly out of there as well when is was dominated by Northwest and then Delta as a hub. It is now growing as O&D airport and has a major terminal redo in the works to centralize everything. Air Canada is restarting Toronto Service and the many of the majors are switching to larger main line aircraft instead of the tuna cans. Memphis has been specifically mentioned by Norwegian as a possible expansion location for Transatlantic low fare service . Within a 41/2 drive of Memphis there is 10 million folks with no hub closer than a 6 hours drive. Compare that to Nashville that is sandwiched by Charlotte, Atlanta, and Cincy and would face aggressive price matching by Delta and AA. I have learned to fly southwest to a major coastal hub and then book separately there when going abroad.

That said get on Scott's Cheap Flights. It showed this yesterday now that is worth the 5 hr drive and parking long term, basically what Norwegian would be pitching for places like Memphis and KC, drive and save big

Those same dates out of XNA were over 6,000 for 4 at that same time

[Gilligan]

Thanks for the very valuable help!  I booked United out of Kansas using mileage plus miles and about $400 for two round trip tickets. It would've been cheaper if I had booked further out.  Yes, XNA was going to be about $900 person!!!!  Holy cow!   Springfield was also very expensive.  I'll add Tulsa to my list to try next time, also.  Again, thanks so much!

[HumphreyHawk]

yeap...xna's fares are depressing.  A certain retailer has deals with the three big airlines that fly out of it where they get access to X amount of seats to help ensure their teams can get in and out when needed.  That deal plus what seems to be a handshake like deal between the airlines to not compete with each other on routes causes the prices to be jacked up.  Region has a steady biz traffic in and out everyday and the airlines seem to be content to not mess with the cash cow they have.  But yeah....i don't get why southwest, spirit, blue jet, or frontier hasn't tested out the market yet....the region is ready for them and the airport has room to add one pretty quickly....and plenty of room for bigger expansions.

I've got some Delta miles and credit I need to use this year (had a nightmare travel day with Delta last week).  I've been eyeing fights to NYC for a get away.  I've got a personal trip planned for Denver this spring too will probably go through Tulsa.

[chittlins]

Thanks for the very valuable help!  I booked United out of Kansas using mileage plus miles and about $400 for two round trip tickets. It would've been cheaper if I had booked further out.  Yes, XNA was going to be about $900 person!!!!  Holy cow!   Springfield was also very expensive.  I'll add Tulsa to my list to try next time, also.  Again, thanks so much!

When Chase introduced the Sapphire Reserve,they offered a 100,000 bonus points, the wife and I each got one. That gave us 200,000 points combined in the Chase Ultimate Rewards program plus what we had from out Chase Freedom Card we have had for years. The Sapphire Reserve offers enough freebies to make up for the annual fee.plus travel is 3x points every day.

We booked the Hyatt Place/National Mall for 4 nights thru Southwest and got 21,000 points that counted toward the Companion Pass for one of us.We paid on the Sapphire Reserve and got the 3x the room total in points instead of 2x if we had used the Southwest Card. We can transfer them over to Southwest 1 for 1 but don't count toward a companion pass.

We did the same thing for our stay in the Williamsburg area and Philadelphia for what I've dubbed our "Founding of a Nation" vacation. All together using Southwest for Hotels we got over 60,000 points that counted for companion passes

Plus the 5x points on the Freedom card this quarter was convince stores, I've been going back and forth every weekend in January to Duck Hunt in Eastern Ark. I got till March to hit the max of 1,500 dollars in purchases and that gives me 7,500 points, basically a free one way ticket from Memphis to Orlando, Tampa, Chicago, Baltimore on Southwest. I've got the game down, lol.

Last quarter it was wholesale clubs during Christmas season, that was the easiest 7,500 points yet, lol.

[chittlins]

yeap...xna's fares are depressing.  A certain retailer has deals with the three big airlines that fly out of it where they get access to X amount of seats to help ensure their teams can get in and out when needed.  That deal plus what seems to be a handshake like deal between the airlines to not compete with each other on routes causes the prices to be jacked up.  Region has a steady biz traffic in and out everyday and the airlines seem to be content to not mess with the cash cow they have.  But yeah....i don't get why southwest, spirit, blue jet, or frontier hasn't tested out the market yet....the region is ready for them and the airport has room to add one pretty quickly....and plenty of room for bigger expansions.

I've got some Delta miles and credit I need to use this year (had a nightmare travel day with Delta last week).  I've been eyeing fights to NYC for a get away.  I've got a personal trip planned for Denver this spring too will probably go through Tulsa.

I've heard rumors of Alaska using regional jet equipment to fly XNA. First it was to Seattle using code shares with Delta for TransPacific but that partnership has ended but the chatter still exists. And...with their takeover of Virgin America, a flight to Dallas particularly to Love Field via Virgins gates there to connect to California(LA and San Fran) along with the college kid travel could be very successful.

[Swoosh]

When I fly on my dime....I've usually flew out of MCO or TUL for the best deals which are both pretty far from my home in Northwest Arkansas.  They both have Southwest and Frontier to go west and I've used them both before.  I also have family near MCO that have dropped kids off at to help us get away;)  I've flew out of Springfield before on Allegent to Orlando a few years ago too.

XNA (Bentonville/Fayetteville) is a great airport to get in and out of and growing airport and I use it all the time for work travel but it has some of the most expensive fares in the country (sometimes 2-3x more than TUL or MCO) since it's such a biz hub and doesn't have any very many discount airlines there (only has allegent that flys to Orlando and Vegas).  I know the airport has been begging for more airline to come in to help with the competition and increase the non-biz travel.  I know they have direct flights to LA but I'm not sure about San Francisco. 

I've notice billboards up advertising that American is flying out of Joplin with free parking....might check on that too.

MCO is Orlando.  Did you mean MCI?

[HumphreyHawk]

When I fly on my dime....I've usually flew out of MCO or TUL for the best deals which are both pretty far from my home in Northwest Arkansas.  They both have Southwest and Frontier to go west and I've used them both before.  I also have family near MCO that have dropped kids off at to help us get away;)  I've flew out of Springfield before on Allegent to Orlando a few years ago too.

XNA (Bentonville/Fayetteville) is a great airport to get in and out of and growing airport and I use it all the time for work travel but it has some of the most expensive fares in the country (sometimes 2-3x more than TUL or MCO) since it's such a biz hub and doesn't have any very many discount airlines there (only has allegent that flys to Orlando and Vegas).  I know the airport has been begging for more airline to come in to help with the competition and increase the non-biz travel.  I know they have direct flights to LA but I'm not sure about San Francisco. 

I've notice billboards up advertising that American is flying out of Joplin with free parking....might check on that too.

MCO is Orlando.  Did you mean MCI?

Sorry....yeap...MCI (KC)...was just at MCO (Orlando) last week...still in my brain 

[chittlins]

When I fly on my dime....I've usually flew out of MCO or TUL for the best deals which are both pretty far from my home in Northwest Arkansas.  They both have Southwest and Frontier to go west and I've used them both before.  I also have family near MCO that have dropped kids off at to help us get away;)  I've flew out of Springfield before on Allegent to Orlando a few years ago too.

XNA (Bentonville/Fayetteville) is a great airport to get in and out of and growing airport and I use it all the time for work travel but it has some of the most expensive fares in the country (sometimes 2-3x more than TUL or MCO) since it's such a biz hub and doesn't have any very many discount airlines there (only has allegent that flys to Orlando and Vegas).  I know the airport has been begging for more airline to come in to help with the competition and increase the non-biz travel.  I know they have direct flights to LA but I'm not sure about San Francisco. 

I've notice billboards up advertising that American is flying out of Joplin with free parking....might check on that too.

MCO is Orlando.  Did you mean MCI?

Sorry....yeap...MCI (KC)...was just at MCO (Orlando) last week...still in my brain 

If you live in Benton County, MCI is a good option. Being out here at Stonebridge in Southeast Fayetteville, it's a near push for MCI, MEM, DWF/Love. Southwest flights out of Tulsa on Southwest has gone up in price quite a bit the past couple of years.

Thing with Southwest is they don't have enough metal to add flights without taking away from elsewhere.

They pulled out of Dayton just to move to Cincy. Dayton performed well for them.

[HumphreyHawk]

I live just a couple miles from MO line in benton county....MEM and Dallas are too far (6+ hours).  Its about 4.5 hrs to MCI...2.5 to TUL.  I wish MCI was on the southside of KC....takes an hour just to get through/around town.  I usually check XNA, Springfield, and sometimes St Louis and Little Rock for fares too but they've never beat TUL or MCI. 

One day I just hope I can afford to not have to travel so far to travel.  Having a good airport nearby with competitive fares is a great first world benefit.

[chittlins]

Looking at the stats, XNA got a near 3.5% rise in total passengers this year after a very sluggish start of the year. December was up over 12% from Dec. 2015.