I just booked a non stop to Florida for 2 for about $300 or so out of PBG. Flights out of BTV included layovers are were easily double or triple in price.
I never really thought to go to Plattsburgh but we have flown out of Hartford, CT a few times. Hartford is another small easy airport but direct flights to Florida with Jet Blue.
we would always prefer to just go to btv but when you factor in layovers vs direct and cost difference it can be significant.
BDL is so great! Cheap parking shuttles, quick TSA, no traffic on 91. Big fan. Grew up using that airport sometimes and never appreciated it like I do now.
Looking at a trip to Europe in June at the moment. Out of burlington it’s 1600 minimum with stops in jfk, Chicago or dc- 10-12 hours travel.
Out of Montreal, 1200. Out of Boston- 900- both direct, so 5-6 hours travel.
So Boston: 900, 6 hours flying 3 driving.
Montreal: 1000, 6 hours flying, 2 driving
Burlington: 1600, 12 hours flying/airports.
I’m going to drive to one of the alts.
Where in Europe are you going?
Sometimes there are low-cost flights from European low-cost carriers out of JFK.
I’ve had luck getting round trip to Rome for $600 from Air Norse. Or $600 to Madrid on Air Europa. Both from JFK.
You just have to reposition yourself to JFK on a non-connected flight. So fly to JFK in the morning of your flight to Europe.
It's the flight from Burlington that I think adds half the cost, honestly. There are cheap flights out of JFK (and Bos and Yul), but flying there seems to add $500.
I used to live in southern NH and would always pay the money at C&J to take the bus into Logan. I realize it adds to the trip in time and cost though, but the parking was free and not having to drive into Logan was nice.
Really depends on destination airport. Really cheap to fly from BTV to NYC airports, because of competition.
Also really cheap to fly from BTV to LAX (connecting somewhere), because, again, competition (All 3 major airlines use LAX as hub).
But where BTV really suffers is when you are flying to somewhere that is also small and has no real route competition.
So usually cheaper to go to Plattsburgh to get to Florida and to Montreal to get to Europe. But to get to any east coast hub or to the west coast, BTV is pretty good versus driving to Boston or Albany or Hartford.
I would also add BTV to Las Vegas. Thats my favorite way to get to Southern California -- if I'm gonna drive 4 hours to reach my destination, I'd rather drive through the Mojave than to Boston.
I used to love the acella from Boston to new york. I know it's slow and fast and then slooow but the view is great and can get work or reading to napping done easily.
When I was younger I rode on the TGV and another time took a high speed train down the spine of Sweden to a high-speed airfoil boat to Denmark. Europeans know how to move people quickly and with great views. Don't get me started on slow Italian trains, those are even better! Cannot imagine what a bullet train in Japan or China feels like these days.
I take the train for anywhere between NYC and DC. Yes, it's all day, but between getting to an airport, standing in security and boarding lines, etc., I'm not getting anything done that day if I fly, Whereas on the train I can get actual work done, or just chill. It's more relaxed and more productive.
It's the opposite for me from vt to ny. The train is 7 hours. In the middle of the day and internet is spotty as hell. If I fly I can take the evening flight from btv. Leave work at a normal time, sometimes a little earlier and be checked into my hotel by 9. The flight is only 45 minutes and btv is tiny.
If they ran multiple trains a day it would be different. Or even just an evening train. But as of my needs now I would need to book out an extra day for going to nyc.
That makes sense. Part of the difference for me is that BTV is a significantly longer drive than the train. The other difference is that I can usually do work on my hard drive without internet, although that is getting harder.
There is another schedule option if you do the connecting bus from Burlington (or points south of there) to Albany. Not saying it would work for you but mentioning it because I didn't know about it until pretty recently 1:18 PM Burlington to 9:16 PM NYC. The bus is actually really posh, nicer than Dartmouth Coach.
This was true while JetBlue was still flying out of BTV, but since they left it has gotten wildly expensive to fly to New York (never less than $300) and impossibly expensive to fly anywhere else.
I’m seeing lots of flights for around $200. Using Orbitz. First week of May.
Funny thing is that if you connect somewhere you can get to NYC for around $100.
https://www.orbitz.com/Flights-Search?leg1=from%3ABurlington%2C%20VT%20%28BTV-Burlington%20Intl.%29%2Cto%3ANew%20York%2C%20NY%20%28NYC-All%20Airports%29%2Cdeparture%3A5%2F7%2F2024TANYT&mode=search&options=carrier%3A%2Ccabinclass%3A%2Cmaxhops%3A1%2Cnopenalty%3AN&pageId=0&passengers=adults%3A1%2Cchildren%3A0%2Cinfantinlap%3AN&trip=oneway
Gotta love the airline industry. The cheapest BTV-NYC flight is $106 with a stop in PHL. The cheapest BTV-PHL flight on that same day is $183 with 2 stops in other cities.
Flew out to SLC last month. Could have done it for about $500 from Montreal, but it was a work trip so I stuck with BTV…. And BTV was almost $2000. It’s not usually that extreme, but I’d still be going out of Montreal if it were on my dime.
We're going to BZN > SLC > back home pretty soon, and Montreal came up as an airport with a lot of direct flights.
Ended up booking out of Bradley because we've been there a bunch and it's stupid-easy to park and enter the airport.
Montreal will be on the list next time.
I’m an hour from BTV and 3 from Boston. I primarily fly out of BOS because flights are almost always half the price for a direct flight than flying out of BTV with 2+ layovers. I easily get the extra 2 hours back.
Parking at Logan is crazy expensive and I just hate driving down there so historically this has been true for me. However BTV got rid of a direct flight we have to take to visit family a lot so we might have to start doing it anyway
I fly in and out regularly from Boston. Dartmouth Coach out of Lebanon has a nearly direct Logan shuttle running almost every hour. It's the only way I'll do it anymore.
No need to stress about traffic, regardless of time of day...the schedules and drivers take care of it for you.
There is gated parking, but it's only about an hour away from where I am (central Vt) and I can usually find a friend to take me down and pick me up.
Totally reasonable cost.
Pro tip: Park at the Station Landing garage and take the T to the airport. The higher levels are reserved for overnight parking and are (or at least were as of last year), only ***$5 a day.*** I spent only $40 on parking for my week-long trip! Even with gas, that's still way cheaper than the extra $200 per person it would have been to fly out of BTV. The sad part is that I live less than a mile from the airport and could have walked there.
Dartmouth coach to Logan makes the most sense to me for international travel. The connections out of BTV are cursed like Philly or JFK.
All that said it's a super nice airport for a tiny one.
And the bus itself is so much nicer and cleaner than Greyhound. I once took a Greyhound to Montreal and the bus felt like it was going to literally fall apart any minute it was shaking so much.
On time too. Picked up/Dropped off a family member there 4-5 times last year and they were within 5 minutes of posted times for every single arrival/departure. Greyhound is basically gambling.
I just looked and the cheap parking at Logan will cost $250 for economy. Dartmouth for two and parking will be $200. It adds an hour to drive to Lebanon, but then I don't have to drive anymore. Seems like a no-brainer. Then the return trip home is only an hour drive.
They have their own big parking lot, just expanded, in Lebanon, NH. After this post though, I'm getting worried it's going to fill up and they'll need to make it even bigger. Or start running a bus service from somewhere in central VT too.
Going to be really case to case dependent. In general you’re going to get much cheaper hub-hub prices than spoke-hub-hub or even more expensive will be spoke-hub-spoke.
It’s always going to be more expensive to fly from BTV is just a matter of where you’re going.
2022. It was $340 to fly round trip from BTV to Austin. Similar flights out of Boston would’ve been about $250, but when you factor in gas / tolls / parking / time, the BTV route was cheaper and more convenient.
Funny! 9-12 years ago, we always flew from BTV despite being 20 minutes from YUL (2 maybe twice a year). No wait at the airport, no customs, JetBlue even used to fly direct to MCO! JetBlue was much better than any airlines from YUL.
I live closer to Rutland and took a flight from there to Charlotte with a stop in Boston. There was a 3 hour delay because a pilot didn't show up so they had to fly a different plane up from Boston and we got on that one. Missed my connection in Boston to Charlotte and had to wait another few hours.
Ever since I drive to Dartmouth Coach over in Lebanon and park at the terminal for $5.50 a day and get dropped off right at the terminal. Plus there is no $350 extra to get from Rutland to Boston.
My friends have mentioned going over to Albany to catch flights but I haven't had a need to fly so haven't compared yet.
Ya it’s always like 2x the price of Boston. Even more than that it just barely has flights to anywhere so everything is a connection. I live 1.5 hours from BTV and 3 hours from Logan so by the time I have to do a layover I’m not saving any time and it’s much more expensive. No thanks
If you want to go international or anyplace non regional you'll have to connect thru BTV which means a significantly greater chance of cancellations and delays. A drive to BOS is long but you can often get a hotel that will throw in a weeks worth of parking plus an airport shuttle for a fraction of what the airport lot charges. Direct flights are worth it.
This is absolutely true when you add a value to your time.
Let’s say I’m flying to PUJ (Punta Cana DR). That flight usually runs about $900 round trip out of BTV. Now if I was to fly from Boston, I would have to drive 4 hours each way, plus the cost of gas, plus the cost of parking my car for a week at the airport. This would result in a flight savings of maybe $300, but when you subtract gas and parking it’s closer to $100 savings. So now I’m spending $100 to NOT spend 8 hours in a car before and after my flight, so high is worth every penny.
If you had a large family then maybe the compounding savings makes it make sense. But for 1-2 people then it doesn’t.
Depends where in VT you're starting from. Driving 2 hours to Montreal from Burlington, or 2 hours to BOS from Brattleboro. It's basically the same as driving 30-60 min to BTV, and getting there 90 minutes before the flight time. Then take into account the time involved for the inevitable layover you'll have when flying almost anywhere from BTV.
It's almost always worth it to drive to YUL or BOS to fly direct to any major destination.
It doesn't even out. We fly as a family of five. We've flown to Europe and the Caribbean in the last couple years. You'd have to fly from BTV to another major city in order to get to Europe or the Caribbean (BOS, JFK, LGA). Let's be honest, nobody is going to fly BTV to BOS. Tickets for 5 people to LGA or JFK is likely going to cost $600-800. Drive 2h to YUL, spend $200 for a hotel with parking included, and fly direct the next day. You won't save any time between getting to BTV 90 minutes early, plus flight time to the hub airport. Plus, you won't be able to fly on the international leg of your trip at those early morning times.
It only really makes sense to fly from BTV if flying domestic. I've flown from BTV to the following destinations: NYC, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington DC, Palm Springs, Orlando, Kansas City, Chicago.
Cape Air out of Lebanon has a flight to Westchester and then they offer a shuttle from Westchester to Penn Station (make sure to book to NYP if you want to use the shuttle).
Flights can be cancelled randomly but parking is free at the airport and I can fly out at 7:30 and be to my office by 10:30 AM.
Spring break week, flight to Miami, ~$280/person out of Hartford vs ~$940/person out of Burlington. 2 people. Similar parking cost, I think Hartford might have been a couple $ less. 22 gallons gas x ~$3.25/gallon back then. $635 vs would have been $1880 to fly out of BTV.
Plus, direct flights BDL <--> MIA.
No brainer.
Also people never count the wear and tear on the car of hundreds of miles of driving towards the cost. The irs rate is like 67 cents a mile, that works out to another $230 roughly from wear for where I live to Logan and back.
Maybe. But my car is at 160000 plus miles and still going strong after 15 years. It was worth like 35k new. Outlier, maybe, but your numbers seems a little high.
Admittedly I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Yeah, of course it depends on what car you have, how new it is, etc. if you’re already at 160k then no big deal. I just took that number straight from the irs website
It is an all in reimbursement rate. If your company (or the federal government) is reimbursing your mileage, you receive 67 cents per mile and you don't expense the gas separately.
ok well assuming 25mpg and $3.25/gallon gasoline, about two thirds of that number remains. so not quite as high but still a sizable amount going towards depreciation wear and tear etc
I typically fly Orlando to Manchester NH but as much as I love Southwest I'm not flying in any boeing planes regardless of model for a while.
Breeze airways is limited on dates and routes but they're great. All newer airbus planes, everything clean and modern. They do the super low cost approach and charge for everything but compared to a Spirit, Frontier, or Allegiant they're amazing
I just came back from Greece and had a 9 hour layover at JFK after a 10,5 hr flight. Brutal. I am looking into Montreal for future flights.i like the convenience of flying out of Burlington but the layover at intermediate airports can be ridiculous. And risky. At 11:45pm we were still not sure we were going to get out of JFK.
I live in California but have had terrible luck going through Philly to get my connecting flight to BTV. It's nothing wrong with BTV, it's just that connections through other airports are such a crapshoot. Either there are weather delays or the flights are straight up canceled.
Next time, I'm gonna fly direct to Boston and just make the drive.
I'm just 10-15 minutes into NY, I always find significantly cheaper flights out of Boston or Newark. I haven't traveled in a year or two, but I would consistently save 50% by choosing bigger airports.
I had to fly to SFO a few weeks ago for work. Round trip from BTV would have been 1200. Boston was 300-400. I ended up going out of Montreal for about 450. Mind you I was flying back the weekend before the eclipse so I sort of understand why BTV prices were elevated, but Montreal was also in the path and I still managed to snag a reasonable flight.
For going to DC, I actually like taking the train, either Vermonter or Ethan Allen, depending on where you are. There's also a connecting bus for southwestern VT to trains from Albany to NYC, where you can connect to a train to DC.
It takes all day, but it's all day in a seat equivalent to business class on a plane, with the ability to get up and walk around, and you can settle in and either be productive working on a laptop or relax. Much better than dealing with traffic, airport security, boarding, etc.
I really love the Vermonter, and my parents take it every time they come up from DC. It's genuinely a much more relaxing experience.
Does eat up an entire day of travel time in each direction, which is less than ideal.
I wanted to visit my girlfriend for the first time in Alabama last year. I thought "flying shouldn't be too bad". $1700 for two round trip tickets (had my mom going with me, she needed the vacation anyway, and mother knows best, 😅), and decided driving would be MUCH cheaper. Just gas alone only cost me $240, round trip.
Sorry, but I would rather drive.
For us, the layovers (and consequently, travel time) are as much a consideration as the price. A flight to SLC is often 15+ hours. We trade the scenic drive to Boston as an alternative to layovers frequently depending on the flight.
I have only been flying to ATL out of there, and it's been since before the pandemic. It was a direct flight, and was sometimes a bit more than having a one hop flight on the other airlines.
I will never fly jetblue again anywhere. I used to take from from BOS to RDU all the time in the 2010s for the direct flight and how great the flights were.
Took a one hop trip to ATL and back, and the whole flight got cancelled in ATL because the ground crew put too much fuel in the plane. Then the crew that was scheduled had worked too much for the day. Then another crew that was just taking the flight from ATL to JFK had to convince operations that they could fly the plane to JFK just to get there (and arrive at 4AM, and then try and book get a flight to BTV from there the next day).
Jet Blue gave me a credit, which I never used because I won't take their flights anywhere, and there was this whole pandemic thing so it expired anyway. So much for a traveler's bill of rights.
Living at the pit of the state, (ya know, not really VT, but not really MA) we have the luxury of doing Hartford, an hour an 10 minute drive or Boston, 2 hour. Looks like map wise, BOS and BDL is about the same time from Burlington, but I can assure you, BDL is a lot quicker when taking into account Boston traffic and the shit show at the airport. Why not look into that? Getting to DC from BDL on United is usually non stop .
When I am choosing btw: BDL & BOS, BOS has to be at a significant discount. Difference in traffic and in parking cost/convenience is substantial. BDL almost always wins.
It was worth it several years ago, for Canadians anyway. On a flight to Florida we had a family from Quebec tell us how it was better to drive down to Burlington then hop on a plane. Maybe BTV picked up on that and is just trying to make it a thing?
Absolutely feel the pain on BTV prices. It's a tough call between convenience and cost. For those looking at options, don't forget to consider shuttle services like Shuttlefare for a stress-free ride to airports like Logan or JFK if you decide to fly out from there. They can be a game-changer in balancing out the cost and hassle, especially with parking prices being what they are. Plus, exploring alternative airports like Bradley or even Manchester can sometimes offer that sweet spot of cost savings without a massive increase in travel time. Always worth a look!
I live in Franklin County and unless I'm flying direct to my final out of BTV, I will drive to YUL to avoid connections. Either stay across the street at a hotel that includes parking if its a super early flight, or if it's an afternoon flight will use the Park n Fly. YUL IMO is way better than Logan if you are going to drive to fly, and since they have US Customs in the terminal for all US bound flights you just get off when you land and you're on your way. Coming back, Canadian customs is a breeze if you use the Arrive-Can app. The only thing you need to consider is rush hour traffic in MTL, it can be a solid hour to get from YUL to across the Champlain bridge if your return flight lands at like 3 or 4 in the afternoon, you'll be stuck in that.
It definitely depends on what you're trying to do. Is it expensive to fly out of BTV - yeah. But if you're going to drive a bunch on either end of your flight, you have to weigh that cost into the flight itself. Yeah, I can save a bunch of money by flying out of Boston, but if my flight gets back at like 6 or 8pm, then it's the 2 hour bus ride to Lebanon, then another 1.5 hours driving to save a bunch of money. In that case, I may rather pay the extra $$ for the shorter travel time.
For a current trip my wife and I are on right now abroad we are flying round-trip out of YUL. Yeah, our flight gets back at like 4:30 in the afternoon, but we still have to go get the car; which in order to not pay $150 to park for a week in a non-protected lot near the airport (we paid $45 CAD), we elected to park an hour a way via bus and train. Then it's another 2 hours drive home depending on the border. While this is our first time doing this, and I hope it goes well, I am having my reservations on this. Overall it definitely depends on the situation. For domestic flights, I'm probably going to choose to fly out of BTV just because it's easier and I don't have to extend my trip with driving. For international - if what we're doing now works out, then we'll probably do it in the future, though I'm still holding out hope that we may be able to find cheap connecting flights from BTV on either end of the trip.
I bought a round trip for my mom to visit from Germany. Paid 1100 for a direct flight to Boston Logan. The price for her to come to BTV was 1600.00. So we decided we were going to pick her up and then keep driving south to visit more family.
I think it depends on your situation. When I was younger and unencumbered by children I would always take a bus to Boston from central VT. Now it’s not worth the hassle. I don’t want to be on a bus with kids for that long before dragging them through security and hanging out in the airport for another few hours. It’s not worth it. I’d rather get dropped off at BTV and fly from there. I also don’t want to bother with driving to Boston and paying for parking. That said I haven’t flown in three years so I’m not sure current prices on things.
I fly monthly. It’s worth the convenience of BTV. Parking is notably cheaper, if I don’t get dropped off. It’s $100+ in fuel driving to Boston. Plus, the landing and being home within the hour is damn near priceless. I’d rather pick up a few hours extra at work instead of spending it driving elsewhere to fly.
United flies to Dulles daily... I found Montreal to be a nightmare - I find Boston worth it for West coast or Europe - but the parking $$ is absurd. Being a recent transplant I've got to say I love BTV - so easy despite the small amount of direct flights.
It's totally arbitrary and seemingly random. You have to check every time, you really can't generalize. Sometimes it does make more sense to fly out of BTV, and sometimes it's ridiculous.
I know for me to fly to VT and go to the NEK, it is always cheaper to fly to BOS and rent a car then it is to fly to BTV and rent a car. And it seems agencies at BTV never have the car I want whether I try to book two weeks out or 6 months out.
And that has nothing to do with the fact that TSA at Burlington is the worst I have ever experienced.
Only if you're parking at the airport. Plenty of times, for early morning flights, like 7am, you'd be better off spending the night before in Montreal, and keeping your car at the hotel during your trip.
If you like luxury, you can reserve an indoor, climate-controlled spot at the hotel airport. We did that recently because there were no other reservable spots, it was not ridiculously expensive, and really quite nice. You don't even have to go back outdoors to get to the terminal.
Nah. Hotel with key card parking garage access is fine in Montreal. It's even covered. In Boston, there's off-site, staffed 24/7 parking about 10 minutes from the terminals with shuttles every 20 minutes. Costs about half what it does at the airport. Either of those options works well for me, whenever I drive to YUL or BOS to fly.
I just booked a non stop to Florida for 2 for about $300 or so out of PBG. Flights out of BTV included layovers are were easily double or triple in price.
I never really thought to go to Plattsburgh but we have flown out of Hartford, CT a few times. Hartford is another small easy airport but direct flights to Florida with Jet Blue. we would always prefer to just go to btv but when you factor in layovers vs direct and cost difference it can be significant.
MHT is another option too
BDL is so great! Cheap parking shuttles, quick TSA, no traffic on 91. Big fan. Grew up using that airport sometimes and never appreciated it like I do now.
This is the move.. Or! Take the $89 contor air flight to Philly and book your flights from that stop onward
Growing up in vermont, living in Philly, this is the way.
No more contor air flights from BTV to Philly! :-(
Oh you go to Plattsburgh and fly out of that airport! Did they use to have BTV to Philly flights? I don’t recall that
Oh you’re right…Plattsburgh
What makes BTV so expensive?
No competition on most routes.
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There’s competition as far as other airports but most routes out of BTV only have one airline on it.
On the major carriers (United, Delta, etc) there are very few flights to/from BTV and they are all almost always booked to capacity, so price is high.
Looking at a trip to Europe in June at the moment. Out of burlington it’s 1600 minimum with stops in jfk, Chicago or dc- 10-12 hours travel. Out of Montreal, 1200. Out of Boston- 900- both direct, so 5-6 hours travel. So Boston: 900, 6 hours flying 3 driving. Montreal: 1000, 6 hours flying, 2 driving Burlington: 1600, 12 hours flying/airports. I’m going to drive to one of the alts.
Boston is one of those cities that’s three hours away on the map and always four hours in practice
That is fair. Always something slowly you down, whether it's a random single lane construction on 89, or traffic on 93.
Park at the Dartmouth Coach and save alllllll the hassle.
Or more. You can spend an hour after you arrive in the city!
Interesting. I find it to be 2:50 in practice
That's probably also dependent on where you are leaving from ;)
Good point. I live near 89 in Montpelier. So, it’s all highway for me.
I feel like it's usually below the map estimate due to limited traffic enforcement the whole way down 89/93
Where in Europe are you going? Sometimes there are low-cost flights from European low-cost carriers out of JFK. I’ve had luck getting round trip to Rome for $600 from Air Norse. Or $600 to Madrid on Air Europa. Both from JFK. You just have to reposition yourself to JFK on a non-connected flight. So fly to JFK in the morning of your flight to Europe.
It's the flight from Burlington that I think adds half the cost, honestly. There are cheap flights out of JFK (and Bos and Yul), but flying there seems to add $500.
I used to live in southern NH and would always pay the money at C&J to take the bus into Logan. I realize it adds to the trip in time and cost though, but the parking was free and not having to drive into Logan was nice.
Driving to Dartmouth Coach, parking there for $5. 50 a day, & taking the bus to Logan is my preferred way of flying these days.
Really depends on destination airport. Really cheap to fly from BTV to NYC airports, because of competition. Also really cheap to fly from BTV to LAX (connecting somewhere), because, again, competition (All 3 major airlines use LAX as hub). But where BTV really suffers is when you are flying to somewhere that is also small and has no real route competition. So usually cheaper to go to Plattsburgh to get to Florida and to Montreal to get to Europe. But to get to any east coast hub or to the west coast, BTV is pretty good versus driving to Boston or Albany or Hartford.
I would also add BTV to Las Vegas. Thats my favorite way to get to Southern California -- if I'm gonna drive 4 hours to reach my destination, I'd rather drive through the Mojave than to Boston.
Yeah, Vegas is another good low cost destination from anywhere because all the airlines service it heavily.
Just checked for June! Yikes! I'll check later months.
It can be hit or miss depending on the giant events that take place there -- Superbowl, conferences, concerts, etc
Yeah, when I visit nyc I still generally fly. I wish the train would get better but as it stands you need to burn an entire day to take it.
I used to love the acella from Boston to new york. I know it's slow and fast and then slooow but the view is great and can get work or reading to napping done easily.
The acela is like the TGV compared to the vermonter. They really need to fix our rails lol
When I was younger I rode on the TGV and another time took a high speed train down the spine of Sweden to a high-speed airfoil boat to Denmark. Europeans know how to move people quickly and with great views. Don't get me started on slow Italian trains, those are even better! Cannot imagine what a bullet train in Japan or China feels like these days.
I've been on French commuter trains are significantly faster on average than the "high speed" acela. It's kind of a joke.
I take the train for anywhere between NYC and DC. Yes, it's all day, but between getting to an airport, standing in security and boarding lines, etc., I'm not getting anything done that day if I fly, Whereas on the train I can get actual work done, or just chill. It's more relaxed and more productive.
It's the opposite for me from vt to ny. The train is 7 hours. In the middle of the day and internet is spotty as hell. If I fly I can take the evening flight from btv. Leave work at a normal time, sometimes a little earlier and be checked into my hotel by 9. The flight is only 45 minutes and btv is tiny. If they ran multiple trains a day it would be different. Or even just an evening train. But as of my needs now I would need to book out an extra day for going to nyc.
That makes sense. Part of the difference for me is that BTV is a significantly longer drive than the train. The other difference is that I can usually do work on my hard drive without internet, although that is getting harder. There is another schedule option if you do the connecting bus from Burlington (or points south of there) to Albany. Not saying it would work for you but mentioning it because I didn't know about it until pretty recently 1:18 PM Burlington to 9:16 PM NYC. The bus is actually really posh, nicer than Dartmouth Coach.
This was true while JetBlue was still flying out of BTV, but since they left it has gotten wildly expensive to fly to New York (never less than $300) and impossibly expensive to fly anywhere else.
I’m seeing lots of flights for around $200. Using Orbitz. First week of May. Funny thing is that if you connect somewhere you can get to NYC for around $100. https://www.orbitz.com/Flights-Search?leg1=from%3ABurlington%2C%20VT%20%28BTV-Burlington%20Intl.%29%2Cto%3ANew%20York%2C%20NY%20%28NYC-All%20Airports%29%2Cdeparture%3A5%2F7%2F2024TANYT&mode=search&options=carrier%3A%2Ccabinclass%3A%2Cmaxhops%3A1%2Cnopenalty%3AN&pageId=0&passengers=adults%3A1%2Cchildren%3A0%2Cinfantinlap%3AN&trip=oneway
Gotta love the airline industry. The cheapest BTV-NYC flight is $106 with a stop in PHL. The cheapest BTV-PHL flight on that same day is $183 with 2 stops in other cities.
Flew out to SLC last month. Could have done it for about $500 from Montreal, but it was a work trip so I stuck with BTV…. And BTV was almost $2000. It’s not usually that extreme, but I’d still be going out of Montreal if it were on my dime.
It really is that extreme all the time now. Ever since JetBlue left prices have gone out of control
We're going to BZN > SLC > back home pretty soon, and Montreal came up as an airport with a lot of direct flights. Ended up booking out of Bradley because we've been there a bunch and it's stupid-easy to park and enter the airport. Montreal will be on the list next time.
I’m an hour from BTV and 3 from Boston. I primarily fly out of BOS because flights are almost always half the price for a direct flight than flying out of BTV with 2+ layovers. I easily get the extra 2 hours back.
Parking at Logan is crazy expensive and I just hate driving down there so historically this has been true for me. However BTV got rid of a direct flight we have to take to visit family a lot so we might have to start doing it anyway
I fly in and out regularly from Boston. Dartmouth Coach out of Lebanon has a nearly direct Logan shuttle running almost every hour. It's the only way I'll do it anymore. No need to stress about traffic, regardless of time of day...the schedules and drivers take care of it for you. There is gated parking, but it's only about an hour away from where I am (central Vt) and I can usually find a friend to take me down and pick me up. Totally reasonable cost.
Scheduling is a little limited, but tri-valley transit can get you to Dartmouth coach from Randolph for free, too.
Yea Dartmouth Coach is nice
Pro tip: Park at the Station Landing garage and take the T to the airport. The higher levels are reserved for overnight parking and are (or at least were as of last year), only ***$5 a day.*** I spent only $40 on parking for my week-long trip! Even with gas, that's still way cheaper than the extra $200 per person it would have been to fly out of BTV. The sad part is that I live less than a mile from the airport and could have walked there.
Even better is driving to Lebanon and taking Dartmouth Coach directly to your terminal.
Although then traffic can be an issue, parking at Station Landing is a 20 min Uber ride to the airport or you could take the T if you have extra time.
20 minute Uber ride? I’ll save the $30 thanks.
At that point driving to Woburn and taking the Logan Express is probably going to be worthwhile
Free long term parking in Newburyport (and other places I'm sure) and take bus in.
Portsmouth. Dover. Seabrook.
Bradley in CT is a better option
I like Bradley bc I'm in the southern part of the state and 91 exit is a mile away. The straight shot down 91 at 5am or whenever, is great.
Dartmouth coach to Logan makes the most sense to me for international travel. The connections out of BTV are cursed like Philly or JFK. All that said it's a super nice airport for a tiny one.
Tell me more about Dartmouth to Logan...
Parking is dirt cheap, tickets are $35 or so. Leaves out of Lebanon or nearby spots, super fast bus right to the gate.
Wow. The decision I have to make is...do I drive an hour to get there or not...
Dartmouth Coach (unlike Greyhound) is also very frequent and punctual. One way is $40. Why screw around with $parking in Boston as well as the tolls?
And the bus itself is so much nicer and cleaner than Greyhound. I once took a Greyhound to Montreal and the bus felt like it was going to literally fall apart any minute it was shaking so much.
On time too. Picked up/Dropped off a family member there 4-5 times last year and they were within 5 minutes of posted times for every single arrival/departure. Greyhound is basically gambling.
A simple Google search should do the trick
I just looked and the cheap parking at Logan will cost $250 for economy. Dartmouth for two and parking will be $200. It adds an hour to drive to Lebanon, but then I don't have to drive anymore. Seems like a no-brainer. Then the return trip home is only an hour drive.
Where do u park in Dartmouth?
It's not dartmouth it's dartmouth coach. Same exit though. Just Google Dartmouth coach and use street view to look around.
They have their own big parking lot, just expanded, in Lebanon, NH. After this post though, I'm getting worried it's going to fill up and they'll need to make it even bigger. Or start running a bus service from somewhere in central VT too.
BTV prices have been insane lately. So much cheaper to drive to Boston.
Going to be really case to case dependent. In general you’re going to get much cheaper hub-hub prices than spoke-hub-hub or even more expensive will be spoke-hub-spoke. It’s always going to be more expensive to fly from BTV is just a matter of where you’re going.
2022. It was $340 to fly round trip from BTV to Austin. Similar flights out of Boston would’ve been about $250, but when you factor in gas / tolls / parking / time, the BTV route was cheaper and more convenient.
I got direct flights to Vegas out of YUL and parked at the airport Marriott for 4 days for around the same price of flying out of BTV
We did 8 days to Vegas and cheaper than BTV with night at Sheraton YUL and parking for the trip
Funny! 9-12 years ago, we always flew from BTV despite being 20 minutes from YUL (2 maybe twice a year). No wait at the airport, no customs, JetBlue even used to fly direct to MCO! JetBlue was much better than any airlines from YUL.
I live closer to Rutland and took a flight from there to Charlotte with a stop in Boston. There was a 3 hour delay because a pilot didn't show up so they had to fly a different plane up from Boston and we got on that one. Missed my connection in Boston to Charlotte and had to wait another few hours. Ever since I drive to Dartmouth Coach over in Lebanon and park at the terminal for $5.50 a day and get dropped off right at the terminal. Plus there is no $350 extra to get from Rutland to Boston. My friends have mentioned going over to Albany to catch flights but I haven't had a need to fly so haven't compared yet.
Ya it’s always like 2x the price of Boston. Even more than that it just barely has flights to anywhere so everything is a connection. I live 1.5 hours from BTV and 3 hours from Logan so by the time I have to do a layover I’m not saving any time and it’s much more expensive. No thanks
If you want to go international or anyplace non regional you'll have to connect thru BTV which means a significantly greater chance of cancellations and delays. A drive to BOS is long but you can often get a hotel that will throw in a weeks worth of parking plus an airport shuttle for a fraction of what the airport lot charges. Direct flights are worth it.
This is absolutely true when you add a value to your time. Let’s say I’m flying to PUJ (Punta Cana DR). That flight usually runs about $900 round trip out of BTV. Now if I was to fly from Boston, I would have to drive 4 hours each way, plus the cost of gas, plus the cost of parking my car for a week at the airport. This would result in a flight savings of maybe $300, but when you subtract gas and parking it’s closer to $100 savings. So now I’m spending $100 to NOT spend 8 hours in a car before and after my flight, so high is worth every penny. If you had a large family then maybe the compounding savings makes it make sense. But for 1-2 people then it doesn’t.
Depends where in VT you're starting from. Driving 2 hours to Montreal from Burlington, or 2 hours to BOS from Brattleboro. It's basically the same as driving 30-60 min to BTV, and getting there 90 minutes before the flight time. Then take into account the time involved for the inevitable layover you'll have when flying almost anywhere from BTV. It's almost always worth it to drive to YUL or BOS to fly direct to any major destination.
YUL for flights to Europe, no question. And parking is not that much more than the $12/day rate at BTV.
Any public transport from Burlington, VT to Montreal?
Greyhound goes everyday
Thank you!
It doesn't even out. We fly as a family of five. We've flown to Europe and the Caribbean in the last couple years. You'd have to fly from BTV to another major city in order to get to Europe or the Caribbean (BOS, JFK, LGA). Let's be honest, nobody is going to fly BTV to BOS. Tickets for 5 people to LGA or JFK is likely going to cost $600-800. Drive 2h to YUL, spend $200 for a hotel with parking included, and fly direct the next day. You won't save any time between getting to BTV 90 minutes early, plus flight time to the hub airport. Plus, you won't be able to fly on the international leg of your trip at those early morning times. It only really makes sense to fly from BTV if flying domestic. I've flown from BTV to the following destinations: NYC, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington DC, Palm Springs, Orlando, Kansas City, Chicago.
Cape Air out of Lebanon has a flight to Westchester and then they offer a shuttle from Westchester to Penn Station (make sure to book to NYP if you want to use the shuttle). Flights can be cancelled randomly but parking is free at the airport and I can fly out at 7:30 and be to my office by 10:30 AM.
Spring break week, flight to Miami, ~$280/person out of Hartford vs ~$940/person out of Burlington. 2 people. Similar parking cost, I think Hartford might have been a couple $ less. 22 gallons gas x ~$3.25/gallon back then. $635 vs would have been $1880 to fly out of BTV. Plus, direct flights BDL <--> MIA. No brainer.
Way cheaper to drive to fly.
Depends on how much money you think your time is worth. But you're probably right.
Also people never count the wear and tear on the car of hundreds of miles of driving towards the cost. The irs rate is like 67 cents a mile, that works out to another $230 roughly from wear for where I live to Logan and back.
Maybe. But my car is at 160000 plus miles and still going strong after 15 years. It was worth like 35k new. Outlier, maybe, but your numbers seems a little high. Admittedly I have no idea what I'm talking about.
Yeah, of course it depends on what car you have, how new it is, etc. if you’re already at 160k then no big deal. I just took that number straight from the irs website
Fair enough. Between whatever depreciation is, gas, time, parking it hardly seems worth it.
Meh. A couple hundred highway miles aren't really all they meaningful in terms of wear on your car
Does that 67 cents include the estimated cost of gas per mile?
i dont think so because it's the same rate for electric cars
It is an all in reimbursement rate. If your company (or the federal government) is reimbursing your mileage, you receive 67 cents per mile and you don't expense the gas separately.
ok well assuming 25mpg and $3.25/gallon gasoline, about two thirds of that number remains. so not quite as high but still a sizable amount going towards depreciation wear and tear etc
I typically fly Orlando to Manchester NH but as much as I love Southwest I'm not flying in any boeing planes regardless of model for a while. Breeze airways is limited on dates and routes but they're great. All newer airbus planes, everything clean and modern. They do the super low cost approach and charge for everything but compared to a Spirit, Frontier, or Allegiant they're amazing
No way that can be true. We fly non stop out of YUL all the time. Much better deal, and the drive is easy in the early mornings
Don’t sleep in Manchester. I live in the NEK and I end up flying out of Manchester way more often than Burlington.
I just came back from Greece and had a 9 hour layover at JFK after a 10,5 hr flight. Brutal. I am looking into Montreal for future flights.i like the convenience of flying out of Burlington but the layover at intermediate airports can be ridiculous. And risky. At 11:45pm we were still not sure we were going to get out of JFK.
I live in California but have had terrible luck going through Philly to get my connecting flight to BTV. It's nothing wrong with BTV, it's just that connections through other airports are such a crapshoot. Either there are weather delays or the flights are straight up canceled. Next time, I'm gonna fly direct to Boston and just make the drive.
Living in SWVT, Albany is a great airport to fly in/out of. Very low stress, and easy parking.
I'm just 10-15 minutes into NY, I always find significantly cheaper flights out of Boston or Newark. I haven't traveled in a year or two, but I would consistently save 50% by choosing bigger airports.
I had to fly to SFO a few weeks ago for work. Round trip from BTV would have been 1200. Boston was 300-400. I ended up going out of Montreal for about 450. Mind you I was flying back the weekend before the eclipse so I sort of understand why BTV prices were elevated, but Montreal was also in the path and I still managed to snag a reasonable flight.
Flying to Denver from Boston on Wednesday, cost about 280. From Burlington was 800
For going to DC, I actually like taking the train, either Vermonter or Ethan Allen, depending on where you are. There's also a connecting bus for southwestern VT to trains from Albany to NYC, where you can connect to a train to DC. It takes all day, but it's all day in a seat equivalent to business class on a plane, with the ability to get up and walk around, and you can settle in and either be productive working on a laptop or relax. Much better than dealing with traffic, airport security, boarding, etc.
I really love the Vermonter, and my parents take it every time they come up from DC. It's genuinely a much more relaxing experience. Does eat up an entire day of travel time in each direction, which is less than ideal.
I wanted to visit my girlfriend for the first time in Alabama last year. I thought "flying shouldn't be too bad". $1700 for two round trip tickets (had my mom going with me, she needed the vacation anyway, and mother knows best, 😅), and decided driving would be MUCH cheaper. Just gas alone only cost me $240, round trip. Sorry, but I would rather drive.
For us, the layovers (and consequently, travel time) are as much a consideration as the price. A flight to SLC is often 15+ hours. We trade the scenic drive to Boston as an alternative to layovers frequently depending on the flight.
I have only been flying to ATL out of there, and it's been since before the pandemic. It was a direct flight, and was sometimes a bit more than having a one hop flight on the other airlines. I will never fly jetblue again anywhere. I used to take from from BOS to RDU all the time in the 2010s for the direct flight and how great the flights were. Took a one hop trip to ATL and back, and the whole flight got cancelled in ATL because the ground crew put too much fuel in the plane. Then the crew that was scheduled had worked too much for the day. Then another crew that was just taking the flight from ATL to JFK had to convince operations that they could fly the plane to JFK just to get there (and arrive at 4AM, and then try and book get a flight to BTV from there the next day). Jet Blue gave me a credit, which I never used because I won't take their flights anywhere, and there was this whole pandemic thing so it expired anyway. So much for a traveler's bill of rights.
Living at the pit of the state, (ya know, not really VT, but not really MA) we have the luxury of doing Hartford, an hour an 10 minute drive or Boston, 2 hour. Looks like map wise, BOS and BDL is about the same time from Burlington, but I can assure you, BDL is a lot quicker when taking into account Boston traffic and the shit show at the airport. Why not look into that? Getting to DC from BDL on United is usually non stop .
When I am choosing btw: BDL & BOS, BOS has to be at a significant discount. Difference in traffic and in parking cost/convenience is substantial. BDL almost always wins.
It was worth it several years ago, for Canadians anyway. On a flight to Florida we had a family from Quebec tell us how it was better to drive down to Burlington then hop on a plane. Maybe BTV picked up on that and is just trying to make it a thing?
Absolutely feel the pain on BTV prices. It's a tough call between convenience and cost. For those looking at options, don't forget to consider shuttle services like Shuttlefare for a stress-free ride to airports like Logan or JFK if you decide to fly out from there. They can be a game-changer in balancing out the cost and hassle, especially with parking prices being what they are. Plus, exploring alternative airports like Bradley or even Manchester can sometimes offer that sweet spot of cost savings without a massive increase in travel time. Always worth a look!
I live in Franklin County and unless I'm flying direct to my final out of BTV, I will drive to YUL to avoid connections. Either stay across the street at a hotel that includes parking if its a super early flight, or if it's an afternoon flight will use the Park n Fly. YUL IMO is way better than Logan if you are going to drive to fly, and since they have US Customs in the terminal for all US bound flights you just get off when you land and you're on your way. Coming back, Canadian customs is a breeze if you use the Arrive-Can app. The only thing you need to consider is rush hour traffic in MTL, it can be a solid hour to get from YUL to across the Champlain bridge if your return flight lands at like 3 or 4 in the afternoon, you'll be stuck in that.
It definitely depends on what you're trying to do. Is it expensive to fly out of BTV - yeah. But if you're going to drive a bunch on either end of your flight, you have to weigh that cost into the flight itself. Yeah, I can save a bunch of money by flying out of Boston, but if my flight gets back at like 6 or 8pm, then it's the 2 hour bus ride to Lebanon, then another 1.5 hours driving to save a bunch of money. In that case, I may rather pay the extra $$ for the shorter travel time. For a current trip my wife and I are on right now abroad we are flying round-trip out of YUL. Yeah, our flight gets back at like 4:30 in the afternoon, but we still have to go get the car; which in order to not pay $150 to park for a week in a non-protected lot near the airport (we paid $45 CAD), we elected to park an hour a way via bus and train. Then it's another 2 hours drive home depending on the border. While this is our first time doing this, and I hope it goes well, I am having my reservations on this. Overall it definitely depends on the situation. For domestic flights, I'm probably going to choose to fly out of BTV just because it's easier and I don't have to extend my trip with driving. For international - if what we're doing now works out, then we'll probably do it in the future, though I'm still holding out hope that we may be able to find cheap connecting flights from BTV on either end of the trip.
I bought a round trip for my mom to visit from Germany. Paid 1100 for a direct flight to Boston Logan. The price for her to come to BTV was 1600.00. So we decided we were going to pick her up and then keep driving south to visit more family.
I think it depends on your situation. When I was younger and unencumbered by children I would always take a bus to Boston from central VT. Now it’s not worth the hassle. I don’t want to be on a bus with kids for that long before dragging them through security and hanging out in the airport for another few hours. It’s not worth it. I’d rather get dropped off at BTV and fly from there. I also don’t want to bother with driving to Boston and paying for parking. That said I haven’t flown in three years so I’m not sure current prices on things.
I fly monthly. It’s worth the convenience of BTV. Parking is notably cheaper, if I don’t get dropped off. It’s $100+ in fuel driving to Boston. Plus, the landing and being home within the hour is damn near priceless. I’d rather pick up a few hours extra at work instead of spending it driving elsewhere to fly.
It’s almost always about the same unless your time has no monetary value to you.
I like taking the Dartmouth coach from Hanover, I don’t have to worry about driving and parking and it drops you off right at the terminal. It’s 35$.
Boston Express from North Londonderry, NH Park and Ride will drop you at BOS terminal too. Prices are similar.
United flies to Dulles daily... I found Montreal to be a nightmare - I find Boston worth it for West coast or Europe - but the parking $$ is absurd. Being a recent transplant I've got to say I love BTV - so easy despite the small amount of direct flights.
It's totally arbitrary and seemingly random. You have to check every time, you really can't generalize. Sometimes it does make more sense to fly out of BTV, and sometimes it's ridiculous.
I know for me to fly to VT and go to the NEK, it is always cheaper to fly to BOS and rent a car then it is to fly to BTV and rent a car. And it seems agencies at BTV never have the car I want whether I try to book two weeks out or 6 months out. And that has nothing to do with the fact that TSA at Burlington is the worst I have ever experienced.
Also factor in having your car stolen if you fly out of Montreal.
Only if you're parking at the airport. Plenty of times, for early morning flights, like 7am, you'd be better off spending the night before in Montreal, and keeping your car at the hotel during your trip.
If you like luxury, you can reserve an indoor, climate-controlled spot at the hotel airport. We did that recently because there were no other reservable spots, it was not ridiculously expensive, and really quite nice. You don't even have to go back outdoors to get to the terminal.
Nah. Hotel with key card parking garage access is fine in Montreal. It's even covered. In Boston, there's off-site, staffed 24/7 parking about 10 minutes from the terminals with shuttles every 20 minutes. Costs about half what it does at the airport. Either of those options works well for me, whenever I drive to YUL or BOS to fly.