Choosing Alternate Airports

Fly out of nearby airports to save time, money, hassles

By Betty W. Stark, Business travel consultant and columnist, Stark Consulting

There’s a growing phenomenon in air travel called the “alternate airport,” those facilities that have been built near major metropolitan areas to relieve air traffic at congested, clogged and overcrowded mega-ports. The reason for their appeal is simple: unlike the big airports (think Chicago O’Hare, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, New York JFK, etc.), smaller airports are not choked with travelers making connections on other flights, and they’re usually easier to get around.

There’s another reason: lower airfares. The mega-airports are generally dominated by one or two major carriers. Being the 800-pound gorillas on the block, the big guys tend to keep fares higher, to the detriment of the business traveler. Alternate airports often are serviced by discount carriers (think Southwest, JetBlue, TED, AirTran, Frontier) that offer lower fares in an environment that’s less fraught with delays, cancellations, lost luggage, and general congestion.

By using alternate airports you can:
   1.      Ease up on hassle: easier parking, easier check-in, less congestion, more on-time flights.
   2.      Find lower airfares.
   3.      Arrive closer to the place you’ll be doing business.
   4.      Find cheaper hotels and rental cars than at or near mega-airports.

Know your geography

For starters, you need to know the geographic location of your meeting site if you are going to take maximum advantage of the alternate airport concept.
Try: Locate your target meeting place(s) using mapping tools at Google, Yahoo or MapQuest.

Determine which airport is closest

If the client you’ll meet with is headquartered south of Denver, for example, look into flying in and out of Colorado Springs instead of the sprawling Denver-plex. If your goal is a company in north New Jersey, fly into Newark instead of New York JFK or LaGuardia. Boston? Try Manchester, New Hampshire (to the north) or Providence, Rhode Island (to the south) instead.
Try: Check out the alternate airport comparison chart at BestFares.com to determine which airport will get you closest to your target. If you’re a stickler for details, compare the on-time-arrival data for both the hub airport and your selected alternate.

Compare fares before you book

Most online travel booking sites offer the option to “check alternate/nearby airports.” Use it! It’s a quick-and-easy way to find out if by driving a little you’ll save a lot.
Try: For speedy air searches, let SideStep or Kayak do the work of scanning multiple airline Web sites. Be sure to click the “show nearby airports” option! Southwest Airlines is known for a non-hub approach to air routes and its lower fares reflect this. Learn more about discount carriers and their routes with this handy guide from the Independent Traveler.

Scout out lower rates on hotels and rental cars, too

Alternate airports are typically located away from major metropolitan areas and the gigantic big-city construction projects that can add whopper tax charges to hotel room and car rental rates. Once you’ve pinpointed the alternate airport you’ll use, let the Internet help you find the best deals on nearby hotels and rental cars too.
Try: Check the airport Web site; you’ll often find links to hotels and rental cars in the area. Also look to Hotels.com and Hotwire.com for hotel deals. For a fast scan of rental car options from several companies, check out BreezeNet.

The trick is to use a local alternate airport whenever you are doing an origin-and-destination (“there and back”) trip rather than a connecting one.
By avoiding major hub airports, you’ll also avoid the congestion that comes with many travelers connecting to other flights.
Take typical area weather into consideration too. For example, Oakland, CA, can be a better choice than San Francisco because the weather is more often iffy in San Francisco.
Alternate airports can be kind to travel budgets. If you have a company travel policy, consider adding a recommendation (or mandate) that travelers check alternate airports too when scouting fares.
When a discount airline enters a market it can have a marked effect on airfares as the established “legacy” carriers (like United, Northwest, American, Delta, etc.) lower theirs to remain competitive.
There can be drawbacks to alternate airports: fewer flights per day, fewer schedule options, especially early in the morning and late in the evening.
If the aircraft you’re about to board at an alternate airport has a mechanical problem, replacement aircraft might not be as readily available.