That's a hardcore road warrior move.
ski-air travel stories
- Thread starter jimk
- Start date
Yes, I have never done that. I have arrived home by air and gone skiing that day or driven to Mammoth.
I’ve never been much of a road warrior, but it did work out that once I had dinner in Salt Lake, slept at home in Minneapolis, had breakfast in Denver, and lunch in the French Quarter.
Ever run across a route where the price of a plane ticket for a solo traveler is higher than the per person price for 2+ travelers?
I can't tell from this article if having that sort of price differential is more likely during the summer when there are more families or small groups traveling together. For ski trips, I've mostly flown Southwest in the last 15 years. So haven't paid much attention to pricing for the major airlines. Stopped doing business travel around 2000.
May 30, 2025
frequentmiler.com
I can't tell from this article if having that sort of price differential is more likely during the summer when there are more families or small groups traveling together. For ski trips, I've mostly flown Southwest in the last 15 years. So haven't paid much attention to pricing for the major airlines. Stopped doing business travel around 2000.
May 30, 2025
American, Delta and United charging much more for solo passengers on some routes
On some routes operated by American, Delta, and United, solo travelers are being charged significantly more than groups of two or more.
frequentmiler.com
Now that Southwest has scrapped its "bags fly free" offering, will you reevaluate which airline you fly?
I wonder if Southwest did a complete review of the customers it allegedly held onto since the legacy carriers started charging for bags in the late 00s, would it have offset the massive amount of luggage revenue that they lost? The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that U.S. airlines earned $7.27 billion from checked baggage fees in 2023.
Yes and no. Will probably stick with SW for a while since I have accumulated FF points using a SW VISA for ski trip expenses. From RDU, there are few non-stop flights to the airports I prefer for my trips out west. However, more likely to check alternatives for future reference.
Much will depend on how the SW layovers evolve as they adjust scheduling.
Another advantage for SW at RDU is that SW is the only big airline using Terminal 1. That means drop off and pick up is easy. My house is 15 min from the airport and there is almost always someone from home who can provide a ride. The building for Terminal 2 was completely renovated a while back. But the road access was not designed for the current level of traffic. Can be worse than a big airport like O'Hare at times.
Which airports are you referring to other than SLC and DEN?
Interesting that RDU has so many nonstop destinations without being a hub for any carrier. I wasn't aware that AA had one there for a short time 30+ years ago.
ZRankings gives accessibility points to ski resort airports with the most direct flights. IIRC Aspen is far and away #1 and Jackson is #2.
Yep, AA even built a terminal. Then took years before AA was willing to sell it to the RDU Airport after it stopped being an AA hub. AA decided Charlotte was of more interest as a hub. I've been living in the NC Triangle since 1972. Back then RDU had one small building with 4 gates. Quite a change from NYC with three major airports.
RDU has plenty of people who fly for vacations but not many are heading to assorted ski destinations on a regular basis. Even finding non-stop flights to California isn't that easy. At least there are a few non-stop flights to Europe these days. Most of my business trips to Europe in the 1990s involved changing planes in Newark . . . ugh.
In the last 15 years, I've flown the most to SLC. That's often the simplest way to start a trip by meeting up with my primary ski buddy who drives there from Albuquerque. We usually drive north from there without skiing around SLC. Been flying to ABQ regularly in the last decade. Other airports include BZN and BOI. Flew to Reno a few times to ski Tahoe, but not since 2010. Started skiing in Colorado relatively recently, partially due to the higher altitude when I was taking shorter ski trips.
I thought it was common knowledge that unclaimed airline luggage was shipped off to somewhere in Alabama. Nonetheless the article is an interesting read. 
I have better-than-average (but not insider-baseball) knowledge of airlines; however, I didn't know that bit of trivia -- and you can see from the screen grab above "We Found Your Bag!" (surprise! I bet you didn't know this!) that most people weren't aware of it either.
EMSC
Well-known member
I'm actually surprised that the colorful bags get that lost. The seemingly infinite piles of black & dark grey bags on the other hand...
Last season I had assumed my bag was already shipped to Alabama before Alaska notified me they found it based on color and checking some of the items inside.
ChrisC
Well-known member
I had no idea the Unclaimed Baggage Experience store existed. I would visit if I was less than 1 hr away - fascinating. It's the human factor of someone's prized possessions for a trip being sold for pennies on the dollar.
ChrisC
Well-known member
Where does it sit for weeks before being found or shipped off to Alabama?
In storage near the arrival airport. At LAX the company that stores the luggage is Matrix Aviation. At the time in Feb. 2018, we thought we had one week not six before the bags might be sent to Alabama; that's why we went to LAX in person.