Peter Greenberg: Avoiding the Atlanta Airport
By: Peter Greenberg | Source: AARP.org
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I will travel to the southeast in early June. Which airlines and cities will give me the best deals—Atlanta, Orlando or Tampa? And what are the best days to fly?
- Lynda, Dulles, Ore.
If you're headed to the Southeast and have some flexibility as far as which airport you'd like to use, it's probably a good idea to avoid Atlanta. Not only is it America's busiest airport, it's also prone to delays, and Delta has strangled out a lot of the cost-lowering competition.
But here's an airport you may not have considered: Jacksonville, Fla. (airport code: JAX). Not knowing your travel dates, it's hard to say for sure, but we found Jacksonville prices to be consistently lower than those to Atlanta. (We're assuming you're flying from Portland, Ore.) For mid-May travel dates, we found tickets for about $230 roundtrip to Jacksonville, Tampa (TPA), and Orlando (MCO), but Atlanta (ATL) was a whopping $379.
Here's my advice: Pick your preferred travel dates and search using Kayak.com, Farecast.com, or Sidestep.com, for the top cities you're considering—Atlanta, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando. If you're truly flexible, it should be pretty clear which is the best choice.
Now, Jacksonville is several hours' drive from Atlanta, but then again Orlando and Tampa are even farther.
The best days to fly are Tuesday and Wednesday, with Thursday and Monday after them. Weekends are the most popular days to fly, so they're also the most expensive.
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