Peter Greenberg: Flying to Montana

By: Peter Greenberg | Source: AARP.org | 2008-10-21

We’re trying to fly to Missoula, Montana, from Detroit. It is very expensive. Is it cheaper to fly to Spokane or Idaho or somewhere else and rent a car for a six-hour drive other than spend $1200 for two to fly?
-Barbara, Grand Blanc, Mich.

Your best bet in terms of alternate airports is almost certainly going to be Spokane, Washington. Spokane is three hours from Missoula on I-90. Other airports that you might use are either significantly farther away or no bigger (or cheaper) than Missoula.

I'm not quite sure what your dates are, but in a quick search for mid-December flights on Kayak.com, I found the price differential to be about $200 per ticket. That's $535 per ticket to fly from Detroit to Missoula, instead of just $333 to Spokane. A search for the same tickets in February turned up a similar $200 difference.

If money is your primary concern, you should definitely opt for Spokane, which will almost certainly be cheaper than flying to Missoula, even when factoring in the cost of gas and a car rental.