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I feel that all places mentioned have great attributes. The advantage with Charlotte is that it has Jet Blue and Air Tran that go to the cities you mentioned. Baxter Village is a nice, convenient place that has the luxury of being close in yet pay S.C. taxes.
I flew every month from NY to Clt for two years on Jet Blue until I looked at the schedule of USAir out of LGA and the superior schedule they offer.
At first I didn't like their on- board service but I got over it for an hour and 20 min. flt.
It was explained to me once (possibly on this very forum) that because CLT is a USAir hub, many connecting flights go through here. If we hop onto a plane here in CLT, we're effectively canceling a potential seat from some other previous city that was connecting here and continuing on...kinda like we hoped the train halfway through the ride, but they had to save us a seat anyway.
This is supposed to explain why someone can connect through CLT and get a cheaper flight than us flying direct from CLT to the same destination (even on the same aircraft as the other person).
It was explained to me once (possibly on this very forum) that because CLT is a USAir hub, many connecting flights go through here. If we hop onto a plane here in CLT, we're effectively canceling a potential seat from some other previous city that was connecting here and continuing on...kinda like we hoped the train halfway through the ride, but they had to save us a seat anyway.
This is supposed to explain why someone can connect through CLT and get a cheaper flight than us flying direct from CLT to the same destination (even on the same aircraft as the other person).
Doesn't make sense in my non-business mind...
+1
I was almost a weekly flyer when I lived in Raleigh (3 years after 5 yrs of college).
More connections, but at a lower cost.
CLT gives tons of direct flights, but the cost is considerably higher (esp over a year's time) - not an issue if your company's travel dept is picking up the tab anyway.
Personally I love CLT's direct CLT-MUC & CLT-CDG flights - if you are flying East you are one hop to nearly anywhere...
.....
As for pricing - it is not as expensive as it used to be (several years ago, I would book a direct from BWI to CLT and it was never under $500-$600). In general, as long as I'm booking 14+ days in advance, my round trip fares vary between about $200 - $400.
Yeah but they are doing the rope a dope on you. 2 years ago they didn't have all the fees for everything like they have now. As far as I know, Southwest is one of the few airlines that doesn't do this.
Some folks will argue that the many fees charged today by airlines are warranted and fair...that we were lulled into a false sense of affordable fairs for the past decade. I refuse to believe this, especially when I see SWA doing it and getting along just fine. I think it's a matter of greed, either currently or results from past greed, that have forced other airlines to charge what they do today. For that, they get none or very little of my business.
If SWA flew in/out of CLT, I'd fly them exclusively. Heck, I've even considered driving to RDU to catch a flight, but luckily AirTran offers cheap flights for us here...albeit limited destinations. But it's kept me from driving 2.5 hours to catch a flight.
Just a suggestion: I'm not in favor of spam or other email crap BUT I have found it very worthwhile to sign up for email alerts on specials with those airlines you favor.
I posted a $39 special CLT to NY last week but it got deleted b/c it was considered advertising. I did RT NY CLT NY a couple of weeks ago for 128 inc txs.
Another consideration is the viability of US Airways. Recently they have been deferring aircraft orders and selling planes. I understand they are also near their minimum cash requirements as required by their lenders. If you are leaning towards Charlotte and can wait until Spring you might want to do that. If they can make it through the winter they might make it.
I doubt USAir is on any sort of death bed. IN danger of being shaken up, sure. But going away entirely, I hope not.
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