Cheapest airport to fly into? (Knoxville, Chattanooga: renting, hotels, home)

[kota45]

From my initial check online, it looks like Chattanooga is more expensive to fly into than either Nashville, Atlanta, or Knoxville. Is this typical? Is the two hour drive worth saving $200 on a couple of round trip tickets?

A totally separate issues: my wife and I are considering a move there (hence the week long visit in April) and I'm wondering about the landscape there. My wife is uncomfortable driving mountain roads (i.e. steep drop offs right off the side of the road) and she is wondering if Hamilton County is very mountainous?

[RiverView]

Originally Posted by kota45

From my initial check online, it looks like Chattanooga is more expensive to fly into than either Nashville, Atlanta, or Knoxville. Is this typical? Is the two hour drive worth saving $200 on a couple of round trip tickets?

A totally separate issues: my wife and I are considering a move there (hence the week long visit in April) and I'm wondering about the landscape there. My wife is uncomfortable driving mountain roads (i.e. steep drop offs right off the side of the road) and she is wondering if Hamilton County is very mountainous?

We typically check Chattanooga 1st, Nashville 2nd and Atlanta 3rd. Sometimes you will catch a flight out / in to Chattanooga as cheap (sometimes cheaper) than the other 2. For us, we would spend the $200 more to fly in and out our Chattanooga. I guess you'll be renting a car (Cheap & Discount Travel Deals, Flights & Hotels | Hotwire.com). If you were parking a car in Atlanta and Nashville for a week will cost $60 to $80, not to mention gas, your time and in the case of Atlanta the predictably brutal traffic. You can also book a ride on Groome Transportation. I'm guessing they are $30 to $40 each person 1 way. We haven't ridden with them in a while. (FareCompare - Cheapest Airline Tickets, Cheap Flights, Travel Deals, Cheap Tickets and Discount Airfares) and you can set up alerts on Travelocity.

Also, considering a flight out of Atlanta the check in is pretty tough too. Long lines at the ticketing, baggage check in and the dagum security is no picnic either. Nashville is pretty nice. Just a few miles further but way less stressful.

As long as you stay off the mountains, driving around Hamilton County is no big deal. Nothing like Asheville. You don't have to cross mountains to get from one side of Hamilton County to the other. You do have to cross Monteagle Mtn coming from Nashville but it's an interstate and I can remember and scary drop offs. It is curvy though but again, nothing like Asheville. Hope this helps

[kota45]

Yes! Very helpful. Thank you. I've had lay overs in Atlanta and based upon the chaos inside the airport, I'm sure the outside is no picnic either. We'll probably just pay the extra and fly into Chattanooga.

[Aggiegirl]

Groome transport to Nashville or Atlanta airports is $39 one way or $73 round trip.

[dasmarian]

We use Atlanta most of the time. Simple reason is that most of the places we go we can fly direct and use carriers like airtran that are lower priced. Flying from Chattanooga limits your airline selection. We also like to extend our trips for an evening, usually priceline a hotel near the airport and then go out the night before we depart. We've also used Groome on longer trips which is great.

[jwkilgore]

Originally Posted by Aggiegirl

Groome transport to Nashville or Atlanta airports is $39 one way or $73 round trip.

I fly several times a year and usually go Delta for the air miles. I always check both Chattanooga and Atlanta flights because prices vary. I've never understood airline pricing policies, but sometimes it's more expensive to fly out of ATL on a flight than it is to start in Chattanooga, fly to ATL, and take the EXACT SAME FLIGHT. Basically I get money back for taking that extra leg from CHA to ATL.

When I do fly out of ATL I use Groome Transportation to get there.. The cost of the shuttle isn't much more than the cost of a few days parking at ATL plus gas to get there. But mainly it's so I don't have to deal with Atlanta traffic... just hop on the shuttle and take a nap.

Another reason I sometimes fly out of ATL is time... I often take the red-eye back from LAX, which lands a little after 6am. I can hop on the 7am shuttle be at my front door by 9 to 9:30am. If I fly back to CHA I won't be home until after 11am because of the layover.

[Lovessnow69]

Originally Posted by kota45

Yes! Very helpful. Thank you. I've had lay overs in Atlanta and based upon the chaos inside the airport, I'm sure the outside is no picnic either. We'll probably just pay the extra and fly into Chattanooga.

I pay more per ticket just so my plane doesnt land in ATlanta on a lay-over. I hate the airport, the tunnel & train, and the fact that IF you can find an airport employee meandering around, they usually cant help with information about their own airport. Yep, its worth more money to not even stop in Atlanta, much less be going there on purpose. lol

[dasmarian]

lol I know I'm in the minority but I like ATL. As long as it isn't an early-week early-morning flight I usually have good luck.

On the airline pricing issue -- it is always more expensive if you book a direct flight. Airlines feel a direct flight to your final destination has more value, so they charge more than a trip with multiple legs. This is why it is sometimes cheaper to go from CHA if the final leg is direct from ATL.

[donald cherry]

what airport is the biggest knox,chat or nash????

[JMT]

Originally Posted by donald cherry

what airport is the biggest knox,chat or nash????

Nashville, by far.

Nashville has about 10 million passengers per year. Knoxville has about 1.7 million, and Chattanooga about 600,000. By comparison, Atlanta has 86 million passengers per year.