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I'd recommend concentrating on MOT, BIS and BIL. You could also take a look at SDY to BIL on Gulfstream ($150 r/t) and then flying out of BIL. It is simpler and less nerve racking than driving it during the winter. ISN (Williston) has direct jet service to DEN by UA and F and MSP by D. Pricing is good now but possibly not in the future. BIS and BIL are consistently lower than MOT when purchasing in advance. Never, ever use GL (Great Lakes) in DIK or ISN. They are atrocious and GL got thrown out of Montana airports 2 years ago because the service was so bad.
My trip down to Florida my wife found that Hotwire.com had the best price. On all sites the prices could go up or down each day.
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Bismarck is Delta's (or sub contractor) main route to MSP. I don't know about other locations.
I ended up booking out of MSP. Eight hours of driving is well worth the nearly $800 I saved on 2 tickets. So excited to save that much that I booked another trip out east to see our son in Maryland. Again, we will fly out of MSP.
I'm just so spoiled by the MSP prices we are used to that I could not bring myself to book from those western gates.
We flew out of Mpls once as well because of the price savings, but, it ended up not being worth it for us in the long haul. $175 for hotel the night before our flight, and $175 upon our return because we were too tired to drive all the way back. Also ended up eating before we arrived to mpls and before we left upon our return. Close to $200 on gas. It all started adding up for us. In the future, I guess it all depends on the situation and what it's worth. I personally will just put up with the higher price paying up front instead of spedning it on hotels, food and gas and then having to drive in the car for all those hours as well.
We flew out of Mpls once as well because of the price savings, but, it ended up not being worth it for us in the long haul. $175 for hotel the night before our flight, and $175 upon our return because we were too tired to drive all the way back. Also ended up eating before we arrived to mpls and before we left upon our return. Close to $200 on gas. It all started adding up for us. In the future, I guess it all depends on the situation and what it's worth. I personally will just put up with the higher price paying up front instead of spedning it on hotels, food and gas and then having to drive in the car for all those hours as well.
Yes, it can add up. We use a park and fly hotel in Egan for just over $100 a night and that is nearly the price of airport parking for a week. They shuttle us to the airport. The flights I booked are non-stop. Our return flight from Ft Myers gets us into MSP at 10:15am so we won't be tired. My Corolla gets great gas mileage.
Next year I will be wintering in FL at our condo and hubby will be flying solo to FL several times and he can use Minot or Bismark or Dickinson and we'll eat the cost then since it's just the one ticket.
I knew we'd pay more to fly out of ND but nearly 3 times what we are used to in MSP? OUCH!
Any advice as to which airline/airport to concentrate my efforts? Bismark, Minot, Dickinson, Williston?
Julie...It really depends on how far you want to drive to and from the airport. Billings is a long drive from Williston. The closet are Bismarck and Minot. We do have a nice airport in Grand Forks too, or I have seen some good rates out of Fargo. But, again, dead of winter...choose your driving distance carefully. It might be worth flying from Williston and connecting in Denver or Vegas, depending upon where you are flying to.
here is a link I found that may help http://www.farecompare.com/flights/W...-ISN/city.html
Last edited by JanND; 01-12-2013 at 07:03 AM..
Reason: edit text, added link
I searched for weeks Jan. I ended up booking out of MSP. I got round trip, non-stop tickets out of MSP to Florida for under $200 and Baltimore for just over $200. As much of a pain it is to drive that far, hubby has been going further than that each month for years during his week off so he's used to it
I'm hoping the parking situation at the Williston airport improves by next year as I would like to book hubby's airfare from there when he flies to FL next winter when he's on his week off.
Orlando-Grand Forks and Orlando-Fargo routes are rather inexpensive via Allegiant. They don't fly everyday, but with longer notice can usually get a roundtrip ticket for under $300 with the extra fees. Fly to GFK and take the train to Williston.
Also, Minot, Bismarck, Fargo, and Grand Forks all have almost daily flights to Phoenix/Mesa and Las Vegas that can be inexpensive on longer notice. Anyone living near those cities have inexpensive options. Las Vegas in particular can be used as an alternative hub.
Another option is Frontier, which usually isn't listed on Expedia, Travelocity, etc. Since flights into North Dakota are not normally every day, one can often not book a flight to many cities without an overnight stay. Each segment must be booked separately, with an overnight stay in Denver. On short three day notice, got one way tickets for $150 from Denver to Fargo right during the Christmas rush season.
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