non-stop flights would you:
A. Simply book a flight with a connection and suck it up
B. Fly to Atlanta and drive to Chattanooga (approx 2 hour drive)
C. Fly to Nashville and drive to Chattanooga (approx 2 hours 15 min. drive, but it's not Atlanta)
D. Other
E. Get your multiple choice questions out of here we hate you
no non-stops from Boston or surrounding airports to Chattanooga, and I HATE connections.
So I figure instead of flying to Charlotte (or other location) and waiting an hour or two getting on another hour (roughly) flight, I fly to ATL or NSH and drive and get there quicker (depending on traffic), plus I need a car in Chattanooga anyway, so I kill two birds with one stone.
What I have been doing is taking a direct flight from Islip to Orlando and then driving the 5 hours to her house. It is an easy drive (all by the last 30 miles are on highways). One caveat -- I hate flying, so I make a priority of limiting my flying time. It ends up costing only a little bit more to do it my way.
I would never fly into Atlanta. I've heard lots of horror stories about that airport.
Plenty of places to grab a couple beers or shop in ATL. If you have a long connection and you have an AmEx card, get a day pass to the SkyClub for $27 and enjoy all you can eat and drink, plus internet access, TVs, etc. Go to F Concourse and sit outside on the SkyClub tarmac deck and watch the international flights arrive and depart. Plenty of space and comfort.
Hell, you could spend $30 and take a nap at the Minute Suites in B Concourse. They have free Netflix and DTV, comfortable beds - plus workstations if you need to do some work. They'll even give you a wakeup call.
Plenty of places to grab a couple beers or shop in ATL. If you have a long connection and you have an AmEx card, get a day pass to the SkyClub for $27 and enjoy all you can eat and drink, plus internet access, TVs, etc. Go to F Concourse and sit outside on the SkyClub tarmac deck and watch the international flights arrive and depart. Plenty of space and comfort.
Hell, you could spend $30 and take a nap at the Minute Suites in B Concourse. They have free Netflix and DTV, comfortable beds - plus workstations if you need to do some work. They'll even give you a wakeup call.
What you say makes perfect sense. I'm an AMEX platinum card holder (membership fee reimbursed through work) so I have access to all the AMEX lounges and Priority Pass lounges at no cost, and the AMEX centurion lounges are pretty awesome.
however, after probably flying a million miles in my 30's in at this point I look forward to long drives more than the stress of air travel. 4 hours is now my cutoff, from Boston I won't travel anywhere closer than say Baltimore. Even Philly I drive (or take the train to) at this point.
I feel like all the air travel aged me 20 years in a 10 year period.
because of traffic? And remember this is airport to airport not really city to city.
Google maps says it's 125 miles and looks like a straight shot up I75.
Plus I might book the trip so I stay in NSH the night after my meetings in Chattanooga and visit some friends and grab a hotel near the airport in NSH making it a complete no-brainer.
As for driving, you can get onto 75/85 right out of the airport and take that north to Chattanooga. You will get on 75 once they split. How bad the drive is depends on what time of day. If you are going after morning rush, it should be ok. if you are going during evening rush, it could be bad. I've never driven from Nashville to Chattanooga, so I don't know how that is.
Headed to Chattanooga tomorrow as a matter of fact.