Hi,

My elderly mom would like to visit her sister in Norwich.

1) Sister is not up to picking mom up in BOS.
2) There are no non-stop flights from SEA to Providence or Hartford that I can find.
3) I'd prefer that mom not have to change planes.
4) I have enough AA, DL, or AS miles to fly her and a friend FC, but the routes I've seen have RJ type service from ORD or ATL to Providence or Hartford, obviating the FC upgrade.

So, I'm thinking limo from BOS to Norwich. I'm told this is a ~2.5 hour drive. Any idea what this would cost (each way, ballpark)?

Any other options I'm missing?

Looking for the most comfortable, least confusing, option for an elderly lady and companion to go from SEA to Norwich.

I'm assuming you're talking Norwich, CT. If so, call Mohegan Sun Casino Tranportation Services at 1-888-320-4577. Tell them that you're mom wants to visit her sister in Norwich and the casino and ask what they recommend. Note that she may be better off flying into JFK than BOS.

Edited to add: Boston Coach (www.bostoncoach.com) quotes $345 + 18% service charge, plus tolls and a fuel surcharge.

Edited to add: Boston Coach (www.bostoncoach.com) quotes $345 + 18% service charge, plus tolls and a fuel surcharge.

Yikes. Thanks. That starts to make it less expensive for me to fly out with her and rent a car!

Too bad I don't have the vacation time to do that. :(

Non Stop options are BOS or JFK. There are less expensive bus and train options for ground transport if you are interested, but they may not be worth the hassle for your mom and friend. FC domestic is not that great period. However, the RJ segment will be short and it is probably the easiest way for them to get there.

Non Stop options are BOS or JFK. There are less expensive bus and train options for ground transport if you are interested, but they may not be worth the hassle for your mom and friend. FC domestic is not that great period. However, the RJ segment will be short and it is probably the easiest way for them to get there.Except the OP still would have to get his mom from wherever the RJ drops her -- presumably BDL or PVD -- to Norwich. Given that, I agree with the OP that he's better off sticking with a non-stop and then worrying about ground transportation from there.

I agree about domestic F not being all that great, but the extra room and service makes a big difference for someone who is 86.

Except the OP still would have to get his mom from wherever the RJ drops her -- presumably BDL or PVD -- to Norwich. Given that, I agree with the OP that he's better off sticking with a non-stop and then worrying about ground transportation from there.

My aunt could pick her up from either BDL or PVD, but it is an hour, hour and a half drive for them. I'm looking at an ORD connection that arrives BDL at 8:30pm as an option.

Getting old is such a pain, I'm not looking forward to doing it myself. . .

I agree about domestic F not being all that great, but the extra room and service makes a big difference for someone who is 86.

My aunt could pick her up from either BDL or PVD, but it is an hour, hour and a half drive for them. I'm looking at an ORD connection that arrives BDL at 8:30pm as an option.

Getting old is such a pain, I'm not looking forward to doing it myself. . .

I ramdomly checked flights for Sept 27, and DL has a connection through ATL that arrives in BDL @ 7:13 PM. This is on a 767/737. AA has connections through DFW that arrive in BDL @ either 5 PM or 11:10 PM. These are on a 757/737.

The flights to PVD do connect to an RJ - except for 1 on DL connecting in ATL that arrives PVD @ 8:20 PM on a 767/MD88.

Interesting... I rarely go into the New England forum, but I just walked in here today and when I saw Norwich in a subject I nearly did a #2 in my pants. :eek: And living in Seattle, I feel required to help! :D

OK, so that's basically where I grew up and where my parents live today. Norwich (if you've been there) is really just a blip on the map and it would be even smaller today if Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods aren't around.

I understand the concern of not having your mom needing to connect as well as her comfort level, but if we're taking the concern of getting her to Norwich after flying, it adds to the degree of difficulty in pulling this off. :(

The more and more I think about this I can't figure out anything cheaper from BOS to Norwich than the limo price quoted (besides having my mom or dad drive up to BOS ;)).

Getting a cab to the train station and going to New London or Mystic is an option, but you would, in a sense, be connecting and the comfort level would be lost on Amtrak. A bus would lose that same comfort for her. :(

The Mystic Coast & Country website has nothing specific. Neither does the Mohegan Sun nor Foxwoods.

Honestly birdstrike... I know you don't want to have her connect, but at the end it seems that the best option may be to fly to PVD or BDL and give your mom ample time to connect in ORD, ATL, DFW or SLC (which has new DL service to BDL). Then have your aunt drive the hour to pick her up. Otherwise, Logan to Norwich transport is going to be quite pricey.

Other ways to look at it (i.e. how this could possibly be a "better" option)...
*The drive from the airport (BDL or PVD) to Norwich would be an hour shorter than from Logan.
*It would definitely be cheaper.
*Maybe your mom would appreciate the "break" in flying that a layover would provide.

I hope that helps... some.

Thanks chexfan. That is a pretty succinct assessment of the issues. I laid them out for mom, but when she realized that the minimum door-to-door (Lacey-Norwich) transit time would be something like 10 hours she started to have second thoughts about the whole thing.

She hasn't really gone anywhere in the last several years and has sort of lost confidence in her ability to travel.

The current plan is to put the x-country off until spring and work in some smaller trips between now and then. We're going to put her on Amtrak solo from Lacey to SEA and then fly up and meet her at Seattle Union Station, spend the night in Seattle, then do a -long- drive the following day ending back up in Lacey.

Hopefully that will give us all some idea of what she can do and we can more knowledgably evaluate direct vs. layovers or perhaps even overnighting on the way.

Time will tell. I might even plan on taking a week off work to accompany her. I could rent a car at Logan and spend some time exploring New England while she visits.

I've yet to spend any time there and it sounds like a wonderful part of the country.