List of Airport Alternatives without Full Body Scanners
Nov 13, 2010, 9:14 am
#16
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Newburgh, NY
Posts: 129
Why keep an airport like PDX off the SEA list? The three hour distance assumes the list is exclusively for people that live in the city where the airport is. What if someone lived an hour from SEA and two hours from PDX?
Nov 13, 2010, 9:18 am
#17
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: PDX
Programs: TSA Refusenik charter member
Posts: 15,978
Didn't mean to jump on you gatelouse.
As another poster pointed out, I-5 is practically a parking lot from Longacres to Northgate at any given time of the day so it rankles us locals a bit to read that PDX is a viable alternative to SEA. I've done that drive enough over the past 30 years to know that it's not worth the aggravation anymore. That's all I was getting at. A key missing data point w/r/t PDX is that one can fly SeaPort Air (out of PDX's biz aviation area, a five minute walk from the main terminal) to Seattle's Boeing Field (BFI), which is actually much closer to d/t Seattle than SeaTac, without any TSA interference whatsoever. But that's another topic for another thread.
Last edited by essxjay; Nov 13, 2010 at 9:25 am
Nov 13, 2010, 9:26 am
#18
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: The best state in the USA - Florida!
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Posts: 14,497
Minneapolis/St. Paul area:
- Rochester (RST)
About a 80-90 minute drive from MSP; downside is service is limited to ORD (AA), DTW (DL) and MSP (DL) for about 10 daily flights all on 50-seat RJs.
- Rochester (RST)
About a 80-90 minute drive from MSP; downside is service is limited to ORD (AA), DTW (DL) and MSP (DL) for about 10 daily flights all on 50-seat RJs.
Nov 13, 2010, 9:26 am
#19
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: PHX & PPT
Programs: DL PM, IHG Plat, Hilton Gold, AmExPlat
Posts: 833
ISP can be reached by taking the Long Island Railroad from Penn Station in NYC (or from the Jamaica station) to Ronkonkoma (1 hr. 20 min ride), and then taking a 5-minute shuttle to the ISP airport from the train station. LIRR schedule is at http://lirr42.mta.info/sfweb/faces/departSchedules.jspx
Nov 13, 2010, 9:30 am
#20
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: PDX
Programs: TSA Refusenik charter member
Posts: 15,978
I see no such assumption underlying the list.Re: Chicago area, what about Rockford?
Last edited by Kiwi Flyer; Nov 14, 2010 at 12:11 am Reason: merge consecutive posts
Nov 13, 2010, 9:52 am
#21
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: SAN
Posts: 2,426
One negative-
I wouldn't recommend taking a more expensive alternative. As it is, the airlines are a potential ally in the struggle against invasive security. If people start taking more expensive flights to avoid said security, the interests of the airlines will no longer be aligned with those of travelers.
(Of course, revenue is more important than ticket price, but I don't know how to determine that.)
(Of course, revenue is more important than ticket price, but I don't know how to determine that.)
Nov 13, 2010, 3:59 pm
#24
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Posts: 13,437
COS is still NoS-free, and is an alternative to DEN. Frontier and UA have flights between COS and DEN.
Nov 13, 2010, 6:30 pm
#26
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: SNA, LAX
Posts: 418
Bakersfield is not really a good alternative to LAX, unless you can fly direct from there to your destination, and they only fly to a few cities -- Phoenix, DEN, SFO, I think. Otherwise you get to LAX anyway to connect, and given LAX's layout the chances are high you'll need to reclear security anyway.
Plus it is really quite a long way away -- 3 hours minimum, more in traffic.
Plus it is really quite a long way away -- 3 hours minimum, more in traffic.
Nov 13, 2010, 7:30 pm
#28
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2010
Programs: Amtrak S+, HH GLD, AA 1MM, SPG, UA, TSA Disparager Gold
Posts: 371
Good evening, FT! I'll be online for the next couple of hours to work on this list some more.
There has been much passionate debate about PDX as an alternative to SEA. I think the right answer is to give Portland its own metro entry, with PDX the obvious choice.
An excellent point! I'll add transit directions to airports that have accessibility. I believe there's a short taxi ride required from Ronkonkoma station, right?
Another good point with a larger insight: many major airports have NoS-free checkpoints. Often this requires a careful choice of carriers. What I'll do is to put a disclaimer/how-to-use note at the top noting that a quick scan of the FT NoS location thread is worthwhile.
How could I forget the Denver area! COS for DEN in the next update.
Thanks for the MSP reports. Also note that many MSP checkpoints don't have a NoS at all.
Three hours? I rode Bakersfield-LA by Ambus and don't recall it being that long. Having said that, LAX has plenty of closer alternatives as it is, with plenty of mainline service. So I agree, let's pull Bakersfield.
Okay, I believe I've added everyone's suggestions to this point...
...including yours. (Which I forgot to acknowledge earlier. Interesting place, that RFD.)
I'll spend an hour a day over the next few days to add links to airports, look up drive times on Google, add new areas, etc. Keep those suggestions coming. In particular, I'm interested in close-in airports with air taxi service like Bedford, MA for BOS.
Another good point with a larger insight: many major airports have NoS-free checkpoints. Often this requires a careful choice of carriers. What I'll do is to put a disclaimer/how-to-use note at the top noting that a quick scan of the FT NoS location thread is worthwhile.
Bakersfield is not really a good alternative to LAX, unless you can fly direct from there to your destination, and they only fly to a few cities -- Phoenix, DEN, SFO, I think. Otherwise you get to LAX anyway to connect, and given LAX's layout the chances are high you'll need to reclear security anyway.
Plus it is really quite a long way away -- 3 hours minimum, more in traffic.
Plus it is really quite a long way away -- 3 hours minimum, more in traffic.
Okay, I believe I've added everyone's suggestions to this point...
...including yours. (Which I forgot to acknowledge earlier. Interesting place, that RFD.)
I'll spend an hour a day over the next few days to add links to airports, look up drive times on Google, add new areas, etc. Keep those suggestions coming. In particular, I'm interested in close-in airports with air taxi service like Bedford, MA for BOS.
Last edited by Kiwi Flyer; Nov 14, 2010 at 12:13 am Reason: merge consecutive posts
Nov 13, 2010, 10:51 pm
#30
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: PDX
Programs: TSA Refusenik charter member
Posts: 15,978
I wouldn't recommend taking a more expensive alternative. As it is, the airlines are a potential ally in the struggle against invasive security. If people start taking more expensive flights to avoid said security, the interests of the airlines will no longer be aligned with those of travelers.
