worldwidedreamer

Well Thomas Cook airlines did announce a nonstop LGW-RNO…but right now the SEA layover would be the best option, even though it is a longish layover.

And count me in as a paid F customer for the RNO-HNL inaugural should it ever happen!

storewanderer

At present as you note AS has just 3 non stop destinations from RNO: LAX (SkyWest operated), PDX (SkyWest or Horizon operated), and SEA (Alaska or Horizon operated). Most of these flights are on regional planes either old not pleasant Q400 Turboprops or some newer smaller ones that are actually very nice.

AS has cut in the past few years RNO to SJC and RNO to BOI, and also cut frequencies on the remaining RNO flights.

RNO is a Southwest dominated airport and they have added some new non stops lately primarily to Southern California. But in 2010 Southwest had nonstops from RNO to SLC, MDW, PDX, SEA, before that even BOI. Those are all a distant memory. The thing is in the event of issues typically Southwest will still get you back to Reno or out to wherever you are headed, since they have so many flights to and from Reno. But the other carriers with fewer flights especially UA and AA if something goes wrong you will likely be stranded for a day or two.

What I notice with Reno is new non stop flights get added but then we lose them after a year or two for whatever reason. We have had DL doing nonstops to MSP and ORD off and on too but they just do not stick. There was a time we had no RNO to SJC or OAK either but those came back and will hopefully stay.

To that point RNO to OAK on Southwest then BART over to SFO is certainly an option for international travel. For Hawaii RNO to SJC/LGB/LAX on Southwest gives some options also.

You may want to reconsider how moving to Reno will impact your travel plans. It will definitely add time to your trips when you want to go international and reduce your selection of carriers or programs. And you will hope your flights out of Reno run as scheduled because if not your trip is totally derailed. Also hopefully you don't mind bumpy take offs and landings as those are a Reno tradition.

storewanderer

RNO also loses flights quickly at the first sign of economic problems or airlines cutting back routes. Hence the many cuts AS has made in RNO the past few years. And the miserable cuts Southwest made from 2011 to 2013 in RNO.

But at the end of the day Southwest is the key player in RNO and even in the worst of times they run many flights from RNO to LAS all day every day every couple ish hours. Once you get to LAS you can get mostly anywhere within the US.

International... is not so easy.

And that UN RNO to SFO is a joke tease of a flight historically. Often canceled before COVID... I see they have it running 4 times a day now though, so hopefully it is easier to reschedule.

AS Flyer

🙄

did you come here trolling and this is the only post you could find to troll?

storewanderer

I almost replied to that post noting Aloha until 2008 or so had a RNO to HNL that stopped at SNA on the way (but you did not at least not always have to change planes). But I doubt such a flight will be started nonstop in the future. Come on any airline, prove me wrong. I'd love to see another nonstop from RNO.

worldwidedreamer

Reno is a far different city than in 2019, let alone decades ago. Think TWA flew to Cannon Intl: didn’t Reno Air have a hub, too?

Think there is o/d demand today tbh.

storewanderer

I think TWA flew to RNO (also flew charters into South Lake Tahoe...that is what led to a runway expansion there at South Lake Tahoe in the 60s that led to more commercial air service for a few decades) and Reno Air was based here and this was its main hub. AA sure hacked that up good. Southwest is basically the new Reno Air as far as Reno is concerned.

I've always thought RNO has potential for more flights but it is always the same story, we get flights added and then lose the flights due to a bad economy or low passenger counts. I'm disappointed that AS has cut flights recently as I really prefer AS over LUV or any other airline. I've just always had very positive experiences with AS. UA and AA have been very unreliable for me, again, this may also be partly a RNO issue, and DL I have had okay luck with.

The airport has done an exceptional job marketing the area and trying to draw in more flights over the years. But it is tough. Reno goes through booms and busts. And the busts are very difficult. It always happens. Businesses in Reno have such a labor shortage at present, it is not helping things. My last LUV flight which got in at night and it wasn't busy, we had to wait 20 minutes for the ground crew to come get the gate situated so we could deplane, the delay was due to lack of staff.

More recently the flights added may not be every day, like the one to Mexico, or the Frontier flight to AUS. Also we have aha! as a start up but I have not paid much attention to aha!

Obviously being here on FlyerTalk we are looking for miles and status so we like to stick to airlines like UA, AA, DL, AS, or LUV if LUV works for us... not really focused on the smaller discount carriers that aren't in the bigger alliances. LUV is so major in RNO that its closed program becomes a focus just because of that.

On the South Lake Tahoe topic there is a push to get commercial flights there again, but there are a lot of issues. Also I tend to think that would potentially hurt RNO.

985X

I tried Aha! last month. Other than not being able to check in online and low quality boarding pass which is feels more like a receipt, overall it's good experience, on-time flight to ONT, and they even hand out candies as we deplane!

Eastbay1K

A couple of thoughts - This cycle, RNO is different. More major manufacturing / industry and university employment, not to mention what is likely a permanently-expanded population base. As for TVL, I'd expect it to reduce some car traffic more than reduce RNO passenger counts. In good weather, SMF is what, 45 minutes more than RNO by car? I'd not be surprised if many South Shore people already use SMF.

As for the OP, here's a song you'll be singing on your trips to your new home.

♫ It's a long way to RenoRary
It's a long way to go
It's a long way to RenoRary
Two connecting flights I know!
Goodbye San Francisco
Farewell L.A.X.
It's a long long way to RenoRary
But my home's right there ♫

worldwidedreamer

While I admire your lyricism, I think Michael Stipe might have a bit more practice:

Humming all the way to Reno
You've dusted the non believers
And challenged the laws of chance
Now, sweet
You were so sugar sweet
You may as well have had 'kick me'
Fastened on your sleeve
You know what you are
You're gonna be a star
You know what you are
You're gonna be a star

storewanderer

RNO is an hour closer to South Lake Tahoe than SMF. I cannot speak for how much Tahoe traffic runs through SMF. But the amount of Tahoe traffic that runs through RNO is a big reason why the airport has the number of flights it has. And even if commercial service was run again up at South Lake I think it would only ever end up a few hundred passengers a day and the majority of traffic would still use RNO. But with RNO that would mean we would lose some flights.

The airlines love to cut flights from RNO and quickly. Just how it goes.

The changes in Reno will hopefully help increase airport traffic to help us add and retain more nonstop destinations but at present Reno is not in good shape. The cost of living has skyrocketed beyond affordable levels for many. The job growth in the market with those low wage warehouse jobs do not pay enough for people to afford the costs to live here. Roads and other infrastructure are a huge mess. Availability of basic services especially qualified specialists for medical care is stretched beyond the max. I've seen this before, multiple times, and it always results in an ugly bust. It may be different this time with a more diverse economy, but something has to give. And this is why we cannot retain new nonstop flights and why AS has been so eager to cut flights in this "booming" market.

storewanderer

The bottom line is the flights just aren't there... nor is the demand. RNO passenger counts for January and February 2022 months are below 2020 for those months and below 2019. Counts last year for the last few months of 2021 were all below 2019 (yet the airport looked the busiest I've ever seen it).

One bright spot is our load factors for most airlines like UA, AA, and DL (but not AS...) are above 80% in recent months.

Unless you can make arrangements to get a private plane from RNO to major airports, international travel from here is just another two or three days of hassle and uncertainty. Granted this same thing could be said for many places in the middle of the US. But it is different for you since you are coming from major metro area of California with easy access to multiple airports with excellent international flight coverage. You will miss that ease.

worldwidedreamer

Oh I agree 100%. We are keeping our place in San Francisco, getting a self-driving Tesla and will use it as a jumping off point for international flights. This said, I’d much rather fly from Reno.

storewanderer

Definitely worth keeping the place there, that will make things a lot easier to help coordinate international travel. RNO (and many smaller airports) are such a catch 22. They are so much easier to fly out of, but have so many fewer options. For now I am very happy that LUV has added so many easy non stops to Southern California. But I won't get too comfortable based on the history here.

I never tried to go RNO-SEA and connect via AS to anywhere outside the Pacific Northwest. Did consider it for MSP but ultimately did not like to travel in a L shape and decided best to do the straighter line and connect in DEN. But AS certainly has a lot of connections via SEA. One of my favorites is you can do a quick RNO-YVR, via AS. Though there are fewer options now than pre-COVID, I've gotten to YVR in just over 4 hours of travel time. SEA-YVR flight on a clear day is one of the nicest looking flights too, on a not clear day it is one of the bumpiest flights.

Also it was brought to my attention AS ran a RNO-SNA (was either Horizon or Skywest) and discontinued it in 2019. AS has tried a lot of routes in Reno. I am disappointed recently they have not tried some other new ones with the huge increase in leisure travel traffic this past fall/winter.

jrl767

I had a *great* SEA-RNO-SNA trip on a pair of Horizon Q400s in Nov 2017 (and just realized I never uploaded these in the “Views From Above the Wing” thread bcuz they’re from *below the wing* of a Q400 )










that morning at RNO was also the only time I’ve noticed a GA on *any* airline offer early boarding to active duty *and retired* military