mstraveler

We are planning to spend Memorial Day week in Southwest Harbor ME near Acadia. Our choices for travel are to fly to PWM on a connecting flight (sadly, no one flies that route NS from SFO) or fly to BOS NS; will then rent a car and drive in either case. The connecting flight allows us a shorter drive and to skip renting a car and driving north at rush hour on the Thursday before Memorial Day, but has the risks of connecting flights (baggage, delays, missed connection etc). Flying to BOS will take less time, is a bit cheaper and avoids the whole connection hassle. I have not flown into BOS in a very long time (since the "big dig" days) so no idea what the traffic is likely to be like at that hour close to the holiday w/e.

My spouse and I are having ...ahem... a difference of opinion about which option makes more sense. Would greatly appreciate input from anyone who knows the Logan/Boston traffic scene. (Just showed my spouse and he only wants responses that support his idea )

LoganFlyer

It's about a 5 hour drive from Boston to Acadia without traffic; if you land during rush hour, you can probably add an hour to that, and maybe another 30 minutes due to it being the Thursday before Memorial Day, as lots of Bostonians are driving to Maine that weekend. It's much shorter from Portland, but you said you wouldn't rent a car from PWM, so I'm sure you've looked into how long it would take by whatever transportation method you would take. My personal preference would be to take the connection, as I don't like long drives after a cross country flight, but it does depend on the price difference.

Often1

Neither.

The Thursday before Memorial Day will turn BOS-northbound into a parking lot. PWM is better, but you still need to crawl up Route 1 at some point (unless you drive I-95 to BGR and then down to the coast, in which case....

Fly SFO-EWR-BGR.

While PWM will knock at least 3 hours off what will be a 6+ hour drive over Memorial Day, BGR will knock another 2 hours off. Whether you fly into BOS, PWM, or BGR, you will still need a car unless someone is picking you up at PWM or BGR.

mstraveler

Thanks Logan Flyer and we will absolutely rent a car from either place as we will need it for the week in Southwest Harbor. And the air price difference isn't really all that great. We would not drive all the way to Southwest Harbor but would probably stay someplace just outside of BOS and do the drive the next day. In my mind dealing with the connection and ending up in Portland in time to check into a nice hotel and have dinner beats BOS hands down, but wanted to get some unbiased opinions.

LoganFlyer

Often1 gave me another idea: if you don't mind turboprops, fly to BHB (Bar Harbor, ME) from BOS. Both 9K (Cape Air) and 3M (Silver Airways) fly BOS-BHB; it would probably have to be a separate ticket from SFO-BOS, so the usual separate ticket risk would apply. But it's hard to beat flying into BHB to go to Acadia.

mstraveler

Undoubtedly true, although I look forward to seeing Portland ME and getting to do some driving along the coast. I used to live in Connecticut and enjoyed Maine a lot. Since I moved to the west coast 30+ years ago have not made it back there. My original idea about driving up the coast from BOS got a dose of reality when i realized what a mess it would be to navigate BOS at that time of day on a holiday w/e, and the first place I called about a hotel reservation had a 3 night minimum. Portland seemed like a great way to see a bit more of Maine and skip BOS while getting to do some driving along the coast.

Often1

9K has interline ticketing and baggage agreements with UA, AA, DL, and B6. Thus, one ticket.

Often1

While you can theoretically drive up the coast from BOS to PWM, the primary route is along Commercial 1 / 95 / Maine Turnpike. Once north of Portland, you could theoretically go up Route 1, but that road is effectively Main Street for many coastal towns. On this, of all weekends, you will get to see the tail lights of the vehicle in front of you.

mstraveler

So much for romantic notions based on 33 year old memories . We have 2 days free before we are committed to be in Southwest Harbor so I think our best bet is to fly to PWM and enjoy a couple of days in Portland. Have never actually been there but it seems, from what I read, to be an attractive, nice city with some good restaurants and a good place to spend a couple of nights. After Acadia we are going to Breckenridge so will be flying to Denver and Frontier has NS flights PWM-DEN.

Blumie

Connecting at EWR probably only makes sense if taking the SFO-EWR redeye. Connecting in PHL looks more promising otherwise.

One advantage of flying into PWM, given the flight times, is the option of having dinner in Portland, which has many wonderful restaurants, upon arrival.

Blumie

Yes, this is a great idea. Book your accommodations now and restaurant reservations as soon as they become available.

I stayed here a number of years ago and loved it: https://www.pomegranateinn.com/.

Restaurant ideas here: https://boston.eater.com/2019/12/17/...t-industry-pro
And here: https://maine.eater.com/maps/best-ma...staurants-18-1

mstraveler

That is the option I favor for sure, and exactly for that reason. But my husband (who lost the battle about going to BOS on the NS) is all for the Frontier flight that connects in DEN (with 2.5 hr layover -argh ) which is significantly cheaper and gets in at 9 pm. It saves money and getting up for a 5:45 departure which I would in a heartbeat to get to PWM in time for dinner, but he is not interested in that early of a flight and doesn't care about dinner. But I am going to give in on this. I still get to spend 2 nights in PWM which is far better than any of the other options we came up with. And Maine and Colorado will be beautiful. And to be fair the Frontier flight is $249 and the United one is ~$550, so not a trivial difference.

mstraveler

Thanks Blumie. I have already booked a great looking room with an outdoor patio with views of the water at the Hyatt. And I live in San Francisco and book reservations for most places the minute I can but good advice. I wasn't sure how much I needed to worry about that. Articles really helpful.

Often1

Make sure that you have solid travel insurance. There are no alternatives on F9 and it does not have interline agreements with any other carrier. On that weekend, flights into PWM will be oversold, so any IRROPS means a fairly expensive reroute to somewhere.

StAugustine

Stay away from BOS at all costs. Holiday traffic around Boston starts on Thursday, and with lots of people going to the NH and Southern Maine beach areas it will be creep and beep until Ogunqiut. If you don't want to try flying to Bar Harbor, fly into Portland, stay the night, have dinner and head out early the next morning. Be aware that it is still a 3-hour drive from Portland to the Bar Harbor area.