I plan to join some friends in VT for some spring skiing 3/18 for a couple of days.

The peeps going will be driving, but the last time I drove, I went w/a friend and we drove almost all night and got some 4 hrs of sleep.

I plan to fly this round and just want to see the concensus....from where I live, in Northern VA it's a good 7.5 or 8 hrs door to door...and although I'm not too fond of driving for only say 1 or maybe 2 days on the mtn, would you call me silly or would you rather fly and be relaxed for the trip.

I'm trying to get airfare for under $300...... Anyone with input and/or suggestions? Airports in order of distance I am looking at are RUT, LEB, ALB and BDL.

^

just did a quick check ... UA IAD<-->ALB and AA DCA<-->BDL are in the ~$350 range; Southwest BWI<-->ALB/BDL is around $200 but you would have to get to/from BWI (MARC train isn't a horrible option, presuming you're not ridiculously far from Union Station)

I see Jetblue DCA->BDL
BDL->DCA

for $99 RT, nonstop, 1.5 hours each way, 3/16 -> 3/19

$150 for more restrictive dates (eg 1-2 days instead of 3 days)

use http://matrix.itasoftware.com to find the correct routings (can specify multiple airports+distances+flexible dates etc). this software is meant for your usecase

MHT is about a 2 hour drive from Stratton mountain. There are AA non-stops from DCA into MHT less than $200r/t

Have you considered how you will get between whatever airport (BDL, MHT) and the ski area? Don't forget rental car cost and drive time if your friends aren't picking you up and delivering you to the airport. Shuttles, if any, are likely to be infrequent as would be buses, trains, etc. while a taxi/uber/car service will be expensive.

RUT is the convenient all-air option at around half an hour from the mountain, and can be brought down to 10 minutes with local bus service, but it's unlikely to come anywhere near budget; the sole passenger service is three Cape Air Cessnas to BOS that run $70-$100 each way.

ALB is around a two-hour drive each way, and BDL similar but more likely to be impacted by good ski weather as it involves coming west over the mountains. Also, VT isn't a neighboring state, which may impact any car rental. I'm not sure I'd go with either unless my driving friends owed me a favor or happened to be driving from or through those metros on their own way.

Stratton does operate a chartered bus to 44th and 3rd in Manhattan, so a short walk from Penn Station, on Fridays inbound/Sundays outbound. Rates are $79, so a combined $128 o/w from Union Station if you can make the schedule work for you.
Another multimode alternative is to fly to BDL, then shuttle or cab to Hartford or Windsor stations and be picked up in Brattleboro or Bellows Falls which are each around an hour from the mountain and $30 by rail.

LEB is a sort of worst-of-all-worlds, as it's the same added ex-BOS Cape Air segment as RUT but with an extended local drive somewhat longer than the Brattleboro or Bellows Falls rail stations.

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The OP is going up on a Friday. Is he coming back on a Sunday or on a Monday? If Monday, he might be able to find an Enterprise non-airport location near ALB that offers the $9.99 weekend rental: Friday-Monday three-day rental of a compact car for $29.97, with 300 free miles included. It's even possible that the renting location would permit a return to the airport location at no extra charge.

yes, Friday and Sunday (or Monday) are travel days.

Looks like jet blue is the winner here - not to decide...shall I rent skiis or bring my skiis? Ugggg.

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If that's JetBlue to BDL, you can check to see if any of Enterprise's Hartford-area locations offers the $9.99/day weekend special. But I'm not sure what ground transportation options exist from BDL Airport to Hartford. And you would want to verify with the renting location that they would allow you to drive the car not only into neighboring MA, but also into VT.