FlyerTalk Forums - Getting to Bend without busting the budget?

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Getting to Bend without busting the budget?

Me, the g/f, and g/f's brother ("starving students") are trying to get to Bend, Oregon for a wedding July 3rd, at 4:30 pm. Airfares to RDM are expensive (availability doesn't seem to be a problem despite the weekend - it just seems the published airfares are high). Renting a car is not an option.

Flying into PDX is cheaper but it looks like the shuttle service to Bend arrives too late (6 pm) to make the wedding.

Are there any discount codes/companion fares/other offers I should know about? I have the miles if need be but would rather not burn them for such a short hop!

Thanks for any help!
Yonatan

Edited to add: we're based in SAN but can stay for free in the Bay Area if overnighting on the way to Oregon would save money!

How about renting a car? For three people it should be cheaper (provided you are over 25 so they will rent you one) than the shuttle, even including gas.

Hey,

As the last poster suggested, renting a car out of PDX would be much cheaper if you are 25 or older.

The problem is you're trying to travel over one of the busiest travel days of the year with one month advanced purchase :D . Most airfares that were any good have long since sold out.

I found a couple of options that are fairly reasonable you might want to consider:

Code:

1 - Alaska to RDM $324/person



Alaska Airlines Flight AS551 on a Boeing 737 (jet) in coach class  

Departs San Diego, CA (SAN) Sun, July 3 6:40a

Arrives Portland, OR (PDX)  9:15a 

 

 Layover in Portland 45 min 



 Alaska Airlines Flight AS2162 on a De Havilland Dash-8 (prop plane) in coach class

     (operated by Horizon Air)  

Departs Portland, OR (PDX) Sun, July 3 10:00a 

Arrives Redmond, OR (RDM)  10:40a  

 

 Alaska Airlines Flight AS2034 on a De Havilland Dash-8 (prop plane) in coach class

     (operated by Horizon Air)  

Departs Redmond, OR (RDM) Mon, July 4 5:15a 

Arrives Portland, OR (PDX)  6:00a  



 Layover in Portland 1 hr 25 min 



 Alaska Airlines Flight AS256 on a Boeing 737 (jet) in coach class  

Departs Portland, OR (PDX) Mon, July 4 7:25a

Arrives Los Angeles, CA (LAX)  9:44a  



 Layover in Los Angeles 1 hr 16 min 



 Alaska Airlines Flight AS4692 on a SAAB SF 340 (prop plane) in coach class

     (operated by American Eagle, also American Airlines Flight AA3073)

Departs Los Angeles, CA (LAX) Mon, July 4 11:00a

Arrives San Diego, CA (SAN)  12:02p

This one has a double connection coming back, but has times that would work for you into RDM on the outbound.

Code:

Option 2 - Alaska/Eagle to PDX --June 2nd--.  Then you rent a car/take a shuttle to Bend $258/person



 Alaska Airlines Flight AS4730 on an Embraer ERJ-140 (jet) in coach class

     (operated by American Eagle, also American Airlines Flight AA3178)

Departs San Diego, CA (SAN) Sat, July 2 1:56p  

Arrives San Jose, CA (SJC)  3:17p  



 Layover in San Jose 2 hrs 43 min 



 Alaska Airlines Flight AS301 on a MD-80 (jet) in coach class  

Departs San Jose, CA (SJC) Sat, July 2 6:00p  

Arrives Portland, OR (PDX)  7:39p  



  

 Alaska Airlines Flight AS418 on a MD-80 (jet) in coach class  

Departs Portland, OR (PDX) Mon, July 4 3:45p

Arrives San Jose, CA (SJC)  5:28p  



 Layover in San Jose 2 hrs 23 min 



 Alaska Airlines Flight AS4722 on an Embraer ERJ-140 (jet) in coach class

     (operated by American Eagle, also American Airlines Flight AA3144)

Departs San Jose, CA (SJC) Mon, July 4 7:51p 

Arrives San Diego, CA (SAN)  9:11p

Would either of those work for you? FWIW, the driving time from PDX-Bend is supposedly about 2.5 hours. I've never tried it myself, but a friend told me that.

I frequently get weekend rentals in Portland and they are very cheap. I generally rent from budget downtown so I don't get hit with any airport taxes, but my total bill is rarely more than $13 per day (that's for a small car, of course, but about half the time, I end up with a free upgrade).

Budget doesn't charge drop fees either, nor do they harrass about things like insurance and pre-paid gas (helps to have fastbreak).

Thanks for all the responses.

Unfortunately, car rental is NOT an option for us.

Given this constraint, it's likely that we will need to fly to Redmond. I'm curious if there's any companion fares/coupons/ etc. that we might be able to benefit from.

Thanks,
Yonatan

Do you have access to AS miles (or could you trade for some)? Saver awards only cost 20k miles and they have good availability on the whole.

I can emphasize with your plight because I've also been bending over backwards to get to a wedding on July 3.