Why I Will Pay More To Fly Into the Airport Closest to My Destination

When it comes to flying, I’ve recently changed my mindset about the airport I fly into.

I always used to fly into the nearest major city where I was headed, even if that was a bit away from where I was actually trying to go. Bigger cities (and airports) tend to have more flight options and cheaper flights, so the cheaper cost was always a reason to fly to an airport that I knew would be less convenient.

However, as time passed, I realized how stupid it was of me to continue trying to save money and enduring a couple of hours’ drive to get where I was going. I’m now a huge fan of flying into the smaller airport of the city I’m headed to, even if that means a higher price.

What Led Me Here

I’m a regular visitor to both Palm Springs, California, and Santa Barbara, California. I’ve got family that lives near Palm Springs, and a couple of times a year, I’ll head to Santa Barbara because I consider the city to be probably my favorite in all of the U.S., thanks to the terrific climate, pedestrian-friendly shopping areas, and coastal scenery. One of my go-to hotels is the Hyatt Mar Monte hotel on the coast.

Both cities are approximately a 2-hour drive (sometimes more) from Los Angeles. As a regular (well, a visitor a couple of times a year at least) to these cities, I always look at Los Angeles (LAX) and the local airport (Palm Springs (PSP) or Santa Barbara (SBA)). And I almost always come up with the same result: Flights into and out of Los Angeles are cheaper than the smaller, but closer airport.

For years, I have prioritized saving money. I live in the Washington, D.C., area, and to get to Los Angeles, I can routinely find first class fares from coast to coast for around $550. That same trip to the smaller airport? It can easily cost $700 or more. Those cost savings are deceiving, however.

Cost Savings Aren’t What You Think They Are

Let’s say you fly into Los Angeles and want to head up to Santa Barbara. You essentially have 3 ways to do this:

• You can take the Santa Barbara Airbus, which is $69 each way. It picks you up from LAX but drops you off on the outskirts of Santa Barbara. The bus runs about every 2 hours or so.
• You can take the FlyAway bus to Amtrak Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and then take Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner to Santa Barbara. This train drops you off right in town. The bus fare and train ticket cost about $50 total for a one-way journey.
• You can rent a car and make the 2-hour-or-so drive. It can cost around $50 for a rental (plus tolls and gas) and goes up from there depending on the car and company you rent from. Of course, once you get to Santa Barbara, you need to figure out if you’re going to keep your rental car for the stay or drop it off.

No matter which way you slice it, these options add at least $50 to the price of your plane ticket — as well as a lot of hassle. With the unpredictability of highway traffic and the potential delays of Amtrak, flying into Santa Barbara can certainly make a difference when it comes to getting to your final destination.

Example 1: New York to Santa Barbara or Los Angeles

To price it out, here is a sample set of pricing on November 1 for New York (JFK) to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles:

In this case, both economy and first class to Santa Barbara aren’t that much more than flying into Los Angeles, so it’s an absolute no-brainer to spend the extra money and go to the airport you actually want to fly into.

Example 2: New York to Palm Springs or Los Angeles

Let’s also look at Palm Springs. Palm Springs is a winter getaway for many folks looking to escape the cold of the Midwest and Northeast. Flying into LAX is usually cheaper, by far, but you’re limited in how you can get to Palm Springs:

• There isn’t a regular bus service designed to service the route from LAX airport to Palm Springs.
• Taking Amtrak is complicated. Amtrak only has 1 service a day to Palm Springs, and the Palm Springs station is not downtown. Not only that, the departure from Los Angeles is late at night, and you arrive in the Palm Springs area around midnight, a highly inconvenient time for most travelers.
• Renting a car is usually the best method of travel. It’s about a 2-hour journey, but the stretch between LAX and Palm Springs is notorious for bad traffic. A one-way rental can cost as low as $50, but many rental car companies capitalize on this one-way journey and easily charge over $100 for a simple trip.

Here is a sample set of pricing on November 1 for New York (JFK) to Palm Springs and Los Angeles:

My Tolerance Level

Each person has a different tolerance level for what they are willing to spend to fly into the closer and more expensive airport. Some may only be willing to spend just a little more or not anything at all.

I’m usually willing to spend about $150 more in each direction, in either cabin class. This values both my time and the convenience of getting to where I need to go. Depending on the city, I might even value it up to around $200 extra in each direction, especially when considering traffic, which would slow down my progress even more.

Here’s what you should consider:

• Transit or rental car cost to your final destination
• Traffic between the airport and your final destination
• Length of time it takes to get between the airport and your final destination

Other Factors

Flying into a smaller airport also has additional considerations, and there are several reasons why I’d pay more to avoid the hassle of larger airports.

Smaller airports usually have faster security queues, since there are fewer people flying in and out. Of course, there are exceptions. On a recent trip I took to Palm Springs during the annual PNB Paribas Open, security flying out of Palm Springs was a nightmare, with many travelers converging at the airport at the same time. Special events may cause quite a backup!

Renting a car is usually much easier. While smaller airports may not have an elite status aisle or let you choose your car, you generally don’t need to take a shuttle to a rental car center and can walk off the plane and be at the rental car counter in just a few minutes. There is a downside to this, however. Because you’re forced to see an agent at the counter, a wait can easily form, and it could take some time before you’re assigned a car.

At a smaller airport, there’s usually far less of a wait to collect your bag. The bag is typically off the plane and on the carousel in just a few minutes. I can’t tell you how many times my bag has even beat me to the carousel!

Overall, smaller airports are easier to navigate. Ride-sharing drop-offs are usually right at the terminal, and you can be at the ticket counter in seconds and then at your gate shortly after. You don’t have to worry about buses, long walks, or going from building to building.

Closer Airports

There are lots of smaller airports in the U.S., but here’s a short list of smaller airports and their larger-city counterparts:

• Colorado Springs (COL), Colorado, instead of Denver (DEN)
• Flagstaff (FLG), Arizona, instead of Phoenix (PHX)
• Hilton Head (HHH), South Carolina, instead of Savannah (SAV), Georgia
• Lincoln (LNK), Nebraska, instead of Omaha (OMA), Nebraska
• Monterey (MRY) instead of San Francisco (SFO)
• Palm Beach (PBI), Florida, instead of Miami (MIA)
• Portland (PWM), Maine, instead of Boston (BOS)

When Flying Into a Larger Airport Might Make More Sense

Certainly, there are times when flying into a larger airport might make more sense:

• Rental car rates out of larger airports can be significantly cheaper, so if I’m renting a car for my entire trip, I factor that into the cost.
• Larger airports tend to have more flight options than smaller airports. For example, there are no red-eye flights out of Santa Barbara. If I truly want a red-eye flight, I might consider going down to Los Angeles. You also find additional frequencies of flights out of larger airports.
• Bigger airports tend to receive better aircraft and amenities, such as the American Airlines A321T out of LAX. Airlines at bigger airports are more likely to use widebody aircraft or planes with premium lie-flat seating. Book flights to and from larger airports if comfort is important to you.
• If I’m flying in from overseas, heading to a larger airport just makes more sense. Let’s say I want to fly from Sydney (SYD), Australia, to Palm Springs. Doing this would require a connection in Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), or San Francisco. Or I could fly right into Los Angeles, clear customs, and then be on my way without having to worry about that additional connecting flight.

Final Thoughts

If I have a preference, I’d rather pay more and fly right into the regional airport serving my destination. To me, the convenience and avoidance of any traffic or additional travel far outweigh any additional cost.

Of course, the cost may be prohibitive for you to do so, but if it’s only slightly higher, I highly suggest looking at those regional airports for your flying needs.