Is It Cheaper To Fly Out Of Duluth Or Minneapolis?
I know it's a long time ago now, but I remember flying out of Duluth prior to 9/11 and it was a very similar price to flying out of Minneapolis. After that tragic day, prices for out of the Twin Ports seemed to jump up significantly.
I fly on commercial airlines on average three times a year, and of course always compare prices for flying out of the Duluth International Airport or the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport. We all want the best deal, right?
For myself and most close to Duluth residents, it is about two and a half hours of a drive to MSP Airport. If time is money, and of course gas is money, and parking is money, even $200 more to fly out of Duluth per ticket is probably worth it.
I recently booked a flight to Reno, Nevada for an upcoming work trip and was hoping to fly out of Duluth. No matter how I messed with the dates, and times, it unfortunately was almost $500 more to fly out of Duluth. I know Reno isn't exactly a major hub compared to somewhere like Vegas, but $500 seemed excessive. I also chose to fly Delta Airlines vs others available due to snagging those flyer miles.
The Duluth flights via Delta that dropped the price some, would leave me with multiple layovers and adding 5+ hours each day of travel to my trip. Not something I was prepared to do, especially since I was able to find a ride both ways from people I have driven for flights before.
After booking, I looked at other airlines and did find less expensive Duluth flights, but again with the added travel time to the flights. I also explored flying into Salt Lake City, Utah to save some money on the out of Duluth flight, but that meant renting a car for a 6+ hour drive each way when I arrived.
I compared my costs to others I know traveling at the same time out of Duluth to other larger hubs, and the prices for them were on par with the MSP rates. So, I guess my point is, make sure you shop around as sometimes it can still be cheaper to fly out of Duluth instead of Minneapolis.