TarynB Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 I'm going to make an unexpected, rather short trip to Marietta, Ohio, next week. I'm from the southern Plains, never been to Ohio. I'm excited but a little nervous and can't make up my mind which airport would be best to fly into and out of. I'll be flying out of either Oklahoma City or Tulsa. Any Ohio peeps who could share some advice? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 I would guess Columbus or Pittsburgh are your most direct options. I haven’t flown into or out of Columbus or Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh might be a good option. It should be a pretty drive from there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 I’m new to eastern Ohio but folks speak highly of the Pittsburgh airport and dd has a good experience flying out of it last month. I can’t speak to Columbus. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 I've never flown to/from Columbus but my kids have many times and have had good experiences. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 I think you have to go through St Louis en route to Columbus from Tulsa. It’s a terrible airport (Tulsa) but Columbus is fantastic. Definitely spend some time there downtown if you can—it’s a really fun, hip city. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 No experience with Pittsburgh but I've flown in and out of Columbus a ton, as has DS, and we've always had good experiences. It's small, very easy to navigate, and TSA is usually quick and efficient. Lots of car rental choices and I've never had much of a wait there either. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toocrazy!! Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 Columbus is the closest to Marietta, but it’s still about 2 hours away. Pittsburgh is closer to 3. There is a small local airport- wood county WV, about 15 minutes away, but it only flies countour airlines through Charlotte for connections. You can book the entire way through American Airlines. It can work beautifully, or go very wrong. It’s very reliable other than weather, but then there is really no backup. i’m very close to Marietta if you have any other questions😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 I would fly to whichever one is closer. Columbus will be easy peasy. You should allow extra days in your itinerary because flights from Oklahoma can have delays or be canceled. My dd was there one summer and I swear that place was hard to get in/out of. She'd have a flight canceled and it would take multiple days to reschedule. Check the number of flights, but I'm just saying that can happen. Maybe she was just pulling my leg and didn't want to come home, but it was conspicuous. And there are weird things happening at other airports too. Denver just had delays due to congestion, not totally sure why. So I would just pad your trip a bit to me sure or fly an airline that lets you move flights. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 Hold it, can you fly into Parkersburg? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 (edited) Yes, Expedia says you can fly into Parkersburg. It will be $$ but it's better than that stupid long drive. Of course maybe where you live 2-3 hours each way is nothing, lol. Going 70 from Columbus you're going to be going 85 mph in heavy traffic for much of that 2 hours. Going south to Marietta will be traffic too. So me, I'd spend the extra dab and fly into a closer airport. I'm looking at Expedia, you might have another option... Edited September 5, 2023 by PeterPan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 It looks like American Airlines is the provider. The prices can be cheaper booking through Priceline or Expedia, cheaper than direct on the airline website. So before you assume, definitely check. Priceline can sometimes can get you crazy good deals if you're flexible on leave/arrival, so check there too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 (edited) Ooo, sorry to go crazy here. I was playing with Priceline and found deals like $384 round trip for next week, Tulsa to Oklahoma. So maybe play around with it. I'm seeing $800 ish round trip if you fly into Parkersburg. You're not as likely to get a deal with that as you are Columbus or Pittsburg even. It looks like CMH is 20 minutes closer than Pittsburg when I map it, so I'd go CMH if the price is better or Parkersburg if you don't want to drive much. Edited September 5, 2023 by PeterPan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaelAldrich Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 2 minutes ago, PeterPan said: It looks like American Airlines is the provider. The prices can be cheaper booking through Priceline or Expedia, cheaper than direct on the airline website. So before you assume, definitely check. Priceline can sometimes can get you crazy good deals if you're flexible on leave/arrival, so check there too. But flying with American through a third party provider can be trouble nowadays with all the delays as the Priceline and Expedia people have to deal with their company not the airline. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 Btw, google maps is suggesting taking 33 from CMH to Marietta. I remember that as being an exceptionally nice drive, very pleasant. If you are not inclined to freeway driving and are willing to drive a few minutes out of your way, it would not be a bad route. To me, long stretches of freeway are just a total snooze, sigh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 2 minutes ago, YaelAldrich said: But flying with American through a third party provider can be trouble nowadays with all the delays as the Priceline and Expedia people have to deal with their company not the airline. Hmm, that's a good point. Guess it depends on how important the savings is to her. She could also book trip insurance, which for such a short, no frills trip would be inexpensive. She could see if her cc has trip insurance to cover delays and patch things up too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 (edited) You could also price out the Greyhound bus, which appears to run to Cambridge with a transfer to Marietta. If you're going to want a car anyway, you could rent the car in Cambridge. I'm not saying people love the bus. Just that flying in/out of Oklahoma can be a little aggravating compared to other places, and the bus is gonna go. Maybe a train? Wow, now I need to remember what city in OK that was my dd was flying in/out of. It just makes no sense that a capital would be unreliable. Edited September 5, 2023 by PeterPan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toocrazy!! Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 I live close and have flown through PKB. It is very convenient, when everything goes well. There are just no backup flights if something needs changed. There are two flights in and out every day - only connecting in Charlotte. Leave some time to connect in Charlotte as well, as the contour gate is not convenient to other airlines. You can book directly with contour or through American if you don’t want to go Expedia. If you fly into Columbus, I do recommend driving down 33 instead of 70/77. It is a somewhat nicer drive. If you have time and want to sightsee on your way down, you will go right by Hocking Hills which has some pretty scenery and nice hikes. You would also be close to Amish country if that’s of interest, as well as Athens, Ohio which is another cool college town. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toocrazy!! Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 Also, I’m not sure there is even car rentals at PKB anymore. The local Hertz office might be able to arrange something, but I don’t think they’re onsite anymore. Probably more info than you wanted to know 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted September 5, 2023 Author Share Posted September 5, 2023 Thank you so much, ladies! I can't tell you how grateful I am for all of you sharing your advice and experiences. I am looking into all of it to see what will work best for me and my travel companion. I'm typically one who spends weeks planning out my travel, so this short notice is a bit stressful, and I appreciate any and all help! 🥰 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted September 5, 2023 Author Share Posted September 5, 2023 56 minutes ago, Toocrazy!! said: Probably more info than you wanted to know 🙂 @Toocrazy!! not at all, this kind of info is exactly what I need! Thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted September 5, 2023 Share Posted September 5, 2023 1 hour ago, PeterPan said: flights from Oklahoma can have delays or be canceled I think it's because so many of the primary connector airports routinely have crappy weather and therefore delays (we won't fly through Chicago anymore because we've been stuck there so many times). DS and DH recently flew from Portland (the original 😉 ) to Tulsa via Detroit. They were stuck there for 12 hours. Wait, no, they were flying to Kansas City via Detroit en route to Tulsa (rented a car in KC) because it literally saved like $700 over flying into Tulsa. Tulsa is really hard to get to from here. We usually fly through Charlotte but this time it didn't make sense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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