Non Disney--Getting from Pittsburgh to Flagstaff

[connie254]

My niece is getting married at the Grand Canyon next May. Normally I use SW to get most places and I book myself, but only American Airlines flies into the Flagstaff airport. How difficult would it be to fly SW to Phoenix and then AA to Flagstaff? I've never done two different airlines. I'm also looking at prices.

 

[PHXscuba]

Grand Canyon (presuming the south-rim area) is still 80 miles from Flagstaff so you would still need a car. I would fly to Phoenix and then drive to the Grand Canyon -- it's about 3.5 hours. The layover time you would spend in the Phoenix airport plus the flight to Flagstaff would probably be longer than the extra 2 hours of driving.

PHXscuba

 

[georgina]

Grand Canyon (presuming the south-rim area) is still 80 miles from Flagstaff so you would still need a car. I would fly to Phoenix and then drive to the Grand Canyon -- it's about 3.5 hours. The layover time you would spend in the Phoenix airport plus the flight to Flagstaff would probably be longer than the extra 2 hours of driving.

PHXscuba

Completely agree. Since will need a car anyway, fly SW to Phoenix. If you have time check out the Lowell observatory in Flagstaff on your way through!

 

[Jimsig]

I agree with the others about driving from Phoenix.

The issue you can have when booking with 2 different airlines is if you have an issue with the first flight and don't make the second flight the second airline, in your case AA, does not have to do any thing to get you to your final destination. Doesn't mean they won't but you also may have to pay for another flight. Also if you booked a R/T and you miss the first flight they can cancel your return flight.

 

[Her Dotness]

Particularly since you're flying from a point east of Arizona, you may easily get delayed due to thunderstorms between your departure airport and the Wild West. Those are very common in the Plains States from April through June.

We once sat in a plane at JFK for over an hour because there was a line of thunderstorms with hail and possible tornadoes from Chicago to somewhere in Texas. By the time we finally got to St. Louis, we'd missed the last flight from there to Wichita. Rented a car to get home because DH had to work the next morning.

Definitely drive from Phoenix, getting there a day or two in advance if possible just in case.

 

[dioxide45]

I agree with others about driving from PHX to the Grand Canyon. The last couple years we have gone to Scottsdale and last year we made the drive to the Grand Canyon. The drive is great, just don't make the mistake of driving through Sedona unless you really want to go to Sedona. We tried it on the way back south and there was something going on and traffic was backed up for miles on 89A. We ended up turning around and taking the I17 and coming into Sedona from the south. The Red Rocks are beautiful along this south drive in on 179.

 

[Upatnoon]

My niece is getting married at the Grand Canyon next May. Normally I use SW to get most places and I book myself, but only American Airlines flies into the Flagstaff airport. How difficult would it be to fly SW to Phoenix and then AA to Flagstaff? I've never done two different airlines. I'm also looking at prices.

My 2 cents would be to stay with one airline considering flying today and all the issues with delays, cancellations and the like.

Are you trying to maximize savings or time? There will be pros and cons to each on getting to your destination.

Flying to Flagstaff is the closest, but the flight may take longer because you have to change planes. There may be poor connections with a long layover. Rental cars may cost more. You will still need to drive about 90 minutes to the Grand Canyon.

You can also fly to Phoenix and drive. You may get a direct flight and the rental car could be less. You would have a longer drive to the Grand Canyon, but could potentially save money and the entirety of the time for the trip could be less.

We flew to flew to Las Vegas and drove to the Grand Canyon from there. At the time, it was hundreds cheaper than flying to Phoenix.

The drive from Las Vegas was only about 30 minutes more than the drive from Phoenix. It was worth it for the savings.