Section Logistics with an airplane

[Gambit McCrae]

Whelp I am planning a week long trip to finish out PA last week of May. I am having issues finding what will work for me. I need the entire week to complete my goal. That means flying out of Nashville Friday after work (post 7pm) - arriving to PA late Friday night, shuttle early sat morning. Hike until the evening of the following Sunday and flying out post 4 pm Back to Nashville.
Back to work Monday morning.

OR - -

Fly out early Saturday morning, get on the trail mid Saturday - and then the rest of the plan above takes over. The Reasoning for flying out sat vs. Fri is more or less a mix between arrival times to Pa vs. cost of ticket.


Section at hand here:
PA-Duncannon to Wind Gap(130.8 Miles) is first priority but would be proud as a peacock to get to DWG.

Closest Airport to Duncannon is Harrisburg (apx 18-28 miles from Duncannon)
Closest Airport to Wind Gap is Lehigh international (30 miles or so)

Next closest/ Cheaper is Philly, tickets are about $100 less, but Philly is 80 miles from Duncannon and much further from Jersey Border so the shuttle cost goes way up. I am exhausted by searching ticket costs, and logistics of the airport.

Past experience:
I flew into Hartford, hiked 50 miles of CT and Mass, flew back out of Hartford, had lots of snafus along the way that were irrelevant to my decision making of the logistics of the trip.

I hope that folks can either tell me :
a- Your trying to cram too much into too little of a time ( hope that's not the answer I get)
b- Suck it up, pay your ticket price and move along (ranging from low end of 450 to upper end "get exactly what you want of $750-not payin 750 lol)
c- some airplane planning guru that can explain the easy secrets of getting around via plane.

I have givin lots of advice on luggage and moving thru the airport with your pack, that is not of concern to me at all, more of the planning side of things

Thanks in advance

[illabelle]

I don't have time for a long answer but my first impression is that you seem to be cutting it close on both ends. You can't control whether your flight will leave when you want it to, or whether your connecting flight will strand you overnight in Chicago (yeah, that happened). At the end of your hike, how long will you have to wait for a shuttle? Will the shuttle encounter bad traffic getting you to the airport? Can you get to the airport fast enough to get through security and still catch your flight? Several possibilities for frustration and delay. Might not happen, but leaving some wiggle room allows you to enjoy your trip more.

We've faced those exact same questions several times when we've headed north. Section endpoints that aren't convenient to the same airport or same shuttler. Finding the right mix of cheap fare, and distance to trailheads. In general, we'd rather see more money going to local shuttlers than to the airlines. But really it's about what works for you, gets you where you need to be, and maximizes your time doing what you wanna do. :)

We'll be doing your CT trip this spring. Hopefully we won't have your snafus. They're never any fun.

[TNhiker]

I don't have time for a long answer but my first impression is that you seem to be cutting it close on both ends



i would agree on this if it were a weekend trip.......

but gambit is doing this over the course of a week.......

so-----the other concern would be making contingency plans based on airport delays----- ie arranging other shuttles based on lesser miles due to delays........

[Venchka]

Hike faster and shave a day or an afternoon off of the trail?
A hiccup in Duluth can snowball into a total shutdown on the east coast.
Wayne


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gambit McCrae]

Im all about confidence boosters; im not worried about the rocks of northern Pa, but i have made a mental note of it. My plan is to top out a day at over 30 miles, and get 4 20's. thats 5 out of 7 days accounted for, with 20-30 miles left for the other 2 days. This part of my love of hiking the trail, not stopping to smell the roses but pushing myself. Its all part of it being a before 32 goal and not a 20 year plan.

[Kerosene]

Covering those 130 miles in 7 days may be doable for the in-shape thru-hiker, but I think your feet are going to be chewed up by Day 4 at that pace. If not your feet, then a joint, and if not that, then your sanity picking your way through those &#$! rocks for 12-15 hours a day (the rocks north of Duncannon are worse than the trail to the south). You're still young and as long as you listen to your body and stay fueled/hydrated, then go for it! However, have a back-up plan, which I think would be getting out at Lehigh Gap, 110 miles from Duncannon. Lehigh Gap is less than 20 miles from ABE. There's a shuttler right in the middle of that section (Craig & Jody Stine from Rock n' Sole Hostel) who can probably take you from Harrisburg to Duncannon and then from your bail-out point to ABE. Harrisburg is definitely the best airport to fly into. ABE isn't bad, but Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AVP) probably has more flights. I'd stay away from PHL, as it tends to be delayed all the time it seems. Of course, if you could make it all the way to Delaware Water Gap (146 miles), then Newark (EWR) becomes an easy option, but that is a much riskier plan in my opinion.

[MuddyWaters]

Plan this stuff out WELL in advance, a year or so
Get credit cards that give big mile signup bonuses, and first year free
meet the spending requirements with normal expenses
Fly for free
cancel card before yearly fee comes due on anniversary

Before I get the usual "that will hurt your credit score" response, let me just say:

your goal in life should be to not need credit, for anything.If you do...you are generally living outside your means.
If you already have a home...you dont need credit. It do affect car insurance rates though.
If your credit score cant stand a few cards or inquiries now and then...youve probably already F'd it up, and this suggestion dont apply to you.Its for people that dont carry balances and can pay their bills.

With that said Id drive. You have transportation costs on top of airfare, and the inconvenience of airline schedules. 12 hr or such isnt prohibitive to drive. (Ive no idea how long it is, wild guess). Id generally do 6 hrs on a friday night after work. Get up early next morning from someplace and drive next 6, arriviing 10-11am. meet shuttle, hike back to vehicle. drive home. Ive driven 14 hrs home after hiking 20 miles in a day. Not a big deal, and easier than dealing with airports and fixed schedules..to me.

[Gambit McCrae]

Plan this stuff out WELL in advance, a year or so
Get credit cards that give big mile signup bonuses, and first year free
meet the spending requirements with normal expenses
Fly for free
cancel card before yearly fee comes due on anniversary

Before I get the usual "that will hurt your credit score" response, let me just say:

your goal in life should be to not need credit, for anything.If you do...you are generally living outside your means.
If you already have a home...you dont need credit. It do affect car insurance rates though.
If your credit score cant stand a few cards or inquiries now and then...youve probably already F'd it up, and this suggestion dont apply to you.Its for people that dont carry balances and can pay their bills.

With that said Id drive. You have transportation costs on top of airfare, and the inconvenience of airline schedules. 12 hr or such isnt prohibitive to drive. (Ive no idea how long it is, wild guess). Id generally do 6 hrs on a friday night after work. Get up early next morning from someplace and drive next 6, arriviing 10-11am. meet shuttle, hike back to vehicle. drive home.

This is me!! Lmao

[colorado_rob]

My put on this: I agree this is kinda pushing it a bit time wise. The big and obvious question: Can you just suck it up and take another day off work? Many times flights are cheaper on Thursdays than Fridays. Is there any way you can add one more day?

No easy secrets about getting around on a plane other than don't fret it, just do it. Delays aren't very common on a percentage basis. The media always covers delays and people make a big deal about them when they happen, but you never hear about the vast majority of flights that are on time or early.

Or even: I guess out west we're used to long distance driving... to me, PA really ain't that far of a drive from TN.... Drive to Duncannon, take a shuttle to DWG and start hiking! OR start from Duncannon and pre-arrange a pickup from where you happen to make it. Can't be that expensive.

Woops... just noticed MW also suggested driving, sorry to repeat...

[Dogwood]

I'd be linking Wind Gap TH with Lehigh valley Int AP for at least one of my flights. I have hitched successfully on Hwy 22 and 33 and I 78 and I 476(off the ramps) but without a flight to catch being on a must be there schedule. It may have been at Wind Gap where there is a trail friendly hotel the owners, nice Asian trail friendly folk, let me stealth camp. If I'm correct they would know about shuttles to this AP.

Since your timeframe is tight organize your "outs" that if for some unexpected reason you can't nail down the entire 130 miles you'll have a road to at least pull up on and get to the ending AP. I don't have teh AT Thru-hiker Companion in front of me but that info would be of further logistical assistance.

For cheapest airfares without the hassles of negotiating special airline offers from many companies that can be complex use the ITA Matrix website for Airfare searches. I don't bother but with this one site and a few specific airlines I get special flight prices. https://matrix.itasoftware.com

[hikernutcasey]

My buddy and I did Duncannon to Danielsville or Little Gap which is a few miles shy of Wind Gap this past May. We were able to do daily mileage on par with what we normally do on a section hike, 16-18 miles a day. However, my feet were trashed. I rarely ever get blisters and had 3 on that trip. You can do the mileage but be prepared the rocks will take a toll on your body. After you get to the 501 shelter they really pick up and are far worse than anything south of there.

If you had a little more time and could make it to DWG you could take the Martz bus to NYC and fly out of JFK. That's what we are doing when we go back this May. We scored round trip tickets from Charlotte to JFK for $137 round trip!

[BobTheBuilder]

All my hikes are week-long section hikes with air travel. I've found that it works well to get a cheap rental car on Priceline (subcompacts around $20/day) and then park it at the end of my hike and get a shuttle back to the start. My shuttle costs are pretty limited, I don't need to worry about logistics, coordination, or cell coverage at the end to pick up a shuttle, and if I get done early, my rental car is waiting for me.

[4eyedbuzzard]

The time you save flying may not be as much as you might think. Figure 1 1/2 hrs to drive to and park and get the shuttle to the terminal at Nashville airport from Cookesville (your profile). You need to plan to arrive at the airport terminal 1 1/2 hours early just to be sure to get through security as boarding will be 1/2 hr before scheduled departure time. That leaves 1 hour for security and any minor traffic delays getting there. That's 3 hours minimum right there. Then your flights to MDT(Harrisburg w/no nonstops available) connecting through CLT, ATL or ORD are anywhere from 3 1/2 minimum to about 5 hours average. That's 6 1/2 hours. Now add another 1/2 to 1 hour picking up your rental car, and another 30 - 45 minutes to the trailhead. At least 8 hours and likely more like 9 to 10, which is roughly the driving time from Cookeville to Duncannon. Flying into PHL nonstop isn't all that much better, it cuts the flight time to 2 hours but it's a 2 hour drive (a big IF you don't hit a traffic jam leaving PHL) to Duncannon. It's still an 8 hour travel day minimum when all is said and done. If you drive 9 1/2 to 10 hours, you get rid of all the scheduling, time deadlines, and logistical issues associated with flying. While driving is tiring, it also cuts the stress of having to be anywhere on a rigid schedule, and is likely cheaper once you factor in shuttling costs. 650 miles driving x .25 mile (operating costs) x 2 = $325 or about the absolute cheapest airfare available to MDT. I'd just drive and be done worrying about the logistics except the ride back to my car on the next Saturday/Sunday. Start hiking when you get there and arrange in advance for a shuttle to get back to your car when you're done.

[bigcranky]

10.5 hours up I-40 to I-81 from Nashville to Harrisburg. Anything under 12 hours and I prefer to drive rather than fly. Personal preference, but it means I can bring more gear (I'm a photographer, and flying with gear sucks), I have my car with me, and I can easily make detours, or change the length of my stay if I want to.

[Alligator]

Why did you pick this section? Are you connecting pieces of your section hikes? There's limited bus service between harrisburg pa and duncannon. Look at Fullington Trailways on the State College to Harrisburg route. It was a late afternoon bus though.

Once you reach the stage of needing to travel long distances and using week periods of hiking, you want to be careful planning out segments. You might leave a short segment somewhere. It can be helpful to pickup where you left off and head out from there. You may hit bad weather, or get injured, or overestimate leaving you with less miles than you wanted. It's not as big an issue if you hike from where you left off.

Realistically, how many days of hiking do you have? You are travelling late on Friday night at the very least. Also, are you losing an hour coming from your time zone? Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon-8 days?

[Dogwood]

My buddy and I did Duncannon to Danielsville or Little Gap which is a few miles shy of Wind Gap this past May. We were able to do daily mileage on par with what we normally do on a section hike, 16-18 miles a day. However, my feet were trashed. I rarely ever get blisters and had 3 on that trip. You can do the mileage but be prepared the rocks will take a toll on your body. After you get to the 501 shelter they really pick up and are far worse than anything south of there.

If you had a little more time and could make it to DWG you could take the Martz bus to NYC and fly out of JFK. That's what we are doing when we go back this May. We scored round trip tickets from Charlotte to JFK for $137 round trip!

I'd call Martz. I've never taken this bus to DWG. I thought it didn't stop or always stop at DWG? I thought it stops to load/unload in Stroudsburg PA?

[Slo-go'en]

I'd call Martz. I've never taken this bus to DWG. I thought it didn't stop or always stop at DWG? I thought it stops to load/unload in Stroudsburg PA?

I know Martz goes to NYC to/from DWG, I've ridden them a few times. It's about a 1/2 mile walk from then center of DWG to the bus station. It's a commuter bus, so it leaves DWG in the morning and returns in the evening.

My sister lives near the water gap and when she has to fly she goes out of Scranton. Apparently, that's easier then going to Philly.

Anyway, that's a rough section of PA to try and do fast. You have to hike like a drunken sailor, staggering over or around rocks. I was SO glad to get out of PA so I could walk normal again.

[Dogwood]

I know Martz goes to NYC to/from DWG, I've ridden them a few times. It's about a 1/2 mile walk from then center of DWG to the bus station. It's a commuter bus, so it leaves DWG in the morning and returns in the evening.

My sister lives near the water gap and when she has to fly she goes out of Scranton. Apparently, that's easier then going to Philly.

Anyway, that's a rough section of PA to try and do fast. You have to hike like a drunken sailor, staggering over or around rocks. I was SO glad to get out of PA so I could walk normal again.

THX Slo-go-en. I was assuming you'd have to hitch, taxi, or shuttle between Stroudsburg Park&Ride and DWG.

Tough go at the TH SOBO but once ascended out of DWG rocky ups and downs compared to the AT elevation profile in many other places ahem not all that bad. As a section hiker expecting to do high twenties to low 30's better have your act together from the get go.

[Gambit McCrae]

I have a full time job. Limited vacation. I pick this section because ive walked from GA to duncannon. Its a 10.5 hour drive without traffic. That is pretty much 2 days of my week shot being on the road. If I get off work on friday I can fly into PA by midnight. Get a room and be ready at daylight to hit the trail where as if i drive, thats what ill be doing all sat, and the following sunday. I can hike all the way till say 2pm, get picked up and at the airport at 5pm sunday to fly home. If i were retired and wanting to hike a week, thenlogistics would be different then wanting to hike, and only having a week to do so. Im stuck on flying, not driving all the way up there again. If there were 2-3 guys that could share the drive time after work and drive thru the night and be theresat morning that would be one thing but its just me.

[Alligator]

Ok, so that's were you left off. You have about 7.5-8 days. That's about 16-17 mpd. I averaged 15-17, I did PA in two parts with I think it was the 501 shelter as the middle. The one with the shower. Set a shorter and longer endpoint as alternatives where you can still make the plane ride home without difficulty. Plan on paying for the shuttle. Once you get to DWG, mass transit opportunities open up. Harrisburg is not a big airport. There's a Megaqbus route out of Pittsburg to Harrisburg. You might be able to make that work for you but it is a long ride. I sometimes ride the bus overnight to make things cheaper. Bus routes don't seem to run along 81 through MD and PA, it's a weak link. I had to hitch through there. It was a long hitch, but I got one, bit of a miracle really. There is a megabus from Philly as a matter of fact. Shorter run than Pittsburg actually. Megabus is nice because it doesn't have stops. Both Philly and Pittsburg are major hubs, so you might save money that way and maybe catch the right evening flight on Friday.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I have a full time job. Limited vacation. I pick this section because ive walked from GA to duncannon. Its a 10.5 hour drive without traffic. That is pretty much 2 days of my week shot being on the road. If I get off work on friday I can fly into PA by midnight. Get a room and be ready at daylight to hit the trail where as if i drive, thats what ill be doing all sat, and the following sunday. I can hike all the way till say 2pm, get picked up and at the airport at 5pm sunday to fly home. If i were retired and wanting to hike a week, thenlogistics would be different then wanting to hike, and only having a week to do so. Im stuck on flying, not driving all the way up there again. If there were 2-3 guys that could share the drive time after work and drive thru the night and be theresat morning that would be one thing but its just me.To paraphrase a popular saying, I think you're trying to fit 10 liters of gear into a 5 liter pack. IMO, you're underestimating the time windows (including safety margins) needed for flying, especially on the return trip; underestimating the time you will spend getting rides to hotel, trailhead, back to airport, etc.; and overestimating the amount of any rest gained you will obtain when flying, catching shuttles/cabs, etc. Throw in springtime afternoon/evening flight delays while connecting through Detroit or Chicago or ?, waiting at baggage claim after they force you to gate check your pack because it won't fit in the smaller overheads on the CRJ's that fly into Harrisburg, etc. Lots of time consuming delays happen, especially when you travel with connecting flights and rely on ground transport at destinations. Just my experience.

[colorado_rob]

I have a full time job. Limited vacation. I pick this section because ive walked from GA to duncannon. Its a 10.5 hour drive without traffic. That is pretty much 2 days of my week shot being on the road. If I get off work on friday I can fly into PA by midnight. Get a room and be ready at daylight to hit the trail where as if i drive, thats what ill be doing all sat, and the following sunday. I can hike all the way till say 2pm, get picked up and at the airport at 5pm sunday to fly home. If i were retired and wanting to hike a week, thenlogistics would be different then wanting to hike, and only having a week to do so. Im stuck on flying, not driving all the way up there again. If there were 2-3 guys that could share the drive time after work and drive thru the night and be theresat morning that would be one thing but its just me.I understand, I was 28 once (actually, now more than twice!). My comment was just that doing the rest of PA will just be tight in your time frame, whereas one single more day might more easily get you there. Sure, most 28 y.o.'s have limited vacation, I sure did. I was lucky enough to have some wiggle room on my hours worked, I could do sometimes four 10's in a week and leave Thursday night many times.

And don't get too worried about the horrors of PA, sure those last 60-70 miles or so before DWG are rocky, but big deal. My mantra: Suck it up, buttercup. Ain't that bad.

I just saw on the AWOL thread that there is a re-route near Palmerton? Is that the place with the ridiculously steep hike up the superfund site?

[MuddyWaters]

I have a full time job. Limited vacation. I pick this section because ive walked from GA to duncannon. Its a 10.5 hour drive without traffic. That is pretty much 2 days of my week shot being on the road. If I get off work on friday I can fly into PA by midnight. Get a room and be ready at daylight to hit the trail where as if i drive, thats what ill be doing all sat, and the following sunday. I can hike all the way till say 2pm, get picked up and at the airport at 5pm sunday to fly home. If i were retired and wanting to hike a week, thenlogistics would be different then wanting to hike, and only having a week to do so. Im stuck on flying, not driving all the way up there again. If there were 2-3 guys that could share the drive time after work and drive thru the night and be theresat morning that would be one thing but its just me.


Might go off without a hitch.
But I also think your exxaggerating the time saved by flying.

Leave work 5 pm, drive till midnight. You got 7 hrs out of way.
Get up 5 am, eat, your at destination at 9. Shuttle to start pt and you there at 1130 probably. After getting ride to trail, I doubt you start any earlier than 9 by flying the night before.
So maybe save 2-3 hrs on front end.

Returning, you get in car and go at 2 pm . Home at 1 am. If you fly, maybe you get there 10 pm or so. Again, 2-3 hrs.

Not 2 days. More like 4-6 hrs faster overall, if it goes off without a hitch. It is easier for some though.
Planes are late quite often on some routes. I like to build buffer time into flying plans if possible. I detest the inconvenience of having to stick to airport schedule though. Took me 15 hrs to fly home from denver once. Should have taken 5.

If a few hrs makes a difference, your cutting it too close and need to shave a day off. You should have contingency time for bad weather, etc. If just not showing up for work is an option, have at it. Sometimes you can make up day or such. Or do this on holiday week where you get an extra day.

[IslandPete]

What you need is a friend with a private plane. Fly to Carlisle, just southwest of Duncannon, hop on the trail there, and there's a small airport at Stroudsburg, just outside Wind gap. That's how I'd do it, but I'm a pilot...

[Gambit McCrae]

Might go off without a hitch.
But I also think your exxaggerating the time saved by flying.

Leave work 5 pm, drive till midnight. You got 7 hrs out of way.
Get up 5 am, eat, your at destination at 9. Shuttle to start pt and you there at 1130 probably. After getting ride to trail, I doubt you start any earlier than 9 by flying the night before.
So maybe save 2-3 hrs on front end.

Returning, you get in car and go at 2 pm . Home at 1 am. If you fly, maybe you get there 10 pm or so. Again, 2-3 hrs.

Not 2 days. More like 4-6 hrs faster overall, if it goes off without a hitch. It is easier for some though.
Planes are late quite often on some routes. I like to build buffer time into flying plans if possible. I detest the inconvenience of having to stick to airport schedule though. Took me 15 hrs to fly home from denver once. Should have taken 5.

If a few hrs makes a difference, your cutting it too close and need to shave a day off. You should have contingency time for bad weather, etc. If just not showing up for work is an option, have at it. Sometimes you can make up day or such. Or do this on holiday week where you get an extra day.

It is not completely about saving time. It is about keeping mileage off the car, that much time spent on the road after a 10 hour work day, and not getting in until 1 am to have to be at work at 5 am Monday.

I did some digging yesterday. I can work (4) 10 hour days the week before my trip. Flying into Philly round trip is $320 for the times I want to fly. (Original multi city logistics were closer to $600). That opens Friday up to leaving in the early am, arriving in Philly at 10 am. Then, getting a 1 day car rental for what I found to be $50. The closest return car rental to Duncannon is 20 miles from the Doyle. (Philly is 120 miles from Duncannon). Get TrailAngelMary to pick me up from Car rental, take me to the Trail. FORWARD A WEEK Sunday morning, hike to Wind Gap/ RFG, get Edge of the woods to Shuttle me to Nazareth (12 miles from Trailhead) Pickup rental car for $50 and drive the 100 miles or so back to Philly, plane leaves at 5pm and I'm back in Nashville at 630pm. so travel time goes from 11 hours to 3 on return flight. That to me, is work the $480 estimated to fly, rent car, and shuttles round trip vs $200 in Gas, 20 hours of driving, a $100 hotel, $120 in shuttle. So for flying I come out $60 in the hole but I feel its the way to go. I drove up to Duncannon in the fall, rained the whole 10 hours up there, slept in my car with little sleep on the way. And after walking 100 miles during the trip the last thing anyone wants to do is have to keep your eyes open on the road for 11 hours. I will post how this turns out post trip if I remember to.

[Gambit McCrae]

To paraphrase a popular saying, I think you're trying to fit 10 liters of gear into a 5 liter pack. IMO, you're underestimating the time windows (including safety margins) needed for flying, especially on the return trip; underestimating the time you will spend getting rides to hotel, trailhead, back to airport, etc.; and overestimating the amount of any rest gained you will obtain when flying, catching shuttles/cabs, etc. Throw in springtime afternoon/evening flight delays while connecting through Detroit or Chicago or ?, waiting at baggage claim after they force you to gate check your pack because it won't fit in the smaller overheads on the CRJ's that fly into Harrisburg, etc. Lots of time consuming delays happen, especially when you travel with connecting flights and rely on ground transport at destinations. Just my experience.

squeezing another day off the Friday before I leave and leaving early that Friday morning is going to be a big help. No rushing that way, no needing a hotel.

Shuttle pickup at noon on the following Sunday for a 515 flight gives me plenty of time to get there.

Not flying thru Detroit or Chicago. And the layover I do have is a 2.5hour layover so not being a quick turn around gives so fudge time on both ends. still getting me to Duncannon in time to do 10 miles on Friday.

[Hikingjim]

Sounds like you've got it nailed down. I just take my car to avoid all this planning... hit the road when I get off work and drive
I don't mind driving though (except traffic in city...), so I see your reasoning for wanting to go your route. Have a good trip

[4eyedbuzzard]

squeezing another day off the Friday before I leave and leaving early that Friday morning is going to be a big help. No rushing that way, no needing a hotel.

Shuttle pickup at noon on the following Sunday for a 515 flight gives me plenty of time to get there.

Not flying thru Detroit or Chicago. And the layover I do have is a 2.5hour layover so not being a quick turn around gives so fudge time on both ends. still getting me to Duncannon in time to do 10 miles on Friday.Yeah, sounds good. Glad you are leaving the extra time on Sunday to make it back to the airport on time as well.

[Gambit McCrae]

I was pretty worried about the time crunch prior to digging deeper into a plan yesterday. With flying into philly, it is apx $200 cheaper then the multi city flight, AND that decrease in cost includes my car rentals and shuttle costs. Happy Happy

[Gambit McCrae]

4EYEDB - I saw where you suggested a cheap car rental. The cheapest I can find advertises at 9.99 per day, unlimited miles. But as with most things, too good to be true. Total for a 1 day rental comes out to 54 bucks. Still cheaper then a 140 mile shuttle but not 9.99 plus tax either lol

Thoughts on getting a cheaper 1 day car rental (x2), coming and going from the airport without paying for it to sit all week?

[4eyedbuzzard]

4EYEDB - I saw where you suggested a cheap car rental. The cheapest I can find advertises at 9.99 per day, unlimited miles. But as with most things, too good to be true. Total for a 1 day rental comes out to 54 bucks. Still cheaper then a 140 mile shuttle but not 9.99 plus tax either lol

Thoughts on getting a cheaper 1 day car rental (x2), coming and going from the airport without paying for it to sit all week?Yeah. All the fees and taxes, and any one way drop fees kind of kill you. Car rentals suck in that sense. Cheapest I got lately was at Newark - had to go to a funeral. Priceline quoted 21.99 per day for a midsize for 4 days (p/u and return to airport). I put in a bid at $10/day and was kind of shocked when I got it - through Budget RAC. BUT the FEES and TAXES were almost as much as the rental. Total for 4 days was about $80 (plus gas) - still a good deal. Can't think of any easy solution for you given what you need to do.

[Odd Man Out]

I find it oddly entertaining to look up air fares. Sometimes booking two one way tickets can save you $ vs a round trip. But on this route, it seems the RT option is a much better deal. You also need to check Southwest as they are not on the search engines. In this case, they don't fly to SW PA so no help there. With a simple domestic routing like this, Kayak and Google flights (same data as ITA-Matrix) are easy to use and usually give the same results.

It looks like there is just one option that matches your parameters for the return flight:
On AA, Depart 4:45 PM from Allentown, Arrive 8:35 Nashville, 109 min layover in Charlotte.

For the Late Fri PM option:
On AA, Depart 7:14 PM from Nashville, Arrive 11:58 PM in Harrisburg, 48 min layover in Charlotte for $402.60

For the Early Sat AM option:
On AA, Depart 5:00 AM from Nashville, Arrive 11:24 AM in Harrisburg, 117 min layover in Chicago (ORD) for $370.00

I would go Friday.

[lisaj825]

One thing to check on regarding renting a car............in my experience, if you don't return the car to where you originally rented it, there is usually a large penalty, sometimes as much as $500! Please make sure this isn't the case. Wouldn't want you to get an unexpected charge. Good luck.

[colorado_rob]

4EYEDB - I saw where you suggested a cheap car rental. The cheapest I can find advertises at 9.99 per day, unlimited miles. But as with most things, too good to be true. Total for a 1 day rental comes out to 54 bucks. Still cheaper then a 140 mile shuttle but not 9.99 plus tax either lol

Thoughts on getting a cheaper 1 day car rental (x2), coming and going from the airport without paying for it to sit all week?I've heard of great things from Enterprise for AT hikers, like they have some sort of a free pickup/drop off service, I'm sure with a mileage limit, but if you haven't checked Enterprise, take a look.

Glad you could add that extra day, that should help a lot.

[Gambit McCrae]

One thing to check on regarding renting a car............in my experience, if you don't return the car to where you originally rented it, there is usually a large penalty, sometimes as much as $500! Please make sure this isn't the case. Wouldn't want you to get an unexpected charge. Good luck.

Man that would stink! When I got a quote they asked me about "different drop off location click here" type of option, came out to $55 for whole caboodle.



I've heard of great things from Enterprise for AT hikers, like they have some sort of a free pickup/drop off service, I'm sure with a mileage limit, but if you haven't checked Enterprise, take a look.


I will Def look into this for Duncannon. Since I am a park and walk - shuttle post trip hiker, I would still need the shuttle at the end of hike TO the Enterprise rental center 12 miles from Trailhead. But could save some logistics to just park and drop in Duncannon, let them come get it.

[Angle]

What are the actual days you plan on hiking? I live in Lancaster and will be glad to help out if interested with transportation if you fly in to MDT. Iceman

[Gambit McCrae]

What are the actual days you plan on hiking? I live in Lancaster and will be glad to help out if interested with transportation if you fly in to MDT. Iceman

Thanks Iceman, I plan on hitting the ground Sat May 27th and begin hiking, and hiking nobo until June 4th evening which is the following Sunday. The airfare into Harrisburg from Nashville is 2x as much as flying into Philly. I could use a ride from Mechanicsburg (20 miles south of Duncannon), into Duncannon. I will PM you to see if we can workout details thanks!

WB magic

[la.lindsey]

I've driven and flown to PA for sections, and I had a much better start with flying. Even coming off of a no-sleep finals week.

That said, PA 20s and 30s are rough. I've struggled more there than any other state so far. Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MuddyWaters]

One thing to check on regarding renting a car............in my experience, if you don't return the car to where you originally rented it, there is usually a large penalty, sometimes as much as $500! Please make sure this isn't the case. Wouldn't want you to get an unexpected charge. Good luck.


Yep.
$100 is about average in my experience.

A coworker of mines dad used to work for Avis. Retired now and still does some stuff for them when he wants.

When we were discussing this topic one day, she said the cars are owned by the individual locations. When you drop it off, they have to exchange cars , or send someone to get it back. Thats why it costs. Thats what her dad does in retirement and loves it, he gets to drive cars to other locations, hang out and talk to people he used to work with. A bunch of the retired guys all do the same thing, and work as much as they want to.

[Alligator]

You are better off by not driving at night after work long distance. Much higher accident fatality rates.

You may have considered this, but do you have off Memorial Day? Ending your hike on that monday could also give you an extra hiking day.

[Berserker]

It looks like you have things pretty much planned out, so I don't have much else to add other than a little advice. I've seen your posts on hammering out these sections, and I totally respect what you are doing as I was doing this for a while. As I've gotten older and beaten up by life a little more I've started to realize the whole "it's not in the finishing it's in the journey" thing, and will just say make sure to smell the roses along the way.

As for the logistics I would personally drive, but part of that is due to the fact that I don't fly unless absolutely necessary. I also like to have the flexibility afforded by having my car.

Have fun, and good luck.

[Gambit McCrae]

It looks like you have things pretty much planned out, so I don't have much else to add other than a little advice. I've seen your posts on hammering out these sections, and I totally respect what you are doing as I was doing this for a while. As I've gotten older and beaten up by life a little more I've started to realize the whole "it's not in the finishing it's in the journey" thing, and will just say make sure to smell the roses along the way.

As for the logistics I would personally drive, but part of that is due to the fact that I don't fly unless absolutely necessary. I also like to have the flexibility afforded by having my car.

Have fun, and good luck.

I will hike the AT my entire life, I want to complete this goal I have set and from there I will redo and redo, smelling the roses :) while going outwest half of the time lol