Silly question, but if I were travelling to Rhode Island (Cumberland) which international airport would I fly into, and what connection (ground or air) would be best? I don't really know that part of the US very well!

Thanks.

Rob

Rhode Island? Isn't that a suburb of Massetchusetts?

OK, let's put it another way. Is JFK the nearest international airport?

Ta

Rob

Yep, Logan is the closest, but you can't fly direct from Heathrow (at least, not with United). It may still be the best bet though.

Thanks

Rob

JFK's not exactly far from Rhode Island. The only closer airport would be Logan and it's probably only marginally closer. Either way you're going to have to contend with horrible traffic if you plan to take ground transportation to RI.

I think that any time you'd make up by being closer would probably be squandered by having to take a second flight.

JFK, Newark (EWR), and LGA are the closest international airports to me (other than SWF which is a joke). I would consider flying into Newark and taking Amtrak directly from the Airport to Providence, RI. The trip is about 4 hours (yeah, US trains are slow). I have made this trip twice and it's not horrible. Upgrade to Business Class since it's cheap (about $20 extra) and you get 110V 3-prong power outlets at each bank of 2 seats. The seats are also bigger and you get a pass for free beverages in the cafe car. One time, when I was in Business Class, the conductor was giving people tips on finding a seat in the coach cars at every stop. I was quite happy to be in a half-empty car with a whole row to myself.

You can catch the train from JFK and LGA also, but you will first have to take a bus to Penn Station. That is lame and will probably take over 1 hour depending on traffic.

Once you get to Providence, I guess you would rent a car somewhere. The station is well-staffed and pretty modern (compared to other Amtrak stations). It's in the middle of the city, so a car rental agency should be around somewhere. Or, maybe you could call a taxi service since getting anywhere within the state of Rhode Island isn't very far away.

Oh yeah, I have to pick something up in Westerly, RI some weekend that I didn't schedule yet. If that syncs-up with your arrival I could drive you from NY. You would likely have to find a way back though since I doubt you fly from the UK to Rhode Island for 1 day.

Rob, thanks for the offer of a lift, but having talked to our folks in LA I'm going to fly into Boston (via Washington) and rent a car. This makes the next part of the trip (LA) very easy as there are several direct flights from BOS to LAX.

I'll be in RI for a couple of days around Feb 6th, and also hope to get in a day visit to Boston. If anyone's up for a pint let me know.

Rob

If you are Star Alliance, why don't you go Heathrow/Frankfurt with BMI then Lufthansa to Logan?

British Airways used to fly in there at one point.

That's a done deal. I'm work in Providence now, so a pint or two is definitely on the cards.

Oh one thing that you need to do is make sure that your car rental agency will allow you to take the car out of state. Some won't let you do that on a foreign license.

Yeah, while I see there's some benefit to choosing one air-miles scheme and sticking to it, I don't really understand these people for whom that outweighs the benefit of having a direct flight. Mind you, I'm a bit crap at air miles. I really should have signed up for the BA one, having been to Athens, Philadelphia, Nassau, and Auckland on BA in the past few years... each time it just happened to be the best or most direct flight.

Peter

I use United because they're the cheapest airline with good US connections that isn't utterly crap. The fare is often half that of BA or Virgin. Upgrades and miles are a bonus.

So who does fly direct to Logan from Heathrow? They would also need Logan - LA and LA - Heathrow routes for it to make sense to switch airline.

Rob

Not totally what you need, but a list of airlines servicing Logan is here.

-Zeke

American was tempting - good itinerary, but I have no status with them so would be stuck in regular pitch economy. The inconvenience of a change at Washington was *just* outweighed by getting into United economy plus, being able to check in at the business class desk, and probably getting an upgrade. So that's more United miles I don't know what to do with.

Rob

United or BA are my usual picks. I've also flown Lufthansa via Frankfurt and Iceland Air via Reykjavik when they priced right. I'll probably avoid Frankfurt in the future - too much inconvenience, but I'd consider Iceland again. My one experience with Virgin was _superb_, but their itineraries aren't the most convenient. I've never flown AA, but a couple of friends did without complaint.

Incredibly sunny here in LA, but I suspect I'm going to arrive at the office today to find rather a lot of our Rhode Island folks still in town!

Rob

So what's your SoCal schedule like, any chance for a meet-up?

--Nathan

Fairly tied up for the two further days I'm here.. maybe next time.

Rob

Rob, are you still going to be in RI around these dates?
Did I miss the meet thread?

I will be in RI this Sunday through Wednesday, although I'll be in Boston for most of Sunday hopefully.

How's the snow? :-)

Rob

Slowly melting.
Do I smell a meet?

Sunday afternoon in Boston or Sunday evening somewhere vaguely near Cumberland would work for me..

Rob