Philadelphia Airport

[71RRHI]

I'm looking for flights to attend Carlisle 2026. The last two years my wife and I flew into Harrisburg (MDT). I like MDT small airport, no long TSA lines, and no major traffic going to the airport.
This year the flights are substantially cheaper flying into Philadelphia (PHL). I have never been to PHL. I know its about a two hour drive to Carlisle. I don't mind that. The flight I'm looking at makes us having to be at the airport around 7:00 am when we leave. Which would be right in rush hour traffic. I'm worried about what the traffic is like getting to PHL in the morning? What's TSA like? Organized and well run, or just chaos.
Please let me know your experience fling in and out of PHL. Is it worth the savings or better to fly into MDT. I checked and it the same cost to fly into Baltimore (BWI)as MDT.

 

[eldubb440]

I'm looking for flights to attend Carlisle 2026. The last two years my wife and I flew into Harrisburg (MDT). I like MDT small airport, no long TSA lines, and no major traffic going to the airport.
This year the flights are substantially cheaper flying into Philadelphia (PHL). I have never been to PHL. I know its about a two hour drive to Carlisle. I don't mind that. The flight I'm looking at makes us having to be at the airport around 7:00 am which would be right in rush hour traffic. I'm worried about what the traffic is like getting to PHL on the morning? What's TSA like? Organized and well run, or just chaos.
Please let me know your experience fling in and out of PHL. Is it worth the savings or better to fly into MDT. I checked and it the same cost to fly into Baltimore (BWI).

leave the airport, go south on 95 a couple miles and take 476 north to 76 west......... this will bypass the city

I go thru there about that time driving to Carlisle...... there is traffic, but it moves pretty good....... 45 mins from the airport, you're on the turnpike

 

[69L48Z27]

You would be better off going to PHL the evening before if you have a 7am flight. Traffic from the north through Philly in the AM is chaos. But 7am, you’ll need to be there around 5am. No clue how traffic is at 0430. BWI is a good choice too, <2hours to Carlisle. Dulles is probably around 2 hours as well.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

How much difference in price. As a frequent flier I have been to PHL and BWI many many times. Both suck. If I had a choice of flying into and out of MDT and driving 30 minutes vs flying into BWI or PHL and driving 2 hours it’s a no brainer. It would have to be a significant amount of $ savings for me to even consider it, and then I probably would still pay the extra $ and fly into MDT. A small regional airport trumps a major airport every time.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

You would be better off going to PHL the evening before if you have a 7am flight. Traffic from the north through Philly in the AM is chaos. But 7am, you’ll need to be there around 5am. No clue how traffic is at 0430. BWI is a good choice too, <2hours to Carlisle. Dulles is probably around 2 hours as well.

You couldn’t pay me enough to stay the night in Philly. We always stayed in Jersey when we worked a job in Philly. That puts you an hour from the airport with no traffic. BWI is in a safe location and a better choice than Dulles as you won’t have DC beltway traffic to contend with. I would stick with Harrisburg.

 

[Dennis H]

No. No. No. Crappy Airport. Crappy drive. Fly to MDT.

Flew to PHL one time because Southwest doesn’t fly to Allentown. Mistake.

 

[eldubb440]

i thought he meant leaving the airport at 7 AM

 

[QuickBpBp]

Dave it's a crap shoot with traffic. I just went to the Flyers game last Monday and it took me 50 minutes to go 8 miles on 76 East. My son also does construction down there and one time he got stuck in traffic because of an accident and it added 2hrs to get to the job. I have friends that fly out of there and they always stay in Phila the night before leaving as it cuts out the wondering of what time you will ACTUALLY get there. That said I would imagine the cost of the room and the extra travel may wipe out the savings on Airfare.

 

[71RRHI]

How much difference in price. As a frequent flier I have been to PHL and BWI many many times. Both suck. If I had a choice of flying into and out of MDT and driving 30 minutes vs flying into BWI or PHL and driving 2 hours it’s a no brainer. It would have to be a significant amount of $ savings for me to even consider it, and then I probably would still pay the extra $ and fly into MDT. A small regional airport trumps a major airport every time.

It's about $3500 difference on United. Perfered due to only one stop.

 

[eldubb440]

476 keeps you off the dreaded skuykill expressway (76E into the city)

 

[71RRHI]

i thought he meant leaving the airport at 7 AM

I'm worried about traffic getting to the airport to return to Hawaii. Getting to Carlisle I'll have all the time in the world.

 

[Dennis H]

Worse than I thought. This is a map at 1000 PM East Coast. I usually drive out from Allentown. That’s about 100 miles. Construction and delays in perpetuity in Pennsylvania. Been running Old 22 as an alternate to 78 due to construction for YEARS.

 

[Dennis H]

It's about $3500 difference on United. Perfered due to only one stop.

Jesus Chrysler. That much?

 

[RR Fan Dan]

It's about $3500 difference on United. Perfered due to only one stop.

Wow!!! That’s a huge gap. At this point, I would start looking at 2 stop flights into Harrisburg. What hours you gain in layovers you get back in driving because Harrisburg is 2 hours closer. Also check other airlines. Google flights is a great tool to use. It shows nearby airports, flight durations, #stops and all airlines in one search. You can filter results to your liking too. Give it a try.

Google Flights

 

[71RRHI]

Jesus Chrysler. That much?

Thats why I'm looking for a cheaper flight this year. The flight for two is up about $3000. from last year. But I didn't book my flight until March last year, so I might get a better price booking later. But that makes it harder to book a room.

 

[eldubb440]

if youre leaving Sunday morning, traffic will be minimal

 

[RR Fan Dan]

 

[RR Fan Dan]

^^^^Google Flights^^^^. It’s your friend.

 

[QuickBpBp]

It's about $3500 difference on United. Perfered due to only one stop.

Dave forget about what I said... That is some serious $$$ make it work. Like Mark said you can go around about way to get back to the airport which is typically better. That will allow you to have more money to spend at my spot!!!!

 

[71RRHI]

^^^^Google Flights^^^^. It’s your friend.

If it was just me, I could find cheaper flights no problem. I'm traveling with my wife, who is handicapped. The more stops is hard on her. Getting on and off planes, and trying to get to the next gate is difficult. Not only on her but me also, due to she does not travel light.