Experience traveling to Montgomery, AL?

[piper84]

Does anyone have experience traveling to Montgomery, AL? I will be flying with a 5-month old and this will be his first flight. We'll be traveling from San Jose, CA and it looks like there are no direct flights into Montgomery. My options would be:
1. Fly into Montgomery with 1-2 plane changes.
2. Fly directly into Birmingham, rent a car, and drive to Montgomery.
3. Fly directly into Atlanta, rent a car, and drive to Montgomery.

I have no experience of the AL area, and I have no experience flying with a baby. Fun times ahead, I'm sure!

[basilosaurus]

How long will you be there? Do you need to rent a car the whole time? What are flight costs for various locations?

I understand not wanting to drive with a kid, but if you're going to be there awhile, it may make sense to pay to ship your car instead of renting that whole time. It cost me about 600 to ship from texas to california.

[Deleted]

I would do Birmingham or Atlanta if you can get a direct flight and feel okay about renting a car. Birmingham is maybe an hour and a half, and Atlanta is probably 2 and a half. 2 plane changes with a 5-month old does NOT sound like fun -- and any direct flight into Montgomery will probably be a small plane...

[piper84]

Sept 21, 2012 0:31:29 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

How long will you be there? Do you need to rent a car the whole time? What are flight costs for various locations?

I understand not wanting to drive with a kid, but if you're going to be there awhile, it may make sense to pay to ship your car instead of renting that whole time. It cost me about 600 to ship from texas to california.

Only 1 week. The costs seem all over the place but in general the direct flights to Birmingham / Atlanta are less.

[piper84]

Sept 21, 2012 0:33:45 GMT -5 @villainv said:

I would do Birmingham or Atlanta if you can get a direct flight and feel okay about renting a car. Birmingham is maybe an hour and a half, and Atlanta is probably 2 and a half. 2 plane changes with a 5-month old does NOT sound like fun -- and any direct flight into Montgomery will probably be a small plane...

I totally agree! I can only image the horror of changing planes! I just realized he will be sitting on my lap the entire time and he is HEAVY. ugh.

[meltoine]

I actually don't mind plane changes with DS. Too long without of change of scenery andi start to run out of things to keep him entertained. Also, it's nice to have the opportunity to change diapers somewhere other than the teensy airplane bathroom.

But if you don't want to change that much or pay extra, by all means fly and drive. The closest airport is three hours from our house, so we have to do that every time anyway. It's not bad.