Why I Love Bradley Best of All

The other day I flew in and out of my favorite airport, Hartford/Springfield's Bradley International. The reasons I love it is because of its location just off Interstate 91. There is virtually never any traffic going in or going out.

If I were to travel out of the next nearest airport, Boston's Logan International, there would be an inevitable traffic delay getting in, although it is a little better now that the Ted Williams Tunnel is in service. Still, when I see those red taillights up ahead and I've got a plane to catch, it makes me anxious.

And then when you get to Logan, where do you park? The parking lots all cost a minimum of about $16.50 per day. And they are located relatively far away from the airport.

Contrast this with Bradley: No traffic, and there are parking lots that offer $4.95 per day parking, and it is just a nicer experience overall. And where I park, they warm up my car and pull it right out front for me so it's ready to zoom away quickly.

But more often than Boston, a trip is departing out of JFK in New York. Ugh. That means the bumpy Cross Bronx Expressway, parking at the terminal lot for $15 per day, and the worst part of it is, I often lose track of where my car was parked since the lot is so damn big. That is the huge downside of using the 'economy lot' at JFK. It's very easy to forget where you parked. It might be a good idea to photograph where you left your vehicle, so that when you get back you can find your car.

Next month I am flying to Medellin, Colombia on business. Thank god my ticket starts in Hartford, my favorite airport.

Bradley Reaches Out to the Riches of Fairfield County

Living and traveling out of the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts is a pleasure. That's because we can usually fly from Hartford/Springfield's Bradley International Airport. Today the Associated Press reports that this relatively small airport is making a big pitch to capture more business in the wealthy enclave of Fairfield county, Connecticut.

"On July 1, Northwest Airlines will introduce daily nonstop service from Bradley to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where the U.S. carrier and its Dutch airline partner KLM have a hub with connections to other European cities, Africa and India.

Bradley's marketing campaign is headed by Greenwich resident L. Scott Frantz who said that despite the proximity of his house to New York, he recently had to leave four hours before his flight at Newark Liberty International Airport because of highway gridlock and long check-in lines.

And New York's other two airports weren't much better, he said. "My experience going to Kennedy and LaGuardia, it's typically a zoo," Frantz said. "You compare that to going to Bradley, it's like night and day."

Bradley, which is nearly 100 miles from Greenwich, is more distant than New York airports for travelers in Fairfield County. But the state-owned airport in Windsor Locks offers ample parking, shorter security lines and easier highway access, Frantz said.