Flying:

New Orleans thrives on tourism, and as a result, the city enjoys the convenience of a major airport. MSY offers great flight options, and was rennovated in 2019 with modern travel comforts. MSY is about 25-30 minutes from the city center.

As you all may know, Doug and Colleen do quite a bit of traveling together! Colleen also interviewed for residency all over the country (flying in and out of MSY) while she was a medical student at Tulane, so let us share some of our travel insights below!

https://www.google.com/travel/flights?gl=US&hl=en-US

Getting From MSY to the Hotel:

MSY is about 20-35 minutes from the city. Cabs, Uber and Lyft are all great options for transportation. Additionally, most hotels do an airport shuttle as well!

Rental cars are also a great option for flexibility. See more info about driving below.

Flight Booking Tips/Options for Common Locations:

Coming from the East: Overall, it is very easy to get to NOLA from almost anywhere on the east coast! Louisiana is fairly far east so most flights are short (<2h) and there are numerous direct flights every day on multiple airlines. You can use AMTRAK/drive around the east coast to access different airport options if needed as well.

Coming from the West: There are definitely fewer direct flight options from California/Utah, BUT there are a number of routes with easy connections. Southwest originated flying only routes around the southwestern US (as the name suggests), so although there aren't as many direct flights, there are a LOT of options for flights and connections to NOLA via Soutwest Airlines. Even if you don't usually fly with them, this might be a good time to give it a shot!

-For what it's worth, they also have a credit card with a $69 annual fee that gives you more than enough miles to make it to NOLA as a signing bonus.

https://www.southwest.com/html/rapidrewards/partners/credit-cards/southwest-airlines-rapid-rewards-cards/index.html?clk=GFOOTER-PRODUCTS-CHASE [not sponsored, just trying to help everyone make it to NOLA!]

From PHL:

-American Airlines and Frontier have several daily direct flights to MSY. They have almost-hourly direct flight options on Saturday mornings if you choose to fly down the day of the wedding.

Southwest has easy connections through BNA/Nashville and Delta has connections through ATL.

From Baltimore/DC Area:

For all airports, Delta has an easy connection through ATL. They also all have Saturday morning options to allow for travel the day of the wedding as well.

BWI: Southwest and Spirit Airlines both have direct flight options

DCA: American and Southwest offer direct flights.

IAD: United is the best bet for a direct flight

From New York Area:

JFK: multiple nonstops per day on JetBlue and Delta. Saturday morning flight options are available as well.

LGA: Southwest and Delta have Friday afternoon/evening nonstops. Options for Sat AM as well.

EWR: Spirit and United have direct flights

From New England:

BOS:

JetBlue and Delta have direct flights on Fridays and Saturday mornings for the option for day-of travel. Southwest and American have routes with layovers for Friday evening travel.

PVD:

All the TF Green flights have layovers. Delta has a great "after work" Friday flight and Southwest has an "after work" option as well. Southwest, Delta and American have flights you could take Saturday AM.

From SF Bay Area:

OAK: Lots of Southwest options with easy connections, including a few Saturday options.

SFO: United has a direct flight daily. Delta, American and Southwest have connecting flights.

SJC: no direct flights but Southwest and Spirit have a number of non-direct options.

From SLC:

Delta has a daily nonstop flight!

Otherwise Southwest, Spirit and Fronteir have options w layovers.

The Delta AMEX has no annual fee for the first year and offers 70k points with sign up which should also be enough to get to NOLA. https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/airline-credit-cards/american-express-personal-cards

From Texas:

Almost everywhere in Texas has easy "after work" and Saturday AM options!

AUS: nonstops on Southwest and American.

IAH: nonstops on united and spirit

HOU: a bunch of nonstops on southwest

DAL: numerous nonstops on southwest

DFW: spirit and american have nonstop options

Flight booking tips in general:

Use Airline Hubs for Optionality:

For painless connections, consider booking flight routes through airline hubs that will be most likely to have multiple flight options on that carrier. This can offer easy backup plans in case of delays or cancellations:

Delta: ATL, JFK, and SLC

American: PHL, CLT, PHX, MIA, LAX, DFW

United: DEN, IAH, EWR, SFO

Southwest (doesn't officially have "hubs" but has a lot of flights in/out of: Dallas Love Field (DAL, not DFW), LAS OAK, BWI, HOU

FlightAware is your Friend:

This website tracks all aircraft traffic in real-time so it can tell you how often a certain route is delayed, and where the plane is originating from. It can help explain reasons for delays.

FlightAware.com

Be Wary of Tight Connections:

Choose a layover that's at least an hour-90 minutes. This can give cushion for a delayed incoming flight, and give you time to get to a new gate at a big airport.

Driving Tips:

-traffic is usually reasonable (outside of Mardi Gras) in NOLA since it doesn't have a big commuter culture, but try to avoid the Baton Rouge rush hour if possible

-there is a lot of free street parking in most of NOLA outside the French Quarter, and Central Business District

-please be mindful of the low elevation in the city; even a little rain can cause road flooding, so park on high ground if rain is expected.

-the NOPD uses red light and speed cameras all over the city, so as always, please drive safely and under the speed limit!

-Beware of potholes on side roads and neighborhood roads (another incentive to avoid speeding)

C&D

Wedding Day

Reception