Visiting EAA Airventure via the airlines?

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DMD3.

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DMD3.
Has anyone ever traveled to KOSH by flying the airlines? Just brainstorming, but I’m considering flying in instead of driving from south GA this year. The plan would be to fly into Green Bay or perhaps Madison (assuming that airport has an airline terminal), and just renting a car.

I’ve never actually traveled on the airlines, but it’s my understanding that it can be an absolute nightmare during holiday seasons. Could I expect a similar experience upon arriving at the terminal in WI?

Also, is there any particular airline anyone would or wouldn’t suggest traveling on for a trip there?
 
Appleton (ATW) is the way to go, and fares aren’t unreasonable. Multiple options for getting to the show (shuttle, Uber, rental car). About a 35 minute drive.

Green Bay (GRB) is another 30 minutes or so up the road, and a decent option if ATW isn’t. After that, I think you’re looking at Milwaukee.
 
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Brad Z said:
Appleton (ATW) is the way to go, and fares aren’t unreasonable. Multiple options for getting to the show (shuttle, Uber, rental car). About a 35 minute drive.

Green Bay (GRB) is another 30 minutes or so up the road, and a decent option if ATW isn’t. After that, I think you’re looking at Milwaukee.
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Cool. The plan would be to rent a car and stay at a motel for a few days. Didn’t know Appleton had an airline terminal. I usually stay in GRB when I drive, as they Jack up the hotel prices the closer you get to KOSH.
 
I flew into Madison last year. It's a longer drive (about 1:40) but still not terrible, and it was far enough away that rental cars and flights were easy. I ended up choosing Madison because there were more flights to and from NYC, but if you can get to ATW or GRB easily, might as well do that.
 
Milwaukee is convenient to fly to and more nonstops, etc. But it's a trip from there to Oshkosh. There is bus service that I've never used, and EAA used to have a ride board. Seems like it would be easy to get a ride back to Milwaukee from AirVenture, too.
 
Where you fly in and out of determines the distance of the first and last leg driving. Where you STAY determines the daily drive. :D

When you shop prices, I use Kayak to get the best fares. But check, the best fare might not be the cheapest overall with seat selection fees and luggage fees. Also, the "low cost" carriers are not always the cheapest. And look at connections/total travel time.
 
We did that one year. Flew into Milwaukee and rented a car. It was our first time there. One thing to worry about is where do you plan to stay? We brought our 2 kids with us, and my wife wanted to stay at a hotel.We ended up at a Comfort Inn almost 20 miles away. I called around imediately when the Oshkosh show finished up. We booked 4 nights, and it was over $2,000 and I had to pay in full, no refunds. This was almost a year ahead of time. We had a good time lots to see, and the hotel was full and nearly everyone was going to the airshow daily.
 
David Chapdelaine said:
We did that one year. Flew into Milwaukee and rented a car. It was our first time there. One thing to worry about is where do you plan to stay? We brought our 2 kids with us, and my wife wanted to stay at a hotel.We ended up at a Comfort Inn almost 20 miles away. I called around imediately when the Oshkosh show finished up. We booked 4 nights, and it was over $2,000 and I had to pay in full, no refunds. This was almost a year ahead of time. We had a good time lots to see, and the hotel was full and nearly everyone was going to the airshow daily.
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When I would drive, I typically stay in Green Bay (as I said, they jack up the hotel prices the closer you are to OSH). Last year I actually stayed in Marinette, which is on I-41 at the Michigan border. It’s a bit of a drive from there to the airshow, but after the 20 hr one-way drive from Georgia, seemed like nothing at all.
 
I was working in Milwaukee a few years ago and decided to drive up to OSH for a couple of days at the end of the week. It's about 1-1.5hr drive from Milwaukee downtown area. Rental cars were easy to get (had one for work work anyway) and far enough away that prices weren't jacked up. Since it was a last-minute decision, I didn't have a hotel booked but lucked up and got a Doubletree in Neenah for ~$200/night which from what I hear is pretty good for the area at that time. I wouldn't plan on stumbling onto a hotel last minute though. Overall, definitely doable.
 
CJones said:
I was working in Milwaukee a few years ago and decided to drive up to OSH for a couple of days at the end of the week. It's about 1-1.5hr drive from Milwaukee downtown area. Rental cars were easy to get (had one for work work anyway) and far enough away that prices weren't jacked up. Since it was a last-minute decision, I didn't have a hotel booked but lucked up and got a Doubletree in Neenah for ~$200/night which from what I hear is pretty good for the area at that time. I wouldn't plan on stumbling onto a hotel last minute though. Overall, definitely doable.
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Oh yes, I’ve driven several times, just never traveled on the airlines before (or at all for that matter).

I just booked me a stay at Extended Stay Airport in Green Bay, for $577 for 5 nights. Not too bad for today’s prices. Still haven’t decided if I’m going to drive again or fly the airlines.
 
Bit of thread hijack, but with regards to driving up, how does it work if I simply wanted to camp with my car in camp Scholler? No RV, of course. If something came up with my plane, for example, can one just drive up and get a spot (knowing it would probably be a looong walk to the gate)?


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crash7 said:
Bit of thread hijack, but with regards to driving up, how does it work if I simply wanted to camp with my car in camp Scholler? No RV, of course. If something came up with my plane, for example, can one just drive up and get a spot (knowing it would probably be a looong walk to the gate)?


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No problem at all. Sleep in the car without a tent if you want. You’ll pay for 3 nights minimum. Shuttle to the gate if you want.
 
Appleton has airline service. They do have options from hotels and ga terminal to osh,I like the bus. Prices in Appleton have gone crazy high. I use Green Bay reasonable hotel at airport and car rental. Not enough business for the bus. Good luck.
 
DMD3. said:
Has anyone ever traveled to KOSH by flying the airlines? Just brainstorming, but I’m considering flying in instead of driving from south GA this year. The plan would be to fly into Green Bay or perhaps Madison (assuming that airport has an airline terminal), and just renting a car.

I’ve never actually traveled on the airlines, but it’s my understanding that it can be an absolute nightmare during holiday seasons. Could I expect a similar experience upon arriving at the terminal in WI?

Also, is there any particular airline anyone would or wouldn’t suggest traveling on for a trip there?
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Many years ago I got a non-stop flight to Appleton from Cincinnati. This was before the days of Uber, so I had to post a request on an online forum. Someone I never met before offered to drove me both ways. Those were the days.
 
I’d check options for flights, out of Atlanta or maybe closer to S GA. If you end up anywhere from Chicago to nearer, you can get to Oshkosh. I’ve landed all kinds of places with no reservations, families vacations. That includes Munich, Hawaii, Ireland, Alaska, & others. It’s part of the adventure.

One needs to consider timing, costs, vehicle needs & the rest. There may be sights or relatives along the way to break up a trip.
 
The two times I've gone in commercially, I've done it through ATW. There's an easy shuttle down to the field. Actually, the second time I did it, I chatted up the guy next to me on the plane and he was getting a rental and I swapped a ride for giving him directions on how to get to the show.

It's not a bad run up from Milwaukee either.
 
crash7 said:
Bit of thread hijack, but with regards to driving up, how does it work if I simply wanted to camp with my car in camp Scholler? No RV, of course. If something came up with my plane, for example, can one just drive up and get a spot (knowing it would probably be a looong walk to the gate)?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Lol… I have slept in the car there more than once….
There is a place on Knapp, just across from the Red Barn entrance on the south edge of Scholler by Ultralights called Rellumtdats (or something). I always park there, 100 yd walk to the gate, 200 to the shuttle. They do allow short stay camping, first come first served, space available.

Food trucks right on the sight and next door, same ones year after year. And ice cream…
 
In 2017 I flew airlines into Milwaukee, used Uber to get to a cheaper rental car location than what was at the airport, and the drive from there to OSH was easy. I had accommodations already planned within walking distance of OSH so it made for an easy trip in and out.

Generally speaking Milwaukee is super easy to travel in/out through. We've also used it to visit family in northern IL rather than deal with ORD or MDW.
 
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