Spotting ideas

[steve1840]

I am looking into taking a trip this spring for the sole purpose of going for the day and spotting and flying back the following morning. I am looking to stay on the east coast or at least east of the mississippi to keep the flight costs down. I am thinking its going to be KCLT, but was wondering if any of you guys had any other ideas for good airports to fly into for a day of spotting that wont really break the bank.

My reason for KCLT being the front runner right now is seeing the photos that Adam posted with the city in the background and the fact that they have agood "official spotting" area on the grounds that I could take a taxi to and not have to rent a car.

I do have to say again, that it has to be a placethat I can get a flight to that won't be expensive. I just Price the KCLT flights for the end of April and it looks like it would be about 350r/t. I'd like to keep airfare around that.

[gonzalu]

Miami and Fort Lauderdale are also great as they have good variety, especially KMIA with a few different DC-10/MD-11s

[eric8669]

I am looking into taking a trip this spring for the sole purpose of going for the day and spotting and flying back the following morning. I am looking to stay on the east coast or at least east of the mississippi to keep the flight costs down. I am thinking its going to be KCLT, but was wondering if any of you guys had any other ideas for good airports to fly into for a day of spotting that wont really break the bank.

My reason for KCLT being the front runner right now is seeing the photos that Adam posted with the city in the background and the fact that they have agood "official spotting" area on the grounds that I could take a taxi to and not have to rent a car.

I do have to say again, that it has to be a placethat I can get a flight to that won't be expensive. I just Price the KCLT flights for the end of April and it looks like it would be about 350r/t. I'd like to keep airfare around that.


If its just for the day, you might want to try FLL, they have a couple official spotting areas.

[steve1840]

Those popped into my head after I hit the submit threaad button. Would looking at Jet blue be my best bet for a flight to either one to keep the fares kinda cheap?

[eric8669]

Those popped into my head after I hit the submit threaad button. Would looking at Jet blue be my best bet for a flight to either one to keep the fares kinda cheap?

A number of carriers go into FLL, jetblue and Southwest come to mind. I'm sure you can find a reasonable fare.

[hiss srq]

If Tampa sneaks up in the agenda, let me know... I'll fly down and meet ya for some spottage.... It's a pretty easy airport to spot... Bonus points, UAL hoes their Heavy Heavy MX there so there are always 777's 757's 767's and 744's in and out of there..... It's pretty fun watching empty heavies blast out of TPA.

[MarkLawrence]

On business a while back, we did FLL-BDL for $208 return on jetBlue - I'm sure you could get the same if you check around with dates on them - Delta also has comparable fares because of the jetBlue flights.

[Mateo]

If you want a lot of variety and things you'll never see up north, I would highly recommend MIA. CLT is going to be one US after another, and has nothing you won't see at Philadelphia.

[steve1840]

I think the appeal of CLT tp me is that they have an actual viewing area and the skyline of Charlotte makes for a good background. Last I knew there was no official area at PHL and from what I've read there is only one real safe place to spot from without being chased by the authorities and it doesn't offer good views of the touchdowns. I could be wrong, but that is just what I've read online doing my research. If there are any good safe spots at PHL that offer good views of the ground action I would definitely love to read about it.
Thinking about what you're saying, I think would kinda like to stay away from the hub airports. Aside from the skyline at CLT, you're right I would see USAirways 9 out of every 10 planes. Same at PHL, and if I were to go to ATL or DTW all I would see would be Delta (probably mostly MD88s). The more I think of it the tought of going to MIA for a day is really tempting. I definitely have to save up some cash to make a flight there one of these days. How is the spotting at MCO? From what I remember from my trip there two years ago, they seem to have some variety there too don't they?

Does anybody know if a passport is needed to fly to Toronto? I'd love to spot at Pearson since it seems they get some pax threeholers up there in Canada from what I've seen.

[eric8669]

I think the appeal of CLT tp me is that they have an actual viewing area and the skyline of Charlotte makes for a good background. Last I knew there was no official area at PHL and from what I've read there is only one real safe place to spot from without being chased by the authorities and it doesn't offer good views of the touchdowns. I could be wrong, but that is just what I've read online doing my research. If there are any good safe spots at PHL that offer good views of the ground action I would definitely love to read about it.
Thinking about what you're saying, I think would kinda like to stay away from the hub airports. Aside from the skyline at CLT, you're right I would see USAirways 9 out of every 10 planes. Same at PHL, and if I were to go to ATL or DTW all I would see would be Delta (probably mostly MD88s). The more I think of it the tought of going to MIA for a day is really tempting. I definitely have to save up some cash to make a flight there one of these days. How is the spotting at MCO? From what I remember from my trip there two years ago, they seem to have some variety there too don't they?

Does anybody know if a passport is needed to fly to Toronto? I'd love to spot at Pearson since it seems they get some pax threeholers up there in Canada from what I've seen.

Toronto is good too. I believe you do need a passport now. I Had a great time spotting in Tdot.

[MarkLawrence]

MIA in a way is going to be the same as CLT or PHL in that 7 out of every 10 planes will be American. BUT - and that is a big BUT intentionally - you will get a lot of the South American traffic - Avianca, TAM, TACA, a lot of exotic cargo stuff - the old DC-10's are still there quite a lot - and there is a fair bit of European traffic as well, so a little more variety than the US hubs in that sense. Things happen unexpectedly at MIA as well - NATO sometimes has old 707's coming in - last weekend I was there an a Dutch Air Force KC-10 came in for a couple of hours to refuel and go - always expect the unexpected - but then that is true of a lot of airports.

FLL is a hub for Spirit, jetBlue and Southwest, with a great deal of other traffic - Delta, US, airTran - you never know what you are going to get at FLL with special schemes, etc.

[Steven Holzinger]

You need a passport to do ANY traveling outside of the USA, no matter if by plane, car, or boat.

[adscram14]

I'm going to have to stick up for Charlotte here. It is some of the best spotting in the country, and you can get just about any angle you want.
I threw this together for you guys:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=35.211264,-80.92392&spn=0.062833,0.154324&t=h&z=13&msid=215089412686772633494.00049bbb15dfb8f2916e5

[gonzalu]

Great stuff Adam... thanks!

[JDANDO]

Just to add more options to the fire, how about LAS? Usually cheap airfares, lots to see, spotter friendly airport. Montreal is also spotter friendly, but you probably will need a car to get around and also your passport. That and I have never seen a cheap ticket up there :frown:. But the do have pretty good variety; KLM 3-holer, AF747, Royal Jordain and really good access.

[steve1840]

I may catch LAS while im in reno this summer but wouldn't be good for a day trip from the east coast.

[Mateo]

US Citizens don't need a passport to enter Canada. You do, however, need one to get back into the United States. YUL has variety, albeit a lot of Air Canada, and you can cab to the places where you'd shoot the 6s and 24L, but the weather doesn't get reliably good until mid-April.

[gonzalu]

You need a passport to do ANY traveling outside of the USA, no matter if by plane, car, or boat.

... but not strictly outside continental US... meaning that one can still enjoy Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Alaska... I know that's what you meant Steve but I just wanted to point out the obvious for those who may have missed the fact that Puerto Rico and Alaska give us away from continental US and if spotting is the goal, both have great spotting. How are US Virgin Islands for spotting? anything like SXM? :-)

[steve1840]

Speaking of SXM, I take it a passport is needed to go there too? And the spotting is good in Puerto Rico? Is that based on type of traffic or ease of access forspotting, or a combination of the two?

[Steven Holzinger]

I was under the impression you needed a passport to travel outside of the fifty states, regardless of the mode of transportation. Oh, and Alaska and Hawaii are US states, too! :biggrin:

[Mateo]

SXM is divided between the Netherlands and France so, yes, you do need a passport. If you don't cross Customs, you don't need a passport - you can fly EWR-HNL-Guam-Saipan without one, but if you want to travel between the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, you've got to show a passport.