Colorado Aspen or Eagle/Vail Airport

[DavidS]

We have got a chance to fly direct from Chicago into Aspen for the same price as Eagle/Vail in late Feb. I realize a lot of the flights get delayed or diverted because of bad weather in Aspen so my question is this: Does United usually divert to Eagle or Denver if it can't get into Aspen, or does it just not leave Chicago?? We could live with Eagle, we figured we would be going there anyway: however Denver would be bad. Leaving out of Aspen is not a concern, just don't want to miss a ski day by arriving late. Sorry, couldn't figure out how to get the Blue Colorado code on this.

 

[at_nyc]

May get diverted to Grand Junction too.

 

[dbostedo]

I flew into Aspen just after a storm that diverted a lot of flights. Just chatting with folks, seemed like several had gotten diverted to Denver, and had a choice whether to drive to Aspen or wait for a flight. Now a lot of Aspen flights connect through Denver too (mine did) - so I don't know if they were directs that got diverted, or connections that were cancelled.

Driving to Aspen if you get diverted to Denver is an option, though it's a bit of a long drive (4-5 hours I think), and you'd miss that day's skiing probably. But it would save the following day.

 

[Nathanvg]

I'd choose Aspen over Eagle. Aspen is a little more likely to close in bad weather but not that much. When Aspen is open it is very convenient and you can save by avoiding rental car or shuttle costs. Personally, i fly to Denver and drive the 4 hours since I don't have a direct option and hate dealing with airport closures.

 

[Michael R.]

Take one for the team and choose Aspen so that we get a big storm!

 

[fatbob]

Eagle is in a pretty dry low altitude bit of the county. I assume it gets a lot fewer diversions but you're at least 1 hr 20 from Aspen if you get a clean run through the Canyon and Glenwood.

 

[Blue Streak]

There is no comparison between the approaches.
Eagle is wide open, has 1,000' more runway, and is about 1,300' lower.
I don't know for sure, but I would bet that Aspen has a significantly worse record of flight delays, cancellation, and accidents.

 

[mdf]

If you go to https://www.transtats.bts.gov/HomeDrillChart_Month.asp you can see the statistics. Aspen has about twice the cancellations as Eagle.

But.... the Aspen statistics are skewed by the Denver to Aspen route, the most delayed flight in the US. But I think a lot of those are fake problems, to avoid flying half-empty airplanes. Unfortunately the database lets you filter by airline or airport, not both at the same time, so I can't pull out the numbers.

And flying into Aspen is wonderful. A lot of hotels have free pickup at the airport. A taxi is pretty cheap. And it turns out the free inter-mountain shuttle stops there! The last time we were in Aspen we took the bus from our condo to the airport.

 

[pud]

I'd fly directly into Aspen. Odds are that you will make it in. Worst case scenario, they would divert you to Grand Junction and transfer you to Aspen on a two hour bus ride.

 

[Blue Streak]

If you go to https://www.transtats.bts.gov/HomeDrillChart_Month.asp you can see the statistics. Aspen has about twice the cancellations as Eagle.

But.... the Aspen statistics are skewed by the Denver to Aspen route, the most delayed flight in the US. But I think a lot of those are fake problems, to avoid flying half-empty airplanes. Unfortunately the database lets you filter by airline or airport, not both at the same time, so I can't pull out the numbers.

And flying into Aspen is wonderful. A lot of hotels have free pickup at the airport. A taxi is pretty cheap. And it turns out the free inter-mountain shuttle stops there! The last time we were in Aspen we took the bus from our condo to the airport.

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Agreed.
If I were coming out to ski Aspen, I would fly into Aspen and not worry about it.
But Eagle is demonstrably a better airport.

The Airport is largely seasonal, with the greatest number of scheduled flights operating during the winter months. During the ski season, EGE is the second busiest airport in Colorado after the Denver International Airport. Eagle serves as a great alternative to Denver for skiers at major resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain, Keystone, and Breckenridge. Due to the abundance of flights into EGE and the ability to accept larger aircraft than Aspen, during the ski season, a number of passengers fly to EGE rather than trying to fly to Aspen.

 

[mikel]

D) all of the above

You should be able to go the Aspen Airport website and read the current policies under your airline. There are several caveats to each scenario but I would expect 1) you don't leave ORD 2) you get diverted to GJT and bussed 3) you get diverted to DEN and tbd

 

[mikel]

Agreed.
If I were coming out to ski Aspen, I would fly into Aspen and not worry about it.
But Eagle is demonstrably a better airport.

The Airport is largely seasonal, with the greatest number of scheduled flights operating during the winter months. During the ski season, EGE is the second busiest airport in Colorado after the Denver International Airport. Eagle serves as a great alternative to Denver for skiers at major resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain, Keystone, and Breckenridge. Due to the abundance of flights into EGE and the ability to accept larger aircraft than Aspen, during the ski season, a number of passengers fly to EGE rather than trying to fly to Aspen.

and just to add to @Blue Streak

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/us-airports-pilots-dont-like-flying-into