Cheap Flights to the Twin Cities
Discount Airfare into Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
Looking for a cheap ticket to Minneapolis, Minnesota? Here are some tips on how to find travel bargains to the Twin Cities.
Getting cheap airline tickets is a challenge these days, and travel to the Minneapolis St. Paul metro area is no exception! The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is the second largest hub for Northwest Airlines, which means it's easy to get a nonstop flight to thousands of destinations. Unfortunately, this also means that Minnesota travel can be pretty costly because Northwest operates over 75% of the flight traffic. So if you're looking for really cheap plane tickets, you're probably going to have to do a little homework.
So how do you find bargain flight tickets into the Twin Cities? Here are some tips that may help you out.
Sun Country Airlines. Northwest is huge, but it's not the only airline in town. Minneapolis-St. Paul is also a hub for Sun Country, a low-fare airlines that flies from the Twin Cities to 38 different airports and often provides a cheaper travel alternative. A small disadvantage: Sun Country is not located in the main terminal, so travelers have to venture over to the smaller Hubert H. Humphrey terminal to catch their flights. However, the Twin Cities' new light rail transit line now runs between the two terminals for free, so passengers can get around easily.
Other low cost airlines into Minneapolis. Besides Sun Country, other low cost airlines also fly to and from the Twin Cities and often can be quite a bargain. Although these airlines fly directly from Minneapolis to a limited number of destinations, you can expand your options if you're willing to take a connecting flight. Other than Sun Country, low-cost options into the Twin Cities are:
- Air Tran (to/from Chicago, Atlanta, Tampa, and Orlando)
- Frontier Airlines (to/from Denver)
- Midwest Airlines (to/from Milwaukee)
Minneapolis/Mall of America packages with Northwest Airlines. Because the Mall of America is such a huge tourist attraction that brings thousands of travelers into the Twin Cities, Northwest has lots of package deals to the Twin Cities that include flights, hotels, and cars. And you don't have to visit the Mall of America to take advantage of these, as the hotels offered in these packages are all over the Twin Cities metro area. In addition, Northwest sometimes offers dirt cheap round trip tickets for holiday shoppers that just want to spend a day at the mall. These flights arrive in Minnesota early in the morning and leave the same evening, so they're only good if you want to stay a day.
Check with a local travel agent. As is the case with all travel, you can sometimes find a good deal by contacting a local travel company. Here are some travel agencies in the Twin Cities that often have great fares.
- Hobbitt Travel (800-916-0000)
- Carlson Wagonlit Travel (800-335-TRIP)
- Plymouth Travel (763-577-2300)
- Schilling Travel (612-332-1100)
Northwest WorldPerks Frequent Flyer Miles Program. If you're going to be flying in or out of the Twin Cities quite a bit, you might want to sign up for Northwest's frequent flyer program., You can earn miles by getting a WorldPerks Visa (1 mile for every dollar spent, with bonus miles for signing up), and the Visa also allows you to get free flights for as little as 21,000 miles. You can also earn Northwest miles on its partner airlines, which include KLM, Continental, Alaska Airlines, Air France, and Delta.
See also:
Things to do in the Twin Cities
Hotels in downtown Minneapolis
