Community Corner

Hidden Gems Of Hartford And Tolland Counties

The latest Hidden Gem takes us to the state's major airport and into the air.

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A Frontier Airlines plane approaching its gate at Bradley International Airport.
A Frontier Airlines plane approaching its gate at Bradley International Airport. (Chris Dehnel/Patch )

WINDSOR LOCKS, CT — OK lovers of cheap airline tickets ... this Hidden Gem is for you.

Welcome to the Frontier Airlines gates at Bradley International Airport.

It all started in late summer and the need to take care of some family business outside Raleigh, NC. A quick airfare shopping trip around the internet led to the discovery of a $139.98 round-trip ticket between Bradley and Raleigh-Durham on Frontier, the latest low-cost carried to come by this way.

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The base price on the outbound flight was $19 and change.

Yes nineteen dollars. At that price, why not try it?

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Frontier was a pleasant surprise, but one must be a little flexible, open-minded and able to improvise just a bit.

Leaving the Frontier gates at Bradley. (Chris Dehnel/Patch)

Frontier's schtick is lighter loads lead to less fuel consumption and therefore cheaper fares. so the basic ticket includes a bag that fits under the seat — in essence an average size backpack. Anything else — in the overhead compartment or checked — requires an additional fee. Rolling lighter material clothes is the way to go to maximize bag space while keeping it to one set of footwear.

Keeping with the "lighter is more efficient" theme means the seats have sparse padding, but it's not like a city bus either. They are adequate — even for someone built like an NFL linebacker. The tray tables do, however, seem to be the size of ping pong paddles.

The seats and tray tables in a Frontier plane certainly come with no frills. (Chris Dehnel/Patch)

The Frontier gate staffers and on-board crew were ridiculously polite. The airline offers "choice seating" for an extra fee, but even the el-cheapo way of choosing a seat 24 hours ahead yielded one aisle seat. The middle seat coming back was not an issue with less than 90 minutes of flight time, even for someone well taller than 6 feet.

In all, especially for a short flight, it was an experience well beyond expectation.

See more about Frontier at Bradley here.

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The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located within Hartford and Tolland counties. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Other Gems in this series:
2022

2021 and earlier:

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