Just finished four years at Choate and four years of no non-stops flights on any airline between our (major) airport on the left side of the country and Bradley. It really wasn’t feasible to use the NY/Newark airports due to travel time/logistics/cost, but CK never once missed a connection or had trouble getting to or from Bradley. The school’s transportation system works well, but using the NY/Newark airports from Choate is terribly time consuming and expensive.
@CaliParent1: If your daughter can travel on Southwest, I’d recommend it as they don’t charge for the first two bags or impose an unaccompanied minor fee and, at 13, your daughter is not considered a minor on SW and can travel freely. Our son never had an issue with SW, but other airlines were not so easy.
I only stressed about that first trip home alone at Thanksgiving freshman year. Once I saw how well the school handled travel logistics, I realized I didn’t need to worry. My only advice is to make sure you check your student’s exam schedule and the school’s term release dates/times carefully before you book flights. Again, SW is great about flight changes so, if you do have to adjust, they make it easy.
Good luck to all of you who are just embarking on this journey. You’re in for a fantastic time. I’m terribly sad ours is over. :((