Trip motivation
We decided on this trip because a friend of mine chose Bozeman for a 5-year anniversary party. Her parents live there and she regularly visits and talks up the gorgeous scenery and outdoor life. This post focuses on how we got to Bozeman and some of the car and hotel logistics. To read more about what we did and where we ate, see here
Deciding to use cash instead of points for Allegiant flights
There are several airlines that fly into Bozeman Airport from Nashville. For us, the best option was a non-stop flight on Allegiant. Allegiant does not partner with any transfer partners. Also, since this trip ended up being a piece of a bigger trip, we decided to pay cash for this portion of the trip with a crazy cheap base rate of $114 per person.
This was our first time flying Allegiant. This is one of many discount airlines that sell cheaper flights but all the “extras” like seats, bags, and drinks can add up. Because we have 2 kids, we paid to choose seats. I’m still not sure what the airlines would even do if we didn’t purchase seats. (I assume they wouldn’t seat Ellie on her own since federal law prohibits it but who knows with airlines these days) The price is worth paying to us. If I was traveling on my own, I might not pay and just suck it up potentially sitting in a middle seat for a short-ish flight. We also paid for 1 large checked bag. The total for the 4 of us was $720 with base rates, carry-ons for each person, 1 checked bag, and trip flexibility
Flight details
Read more about tips for long airline trips here.
Getting There:
Nashville (BNA) to Bozeman (BZN) 1:24p-3:57p (3h 33m)
Airport Lounges
When traveling with layovers or to new cities, we always check the website of the airport and the priority pass lounge website prior to the trip (link here). The Chase Sapphire Reserve card (in addition to others) comes with priority pass access which gives you a card that gets you access to lounges at different airports. Often it is more common internationally.
Nashville airport just did a big update to their airport. This was our first time
Other travel perks
Another perk we got from several credit cards is global entry/pre-check. This is always helpful for avoiding lines and spending as little time as possible with others. After you get your credit card, you’ll use it to pay for the global entry fee and get reimbursed immediately. The below cards offer this benefit. For more on this benefit and how to use a credit card to receive it for free, see here.
Car rentals a must in Montana
This is definitely a city where a car is a must. As soon as we booked the flights 3 months ago, we booked a car. I used a Hertz car using a corporate code (for a company I don’t work for.shhhh) and also booked a backup budget car in case hertz asked for verification or for some reason they didn’t have one even though they said they would. Even with the discount, it was expensive! They tried to upsell us but we ended up with the upgrade anyway for free because it was all they had. Carter loves suvs with 3 rows. :shrug:
Where we stayed: Free nights at the Hampton Inn
AirBnB would be a great option for this type of city. Just sitting and enjoying the scenery is a must-do of this town. Hotel prices were a little high for the holiday weekend. We had some Hilton points still earned from transfer Amex points and previous stays. We wiped out my balance of points and paid 40k points a night for 4 nights at the Hampton Inn near downtown Bozeman. Nights were averaging around 300/night so a pretty decent value. Other options nearby were a Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood suites, Motel 6 and Super 8. There were no Hyatts (my favorite) in this city.
I don’t know that we’ve stayed at a Hampton inn before. The decor felt very woodsy. I’m not sure if it was Hampton or Montana. The location was close to multiple grocery stores and strip malls and about 10 minutes away from downtown restaurants. The hotel had a small indoor pool and hot tub, hot a fine breakfast. We got a standard king room with a pull-out. Overall, this stay was fine but not overly impressive. Glad it was free!
Activities in Montana
To read more about what we did in Bozeman and Helena, see here
