What's the cheapest, fastest way to get to Orlando? It might very well be through HGR

Do you need a trip to the beach?

Are the kids begging for a visit with Mickey?

Are you looking at your wallet and wondering how you can make that happen?

Hagerstown Regional Airport is offering flights through Allegiant to:

• Myrtle Beach with a base rate as low as $35 one-way this summer, depending on dates;

• Orlando/Sanford as low as $48 one-way;

• Tampa/St. Petersburg from a one-way base rate of $43.

And … no parking fees and no long security lines when you fly from Hagerstown — or HGR, in airport parlance.

In fact, HGR just made Travel + Leisure magazine's top 10 list for cheapest airport departures in the country.

The magazine gleaned its rankings from the “Average Domestic Airline Itinerary Fares By Origin City for 2022” report, published on the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics website. Airfares were based on 2022 prices and adjusted for inflation.

According to this report, the average fare for HGR was $175.73. The cheapest nationwide was the airport in San Bernardino, Calif., where the average fare was $98.03.

The national average for 2022 was $378.

Considering there were 400 to 500 U.S. airports offering passenger service in 2022, landing in the top 10 for low fares is "a pretty cool thing for our customers," Airport Director Neil Doran said.

"It reflects the model of a low, ultra low-cost carrier like Allegiant," he said. "We partner with them as Washington County government and the airport to keep their costs low. And that's how they're able to provide ticket prices that are so affordable."

The low fares "might surprise some people who may potentially pay a whole lot more on a full-service, major carrier like American or United to get down there," Doran said. "I think you could go a bit further and say even Southwest, which used to be an airline known for low fare, they're really not so cheap anymore."

And for now, the free parking at HGR is an additional savings, he noted.

"I just prod people every once in a while (to) consider if they're going to central Florida of the Gulf Coast or South Carolina in the summer for a golfing outing or beach vacation to think HGR," Doran said.

Are new destinations on the horizon? Someday.

Airport officials are working on a strategic plan for the facility, and hope at some point to add to its commercial flight offerings.

"We have made some kind of incremental progress where we hope that our request for proposal can go out sometime this month, ideally," Doran said, "and then we'll have a process where we can select the air service development consultant that we can work with."

Allegiant, he said, is "in a long-term expansion mode." The airline now has about 550 routes nationwide, he said, and wants to expand to about 1,400 by 2034. In the meantime, they're bringing in new aircraft and need to retrain pilots.

"They didn't have a lot of exciting things to announce about new routes" when Doran met with Allegiant officials in April, he said, but he thinks the airline might be more interested in expanding routes in 2024.

Low-fare carriers such as Allegiant try to avoid each other's turf, Doran said, so it might not be realistic to expect another carrier to come to Hagerstown.

"But we're always putting out the feelers, and we think that these consultants could help us to communicate with the other airlines to meet with them and see if they also want to come to Hagerstown," he said.

And although HGR lost its Essential Air Service subsidy for commuter flights a few years ago, a new bill sponsored in April by U.S. Rep. Daniel Meuser, R-Pa., and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. David Trone, D-6th, who represents Washington County, would reform requirements for the service.

The bill would "basically reopen it for cities that have been booted out," Doran said. It could be beneficial for HGR and the airport in Williamsport, Pa., "but in their reforms package they have changes that are designed to rein in costs, and those changes would probably be unpopular to the incumbent cities" participating in the service, he said.

"And so a lot of people have said that that particular bill doesn't have much of a chance either … I just don't know if there is any reason to feel especially hopeful about being an EAS."

But he was intrigued by the possibility that HGR could be a center for motor coach service from Hagerstown to major airports. Passengers could park, buy tickets, check luggage and go through security in Hagerstown, but ride these TSA-approved buses to a major airport and be dropped at the concourse, ready to board.

"It's kind of experimental," he said. "That may be something in the future that we see happen more often."

Bigger picture: What's next for the Hagerstown Regional Airport? We're about to find out

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown Regional Airport fares are among the lowest in the nation