Spring break at the University of Utah is March 18-25. Hopefully you've booked your ticket to one of U.S. News and World Report's Top 10 best spring break destinations: Cancun, Miami Beach, South Padre Island, Bahamas, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Rico, Punta Cana, Jamaica and Panama City Beach. We just returned from our "cure the colds" early spring break and found, once again, that we love Salt Lake City International Airport.
According to Reward Expert, the airport ranks second-best in the nation for on-time performance, with 88.55 percent of flights arriving and departing in a timely fashion. That record is great unless you travel on JetBlue, which has the worst airline on-time performance overall (and appears to bear the brunt of the onslaught of spring break travelers). Other budget carriers Southwest and Frontier unsurprisingly take second and third place for most delayed flights overall.
Yet, according to a recent study by insuremytrip.com, only 448 out of 111,912 flights (.04 percent) at SLC International were canceled in 2017. Other good marks went to Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Minneapolis-St. Paul International and Seattle-Tacoma International. The worst rates for canceled flights are NYC's LaGuardia, Houston's George Bush International, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Newark Liberty International.
If you're not a spring breaker, you might be planning a trip for Easter (April 1) or Passover (March 30-April 7). Again, Reward Expert urges travelers to leave early. Easter Sunday and the first day of Passover (and the day before) are more likely than most to feature delays and airport hassles.
There are also new road changes as you approach and leave the SLC airport, the park-and-wait lot has moved behind a new $4-million facility that includes a 24-hour Touch n' Go convenience store with a Chevron gas station (yup, visitors can now pay a fortune for gas when they forget to fill up the rental car on return), Burger King, Costa Vida and Beans and Brews open or opening in time for the spring travel season.
Finally, if you're going to travel with your comfort peacock, dog or hamster, there now are animal relief stations across the street from each terminal in front of the parking garage. These grassy areas have waste stations and a little room to exercise your pets. Happy travels!