AIRLINE INFORMATION

For those of you living more than a few hours drive from Tahoe, the following information may be useful.

The jet airport in South Lake Tahoe (TVL) is only ten miles from Lake Village but it is small, poorly serviced by the major carriers, and subject to snow closures during ski season. The next closest jet airport is Reno/Tahoe International (RNO) in Reno, Nevada (57 miles - 75 minutes by road). It is a full-service airport and very reliable with few weather closures. Both of these airports are on our ski map and our golf map pages in this web site. In order of increasing driving distance are the jetports at Sacramento (SMF - 2 hours), Oakland (OAK - 3.5 hours), San Francisco (SFO - 200 miles - 4 hours), San Jose (SJC - 4.5 hours), and Los Angeles (LAX - 9 hours). All the US domestic carriers  service some or all of these airports. Virtually all international carriers service San Francisco and you can drive or take a commuter flight to Reno. In other words, you have lots of choices for airline service. Personally, I normally fly to Tahoe via Reno, Sacramento, or San Francisco and then drive.
 

Some tips about airline prices: currently, the major carriers have repeating "air-wars" producing low-priced seats in and out of cities along the west coast. If you cannot get the airfare that you want today, be patient. These pricing skirmishes have been hitting regularly! These discount periods sometimes last only a few days or weeks so watch the papers and call the airlines regularly. With patience, you will get reasonable prices. Some airlines now provide an incentive (discounts or frequent flyer points) to book through their web site on line. If you are not yet a "frequent flyer", become one now! Its free! Most airlines also offer an "affinity credit card" that earns frequent flyer points with each purchase. You will be amazed at how fast those points pile up even if you fly infrequently!

Maddy’s Photo of Lake Tahoe from the airplane.

After you make your airline reservation, book a car or van with unlimited mileage for your arrival. In ski season, we recommend front-wheel or four-wheel drive. If you wish, try our car rental discount program. You can earn frequent flyer points with your car rental as well - add your frequent flyer number to the file when booking your vehicle