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Avelo Airlines boosts its East Coast base with 3 new cities

March 08, 2022
3 min read
Avelo Airlines New Haven Orlando Inaugural
Avelo Airlines boosts its East Coast base with 3 new cities
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Avelo Airlines is spreading its wings at its new East Coast base.

The new startup carrier is adding three routes from its hub in New Haven, Connecticut (HVN), giving flyers traveling to or from southern Connecticut a total of 13 destinations served from the city's Tweed airport.

The three new destinations are:

  • Baltimore-Washington (BWI).
  • Chicago Midway (MDW).
  • Raleigh-Durham (RDU).

Avelo will commence service in all three markets on May 26, with flights initially scheduled to operate five times a week (all days except for Wednesday and Saturday).

As with its 10 other routes from New Haven, Avelo will deploy a 146-seat Boeing 737-700 jet for the new flights.

Along with the route announcement, Avelo is celebrating a big milestone in its New Haven operations: It has now transported more than 100,000 customers to or from the region.

Avelo's East Coast expansion began on Nov. 3, when it inaugurated its New Haven base with service to Orlando, one of the six destinations in Florida it now serves from the airport.

(Photo by Zach Griff/The Points Guy)

These Florida routes seemingly made sense for a leisure-focused ultra-low-cost carrier. Throughout the pandemic, we've seen nearly every airline boost service to the Sunshine State. Even as demand lagged in other markets, traffic to Florida was — no pun intended — hot.

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While Avelo started with Florida service, it announced an expansion last month to four more leisure-focused cities: Nashville; Savannah, Georgia; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina.

While these new destinations aren't in Florida, they still share many of the same characteristics as the Florida routes: They are popular year-round escapes that have proven especially resilient during the demand downturn associated with the pandemic.

But now, Avelo is seemingly charting a new path to growth from New Haven with its latest three routes. While there's undoubtedly a leisure play in all three markets, the cities are also quite popular with business travelers. The airline likely believes that there's demand — especially mid-week — from business travelers traveling between Connecticut and Baltimore, Chicago and Raleigh-Durham.

New Avelo routes are shown in blue, with existing routes in red. (Map courtesy of Cirium)

"We believe these three new destinations will be a big hit with leisure and business travelers alike," Avelo CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement.

While Avelo will continue to hold a monopoly on all of its New Haven routes — no other airline currently flies to the Tweed airport — Avelo's new routes will go head-to-head against Southwest and Frontier, both of which operate from the nearby Bradley International Airport (BDL) that serves Connecticut’s capital of Hartford.

Southwest flies between Bradley and both Baltimore and Chicago, while Frontier operates between Bradley and Raleigh-Durham, Cirium schedules show.

(Photo by Zach Griff/The Points Guy)

That said, Avelo believes that New Haven is a distinct market from Bradley, both for locals living in the area and for those nearby for whom Bradley may be a bit too far.

"The 100,000-customer milestone we achieved in four short months exemplifies the enormous amount of travel Avelo is inspiring in Connecticut. It’s abundantly clear that Tweed’s unmatched convenience is making travel easier, smoother and more affordable than ever before," said Levy.

Featured image by ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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Why We Chose It

There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)

Pros

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  • 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
  • Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
  • Solid welcome bonus

Cons

  • Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
  • Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
  • You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
  • Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
  • Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
  • Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
  • Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
  • Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
  • $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
  • $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
  • $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
  • $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
  • Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
  • No Foreign Transaction Fees.
  • Annual Fee is $325.
  • Terms Apply.