The giant-city-to-giant-city comparison is also a bit misleading… Several years ago, my husband and some colleagues needed to go to a meeting in New Orleans. The colleagues departed home at 4am, to drive 1 hour to the nearest airport with commercial service, and when they arrived discovered that their 7am flight was cancelled. The airport isn’t a hub, so when they caught the next flight out, they missed their connection. They arrived at their hotel 18 hours after leaving home. My husband took the City of New Orleans, which was on time. 17 hours, and the price of the roomette included a lovely breakfast and lunch…
If you live in Denver and fly United, you can get most anywhere in one hop. If you are going from one podunk town to another, you easily need 2 or 3 hops, plus an hour or two drive at each ends.
