
The barn door is shut, but for future reference:
1. $633 is about the best you can expect to do.
2. We used to go to Big Sky a lot. It is the country’s best ski area. Lots of slopes, and the average lift line wait is zero. The problem is getting there from here.
3. Alaska (Horizon—the world’s worst airline) flies from Seattle to Bozeman; Delta flies from Salt Lake to Bozeman; as of a few years ago, United flies from Denver to Bozeman; Northwest flies from Minneapolis (I think) to Bozeman. For pricing, it is the Bozeman link that will kill you, and it is never discounted (Delta has an occasional discount, but it is nothing special). (Frontier flies from Denver to Billings, but that is no bargain, and it is a long, boring drive to Bozeman.)
4. If you take the trip often, you may want to get a Delta AmEx card; it is pricey, but it gives you a $50 companion chit every year.
5. The rental cars all say they come with unlimited mileage, but they used to have some kind of gimmick that could tell if you had gone to Yellowstone, in which case all bets were off. Maybe they have done away with that. Rental rates are about $260/week plus tax, but you can get than down to about $150 on hotwire.com.
6. Be prepared for a jarring flight. Every time we flew into Bozeman we thought the wings were going to fall off.