How far do you drive to catch your flights?

[Lizard Valley]

Us too! We must be on the same cruise!! Western Carribean March 1-8?

That's the one! I guess we'll find a way to meet

I'll check out the cruise meet thread too...I just didn't want to get too attached to anyone until I could secure reasonable airfare.

 

[yayasue]

That's the one! I guess we'll find a way to meet

I'll check out the cruise meet thread too...I just didn't want to get too attached to anyone until I could secure reasonable airfare.

I am actually the person who created the meet thread lol. You can find us on facebook too. The info is in the thread's first post. I'm sure we will meet

 

[disneymath]

Looks like you preferred August heat too! We were probably there at the same time in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2012!

That's too funny! We're tied by the school calendar to a large extent, and before purchasing DVC we tried to take advantage of Free Dining and lower crowds from mid to late August.

 

[Sprockie]

We are finding the same thing. One direct flight to Orlando, one direct flight home to SYR. And much higher prices for August 2014 in comparison to the same weeks in 2013 and 2012.

I agree. We jumped on Jetblue as soon as they were released for February/early March. We have a connection on the way by choice because of the flight time we wanted and a nonstop on the way back. We were about $280/pp. The prices for Jetblue from Syracuse have just steadily gone up since we booked.
We have had a very poor experience with United and while they are cheaper, I think the overall flight experience and first bag free with Jetblue is worth the extra.

 

[Trinity88]

Buffalo is about a 2 1/4 hour drive for us, totally worth it compared to Pearson prices. We're flying SW for $1250 for 5 of us in Feb. I just hope the weather cooperates.

 

[minnie56]

Buffalo is about a 2 1/4 hour drive for us, totally worth it compared to Pearson prices. We're flying SW for $1250 for 5 of us in Feb. I just hope the weather cooperates.

We got flights from Pearson in February for $305 pp...taxes incl
That's not that much more. My time is worth money to me...

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We got flights from Pearson in February for $305 pp...taxes incl
That's not that much more. My time is worth money to me...

I don't know about the poster you were responding to, but there are no flights from Toronto (pick your airline) under $425 pp, round trip, for our August dates.

Time *is* worth money to most folks, but so is comfort. I know there's no way I could ever convince my 6' 4", 300 pound DH to ever fly Sunwing again, for any price. We'd rather drive to Syracuse or Buffalo to make the journey on a plane that allows him to sit comfortably for the 2.5 hour flight. (Not saying you flew Sunwing.....I don't know which airline you used.....but it is one of the less pricy alternatives from Pearson).

 

[minnie56]

Sorry, should have clarified. I was responding to the poster that mentioned $1500 for a family of 5 I believe it was.

We paid that for Westjet flights.
Have never travelled Sunwing..have a January flight booked for the same pricing as well.

Usually--these are sale prices that I watch for ..I've not yet paid more than $350 to MCO in a very long time!

 

[tinkerone]

We drive about 3 hours to Syracuse. We have also made the 4 hour journey to fly from Buffalo. From our door to Pearson in Toronto is 2 hours plus....partly due to traffic. We are located about 45 minutes west of Kingston.

Flights for August 2014, though, are almost as expensive out of SYR via JetBlue as they are out of Toronto via Air Canada . Now, we have TrueBlue points that will make one way free for two of us, but otherwise.......we would be saving almost nothing to fly from Syracuse (unless prices decrease once Southwest releases their schedule). Flights from Buffalo are even more expensive than AC or Air Transat from YYZ..... nonstop are $270 BUF-MCO, and $345 MCO-BUF .

Flying from a smaller airport, though, is so much more relaxing than dealing with the pandemonium at Pearson. And we much prefer clearing customs in the car at the border than at the airport. So there are more pro's for us than just price.

we are from Kingston and use the Syracuse airport. I book when I like the price or when I see the seats filling up. then I watch jet blue every day and if the price drops (it always does) I call and they give me a credit. now we travel every year and I do think you only have one year to use this credit but its nice when the next flight comes up and your fair is small. we flew this past October and for round tip tickets for both of us, after credits, it cost us $120 dollars. again, that was the cost of both of us TOGETHER and not each.
love those credits!
I also agree with flying out of Syracuse is so much calmer that pearson. what a rat race that place is.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I watch jet blue every day and if the price drops (it always does) I call and they give me a credit.

This is what I am hoping for now that I've booked with JetBlue for August 2014. We paid $436 return so surely those prices will drop. We travel annually (or more often) so we could definitely put those credits to good use on a future trip.

BTW...we are just down the 401 from you . A big hello from your Belleville neighbours .

 

[xipetotec]

Hi Everyone,

Prices from Montreal or Burlington march break are ridiculously high so we are looking for alternatives.. Looking at Manchester NH, Boston MA, Syracuse NY or Buffalo NY. Ranging from 4 to 6 hour drive.

Just curious if others drive long distances to save on flights?

I think Burlington is our limit. They USED to be a really good deal. So much so that we did it once year and lived to regret it.

Let's just say their airport is not equipped to handle huge snow storms the way YUL is. We were snowed in and had to take a bus to New York (via Boston ) to be able to fly out from there to catch our connection to LAX.

Man, that was a horrible experience...

 

[3pletprincesses]

We drive to Syracuse every year from Ottawa. This past November we flew for under $200 each. Can't complain with such savings.

 

[tinkerone]

This is what I am hoping for now that I've booked with JetBlue for August 2014. We paid $436 return so surely those prices will drop. We travel annually (or more often) so we could definitely put those credits to good use on a future trip.

BTW...we are just down the 401 from you . A big hello from your Belleville neighbours .

hi back at ya! I see there is another person posting from Kingston as well, hi to you.

so question for those who fly from Ottawa. are they direct flights of do you stop over in person? what airlines do they offer? its seldom the price of our flights, its the taxes they throw on to our flights that are the killer.

 

[ariel68]

We have been busy shopping our flights since dates opened up for our August 2014 trip. Our closest Canadian airports, offering service to Orlando, are each a three hour drive for us, but with prices ranging from $550 to $650 pp, with at least one stop, it appears that we will be shopping around for flights from US Airports. The closest offering Orlando as a destination is a four hour drive, but they only fly two days per week, only one of which works for us (our return date). As it looks right now, we will fly out of Grand Forks or Fargo (5 to 6 hr drive), both of which had flights this week at $323 pp (with United and Delta). We have been waiting for Allegiant to release their rates, but as of now they have only released up to August 12, 2014 (our dates are Aug 27 to Sept 6).

Would really like to book asap, but would hate to book this far out and find out in three months we could have flown for less, so has anyone else booked for dates in August/ Sept in previous years, and when (how many months out) did you find your best deals?

Incidentally, I had found a tip on a site that suggested the best day/ time of week to book is Tuesday and so far that appears to be the case. Rates on Tuesday were 323, and every other day they have been between 353 and 364..hmm, maybe there is something in their logic after all

 

[mulan1123]

hi back at ya! I see there is another person posting from Kingston as well, hi to you.

so question for those who fly from Ottawa. are they direct flights of do you stop over in person? what airlines do they offer? its seldom the price of our flights, its the taxes they throw on to our flights that are the killer.

WestJest offers direct flights to and from Orlando. But I'm not sure how often, but I think everyday late in the day. We paid about $530 round trip pp.

 

[amie416]

We drive 1.5 hours to Buffalo from the east end of Toronto. If our decision was based solely on the cost savings, the scales wouldn't necessarily tip in favour of driving across the border. (We definitely save money on airfare, but not enough savings for 2 people to immediately justify the time and expense of driving, parking, and overnight stay if required.) That being said, we use the opportunity to do our cross-border shopping in Buffalo and Niagara on return trip. Between the outlet mall, Trader Joe's, and Supermarket Liquor for our duty free, we manage to make the trip well worth our while. Not having to pack our wine and alcohol purchases in checked bags and hope that the bottles won't break... priceless.

 

[grantclaire]

Hi. we are a 15 min car ride to Pearson and 90 mins to the Peace Bridge at Fort Erie. So I look at Pearson Flights first then decide if I want to wait for Buffalo flights to be released. The timing is important as AC and WJ release flight schedules much earlier then JetBlue, Southwest etc so if you wait the Pearson flights will be much higher. flying this December out of Buffalo, Next March out of Pearson. Buffalo airport is so easy to get out of, luggage is ready by the time you get to the carousel, no customs, Can be on your way in 20 mins.

 

[badiggio]

My daughter flew direct from Ottawa to Orlando Friday morning at 9:30 .She paid 420 return.With a stop we usually pay 350 or less.No traffic,hours of driving,weather or hotels to deal with and get there with the day ahead of us.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

My daughter flew direct from Ottawa to Orlando Friday morning at 9:30 .She paid 420 return.With a stop we usually pay 350 or less.No traffic,hours of driving,weather or hotels to deal with and get there with the day ahead of us.

When you say direct, are you meaning non-stop?

For our dates, we couldn't find any non-stop flights from Ottawa to Orlando . All of them had a layover.....with both WestJet and Air Canada. And even those flights with stops were more expensive than JetBlue from Syracuse, plus there would be (at least in some cases) seat selection fees, baggage charges, and food costs to add in. Those layovers made the air travel portion a lot longer than the journey from SYR, so for us, it would be worth the drive vs. the time spent at an airport.

 

[tinkerone]

My daughter flew direct from Ottawa to Orlando Friday morning at 9:30 .She paid 420 return.With a stop we usually pay 350 or less.No traffic,hours of driving,weather or hotels to deal with and get there with the day ahead of us.

what airline did she go with? that's a decent price but I havn't been able to find it any where in Canada.