Canadians on flight from Seattle

[sessa]

We are going to be on a cruise in February and want to take a flight from Seattle to either Miami or FLL. It is so much cheaper than taking a flight from Vancouver BC Canada. My question is...Has any of you Canadians done this before and if so were you turned away at the border or delayed for a long time while they rumaged through all your bags and personal belongs. Just wondering cuz we will have of course all our suitcases and don't want to have any problems and then lose our flight money and miss our cruise.

I phone the customs in Blaine Washington and the guy was a little abrupt and told me there is a chance we can be turned away...he was kinda rude when he stated this to me. Now I am scared to book a flight from there.

[mr green]

We are going to be on a cruise in February and want to take a flight from Seattle to either Miami or FLL. It is so much cheaper than taking a flight from Vancouver BC Canada. My question is...Has any of you Canadians done this before and if so were you turned away at the border or delayed for a long time while they rumaged through all your bags and personal belongs. Just wondering cuz we will have of course all our suitcases and don't want to have any problems and then lose our flight money and miss our cruise.

I phone the customs in Blaine Washington and the guy was a little abrupt and told me there is a chance we can be turned away...he was kinda rude when he stated this to me. Now I am scared to book a flight from there.

 

We go Princess air/sea, flying from YVR to Seattle, no problem at all. An added advantage is that Princess overnights us in Miami/FLL, and we are transported to the hotel, and to the ship. john

[Soccerfan]

Hi,

 

We often fly from Buffalo to Florida instead of from Toronto. Most times the cost of the flight is less than what we would be paying in taxes alone if we flew from here.

 

Our next flight leaves at 7.30am from Buffalo, we decided to book the Holiday Inn in Buffalo for $69.99 per night to save having to leave Toronto at about 4am.

 

We have never had problems at the border with crossing as we always carry our Canadian passports. Never been stopped and made to report to the big guys in the building.

 

We have never been treated any different at the Buffalo airport than US residents. Cases never searched etc.

 

I don't hesitate in flying this way. The only recommendation that I would make is to fly in to Florida at least the night before the cruise. This gives you flex time incase of any emergency.

 

I would not worry about flying from the US - just allow extra time and you'll be fine.

 

Have a great trip :D

[sessa]

Thanks alot...we will be giving it a try. Hope they are a nice at the borders here in the west. We will leave with lots of time in case they turn us away...we then could drive back to Vancouver and hopefully grab a flight to seattle from there. I guess that will be plan B and if plan A works out we will have lots of time to have 1,2,3,4 or more drinks :eek: before we leave...LOL

Just what we would need to end up falling asleep in the airport and end up missing the flight after being so worried about the border.:(

[DeLa Cruisers]

My husband and I always fly out of Buffalo (we live in Hamilton, ON), b/c we find it cheaper and extremely easy!!!!! Much easier than Toronto. And when we get to the Canada/U.S. border, we tell them we're going to the airport and are headed for a cruise, and they wish us well! No rummaging through bags/luggage. And it's a breeze at the airport b/c we've already cleared customs at the border. Headache free!!!!!!! :D

[sessa]

Dela

Thanks...it sounds a lot easier than going through the confusion and all the lines at the Canadian airport. The more people tell me this I feel more confident knowing that its all good. I was born in Hamilton and grew up there. I grew up on the mountain and went to Barton High.

We moved out West in 89...Dh and me. Were recently thinking of moving back...maybe near Barry but keep thinking we will miss the mountains and the smell of the ocean.Not sure if I would miss all this gloomy rain.

[DeLa Cruisers]

Sessa, where abouts on the mountain? I'm on the East Mountain and about five minutes away from Barton H.S.! Actually we're closer to Sherwood Secondary. What a coincidence!:)

[sirjude]

Hi there,

we have always flied out of Seattle to go to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, etc. It's so much cheaper due to the taxes that they charge at CDN airport. This Feb. we're going on a cruise fr Miami and due to it being the Super Bowl weekend which we didn't know when we booked the cruise, there are virtually no hotels to be had at anywhere under $400/night in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. We are flying to Orlando. We've never been there so thought we check it out. We're going to stay there for a few days and drive down to Miami on the day of the cruise.

We've never had any problem at the border. It helps to have a CDN passport. They'll ask some questions and waved you through.

Good luck with your travels and have fun on the cruise.

[KruznKel]

My SO's parents are avid cruiser's and always drive to Rochester or Syracuse NY to fly out of and never have any problems at the border.

 

We have considered this.. but for the few hundred in savings.. which I think is ate up with the 3hr drive.. gas..food... parking for the week maybe a hotel depending on flight time .. I would rather fly from home than have the dreaded 3hr drive home after the vacation..

 

Just my 2cents :)

[TeaBag]

Hi Sessa, why would the customs people turn you back? What if you were going to California on a camping trip? You'd have suitcases then too. As you can see, we live in Vancouver. We do this all the time with no problems. We will be doing it again 4 weeks from tomorrow and flying to Miami from Seattle.....so much cheaper. We do have a Nexus card which allows us to use the expedited lane so we don't have to wait much. They have never searched our suitcases yet, but we wouldn't care if they did. Are you travelling down by car? We usually do that a day ahead as we often fly very early in the morning. We stay at a Marriott Courtyard which allows us to park our car free because we have BCAA membership. It's 6 months or so since we last did this so I hope the parking is still free!! I hope this helps you to plan your cruise.:)

[sessa]

Sessa, where abouts on the mountain? I'm on the East Mountain and about five minutes away from Barton H.S.! Actually we're closer to Sherwood Secondary. What a coincidence!:)

 

Dela

I grew up on Toby Cresent...right off Broker Drive. When I went to H.S, Sherwood Heights was just being built and I had a choice of either school. We were right on the boundry of both. All my friends went to Barton so I picked it. When are you going on your next cruise? We leave January 26/07 and will return on February 20/07. We are now just going to book our flight and couldn't believe the price difference leaving from Seattle...wow. Was going to do it through the cruise ship as we get a hotel room included but it is way cheaper leaving from Seattle booking our own flight and paying the hotel ourselves.

[sessa]

Hi Sessa, why would the customs people turn you back? What if you were going to California on a camping trip? You'd have suitcases then too. As you can see, we live in Vancouver. We do this all the time with no problems. We will be doing it again 4 weeks from tomorrow and flying to Miami from Seattle.....so much cheaper. We do have a Nexus card which allows us to use the expedited lane so we don't have to wait much. They have never searched our suitcases yet, but we wouldn't care if they did. Are you travelling down by car? We usually do that a day ahead as we often fly very early in the morning. We stay at a Marriott Courtyard which allows us to park our car free because we have BCAA membership. It's 6 months or so since we last did this so I hope the parking is still free!! I hope this helps you to plan your cruise.:)

 

Teabag

When I phoned customs the guy was rude and told me it could be possible. He was really agressive with me. We rent a car when we go to the airport...usually from Avis. Then we have a rental waiting for us when we return. The first cruise we did a few years ago we rented a limo..we were thinking of doing that again this cruise but not if we leave from Seattle. It was kinda fun starting the vacation being picked up and not worrying about driving...parking or anything but getting to the hotel the the ship.

Enjoy your cruise and hope you don't have to pay for parking.

What is the Nexus card?

[TeaBag]

Many Cdn crossings have a separate lane which is designated for Nexus card holders. To get this card, you have to fill out an application form. You can get this form from their website.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel/nexus/faq-e.html

 

Then you wait about 8 weeks to be called in for an interview. You take your passport, ID etc and they fingerprint you. They also ask a lot of questions. You then get your picture taken for the card and you pay a one time fee of either $50 US or $80 Cdn:( . Obviously they don't keep up on the currency conversion!!!! It is worth it in any case and often saves up to an hour of waiting time at the border. Each person in the car needs a card. I'm sure the site above will answer any of your questions.

 

Sounds like you got a really grumpy guy! We have noticed lately they are being a bit more human and treating us as travellers instead of criminals.