Canadian flying out of the U.S.

[Powriv]

On the west coast here there is a shuttle service between Vancouver and Seattle. www.quickshuttle.ca

 

Perhaps there is a similar service in Ontario. Or perhaps the train to points in the states would be cheaper than parking at whatever airport you use

[monicajay]

Do not be cheap. Book a flight from the nearest airport from your house. Enjoy your vacation. Remember do not forget to get your travel vaccinations as you would not want to get hepatitis and ruin your trip.

 

 

Funny you would say this as you live in New York, it is not only a question of being cheap. If you lived in Canada as I do you might be thrilled to drive across the border to save a few dollars. This year in February, I saved about $200.00 each (X3) for our tickets to Fort Lauderdale by leaving from Burlington.

 

Not only did I save about $600.00 in money, I covered the extra driving time because in Montreal we need to check in 2.5 hours before the flight to clear US customs. When I leave from Burlington we arrive about 45min before the flight and clear customs in our car and it takes 5-15 minutes.

 

Burlington is a small, easy airport- very little stress, Montreal on the other hand is like every other major city- busy!

[Ephraim]

Okay, this might be a silly question, I am trying to find a fairly cheap flight to Miami for 3 in January 2010. I had read somewhere on CC boards that it is cheaper to drive to the States and get a flight out from there. Does anyone have the answer to this? I live between Ottawa & Toronto.

Thanks for any answers you can give me.

Kath:)

 

A few suggestions....

 

Burlington, Vermont

Plattsburgh, NY has limited flights on Allegiant, but good prices from time to time.

Saranac Lake, NY (SLK) or Massena, NY (MSS) sometimes have flights.

Syracuse, NY

Rochester, NY

and if you are closer to Toronto, Buffalo, NY

[boone2]

We've flown from Buffalo two or three times and find it a pleasant airport, however i much prefer to fly from Toronto, why is everyone so down on TO, I find the airport great especially the new terminal, and it's only 45 mins from home. Going through US security there is another story though, the guards at the bridges are much nicer!!!

Terry

[IndyKat]

Wow! You guys have given me a lot of info, quite a few of you have saved a "LOT" of money just by driving to the States.

Well, good news, the cruise is now booked , hooray :D so I will definitely be looking in to flights from both Canada & the States. Truly amazing the price difference for travelling 3-5 hours by car!! Well now I have lots of time to figure this out and not have to worry about booking a flight right away, unless I find an amazing price I can't refuse. :-)

Thank you all once again, you have all been very helpful.

Kath:)

[skf]

Do remember that Buffalo's winter weather tends to be nastier than their neighbours' in Toronto.

Steve

[pms4104]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm pretty sure now after all the info everyone have given me, that we will go ahead and book the cruise and figure out the airfare later on. I truly appreciate everyone helping me out here.

All the best and thanks once again.

Kath:)

As you plan your holiday ... keep in mind that the Pro Bowl will be January 31, and the Super Bowl February 7, both in Miami. So, if your intended trip involves timeframes surrounding these dates, your air and hotel prices will be sky high no matter where you decide to fly from.

[Nunu]

Wow! You guys have given me a lot of info, quite a few of you have saved a "LOT" of money just by driving to the States.

Well, good news, the cruise is now booked , hooray :D so I will definitely be looking in to flights from both Canada & the States. Truly amazing the price difference for travelling 3-5 hours by car!! Well now I have lots of time to figure this out and not have to worry about booking a flight right away, unless I find an amazing price I can't refuse. :-)

Thank you all once again, you have all been very helpful.

Kath:)

The best money saving advice I can give you is to sign up for one of the online fare watching sites. I saved over $400 on our 5 tickets when a one day special popped up out of the blue on kayak.com. I haven't seen those fares in the month since I grabbed them.

[tatay]

Based on where you live, you are really looking at just 1.5 hours more of driving whether you fly out of Buffalo or Rochester since you will have to drive to Toronto or Ottawa anyway. I normally save at least $200 per person flying out of Buffalo, with 4 of us flying, take $80 for parking, $20 for gas and toll, that's a quick $700 for shopping, drink of the day, etc.

 

Just to sample, I checked Florida flights for August (4 people), US$762 for AirTran out of Buffalo. US$1550 for AC out of Toronto.

[Nunu]

Based on where you live, you are really looking at just 1.5 hours more of driving whether you fly out of Buffalo or Rochester since you will have to drive to Toronto or Ottawa anyway. I normally save at least $200 per person flying out of Buffalo, with 4 of us flying, take $80 for parking, $20 for gas and toll, that's a quick $700 for shopping, drink of the day, etc.

 

Just to sample, I checked Florida flights for August (4 people), US$762 for AirTran out of Buffalo. US$1550 for AC out of Toronto.

 

And the parking is usually a wash if you need to leave your car at the airport in toronto.

[vacation_junkie]

Okay, this might be a silly question, I am trying to find a fairly cheap flight to Miami for 3 in January 2010. I had read somewhere on CC boards that it is cheaper to drive to the States and get a flight out from there. Does anyone have the answer to this? I live between Ottawa & Toronto.

Thanks for any answers you can give me.

Kath:)

 

I am flying to Texas next month..out of toronto is it $859 Canadain

Out of buffalo $257.

[twoputt.plusone]

Do not be cheap. Book a flight from the nearest airport from your house.

 

That's easy for you to say. As an American, I doubt that you have any idea what flights from Canada cost. That's why so many of us who live within a couple of hour's drive from the border chose to fly from the States. We took several of our grandchildren to Florida just over a year ago. The price to fly from Toronto was over CDN $3200. I got flights out of Buffalo non-stop to Orlando for under US $1600. That's why we do it. Not for the fun of a 2+ hour drive.

 

Now to the OP. I'm lucky that we live 2 hours from Buffalo meaning that it's been many years since we've flown out of Canada. You don't have that advantage but you might want to check Westjet to Orlando. It's central to most of the ports and renting a car and driving to the pier might work for you. Just be flexible and think outside the box. I hope it all works out for you. :)

 

2P.P1

[Grayce]

That's easy for you to say. As an American, I doubt that you have any idea what flights from Canada cost. That's why so many of us who live within a couple of hour's drive from the border chose to fly from the States. We took several of our grandchildren to Florida just over a year ago. The price to fly from Toronto was over CDN $3200. I got flights out of Buffalo non-stop to Orlando for under US $1600. That's why we do it. Not for the fun of a 2+ hour drive.

 

 

How true!

 

The cheapest direct flight I could find from Toronto was over $2200. I am flying from Buffalo for $596. Totally worth a few hour drive to save that much.:rolleyes:

[vacation_junkie]

Okay, this might be a silly question, I am trying to find a fairly cheap flight to Miami for 3 in January 2010. I had read somewhere on CC boards that it is cheaper to drive to the States and get a flight out from there. Does anyone have the answer to this? I live between Ottawa & Toronto.

Thanks for any answers you can give me.

Kath:)

 

For some odd reason when we went in January it was cheaper to fly from Toronto...That NEVER usually happens..we paid $778 canadian for the 3 of us to fly to Orlando..Tango $99 each way..with AC....

Also check Sunwing..they do charter to Florida

[kenish]

Flash back to the late 80's/early 90's. Remember NAFTA? I thought it was supposed to remove this sort of tariffs and trade barriers between Canada and the US. Oh well....

 

Instead it made the US/Mexico border more porous.

[iancal]

Last time we flew Seattle FLL return the fare was $301USD per ticket. There were two of us. Best available air from Vancouver was $768CAD per at the time. We used the savings to pay for a hotel and spend a day/night in Seattle. One tip....we find that it is much better to have the airlines convert from US to CAD and then charge your account vs. being charged in USD and having the credit card do the coversion. THe airlines, especially AA seem to offer the best exchange rates that I have seen. At least 5 percent lower than the VISA rate for a transaction done on the same day, almost the same time. Many, many of our friends fly out of Buffalo or Detroit. The savings can be substanial if several are travelling...depending on fare structures at the time.

[FlyerTalker]

Flash back to the late 80's/early 90's. Remember NAFTA? I thought it was supposed to remove this sort of tariffs and trade barriers between Canada and the US. Oh well....

The higher air pricing for Canadian flights has nothing to do with governmental tariffs or trade barriers for international trade. It is a result of Canadian government fees/taxation on air travel that involves Canadian airports, whether or not it crosses the border. NAFTA never was intended to deal with internal taxation issues of sovereign governments.

 

If anyone has an issue with the fees/taxes involved with air travel to/from/in Canada, direct your complaints to Ottawa.

[cjpj]

Just can't help from chiming in on this one. We live in Mississauga, so it's about a 1 1/2 drive to Buffalo. We've flown out of Buffalo for our last two cruises in Jan. and a couple of other US trips. We plan on flying out of Buffalo for our cruise this Jan. We just allow extra time for bad weather -- sometimes we book a hotel for the night before; sometimes not. It depends on the time of our flight and what the 5-7 day forecast looks like. If we do book a hotel, sometimes I use Priceline (last hotel was 39.00 and great) and Fast Track Parking or I use the Hotel park and fly programs - depending on what is cheaper. When you consider the time you spend af Pearson going through both customs and security -- the drive is not that long. Already clear customs driving down (usually it's at off hours and you drive right up to the custom agent) and the security at Buffalo is way faster than Pearson.

One thing - rarely get a direct flights to FLL or LAX. We usually fly Delta so end up changing plane is ATL. But you can get direct flights on Jet Blue to both. Another thing to consider - generally you are not taking an "international" flight - so you need to consider the "luggage charge" in your costs.

And my holiday start when I leave the house -- so the journey to Buffalo is just part of the adventure....

[kenish]

The higher air pricing for Canadian flights has nothing to do with governmental tariffs or trade barriers for international trade.

 

Thanks for clarifying...I thought there was a tax for flights across the border on top of the domestic ones

[IndyKat]

It's really sounding like a trip to Buffalo might be in the works. We were planning on leaving 2 days prior to our Saturday Cruise , so this will give us the extra time if we decide to drive across the border.

With all of your "amazing " deals you have got, I think it might be well worth it.

Thank you all once again.

Kath:)

[DanJ]

Thanks for clarifying...I thought there was a tax for flights across the border on top of the domestic ones

 

It's not so much a cross border tax as it is that you pay both Canadian and US taxes and security fees. In many cases, the US fees can be as much or more than the Canadian fees, but when you have to pay both, that just makes it harder for Canadian airports to compete. Not to mention the higher competition in the US, and the bankruptcy fares that have been the norm there for so long.

 

Here's an example for an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Ft Lauderdale in late April, returning the first week in May.

 

Passenger Type Adult

Departing Flight - Tango 109.00

Returning Flight - Tango Plus 199.00

Surcharges NAV 15.00

Taxes, Fees and Charges

Canada Airport Improvement Fee SQ 20.00

U.S.A Transportation Tax US 39.90

U.S Agriculture Fee XA 6.20

Air Travellers Security Charge (ATSC) CA 7.94

U.S Passenger Facility Charge XF 5.58

Canada Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST #10009-2287 RT0001) XG 17.55

September 11 Security Fee AY 3.10

U.S.A Immigration User Fee XY 8.67

Total airfare and taxes before options (per passenger) $431.94 CDN

 

Here's the same dates, on Jetblue from Buffalo, non-stop flights

 

Going Out

Airfare / Adult ( details) $ 106.05 USD

Taxes / Adult ( details) $ 18.55 USD

Subtotal / $ 124.60 USD

X 1 Adult $ 124.60 USD

 

Coming Back

Airfare / Adult ( details) $ 120.00 USD

Taxes / Adult ( details) $ 19.60 USD

Subtotal / $ 139.60 USD

X 1 Adult $ 139.60 USD

 

Total $264.20 USD

 

On the Air Canada flight, out of approx $124 in extra charges, about $63 is US fees. Buffalo has about $38 in taxes and fees.

[FlyerTalker]

Thanks for clarifying...I thought there was a tax for flights across the border on top of the domestic ones

There may very well be an immigration fee, but that's not covered by NAFTA. Rather, it's a fee to offset the costs of immigration and customs, and is found when entering many countries.

 

Here's an IATA document that lists taxes and fees around the world. Interesting reading if you want to delve into the subject. Or, if you are just curious about what those codes are in the fare computation part of your e-ticket receipt.

 

One note...this is a "sample' from 2002. So, many of the Canadian fees are since 2002 and do not show up here. If you want the current one, it's only $724, with 4 quarterly updates. And that's for a web download...they charge $908 for it on CD.

[Addictedtwo]

We too are Canadian (Toronto) I have researched Buffalo, Hamilton, Detroit for well over a dozen cruises and when you add it all up we still end up flying direct out of Toronto.

[Nunu]

We too are Canadian (Toronto) I have researched Buffalo, Hamilton, Detroit for well over a dozen cruises and when you add it all up we still end up flying direct out of Toronto.

 

Then you need to hook us up with your contacts because I've never come close (within 40%) of flying out of Toronto than BUF/DTW.