Airfare from East Coast

msb578 · Jan 28, 2016

Thank you all, again

An update: I actually did look at Laguardia, and it looks like it could be worth the drive. I'm from Long Island originally.

But the thing that stood out the most was actually Pearson (Toronto). I know that a lot of Canadians try to avoid that place... but I'm seeing several instances of $291 RT (in U.S. dollars) on Air Canada, direct to LAX.

Would I be crazy to haul my family of 5 on a four hour drive, across the border, only to then go through customs again later? We all have passports, so it's all technically doable.

I feel like it's a little crazy

skier_pete · Jan 29, 2016

msb578 said:
Thank you all, again

An update: I actually did look at Laguardia, and it looks like it could be worth the drive. I'm from Long Island originally.

But the thing that stood out the most was actually Pearson (Toronto). I know that a lot of Canadians try to avoid that place... but I'm seeing several instances of $291 RT (in U.S. dollars) on Air Canada, direct to LAX.

Would I be crazy to haul my family of 5 on a four hour drive, across the border, only to then go through customs again later? We all have passports, so it's all technically doable.

I feel like it's a little crazy

Well - if you are talking about saving $500-$700 - I don't think the idea of flying out of Pearson is insane. We are definitely thinking of using Pearson to fly internationally next year, though admittedly for us it is only about 2 hours to drive there. Also, if it's a direct flight that's pretty good too - it would save you several hours of layover versus flying out of say Buffalo on SWA. I will even have to look at that option in the future.

I am hoping that the Canadian exchange rate will start making it look less appealing for Canadians to fly out of Buffalo. It makes our airline prices brutal at certain times.

BrownHP800 · Feb 14, 2016

Since you are planning pretty far out, there are plenty of easy ways to get *free airfaire. Look into airline credit card rewards programs. Many can get you 2 round trip tickets by meeting a minimum spend. Most people can easily hit this with just their regular spending. That is what I did with Southwest. We are leaving for DL this June. Costs me $11.20 per ticket round trip for the fees. The rest is points.

smartlabelprint · Feb 15, 2016

mrsksmithvt said:
Has anyone done better than that recently? Any tips? My home airport is Syracuse, but we could drive a bit. And we're open to any destination airport.

Vermonter here. We used our Costco card and booked a one way rental BTV (Burlington Airport) to BOS (Boston Airport) for $15.02 a 3 hour drive. Flew JetBlue to Phoenix $149 each way for 4 people; over $430 each from BTV plus 4 hour layover in JFK. Car rental from Phoenix Airport for 2 weeks $270 w/ axes a fees; visiting in laws. 5 hour drive, easy but long. I wish we had researched the packages on Costco for Disneyland for our Hotel and tickets we could have saved a bunch more, plus a Character Meal included; much better options than WDW. We stayed at the Residence Inn Marriott only two blocks, easy walk. Full kitchen which is a plus with two growing boys. I think we have walked further to our car from our room at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House then our walk to Disneyland.

I have not found the Costco travel packages cheaper. So I don't bother comparing anymore. However, if you're doing a rare cross country trip I'd compare.

Alaska air also flies out of Newark. I don't know the difference in location vs Boston.

realrellim · Feb 15, 2016

I don't think it's crazy. I did that once to visit my then-boyfriend (now husband of 16 years). We live in Colorado and have done all sorts of crazy things to get semi-reasonable airfare to fly out to visit upstate NY in-laws. My in-laws used to live in Rochester, and we've flown into Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, and even Albany to visit them. They've since moved to Plattsburgh, so now we look at Albany, Burlington, Montreal, Syracuse and even Boston ('cause we could stop and visit my uncle on the way to see them). No matter what, it's been insanely expensive for the last few years and was never exactly reasonable to begin with.

FWIW, we were so frustrated with the experience of flying out east (with its minimum of at least one layover) and the insane amount of time and money it takes that we actually piled our two kids and miniature poodle into the car and drove from Denver to Plattsburgh for Christmas this year, stopping to see some of my relatives in Chicago on the way. Crazy, but 100% worth it. We still all agree that it was so much better than flying, even when we hit the icy sleet mix in Indiana. So yeah, I'd drive to Toronto or a few hours in another direction if the fare was worth it.

Tinetine · Feb 15, 2016

We are leaving for Disneyland in 12 days ! From Montreal, the best deal I could find was to drive to JFK and fly to Long Beach airport. The tickets cost me 1192.80$ USD with Jet Blue. I also have to factor in the hotel we are staying at on the way there ( we crossing the border the night before our flight, just to be sure), and we are also doing a Park and Stay deal at the Sheraton because our flight back lands at 10:30 pm. The Sheraton is 300$ for parking for 10 days/1 night stay /breakfast. We are a family of four, and it will likely be a hassle to have so many different steps to our trip, but ut's the only was this could work financially. I booked these flights in December, so looking earlier you might get better flight hours that might make it unnecessary to book hotels on the way.

MomForFrozenAddicts · Feb 17, 2016

I started looking last June for the coming April trip to DL. The flights from JetBlue & Southwest were not open. The cheapest option was Virgin America from JFK to LAX for $360. JetBlue was open with a $650+ tag, and by then Virgin America was $420 (and up $10 every few days). I signed up for every airfare watch but the price was not moving. While eating lunch at DTD, I was checking again. Delta had it at $356. I booked 3 tickets with my Delta Amex for free 1st luggage. Booked another ticket with my other Amex which gave me a $50 air credit. (Currently, Amex has an offer for $50 statement credit for Virgin America) The price did get lower to $340 in a week but has been up ever since. I really want to use Southwest, but their schedule open very late. For my August trip, I already booked with JetBlue--I'm afraid to wait and the price would be higher. With the crazy fares in the past few years, I learned to book whenever I'm comfortable with the price.

kathy884 · Feb 17, 2016

I'm flying my sister-in-law to LAX from Newark next January to visit LA/Disneyland with us. I looked at flights this year to see what I might need to budget and with baggage fees $400 looked pretty close to what I would have to pay. For us, we will fly Southwest using freebie points. I didn't see any direct flights for her on Southwest with good times for meeting us, though. We'll be flying out from St. Louis, MO and I was just happy to see that we could both have flights that if on time arrive within a 1/2 hour of each other.

I know what you mean though. Add people and those flying costs really get high. // Orlando is closer and cheaper for us so that's probably why I've been there tons of times and this will be my first trip as an adult to Disneyland. I went there in 1964 when I was four. I think it will be a blast though.

msb578 · Feb 17, 2016

kathy884 said:
I'm flying my sister-in-law to LAX from Newark next January to visit LA/Disneyland with us. I looked at flights this year to see what I might need to budget and with baggage fees $400 looked pretty close to what I would have to pay. For us, we will fly Southwest using freebie points. I didn't see any direct flights for her on Southwest with good times for meeting us, though. We'll be flying out from St. Louis, MO and I was just happy to see that we could both have flights that if on time arrive within a 1/2 hour of each other.

I know what you mean though. Add people and those flying costs really get high. // Orlando is closer and cheaper for us so that's probably why I've been there tons of times and this will be my first trip as an adult to Disneyland. I went there in 1964 when I was four. I think it will be a blast though.

It's so true. We can drive to Orlando if we have to (and we've done it). Driving to California is not in our immediate plans

WDW is great, and I know we'll be back there. And we want to check out the DVC resort in Hilton Head too (even though we don't own DVC).

I've been to LA before, and sadly I passed on the chance to visit DL. I was a "that's lame" 18 year old. Now I regret it!

Toronto to LAX is really tempting. It just posted at $285 RT, Air Canada.

lizzytizzy · Feb 27, 2016

I have credits from my JetBlue travel bank. Can I use these credits if I booked my flight through Costco?

Sur · Feb 27, 2016

sharona said:
You may already know this but just in case you don't or for othere wHo may be interested... if you get the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa you get an annual $99 rt companion fare. The card has a $75 annual fee so essentially getting the second fare for $200 rt once you add in taxes etc. We used these companion pass fares to get to Hawaii from Boston for what worked out to be about $500 pp but they can also be used for Boston to CA.

these are space available seats, not positive space. OP, if you can find a friend or relative that has buddy passes, this would be the cheapest way to go- not space positive but would be possible with a little planning.

sharona · Feb 27, 2016

Sur said:
these are space available seats, not positive space. OP, if you can find a friend or relative that has buddy passes, this would be the cheapest way to go- not space positive but would be possible with a little planning.

I have no idea what you're trying to say here.

kathy884 · Feb 28, 2016

msb578 said:
It's so true. We can drive to Orlando if we have to (and we've done it). Driving to California is not in our immediate plans WDW is great, and I know we'll be back there. And we want to check out the DVC resort in Hilton Head too (even though we don't own DVC).

I've been to LA before, and sadly I passed on the chance to visit DL. I was a "that's lame" 18 year old. Now I regret it!

Toronto to LAX is really tempting. It just posted at $285 RT, Air Canada.

Hey when you're 18 you're 18. And priorities are so different. Don't beat up your 18 year old self. And be happy that you enjoy things know that you thought were lame back then and have fun at places like Disneyland and do have the opportunity again. // But I totally can relate to this. I'm in the same boat when I look back at my 19 year old self. The one great experience I passed up at 19, was that my Aunt who was a travel agent and knew that my job (great summer job -- by the way at US Steel) had just ended and I had a few weeks off before going back to college, told me about the great last travel deal that travel agent's could do with their families (immediate and extended) to see if I wanted to do a trip with her, my mom, and my cousin (who I traveled with before and had a great time with). We could have flown round trip to Amsterdam for $49 pp -- yes just $49 in August (and we all had a time off too. Plus I love Europe and back then the long flights would not have bothered me either. I don't like them as much at 55.). I said that sounds great, but I already have other plans -- I passed that off for a mini trip with my boyfriend at the time to see a concert in Wisconsin, a few days camping and seeing the sites in Minneapolis, and a visit to the northern part of the state to visit my boyfriend's great aunt and uncle. // Oh and I broke up with this same boyfriend about a year later too. This beloved aunt and cousin too are both now deceased too. I did have many other opportunities for great times with my aunt. The same can't be said, though, about times with that cousin who joined the Military, was away so much, and died way too soon at age 24. // Something else that I didn't realize back then too is that once you are working full time (out of school) it's very common not to have the time, money, or opportunities for things like that for a long time. Now that I'm closer to the end vs. the beginning of my working career I have about 28 vacations days a year, but I started off out of college, with only 6 days of vacation a year, then 12 days for a few years, finally three weeks, etc. (a bit of a shock and adjustment for sure).

Ydnameht · Feb 28, 2016

I fly from Ithaca (or SYR/ELM/BGM) to San Diego every summer. I've yet to find a reliable method for finding cheap airfare to southern California. Usually I just start checking as early as possible and hope for the best. I've paid anywhere from $260-$500 for a RT flight. When I went to LAX a couple years ago at the end of February I think we paid about $360/person. Likely would have been cheaper if I'd been able to purchase airfare earlier.

SW often has fare sales. Though from Rochester they've yet to be useful for me for any destination/dates. I keep hoping!

I've never even considered flying out of any of the NYC area airports. The savings aren't worth it in my opinion (I flew out of Ithaca connecting to Newark last year on a trip and my sister took the same flight direct from Newark and the costs were almost identical). No way I want to add a 4-5 (or possibly more) hour drive to the already long travel time it takes to fly across the country. Plus if you're driving there's the cost of gas and tolls and parking. But I'm usually traveling alone, not with 5 people, so that would obviously affect decision making!

mfleeting · Feb 28, 2016

We decided to fly out of Newark instead of Boston. Even with tolls, gas, hotel, and parking for the week it will still be about $500 cheaper than if we flew from Boston. I did of course find good prices out of Boston at one point but sat on it a little to long....

msb578 · Jan 5, 2017

OP here- just want to say thanks again after all this time, and also:

My first trip to DLR is getting close to reality! There's a good chance I'll be in Southern California in September this year.

The best option I've found, by far, is JetBlue from Buffalo to LAX. They have a direct flight each way daily. It can get as low as $200 RT. I'll be thrilled if I can get that.

3TinksAndAnEeyore · Jan 6, 2017

msb578 said:
OP here- just want to say thanks again after all this time, and also:

My first trip to DLR is getting close to reality! There's a good chance I'll be in Southern California in September this year.

The best option I've found, by far, is JetBlue from Buffalo to LAX. They have a direct flight each way daily. It can get as low as $200 RT. I'll be thrilled if I can get that.

I feel your pain! We are very infrequent visitors to WDW for the same reason. The rest of the trip to WDW (hotels, ticket, food) costs quite a bit less than an equivalent trip to DLR. But it costs our family of four about $2000 to fly from Northern California to Orlando.

But even if I could find a screaming airline deal whenever I wanted, we would still choose to go to Disneyland instead of WDW for most of our trips. So good luck with those airline flights!

minorthr · Jan 6, 2017

I recently booked 3 people Philly to Lax it was $400 a person but I had some travel vouchers from american that took care of half the cost.

drea21 · Jan 6, 2017

We fly out of Pittsburgh and Southwest recently started flying nonstop to LAX, we are going this February and booked with points, but I've seen it as low as $104 each way, when you add in 2 free checked bags per person I think it's a steal! the flightswere actually cheaper/less points our week to go to LAX over Orlando. Seems like the peak season prices to LAX are way more, but FebrUary this year was awesome! Good luck!

LdnCpl · Jan 7, 2017

I just booked on Southwest this past Thurs Jan 5 when the dates I am going (July 3-6) opened up. I am Canadian but live close enough to the border that I am flying out of Buffalo to LAX. For 2 ppl I got return airfare from Buffalo for $495.70 ($247.85 pp). The trick is to monitor Southwest, do online searches to see if someone is posting the dates they are opening up and be ready early in the am on the day it opens up if it includes the days you are going on vacation. I booked at 7am and by 9am the same flights would have cost me $1017.00

Airfare from East Coast

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