Convince me to fly out of Buffalo!

[shaynar]

We usually fly out of Pearson, but I'm trying to cut costs this time and I'm thinking flying out of Buffalo might be best.

Background: I'm going with my 3 kids alone. In January.

Pros: The flight times I want are the cheapest ones - about 215 USD return.

My hesitations: I'm worried about driving two hours in the winter by myself with three kids. I would have to stay over the night before (because we'd take the 8 am flight out of BUF). Lastly, I'm most concerned about driving home at the end of the trip. (We would take the late flight out.) I have no desire to sit in the car for over 2 hours late at night at the end of the trip.

So convince me to do it. And if possible, give me hints on how to make it more enjoyable.

(Just to add - We're done flights out of Buffalo before, so I know what to expect and I know that it's so much easier to travel out of the buffalo airport, thus crossing the border in the car, than going through Pearson, but I'm still not convinced. I'm scared of the drive!!!!)

 

[jba2]

Would your husband drive you to and from Buffalo? I say go for it. If you don't want to drive home on the night you return, stay over in Buffalo.

 

[quandrea]

No help here. We always fly out of yyz. The idea of the extra drive especially at the end of the trip is horrible. We get off the plane in Toronto and are home within the half hour, forty minutes. Stalk the airline sites. I bet you get a good deal. We just paid $338 round trip in January with air Canada.

Your time is worth a lot.

 

[keaster]

We fly out of Buffalo a lot, but usually in spring/summer. We flew out of Buffalo in March this year...and for the return flight back the last big snowstorm of the year barreled through the east which meant we had an extra 2 days to our trip (oh well), but that same storm also shut down flights at yyz so we would've been in the same boat no matter what. That didn't stop us from booking out of Buffalo for next March break as the difference in price is just too big to ignore.

It's more what you are comfortable with, especially if you are travelling alone with your children. In January, I'm not sure I would want to do it.

 

[thr33boys]

Sorry, I can't comment on your actual post but just have to say that taking the trip by yourself with 3 kids at the ages that yours are at seems more daunting to me, then the airport decision.

I have 3 boys as well and you are much braver than I.

Good luck deciding and I wish you a magical trip!!!

 

[minnie56]

Buffalo is easy but not sure the deals are there right now with the dollar.
Just booked flights for November at $278 round trip with Air Canada which I'm happy with.

 

[grantclaire]

Hi, we have flown out of Buffalo and Pearson. One plus for Buffalo is shorter security lines and no US customs to clear which helps if you have young kids. The downside is the weather. Flights can be delayed or cancelled. Driving home can be bad as well. Our last trip took us twice as long to get home. Normal drive time for us 90 mins. We should have just stayed another night in Buffalo. You might want to look at indoor parking as we had a foot of snow on our car. If the weather is good Buffalo is a great airport.

 

[TommyJK]

All I will say is that it's "doable". My flight back from MCO to Buffalo was delayed by a couple of hours and we got back to Buffalo in late Jan, after lots of snow, at approx. 1:00 a.m. and I did the drive back to Toronto (got back at close to 4:00 a.m.)....... But at the time we saved $800-$900 on the whole trip based on the difference in cost. So it comes down to the decision if the extra hassle is worth the amount you'll save.

The way I justified all of it was that with the extra savings we added a visit to Universal that trip that we wouldn't have done otherwise as I was on a strict budget for the whole trip.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Have you looked at Waterloo???? I know they only fly on Thursdays (i think??) BUT being that there is only one runway, you have no need to show up gazillion hours early or worry that it will take forever to get through security. You'll have to go through customs in Orlando but that's no biggie. When you come home you will be the only flight going through customs. It's a very small but friendly airport.

 

[lauracitawita]

We usually fly out of Buffalo and love it, but this year with the exchange rate, the savings just wasn't worth it. I would look at yyz prices.

 

[Disneylover99]

Since it's the drive that's stressing you, I would plan on spending the night at a Buffalo hotel on your way home. That way, you can sleep in, check out at 11am and drive in the daylight.

 

[LemonNeko]

I'd price everything out and compare the two. Add in the cost of a hotel in Buffalo on the way back too. For the first night when you go down find a place that includes parking and a shuttle to the airport to help negate the cost.
I decided to fly from Buffalo in January at 230 US per person. I felt it was still worth the savings but I really had to think about it.

 

[allybabba98]

If cost is not a factor then I would look at Pearson. At that time of year and the time of the flight home I would rather be close to home. We are flying from Buffalo in a week but had booked before the dollar dropped as low as it is now.
Looking at other posts its looks like there are some great deals to be found. Due to the drive being all on you (no other adult) I would say go to Pearson. Good luck!

 

[TimR]

I'm doing the exact trip you have there - driving to a hotel near BUF to fly out early, then taking the late flight back which will put me back home around midnight, if the flight is on time and the weather cooperates. In January, with 3 kids, although I'll have a second adult along as well.

A big consideration for us was the age of our kids. Our twins will be 2 when we go, and even the thought of standing in that massive customs line at Pearson is stressful. The prices are lower - even with the exchange you'll probably save a lot if you book early. The parking is cheaper and closer to the airport. And you don't have to deal with Air Canada Rouge.

The only downside to BUF is the drive. We're about an hour from YYZ or 2.5 hours from BUF. A snowstorm will make the drive nasty to either airport. Since we have a hotel the night before that direction isn't a problem, if there's weather we'll just leave early and take it easy. On the way back I figure we'll make it at least as far as Niagara Falls, and get a hotel after we cross the border if we can't make it all the way home.

 

[dancin Disney style]

We mainly fly from BUF and have for years. I live only 20 minutes away from YYZ but I still prefer BUF. I booked for March break 2016 and only paid $440 USD for the 2 of us round trip. Even with the exchange rate it's still less than 1 ticket from YYZ.

OP...if the drive is a problem then book hotels for the night before departure and the night you return. You can even make it a little more cost effective by booking a hotel that includes parking while you are away. If that is not an option then I would say that you need to book from YYZ regardless of the cost.

 

[JFulmer]

Leaving tomorrow and staying Buffalo over night at a hotel with a "Stay and Park" package. We leave the car at the hotel for up to 10 days for only an small amount over the regular room rate.
It works out to be only $20 more than parking the car at the airport and we don't have to worry about crossing the boarder at 5AM for our 8:00AM flight.

 

[darwinsrule]

DW and I did a pile of trips from BUF pre-kids (damn I miss Vegas). First couple of trips post kids we spent the money and flew from YYZ. Yes it cost us quite a bit more but until we knew how well they traveled we took the easy route. First trip with the girls out of BUF was a surprise b-day trip for them when they turned 3 and 7 (b-days are 11 days apart). We have now done 7 trips since then and for the most part we haven't had an issue. Have they traveled before? Do they travel well?

First thing however is to be prepared. Navigating the airport will be a lot easier at BUF then YYZ (the lines at YYZ are the biggest pain and getting through them with the kids would be a pain). Biggest issue you will have is seating on the plane. You aren't getting four seats together. What are your plans? Have you done long car trips? How are you planning on entertaining them for the car ride, the time at the airport, and then the flight?

Actually flew back from Miami via FLL yesterday after a cruise. For us we can pull out of the driveway and be parking in a little over 2 hours. Drive home from time we got to car to home was a little over 2 hours. Had an 6:35 AM flight down on SW a week ago and stayed over at the Days Inn. Said this before but the last trip out of Pearson it took us 2 hours to get through Customs and get our bags and then still had to drive home. Going to require a long haul international to get us back to flying out of YYZ.

 

[smashing]

I'm flying out of Buffalo next week
We also have the 8am flight and an 8pm return. I knew I wouldn't want to drive back so we booked a room the night before and the return flight night as well. We received a pretty good deal for the rooms through peace bridge....saved extra by booking beginning and end trip rooms.

 

[lij1972]

I've traveled out of Buffalo in the winter. Travel insurance is a must!! Flying out of Buffalo, other than a delay due to de-icing I haven't had issues. My issues have been around my return flight to buffalo. While traveling in December from the Miami area, two years in a row, my connecting flight in Atlanta to Buffalo has been cancelled. Both times we needed to do an overnight in Atlanta. Once we flew back to Buffalo, the other we flew to Pearson (at no extra cost). With our flight to Buffalo, other than hanging around the airport on stand-by until our booked flight left, we had no issues. When we flew to Pearson our luggage was couriered to us a couple of days later. The other downside is that we had to go back to Buffalo and pick up our car. All our cost were covered by travel insurance. Needless to say, I try to avoid flying with connecting flights now. These cancellations would have happened if I was flying to Pearson as well.

I still prefer flling out of Buffalo (it's cheaper, customs is easier, the drive is easier, and it's a nice smaller airport), I just learn to take precautions in the winter.

 

[alc571]

No help here. We always fly out of yyz. The idea of the extra drive especially at the end of the trip is horrible. We get off the plane in Toronto and are home within the half hour, forty minutes. Stalk the airline sites. I bet you get a good deal. We just paid $338 round trip in January with air Canada.

Your time is worth a lot.

I second this. I would never consider flying out of Buffalo in the winter. No way, no how. I had a friend do it last year, and she ended up stranded in Orlando for an extra 5 days while Southwest tried to find her a flight home because the airport was closed down due to snow. I'd love the excuse to stay an extra week, but she and the kids were both missing school and didn't have the funds to support the extra week.