Convince me to fly out of Buffalo!

[dancin Disney style]

YYZ gets just as much snow and bad weather as BUF.

 

[TommyJK]

To the OP, Dunno what prices you were seeing before for YYZ-MCO. But I saw that AC just dropped flight prices today from YYZ in Jan/Feb (I've been flight $ watching daily for planned trip in Feb.)

In January you can get direct flights from AC for as low as $357 CAD and from Westjet as low as $321.

Factor in US Exchange on the $210 per flight, gas to and from BUF and the hotel for the night pre-flight in BUF and now you're probably near the same cost to fly direct out of YYZ.

 

[dancin Disney style]

OP....I just noticed your ticker. Easiest way to cut your costs is to not stay at deluxe resorts.

 

[dsneygirl]

YYZ gets just as much snow and bad weather as BUF.

You could probably find just as many people who have been stranded trying to get into Pearson than BUF. More actually because YYZ has way higher volume so I would take that out of the equation personally. I actually think BUF is better in bad weather because a) it's smaller, less aircraft competing for runway time b) it's Buffalo, snow is their middle name and they have equipment at the ready all the time.

As far as the drive, I would not want to drive home 2 hours exhausted with 2 kids by myself either (our drive is about 90min) so I would price out a hotel at either end and still see if you are coming out ahead. My safety and sanity is worth another $100 for a hotel. But if the prices are now pretty close I would probably just pick YYZ (even though I love everything about the BUF airport)

 

[dancin Disney style]

You could probably find just as many people who have been stranded trying to get into Pearson than BUF. More actually because YYZ has way higher volume so I would take that out of the equation personally. I actually think BUF is better in bad weather because a) it's smaller, less aircraft competing for runway time b) it's Buffalo, snow is their middle name and they have equipment at the ready all the time.

I completely agree and have made those points before only to have people jump all over it saying that I was wrong.

 

[dsneygirl]

I completely agree and have made those points before only to have people jump all over it saying that I was wrong.

Thanks. People look at me like I have 2 heads when I say that. But I've also worked at Pearson for 11 years so I am pretty familiar with what happens to that place in a snowstorm.

 

[grantclaire]

Sometimes it is not the snow in Buffalo that is the problem, its the blowing snow on the QEW on your drive back home!

 

[dsneygirl]

Sometimes it is not the snow in Buffalo that is the problem, its the blowing snow on the QEW on your drive back home!

Fair enough but you can make that argument about any drive to or from Pearson unless you live in Etobicoke really. If you have to go east or west towards Oshawa or Kitchener, or north on the 400. All could be crappy in a snow storm.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Fair enough but you can make that argument about any drive to or from Pearson unless you live in Etobicoke really. If you have to go east or west towards Oshawa or Kitchener, or north on the 400. All could be crappy in a snow storm.

Yep, that's us . Regardless of whether we fly from Toronto, Syracuse or Buffalo, we have a multi-hour drive home. Inclement weather is going to cause us to get an extra night in a hotel no matter which airport we use.

 

[JessLyn]

I say fly out of Buffalo, but that's because that's where we live (well, we live between Buffalo and Niagara Falls). Couple of things, though. Because the airport is in Cheektowaga, it doesn't tend to get hit hard by the really bad storms. The lake effect, 6-feet of snow out of the blue, kind of storms typically happen south of the city, and just south of Cheektowaga. So you're really dealing with the snow storms that everyone knows about ahead of time and are prepared for. I believe that the Buffalo airport has a pretty good record of closures/delays due to snow/ice because we know it's coming and we know how to deal with it. Driving from the airport to the border, you will usually be driving out of the snow. Another potential problem is what time of year are you driving? Border crossing between American Thanksgiving and New Years can be a real hassle on the weekends. Fridays and Sundays especially.

If you are looking for restaurant suggestions in and around the airport/Buffalo area, let me know. The best chicken wings are at Duffs.

 

[shaynar]

Thank you all for your replies! I'm definitely stalking Air Canada for prices. I'm just imagining the drive in the winter with the kids, and for sure it's not happening You've all really helped me! (Not that I'm bit the airfare bullet yet, so I guess it's still up in the air... pardon the pun!)

OP....I just noticed your ticker. Easiest way to cut your costs is to not stay at deluxe resorts.

Dancin Disney Style, while I appreciate your post, that was uncalled for. We know what our budget is and work accordingly. This post was about airfare, not about how to cut the costs of my entire vacation down. We have very very strict food requirements that require a full kitchen and thus stay at DVC properties on points.

 

[MamaLema]

I would never do that in winter with 3 little boys by myself, but good luck with your decision.

 

[thr33boys]

Dancin Disney Style, while I appreciate your post, that was uncalled for. We know what our budget is and work accordingly. This post was about airfare, not about how to cut the costs of my entire vacation down. We have very very strict food requirements that require a full kitchen and thus stay at DVC properties on points.

Ouch....perhaps a better choice of words could have been...

Thanks Dancin Disney Style for noticing and trying to help in other ways. While I wish we didn't have to stay deluxe so we could save costs, we have diet restrictions in our party that make a full kitchen necessary. Fortunately, though, we were able to still save some of the costs by renting points.

 

[dancin Disney style]

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.

Your own words....you said "cut costs" nothing there about cutting only flight costs.

 

[Erin2012]

We did Pearson last time and the having to be there 3 hours before, wait at customs and general craziness of that airport were enough that I'm trying Buffalo this time. The flights are cheaper, hotel was the same as my long term parking at Pearson and the additional drive is 30 minutes more for me than going to TO. Fingers crossed that the wait times at the border are light.

 

[hockeygirl14]

We fly out of Buffalo frequently in the winter. The airport isn't that far over the boarder and the savings make a huge difference. We make a day of it and hit the galleria/olive garden and spend the night in the hotel. Lots of hotels have park & fly options which can save you some money on parking. Book a hotel across from the airport for the night you get back and head back in the morning! Just make sure to get some travel insurance and you're set

 

[darwinsrule]

We did Pearson last time and the having to be there 3 hours before, wait at customs and general craziness of that airport were enough that I'm trying Buffalo this time. The flights are cheaper, hotel was the same as my long term parking at Pearson and the additional drive is 30 minutes more for me than going to TO. Fingers crossed that the wait times at the border are light.

There are a number of APPs that give wait-times for the border both ways. We always make the determination about the time we are driving through St. Catherines. On the way back we normally check wait-times as we are grabbing out bags (the airport has free WI-FI and they actually have the wait-times on their mobile site).

 

[Chickkypoo]

I usually fly out of Buffalo, but the last few trips I've found much better prices flying out of Toronto (I'm flying in April for around $360 round trip). I've found flying out of Pearson has gotten a lot easier the past year or so since they've streamlined the customs procedures on both sides.

 

[minnie56]

Saw some good flights today for January ( and sooner ) with Air Transat and Westjet.
$283 CAD return. Pretty good?!

 

[Sunshine25]

We have always flown from BUF, however, for our trip in December, I just booked with Sunwing at a cheaper fare than SW or JB. And its in CDN currency.