FAQ: Flying Out of Buffalo OR Detroit

[theweave]

I have to say that BUFFALO AIRPORT ROCKS! I flew out of there to MCO on March 19 and it was a breeze! I flew non stop with SWA both ways and it was only $298.00 USD, which is still 300 cheaper than TO!

The comparison of BUF to DTW is 1.5 hour drive to BUF and 3 hours to DTW, price of gas pretty much negated any savings between the two. Not to mention that the Peace Bridge is a breeze to cross at!

I love that they expanded the Security area at BUF too, though I miss the cheap Burger King there! It is faster clearing security now than before!

Lots of Park and Fly hotels around there too. I stayed at the Sleep Inn by the airport and it was good... I didn't park the car this time but last year we did and it was not too bad if I remember.

 

[jenbear123]

I have always used Toronto Pearson International Airport but now that I see you can save tons flying out of Buffalo, this whole idea has captivated me. We're planning a short trip July 18-21 and flights from TO have already gone up. Paying $200USD compared to $410CAD looks to be quite the bargain...

BUT There are some things that concern me though:

1. If we get travel insurance (i.e. medical and/or trip cancellation) will flights out of Buffalo be covered?

2. Driving from Thornhill area, is it really worth the cost of gas, hotel, and parking to drive to Buffalo? After it's all said and done, don't you end up paying the original cost of a flight out of Toronto?

3. Do U.S. customs give you a hard time with holding a Canadian passport? Departing from Buffalo and when returning?

Any advice is appreciated

 

[MrMarv]

In light of the rock-bottom $186.00 R/T airfare from LAX/BUF on SWA right now, what are my options from getting from Buffalo to Toronto (downtown or airport), and how much should I expect to spend?

Thanks!!!

 

[Ham Ham]

Do you have a car?

If not this may be the most economical way to GO.
http://www.megabus.com/us/

 

[MrMarv]

Thanks for that link--I appreciate it.

Toronto's public transportation is among the best in the world, and arguably the best in North America (apologies to Montreal & San Francisco).

Although I haven't visited Toronto in over a decade. I hope that it's still as exceptional now as it was in the mid-nineties.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We are flying out of BUF in August and are looking for a park/sleep/fly hotel - which ones are being recommended these days? Needs to be clean, breakfast included would be a major plus and airport shuttle. Will need probably 10 days of parking!!

Have stayed at the Clarion before and want to try something different as it was very run down last time!!

Thanks!

 

[jmann]

I have always used Toronto Pearson International Airport but now that I see you can save tons flying out of Buffalo, this whole idea has captivated me. We're planning a short trip July 18-21 and flights from TO have already gone up. Paying $200USD compared to $410CAD looks to be quite the bargain...

BUT There are some things that concern me though:

1. If we get travel insurance (i.e. medical and/or trip cancellation) will flights out of Buffalo be covered?

2. Driving from Thornhill area, is it really worth the cost of gas, hotel, and parking to drive to Buffalo? After it's all said and done, don't you end up paying the original cost of a flight out of Toronto?

3. Do U.S. customs give you a hard time with holding a Canadian passport? Departing from Buffalo and when returning?

Any advice is appreciated

I fly out of Detroit but remember you cross the border in your car and show your passport there. Once at the airport you are in the US and other than ID to get on the plane you are done with customs. I use my passport as ID at the airport because it is the easiest and I have it with me. Check with your provider as far as insurance goes, my trip has been covered because I booked through CAA. As far as cost goes I would work it out to see what your best deal is.

 

[phabric]

We are flying out of Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale Thanksgiving weekend Oct 9-12. I booked with Southwest for $219.20 US/pp and it was $272.97 Cdn/pp charged on my credit card. Air Canada and Westjet was over $1,000+ for 2. Even with a tank or 2 of gas, the drive, parking it is way cheaper than Toronto. Now we have to decide if we book a hotel with parking or get up and leave at 4am.

 

[3 Mouseketeers]

We booked SW out of BUF Oct 5 - Oct 17. Flight to MCO was $59 pp and back to BUF was $109 pp. When flying within the US, we never fly out of Pearson anymore. Last month we flew SW out of BUF to Las Vegas for $89 pp direct!!!
As for hotel/ parking, we usually just park at the airport but this time we are doing the park, sleep, fly option at the Millenium. Anyone stay there recently?

 

[5boyz]

We are flying out of Buffalo July 24-Aug 7 for $556.80 for 4 of us....$59ea ea way.... I have flown from Buffalo once and Detroit twice.....I would only fly from Detroit again if the offer was too good to pass up....it is too far and feels like it takes forever to get home. Buffalo is just like going shopping over the boarder......

I was wondering what Fasttrack parking was? We parked at Airport last time.


3 Mouseketeers....we just stayed at Millenuim May 16-18. It was nice. We had a King Superior on the 2nd fl room 218 to be exact....it was facing the pool and had a balcony, it would have been great for the kids too. Well maybe not the king bed.....lol

 

[3 Mouseketeers]

Thanks for the info on the Millenium 5boyz!

As for Fasttrack, it is located on Genesse St, directly across from Buffalo airports lot A. They have a shuttle that takes you directly to the airport, but honestly, with the 10% off coupon on the Buffalo airport website, its cheaper to park at lot A.
When Fasttrack was Sunpark, we always parked there as they were alot cheaper than the airport, but since Sunpark was bought out, thats not the case anymore.

 

[5boyz]

3mouseketeers...No problem that's what we are here for... , back attcha with the fasttrack parking. I did print a coupon for $40/wk at the Buffalo Airport parking. So I guess that's not to shabby. We parked there the last time we flew out of Buffalo.

 

[boundfordisney]

WE STAYED AT THE MILLENIUM IN DEC. 08 POOL AREA IS NICE BUT ROOMS WERE IN NEED OF REFURBISHMENT. My daughter had booked 3 rooms for all of us, with park and fly on 2 rooms. My oldest daughter and I both paid cash when departing the hotel, my daughter Jolenewho booked the 3 rooms paid on her credit card which was also used to hold our reservations when she booked it back in aug.08. All was fine to this point until we got into the Orlando airport and went to use her credit card for 2 car rentals and found that the millenium had taken 500 dollars off the card over her room price. This became a big problem, called the millenium and they said it would go back credited to the card in 2 days well it became an even bigger problem as my daughter was planning on the credit card for the car rentals . I was able to help out but in the end after repeated calls to the millenium when the card didn t get credited turned out it never got credited till thier return home after 8 days!The millenium staff were in fact very rude when we did call so be very aware when using credit cards for room holds, we stayed at the Quality inn in may nice enough and I told the manager what had happened with the card and I didn t want to use a credit card for hold and she held our room without one. you do need to speak with a manager for that to happen but they were very helpful and we will stay there on future trips.

 

[5boyz]

boundfordisney....that was not good! I heard there were some terrible rooms when I was waiting to check in....a friend of ours who works at a high end hotel got us the ressies for Millenuim so I knew she would not steer us wrong. She booked the Superior King and it was very nice. I think that was one of the ones refurbished. As for the credit card, I think they did the same to me for a few days too. But has since been added back on. I usually dont pay for the room with credit card but.....we did so much shopping I ran out of cash . Thanks for sharing, it is always great to hear different experiences.

 

[krazy4crusing]

Air Tran has direct flights to MCO for $62 and only $16 in tax as opposed to the $200 + that we pay here at YYZ. We are taxed to death here in Canada!!

We booked our October flight yesterday and paid 518 tax in (we have to pay extra for checked baggage though)

It is worth the drive. I am going to look into Detroit next time, I hadn't thought of that!

 

[lovemyboys2009]

We are flying out of detroit (never been to the airport before) with Air Tran the end of Sept. We don't fly until early evening so I had thought we would leave London at lunch and then have time to burn energy there. I'm thinking maybe staying at a hotel is cheaper for parking? Although we are CAA members does that make it better? Is there stuff to do around the airport if we stayovernight as we will have the day to waste? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[jmann]

We are flying out of detroit (never been to the airport before) with Air Tran the end of Sept. We don't fly until early evening so I had thought we would leave London at lunch and then have time to burn energy there. I'm thinking maybe staying at a hotel is cheaper for parking? Although we are CAA members does that make it better? Is there stuff to do around the airport if we stayovernight as we will have the day to waste? Sorry for all the questions.

There is not much around the Detroit airport. There are restaurants and hotels. We paid $109 to stay over at the Marriott but we were flying at 7:00am, that included breakfast and parking at the Qwik Park. CAA/AAA works at many places. If it was me I would check for the best park n fly rate, then drive down earlier in the day.

 

[lovemyboys2009]

There is not much around the Detroit airport. There are restaurants and hotels. We paid $109 to stay over at the Marriott but we were flying at 7:00am, that included breakfast and parking at the Qwik Park. CAA/AAA works at many places. If it was me I would check for the best park n fly rate, then drive down earlier in the day.

thanks for the info. I kind of thought that might be the best option but thought it wouldn't hurt to see what other's said. thanks again!!

 

[jmann]

thanks for the info. I kind of thought that might be the best option but thought it wouldn't hurt to see what other's said. thanks again!!

The Qwik Park is pretty efficient and there are others. Parking at the airport is expensive I have heard. The shuttles for Qwik Park came very quickly and the lot is 5-10 minutes away from the airport(if that). I think the Qwik Park website has coupons. There is another parking lot across the road but I don't know their name.....Have fun!!

 

[lovemyboys2009]

The Qwik Park is pretty efficient and there are others. Parking at the airport is expensive I have heard. The shuttles for Qwik Park came very quickly and the lot is 5-10 minutes away from the airport(if that). I think the Qwik Park website has coupons. There is another parking lot across the road but I don't know their name.....Have fun!!

Thanks for the info. I went to the qwik park site and printed the coupon (buy one day and get one free). That's a great deal.