Flying from Buffalo questions

[busterblue]

thanks for the info. I plan on going on line exactly 24 before departure and getting the boarding pass.

We are renting an off site house for the first nine days and then staying at the swan the last day. This works out well as someone suggested getting the hotel to access and print the boarding passes for the flight back. The alternative was swinging by the airport and doing it manually since the house doesn't have a printer.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

Apparently Southwest has amended the 'cattle call' somewhat...

Now when you check in online they will use the smaller number beside the boarding letter (A,B,C) to group the passengers. i.e. A 5 - 10 will board together, then A 11 - 20 etc. They were setting this up in Orlando when we returned home last fall. don't know if it is there in Buffalo yet but was supposed to be. This is supposed to stop those people who felt compelled to line up an hour before boarding even though they had A's.

the other change they made was that the families with toddlers boarded between the A and B groups. That way if they wanted to get on first they had to get an A pass. As our kids are older, I like this option. Most flights to MCO are packed with kids and that usually meant that the A's were still behind a significant amount of people.

In any event, the flight is short and really the choice of seat doesn't bother me that much. Love the low prices and the great flight times.

 

[dsneygirl]

Apparently Southwest has amended the 'cattle call' somewhat...

Now when you check in online they will use the smaller number beside the boarding letter (A,B,C) to group the passengers. i.e. A 5 - 10 will board together, then A 11 - 20 etc. They were setting this up in Orlando when we returned home last fall. don't know if it is there in Buffalo yet but was supposed to be. This is supposed to stop those people who felt compelled to line up an hour before boarding even though they had A's.

the other change they made was that the families with toddlers boarded between the A and B groups. That way if they wanted to get on first they had to get an A pass. As our kids are older, I like this option. Most flights to MCO are packed with kids and that usually meant that the A's were still behind a significant amount of people.

In any event, the flight is short and really the choice of seat doesn't bother me that much. Love the low prices and the great flight times.

Yes this is the new system in both BUF and MCO. Seemed to work pretty smoothly to me. However I was beginning to enjoy the icy glares of those who had waited 1 hour at the front of the A line only to have a dozen families board before them.

 

[busterblue]

So based on the new letter/number system you don't really need to be there way before flight time right? If you get A13 you know you will be in the second or third group to board?

Our flight is out of Buffalo at 12:05 and I plan to leave Mississauga about 8:00 am. that gives us lots of time to get to the airport and allows for some buffer for traffic/border delays.

Based on your trips do you think I am being to much of a keener getting there about 2 hours before flight time if I have a preprinted boarding pass?

On a Friday morning in February I don't expect it to be bad for traffic and the bridge but you never know. If the weather forecast for Friday is bad I may adjust. I plan on checking the web sites for bridge updates that morning but it looks like queenston or rainbow is the way to go.

 

[encinc]

I plan on checking the web sites for bridge updates that morning but it looks like queenston or rainbow is the way to go.

Schedule sounds OK. We'd probably leave a little earlier, but we're nervous nellies that way. We'd rather arrive in Buffalo early and have time for breakfast/tea/whatever than be stressed out because we got caught in traffic on the QEW.

As for the bridge crossings, we prefer to cross at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie. There are usually shorter lineups there, and no tolls between the bridge and the airport area. Peace Bridge means more driving in Ontario and less once you cross the border than either of the other two bridges.

 

[disneyfan2]

Our flight is out of Buffalo at 12:05 and I plan to leave Mississauga about 8:00 am. that gives us lots of time to get to the airport and allows for some buffer for traffic/border delays.

Based on your trips do you think I am being to much of a keener getting there about 2 hours before flight time if I have a preprinted boarding pass?

I would be curious too how soon people are arriving at the airport. We have a 7am flight in Feb and don't want to get the kids up earlier then i need to. Is everyone still trying to get there 1.5 hrs early?

 

[busterblue]

Lets here it for Buffalo weather. Supposed to fly out Friday at noon on Southwest. Knew the storm was coming so went down Thursday night and stayed at the holiday inn express right across from the airport. (nice)

Friday AM there is ice/freezing rain but no snow. Call SW at 9 confirm we are on time etc. No problem. Front desk at hotel then advised me that airport is closed. Call southwest again and tell them about airport. Put me on hold to check and come back and say everything is fine and on time. Talk to some people coming back to the hotel (should have set off alarms but...) who say all the flights on their airlines are canceled. Call SW again, oh we will be delayed two hours but still going out. Told to go to airport and check in.

Bottom line, flight canceled and since I was "slow" to rebook we are now flying out on Sunday morning which was the ONLY flights we could get.

Southwest rebooked us and let us push the return date by 2 days at the same rate but now I'm out 100.00 on my rental car due to a lost rate, two days accomodation on a prepaid house, extra night hotel at buffalo airport and about 100 dollars in cell roaming/long distance charges from buffalo airport !

To be fair Pearson sounded like it was just as bad so I am still saving 1300.00 flying SW but all the other costs are adding up !

I get the impression that the US airlines/airports seem to go to hell faster and they do not recover as quick due to the hub/spoke system. Also Buffalo is a smaller market so when things fall apart there are no extra crews available locally to pick up the pieces (ie pilots and attendents time out on duty hours and need to be replaced for the flight to fly).

I will likely think twice about winter flying out of Buffalo after this experience.