Advise needed...

[Blanche_Neige]

We are flying out of Burlington , Vt. It is roughly a 2hr drive + 20 min shopping at duty free + ??? time at the border...

In the past we always stayed the night before since our flight was at 9am and we traveled in January.

This time we are going in September and our flight is at 10am...

Here is my dilemma do we go the night before or drive the morning of

Here are some of the things to consider:

Parking at the airport will be 80-90$ for the week.
If we stay the night before we will use the park and fly at the hotel.

Hotel is 204$ + tax.

I'm worried about being stuck at the border and missing our flight
staying the night before would be more relaxing, we can shop
But, we would only be able to leave Montreal at the earliest 4pm, it's $$$ for less than 24 hrs + food + all our shopping

What do you think we should do

yes, you can laugh, my DH thinks I'm absolutely crazy !!!

 

[glendalais]

It seems to me like there are pros and cons to both.

It would be cheaper to just park at the airport in Burlington if it's only $80-$90 for the week. But at the same time, you'd have to be up fairly early to make your flight - no later than at 5 or 6 a.m. at most. Then you have to deal with morning traffic. You'd probably save some time since you're going in the opposite direction of the traffic, but you'd probably lose it at the border.

On the other hand, the hotel is more expensive overall. But you can wake up later (great if you're going with kids), and it would probably be less stressful.

I would say stay overnight. However, if you do drive the morning of, check the Border Wait Times on the USCIS website before leaving. If it's long enough that morning, you might actually save time by skipping the crossing at Philipsburg and using the one at Morse's Line. Take Rte. 133 towards Philipsburg, but get on ch. de St-Armand a little bit north of the crossing; take that to Rte. 235 heading towards Morse's Line and cross the border; from there, get on VT-207 going south and meet up with I-89 south a little bit north of St. Albans.

 

[Blanche_Neige]

But you can wake up later (great if you're going with kids)

not with my kids I was blessed (cursed) with early morning kids and husband. Their idea of sleeping in is until 7-7:30 am

However, if you do drive the morning of, check the Border Wait Times on the USCIS website before leaving. If it's long enough that morning, you might actually save time by skipping the crossing at Philipsburg and using the one at Morse's Line. Take Rte. 133 towards Philipsburg, but get on ch. de St-Armand a little bit north of the crossing; take that to Rte. 235 heading towards Morse's Line and cross the border; from there, get on VT-207 going south and meet up with I-89 south a little bit north of St. Albans.

That is the problem the boarder wait time doesn't seem accurate at lease when we used it a couple of week ago. They were wayyyyy off.

I would say stay overnight

I think we will too, just for my piece of mind. Pay for convenience. I know that there is cheaper hotels but not many allow 5 to a room. We a familiar with this one anyways it was our choice to fly out of Burlington, it saved us approx 2000$.

Thank you for the tip about the different borders and for helping me decide

 

[retiredkid]

If there is even a hint of a question to it, I would always stay over.

 

[TheBig2na]

A sleep over is great because it doesn't ruin your first day at the parks. you can get 7-8 hours sleep in, hop on the flight and be able to go till Wishes that night.

 

[twokids0204]

We are flying out of Burlington , Vt. It is roughly a 2hr drive + 20 min shopping at duty free + ??? time at the border...

In the past we always stayed the night before since our flight was at 9am and we traveled in January.

This time we are going in September and our flight is at 10am...

Here is my dilemma do we go the night before or drive the morning of

Here are some of the things to consider:

Parking at the airport will be 80-90$ for the week.
If we stay the night before we will use the park and fly at the hotel.

Hotel is 204$ + tax.

I'm worried about being stuck at the border and missing our flight
staying the night before would be more relaxing, we can shop
But, we would only be able to leave Montreal at the earliest 4pm, it's $$$ for less than 24 hrs + food + all our shopping

What do you think we should do

yes, you can laugh, my DH thinks I'm absolutely crazy !!!

We are flying out of Buffalo, and were getting Hottel quotes anywhere from $119 - $200.

We used priceline.com (and betterbidding.com to find the lowest accepted bid), and we named our own price, and got a hotel (Millennium Buffalo) for $34.00

 

[Blanche_Neige]

We are flying out of Buffalo, and were getting Hottel quotes anywhere from $119 - $200.

We used priceline.com (and betterbidding.com to find the lowest accepted bid), and we named our own price, and got a hotel (Millennium Buffalo) for $34.00

We can't use Priceline or Hotwire because we are 2 adults and 3 kids. Not many hotel rooms allow 5 people in a room. Also I don;t think they would offer special such as park and fly (parking included).

 

[rewok]

We also like to fly from Burlington for the cost saving and the ease at the airport. We always sleep the night before because it makes my vacation start one day earlier, and because I am a high stress level person. I never paid quite that much, but probably will this September (I’m looking at around 90$ for hotel + airport parking, like this better than a park&fly). For me it’s worth it, even if we never get to the hotel much before 10PM, but I include it in the flight cost from a budget standpoint to balance a Montreal flight. Also, my DH is not an early riser, so getting that few extra hours of sleep really make a difference in the enjoyment of that first day. Getting up at 4AM usually means a grumpy DH till bed that night…

However, I have friends that do the drive in the morning for that nice 10AM JetBlue flight. If you are early risers, leaving Montreal around 5:30 should get you there plenty in time for a duty-free stop, and breakfast in Burlington. The border at Philipsburg is rarely clogged in my personal experience (not like Lacolle), and at 7AM, you shouldn’t wait more than 20 minutes on a week-end day. Then you get to Burlington at 8, with a 1 hour buffer. In fact, the biggest delays could be crossing/around Montreal with all the roadwork that is going on at night, so often at the closures run until 5-6AM. Check that 511 if you have to drive through Turcot interchange & Champlain bridge!

 

[Blanche_Neige]

We also like to fly from Burlington for the cost saving and the ease at the airport. We always sleep the night before because it makes my vacation start one day earlier, and because I am a high stress level person. I never paid quite that much, but probably will this September (I’m looking at around 90$ for hotel + airport parking, like this better than a park&fly). For me it’s worth it, even if we never get to the hotel much before 10PM, but I include it in the flight cost from a budget standpoint to balance a Montreal flight. Also, my DH is not an early riser, so getting that few extra hours of sleep really make a difference in the enjoyment of that first day. Getting up at 4AM usually means a grumpy DH till bed that night…

However, I have friends that do the drive in the morning for that nice 10AM JetBlue flight. If you are early risers, leaving Montreal around 5:30 should get you there plenty in time for a duty-free stop, and breakfast in Burlington. The border at Philipsburg is rarely clogged in my personal experience (not like Lacolle), and at 7AM, you shouldn’t wait more than 20 minutes on a week-end day. Then you get to Burlington at 8, with a 1 hour buffer. In fact, the biggest delays could be crossing/around Montreal with all the roadwork that is going on at night, so often at the closures run until 5-6AM. Check that 511 if you have to drive through Turcot interchange & Champlain bridge!

Hi neighbor

Another me! Go to WDW every year out of BTV and stay at the same resort (except in september, we usually go in January)

I have to say I love Jet Blue The planes seem more spacious and we save 2000$ to fly with them from BTV instead of leaving Montreal

I booked the night before, just for my piece of mind... And like someone else said we would enjoy our first day better if we get a good night sleep. We stay at the Double Tree hotel, with the kids we need a pool. the park and fly is 204$. There is 5 of us and not many hotels in the area allow 5 to a room. What hotel do you stay at?

This time, for the 1st time, we are going the last week of September- How is the weather there compare to here? please tell me it's not like the weather this past week???

 

[rewok]

Hi neighbor

Another me! Go to WDW every year out of BTV and stay at the same resort (except in september, we usually go in January)

I have to say I love Jet Blue The planes seem more spacious and we save 2000$ to fly with them from BTV instead of leaving Montreal

I booked the night before, just for my piece of mind... And like someone else said we would enjoy our first day better if we get a good night sleep. We stay at the Double Tree hotel, with the kids we need a pool. the park and fly is 204$. There is 5 of us and not many hotels in the area allow 5 to a room. What hotel do you stay at?

This time, for the 1st time, we are going the last week of September- How is the weather there compare to here? please tell me it's not like the weather this past week???

Well, neighbour, I think you'll enjoy September, but it is hot, quite like last week! The good point is, you're in Florida on vacation, you can sleep in AC, rest by the pool in the afternoon, and still see everything since crowds are low End of September should be better a bit I think, and it has varied quite a bit over the years. Last year we had highs of only 30-32C & little sun for the first 4-5 days, and I was cold a bit in the pool But the first year we melted for 2 weeks, and still went back!

For hotels, since there are only the 2 of us, I usually try Priceline for the Courtyard in Williston. My back-up choice might also be the Motel 6 in Colchester. Last year we got the Park&Fly at La Quinta (120$total), but boy was it noisy! Won't stay there again, and I totally wouldn't recommend my first floor room near the exit. You Doubletree looks nice, Iit might be Plan C, but if I can manage another hotel under 100$, I do prefer the convenience of having the car at the airport. I know that for 5, a cheap hotel is much harder to get.