air from Halifax

[weswife]

Hello,

I have been checking the air prices from Halifax! A $200 increase from last April!!!! We went in May/09 and would like to go again in April/10!

Anyone have any tips for a cheaper fare? We need a direct flight due to DD wheelchair. Hoping for a seat sale!!!!

 

[dennise]

bump!

 

[Rinstah]

We flew with Delta Airlines in 2007 and it was cheaper, but they wern't straight through. You could try the other American airlines that fly out of Halifax and see if any of them are cheaper.

 

[weswife]

ok,,,I will check

 

[gilsan]

We are thinking about going down at the end of April. I am hoping there will be a seat sale and I can get a direct flight for a good price. We flew down for $1300 in September and I am hoping to pay the same in April.

If not we may drive to Maine and catch a flight from there. Right now we can fly return direct flight Portland to Orlando for $750USD for the 3 of us. That is a lot better than $2000CAD from Westjet for direct flights the same days.

 

[cantwaitforwdw]

We flew Allegaint Air out of Bangor last year...they are direct and it is closer than Portland...they are very reasonable and the check-in for the flight was a breeze on both ends...the only issue is they only fly in Sanford...and you can't use Magical Express for Disney, but we were renting a car anyway so it did not matter.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

im looking for a good seat sale too. we jsut got a 40% off for wl so for 2 weeks hotel, 10 day hoppers, and dining came in at 5000 and a bit, for 2 adults and 1 child 4 and one 2. so now im dying to find a good sale. i aslo have a 200 dollar credit from continental - dont wanna go with them again, but 200 bucks is 200 bucks!

 

[Ted in Halifax]

I'm flying out of portland in November $1252US for 5 people. Park, sleep and fly (including 2 weeks parking) add another $220US. Beats $3900 cdn to go from Halifax.

As posted above, Bangor is an option if you plan to rent a car, but if you plan to bus it to disney add $30 per person each way.

 

[gilsan]

How long is the drive from Halifax to Portland? I have not driven before and when I check google map directions it says 11-12 hours from Bridgewater. It seemed a little long.

 

[Boncho]

How long is the drive from Halifax to Portland? I have not driven before and when I check google map directions it says 11-12 hours from Bridgewater. It seemed a little long.

I think 11 - 12 hours is about right unless you drive way over the speed limit. It takes almost 9 hours to drive from Halifax to Bangor, and then add on the drive from Bangor to Portland, you are at between 11 and 12 hours for the drive. It is a long drive unless you stop overnight somewhere along the way.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

11-12 would be about right. we normally go down to s.portland in the summer to do the outlets. but with two small kids we go from here to nb, spend the nite, then head down. dont forget you'll also need to take into account crossing the border. woodstock is fast- lots of gates to go through, st stephen, one spot. takes a bit longer there, but youre closer there than to go down through houlton.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

just checked portland to orlando for april through continental(we have a $200 voucher) and it'll be more expensive than leaving here.

 

[dvcdisney]

We got a seat sale about 2 months ago, nonstop from Halifax for ($2900) for March and this was the best I have seen for a long time. We paid the same for our August trip. Usually it's far more for March so I was fine with it.

I think if you don't mind the connecting flights, we've been fine with Continental and the stopover is in Newark which had a nice airport. They have shops and restaurants to keep you occupied during your connection. I prefer this over connecting in Toronto since it's a hassle to get your baggage, go through customs and redeposit your baggage and then go through security again, especially with young children.

As others have suggested, if you can drive to Portland or Bangor, you would have a lot more choices and would cost considerably less. However, you would need to factor in the expenses of driving and if the driving is worth the savings. I have always been afraid that the weather wouldn't cooperate.

Good luck.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

We got a seat sale about 2 months ago, nonstop from Halifax for ($2900) for March and this was the best I have seen for a long time. We paid the same for our August trip. Usually it's far more for March so I was fine with it.

I think if you don't mind the connecting flights, we've been fine with Continental and the stopover is in Newark which had a nice airport. They have shops and restaurants to keep you occupied during your connection. I prefer this over connecting in Toronto since it's a hassle to get your baggage, go through customs and redeposit your baggage and then go through security again, especially with young children.

As others have suggested, if you can drive to Portland or Bangor, you would have a lot more choices and would cost considerably less. However, you would need to factor in the expenses of driving and if the driving is worth the savings. I have always been afraid that the weather wouldn't cooperate.

Good luck.

you had time to look in newark? lol we had just over an hr. long enough to get off, go from a to c, dress the kids into florida clothes and pee and then our second plane was loading!

 

[dvcdisney]

you had time to look in newark? lol we had just over an hr. long enough to get off, go from a to c, dress the kids into florida clothes and pee and then our second plane was loading!

Yes. We usually have about a 1.5 - 2 hour connection. I try to choose it this way because I get nervous with short connections.

Within this time, we have time to relax and eat, do some shopping (we don't really buy anything, but it's nice to wander through the shops) and then relax at the gate. My children play card games, write, read, watch a little show on the laptop.

However, on our first time at the Newark airport, we were hurrying to get to our gate because we didn't know how far it would be. But when we got there, we realized we had so much time to wait. So we went and had a snack and wandered around the shops.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

yeah they had some great stores there i noticed as we walked by quickly! lol we didnt plan it, our ta did. i think it was like 1 hr and 15 minutes. so by the time we got to the shuttle, it left and got us to c, unloaded got upstairs, changed and all that we were literally gogin to sit down when they started boarding! i really wanted a slice of pizza that was there across from our gate. oh well.

 

[dvcdisney]

yeah they had some great stores there i noticed as we walked by quickly! lol we didnt plan it, our ta did. i think it was like 1 hr and 15 minutes. so by the time we got to the shuttle, it left and got us to c, unloaded got upstairs, changed and all that we were literally gogin to sit down when they started boarding! i really wanted a slice of pizza that was there across from our gate. oh well.

Shuttle?

We have never taken a shuttle to our gate. We just walked within the terminal from the gate we de-boarded to the connecting gate. . Usually it's only a 10-15 min walk.

Did you fly with Continental? I was under the impression that all their flights/gates were in the same area. Well, at least that has been our experience.

By the way, I just wanted to clarify that these shops were in the terminal, not outside the airport.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

yep- newark is continental's hub, so it;s normally pretty rare to get in and out of the same terminal. you're lucky! lol now i know why you had time!

we landed in a, walked a bit to go downstairs to a shuttle, took that to c, got off, went upstairs and then walked ten miles to get to our gate. thankfully the washroom was rite there to get the kids ready to go. same ont eh way back. we landed in c and had to get to a. this time we had about a half and hr to relax(um yeah witha 2 and 4 yr old, rite! lol)

yep i know which shops you mean....we wandered by a swatch store while walking fast, and a lindt store- took all my might not to go in! lol

 

[fan1080]

We flew Airtran out of Portland earlier this year. I was apprehesive regarding the drive to and from Portland, but it was surprisingly not that bad.

OP: I just checked some dates for you out of Portland with Airtran. $261USD per person round trip, April 20-27, 2010. One brief stop in Baltimore/Washington each way.

 

[tinkershae]

dvcdisney can you tell me about your experience connecting in Toronto. We have flights with Air Canada for Feb. We usually fly with a US carrier and do pre clearance in Halifax but a few months back Air Canada had a seat sale. Flight going down is connecting in Toronto but flight back is direct. Any tips for me picking up luggage in Toronto and proceeding through customs.