Buffalo - booking airfare?

[two*little*birds]

We are considering booking airfare from Buffalo... need some help?

1. Can a Canadian T.A. book flights out of Buffalo?
2. If we book ourselves what are some good links to look at?
3. How far (approx) is the Buffalo airport from PIA?

Thanks!

 

[iluveeyore]

HI there! We fly out of Buffalo all the time, so much cheaper. I book online on my own, usually better internet rates - best thing to do is sign up for Southwest Ding - use zip code 14221 - will send you special rates for whatever airport you choose (Buffalo and Orlando) - got a return flight last week a week in advance for $69 from Orlando to Buffalo ($90 total with tax and fees). Airtran has cheap flights too, but just make sure with any airline you don't need to make changes, because Airtran charged me $75 fee to change to day sooner. Southwest doesn't usually charge to change - you release your flight online with their internet tools, and then rebook using your credit without a fee! We've tried booking out of Hamilton and Toronto, but the taxes and fees almost double our flight cost, and Buffalo is so easy to get too and so easy to get around - it's a much smaller airport than Toronto, and a lot less stressful getting in and around it. I went last weekend (Mar. 1) and from the border at Fort Erie, I think it was a 15 minute drive. Parked my car in long-term parking ($40 per week), and the shuttle picked me up and took me to the proper terminal - checked my bag, took 10 min. through security and had an hour and half to sit and wait and read my book!

 

[shoppgirl]

We are flying for the first time with our girls out of Buffalo this summer. I booked tickets on Jet Blue and got great non stop flights at good times (noon departing and midafternoon return) and amazing prices, compared to Air Canada out of YYZ. I just looked online on the Jet Blue website. It's very easy and safe to do it yourself on the airline's website.

I know Jet Blue and Southwest fly out of Buffalo. I like Jet Blue because they have newer planes and smaller too (2+2 configuration) and personal TV systems. I was also able to preselect our seats to make sure we are all sitting together near the front of the plane.

I can also check in (luggage too) at my Disney Resort on the return trip because Jet Blue is one of the participating airlines with Disney. That will save me some time and effort at MCO on the day of departure.

The only negative so far is that Jet Blue has changed my flight times 3 times already! Twice going down, now delayed by 50 minutes and once coming home, delayed by 2 hours. That's OK though, because now I have a full morning in Disney on the day we leave, which is kind of nice.

Happy planning.....

 

[Valjean13]

Yes, travel agents can book flights from Buffalo. The above posters mentioned good cheap airlines, but you can also look at Delta, United, Continental, American, etc. Depending on where you are flying to (I assume Orlando) they sometimes have competitive seat sales. However, I don't think they offer direct flights.

 

[minnie56]

Yes, travel agents can book flights from Buffalo. The above posters mentioned good cheap airlines, but you can also look at Delta, United, Continental, American, etc. Depending on where you are flying to (I assume Orlando) they sometimes have competitive seat sales. However, I don't think they offer direct flights.

Yes, TA's can book them-but they will add a booking fee as they receive NO commissions at all from these carriers.

 

[wee-haggis]

Last time I asked (a travel agent about 3 years ago),they wanted to charge $50 per ticket to book us on SWA from BUF.
I was (at that time) booking my own flights anyway.I just wanted to see the comparison.
Good links to check are the airlines themselves (SWA,Air Tran and Jetblue).
there are several other airlines but (as previously mentioned) they are not direct and they will most likely be far more expensive.
From YYZ to BUF is about 100 miles which (according to Mapquest) is about 1hr 54 mins.

 

[Kurby]

i just took a look at jet blue - the price isn't that great a deal.

almost 1200 for 2 adults and 1 child.

gas, hotels and food driving from Toronto costs about half that.

humm guess that's why we drive.

i know i know - people will say it takes 2 or 3 days to drive down, right - but we consider it part of the trip and find nice little stops in small towns and love the scenery.

don't get me wrong - i'd love to go for 1 week in the middle of winter and be there in 2 hours but we won't be flying for a while when we can take a longer vacation and drive.

 

[Valjean13]

When are you planning on going? If you can fly on a weekday it's usually cheaper, especially Tues or Wed. We've booked 3 trips out of Buffalo and the most we had to pay was $104 one way. Southwest has seats for $99 through August, and will be opening up more dates next month. Check AirTran as well.

 

[KNovacovschi]

We flew out of Buffalo in August and it only cost about $650-$700 for 3 of us...we booked through our travel agent at the same time as we booked the rest of the package...we live in Hamilton and it only took us about an hour or so to get to the airport...we flew with Airtran...

 

[Beavertails Queen]

I have always booked using southwest or jet blue. I just book right from the website - don't bother with the TA because it saves you money. Also there is no need to have a car on property because you can take the magical express from the airport and Disney provides all the transpotation needed when you are there.

 

[two*little*birds]

Thanks for all the input...

We arrive on the 9th of November, and depart on the 19th.

Still looking into YYZ vs. BUF, we have some time so perhaps we'll get a better deal if we wait a bit longer.

Thanks.

 

[ntsammy5]

HI there! We fly out of Buffalo all the time,

You're pretty close though. I'm looking out my office window right now staring at Ft Erie

 

[busterblue]

We flew out of Buffalo for the first time as a family. Southwest direct to Orlando for 795.00 cdn all in for 4 people. PIA would have cost us 2200-2400 all in.

Go to the buffalo airport web site and they list all the airlines that fly out of there with hotlinks to the individual web sites.

Southwest was fine. Got my boarding pass 24 hours ahead of time (to the minute) so we were in the first group to board and got seats that we wanted.

Key is to look for a direct flight. Jet Blue has a lot of flights that go thru New York which is a giant mess and will likely result in all kinds of delays. Air Tran goes thru Atlanta, same thing to a much lesser degree. Both those airports are super busy and volume causes all kinds of delays. If I could fly Jet Blue direct and pay 20 or so more for reserved seating that is the way I would go.

Driving to Buffalo airport is a snap. From Winston Churchill/403 in Mississauga to the parking lot was 1:45 minutes exactly. We hit the border in Fort Erie at the right time and it took us 4-5 minutes tops. Have your passports ready and say going to Buffalo airport to fly to Orlando for a week and they will smile and wave you through !

Buffalo airport is WAY less hassle than Pearson. Only draw back is in the winter they seem to get hit hard by weather which is much more severe than Pearson and causes more delays/cancelations. If you fly in the winter and it even LOOKS like your flight might have problems due to weather call and change the flight. We waited 2 hours when the weather started to come in and had to wait 2 days for the next flight that could accomodate all 4 of us at the same time.

 

[jmtf2004]

Thanks for all the input...

We arrive on the 9th of November, and depart on the 19th.

Still looking into YYZ vs. BUF, we have some time so perhaps we'll get a better deal if we wait a bit longer.

Thanks.

If you can drive to BUF in a reasonable amount of time, I am confident you would be pleased to fly out of BUF. It is easier to go through customs when you drive across the border, and you will be on a domestic flight, rather than an international one. We fly out of BUF because it's just a short drive for us (waving from just outside of Fort Erie!)
If you check the Buffalo airport website there is a coupon to save you a bit on parking here:
http://www.buffaloairport.com/airport_info/parking_availability.phtml

SW, Air Tran and Jet Blue offer nonstop flights to MCO - for us it's just not worth wasting time with connecting flights. Air Tran has November dates available now, SW is supposed to be releasing flight dates through October 30 on April 17. I'm not sure when SW will release November dates. Jet Blue is only booking through the end of October right now. It's difficult to predict prices accurately, but with oil and gas prices going up, its does seem unlikely flights will be going down in price if that trend continues.
Chances are you won't be able to find such great deals for Nov 9th (because it's a Sunday) even if you wait. Flight prices are lower mid week. You might want to reconsider your arrival date if it will cost you $$$ extra for the flight. Last March we saved about $200 per person by chopping one night off our vacation. One more day certainly wasn't worth $800 to us!
I think just as soon as you find a reasonably priced flight you should book it. With SW there is no change fee, but I know Jet Blue charges $40 per ticket...not sure what Air Tran's policy is.
Happy planning!

 

[wee-haggis]

We flew out of Buffalo for the first time as a family. Southwest direct to Orlando for 795.00 cdn all in for 4 people. PIA would have cost us 2200-2400 all in.

Go to the buffalo airport web site and they list all the airlines that fly out of there with hotlinks to the individual web sites.

Southwest was fine. Got my boarding pass 24 hours ahead of time (to the minute) so we were in the first group to board and got seats that we wanted.

Key is to look for a direct flight. Jet Blue has a lot of flights that go thru New York which is a giant mess and will likely result in all kinds of delays. Air Tran goes thru Atlanta, same thing to a much lesser degree. Both those airports are super busy and volume causes all kinds of delays. If I could fly Jet Blue direct and pay 20 or so more for reserved seating that is the way I would go.

Driving to Buffalo airport is a snap. From Winston Churchill/403 in Mississauga to the parking lot was 1:45 minutes exactly. We hit the border in Fort Erie at the right time and it took us 4-5 minutes tops. Have your passports ready and say going to Buffalo airport to fly to Orlando for a week and they will smile and wave you through !

Buffalo airport is WAY less hassle than Pearson. Only draw back is in the winter they seem to get hit hard by weather which is much more severe than Pearson and causes more delays/cancelations. If you fly in the winter and it even LOOKS like your flight might have problems due to weather call and change the flight. We waited 2 hours when the weather started to come in and had to wait 2 days for the next flight that could accomodate all 4 of us at the same time.

I agree with everything you said except that both Jetblue and Air Tran offer one non-stop flight each way per day.

 

[5boyz]

It's eazy peazy lemon squeezy to fly out of Buffalo Airport and WAY cheaper too...I am looking right now for July flights. The drive is not that bad either...we drive from Brampton took us 1hr 45min to get there. Buffalo Airport all the way.