Buffalo/SWA questions for January 2008 trip

[Agent J]

hello,

i am a serial lurker and now that i have brief moments of time on my mat leave (during those wonderful naps) to check these boards more often to plan our trips i was hoping for some advice from the experts - we are going on a multi-family trip january 2008, flying SWA from buffalo.

What is your experience re: crowds at airport/cheap flights/availability for Jan. 1 or 2? we would like to go jan 1 or 2 for 9 nights - does SWA traditionally have any sales for this time period?

How much time would you allow to drive from Oshawa/whitby to Buffalo airport for either an 11 am or 2:30 pm flight? we've always gone the night before and stayed at sleep inn for the 7:20 am flight but logistics with the crowd/saving money thinking about later flight - it usually takes about 1.5-2 hours to get to buff in light traffic but wondering about time needed to cross toronto/hamilton in morning rush hour if we left around 6 am for an 11 am flight (could take 407 to save time but costs$ we could use for paeking fees) - new years day shouldn't be too bad traffic but maybe the border is busy? i figured give an hour to cross border and get to airport 1 hour before flight - we may find it less stress and worth the $ to just go the night before as usual

i guess i'm starting very early with my planning but i need to convince the rest of our travel party that going through buffalo is much easier/cheaper than pearson so any advice will help

any advice/comments appreciated

thanks so much in advance!!!

 

[Scratch42]

You may find cheaper flights on the 2nd. I flew back into Buffalo on the 1st and did not seem to catch any DINGS. May have missed them due to heavy work schedule beforehand, but I did see some for the 2nd.

Also, the first will be heavy traffic also due to the fact that a lot of people driving back home from holidays. We ended up staying an extra night in Buffalo due to the fact I saw that I90 was kinda busy, and of course it had nothing to do with the shopping opportunity the next day!

New Years Day will also be busy because of people coming and going back home from the holidays!

Saying this, Not as Busy as Pearson! It's such a breeze going thru Buffalo! I live 10 minutes from Pearson, and it'll be rare that I will fly to FLA from there! You can't beat the fares! The personnel at SW are tops! The customs is so much easier and quicker, even if there is a line up!

I would also suggest you book as soon as fares become available and then wait for DINGS.

As for when you should leave, hard to say but I would give yourself at least 1 1/2 hours before the fight, just in case. Cross over at Peace Bridge as it seems to move faster than the other crossings.

Hope this helps somewhat.

j

 

[canron]

we have not gone from toronto for 7 years ..always buff. we never pay more then $130.00 to$150.oo canadian for round trip..one year we got it for $21.00 u.s each way on ding in feb..people cannt believe it ..i still have the tick.but its mostly $49.00 each way on soouthwest we go 3 to 4 times a year.we have gon e for 4 days for a getaway...we have annual passes for disney we got 5 uses one year..

 

[NAB]

We wanted fly out Jan 1 last year, way to expensive and like someone said alot of travel on that for people coming back.

We flown Jet Blue last year it was the cheapest we found they too have seat sales.

We stayed the night at Holiday Express across the street. You just can't count on the weather in Jan. We were lucky this year.

We are flying SW on the Jan 26 but I just found out they don't have tv's. Jet Blue has sat. TV's and bigger seats. We would fly this air line again but we planned to late. Plus we had a lay over in JFK. If you do this take the shortest layover because the 6 gates are all in one area so you get off one plane and short walk to the next gate.

We are out of Bowmanville. I wouldn't even attempt crossing Toronto before nine. Even then you know yourself some times it is really slow at Thickson even at 9:00.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Well, welcome to the conversation Agent J.

As I am only about 30 minutes up the 401 from you I and have spent the last 2 years or so communting to Teacher's college in Buffalo I have made that drive many times. You can never count on the weather in January so I highly suggest booking the hotel for the night before. Find a hotel that has a cancellation policy that allows for 24 hours or less and than if the weather forcast looks clear, cancel. I think Scratch42 is so right about using the Peace Bridge. It always seems to be the fastest.

Have fun planning!

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Dont know if you have done so yet, but I beleive Jan 1 2008 you need a passport for everyone to drive across the border. As of right now it's only for ppl fling over the boarder.

 

[tobidisney]

But we flew from Pittsburgh ( great city)

The difference in cost for my family of 5 from Buffalo was over $1200. ( worth the 4 hours to Pittsburgh in my book )

 

[Questforthemouse]

My 2 cents...

1) book hotel in Buf for night before as Jan weather is unpredictable
2) get your passports sooner than later if you don't already have them
3) SW prices on Jan 1 or 2 will still be cheap compared to flying out of Pearson but be prepared to pay US$100+ per person on the way down. SW doesn't offer there cheapest prices during the 2 weeks or so surrounding Christmas. Our flights back from Orlando this past Sat Jan 6th were still @$100pp and all flights with SW that day were sold out. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe SW ran any BUF/ORL Dings over the two weeks surrounding Christmas.

 

[Disneyof3]

So if I'm waiting for a sale to happen with Southwest for Christmas this 2007 it isn't going to happen???? 110.00 per person compared to Pearson is priceless for us a family of 5. How long though are the tickets on sale for and how fast do they sell out??? Is it like getting the cinderella breakfast at the castle??????? You either get it or you don't.

 

[Questforthemouse]

So if I'm waiting for a sale to happen with Southwest for Christmas this 2007 it isn't going to happen???? 110.00 per person compared to Pearson is priceless for us a family of 5. How long though are the tickets on sale for and how fast do they sell out??? Is it like getting the cinderella breakfast at the castle??????? You either get it or you don't.

That $110 per peson was on the way back from Orlando on Jan 6th. We flew down on Dec 26th with SW and the price was $213pp (full fare) one way plus @ 13% taxes/airport fees. The booking window for Christmas opened on August 21st and we booked immediately. When the window opened on Aug 21st the only thing SW was offering were "refundable anytime full fares". There were no "internet one-way fares", "promotional fares" or "fun fares" available then nor in the future. No Dings became available (that I know of). All flights leaving for Orlando between Dec 25th and 30th were eventually sold out though I don't know how soon they sold out. I think I remember flights being available as late as mid October. By the time we totalled up our airfares and the airport hotel we used (parked our car there) the cost was equal in Canadian $ to the price we would have paid to fly Air Canada out of Pearson if we would have booked back in February '06. We hadn't decided to go to WDW until closer to the summer and by then AC was $375 more and by the time we booked with SW the cost to fly AC was $450 more than the SW/hotel package. I can't speak to other years with SW at Christmas as this was the first time we flew SW. I did notice this fall that SW didn't offer it's cheaper fares for both Christmas and US Thanksgiving. Hey, it's market driven! I don't remember exactly what Jet Blue and Air Tran did but I believe they weren't much different (someone else could tell you more). Nobody rides for free...

 

[Scratch42]

As soon as they open up, BOOK IT!

There were no Dings! But I had credits from previous flights which helped with the cost.

I would have had to pay $1200.00 if I had flown out of Pearson! No Thank You!

 

[Agent J]

thanks for the tips - we were looking at early jan trip so niece and nephew won't miss too much school and we could stretch out the trip to 8 or 9 nights - we have been spoiled with cheap flights on our may and sept trips in the past so wishful thinking

we could travel the week before christmas and hope for better airfare but then our dvc points are higher - lots to think about (in 2005 we went dec 15-23 but flew out of pearson)

we really prefer to go to buf the night before for reasons you mentioned so will let our party know what the word is here

thanks again!

 

[Disneyof3]

Thanks Questforthemouse. That at least gives me a heads up. Also those prices you are mentioning, I take it that they are US not Canadian??? So in your opinion and I know you haven't flown alot at Christmas time. Do you think our family of 5 could fly to Florida from Buffalo and back at $1000 ? Or am I just kidding myself????

 

[Questforthemouse]

Thanks Questforthemouse. That at least gives me a heads up. Also those prices you are mentioning, I take it that they are US not Canadian??? So in your opinion and I know you haven't flown alot at Christmas time. Do you think our family of 5 could fly to Florida from Buffalo and back at $1000 ? Or am I just kidding myself????

Yes US dollars. I double checked my receipt and it was $757 US roundtrip for two including all taxes/airport fees leaving Dec 26th returning Jan 6th. I think SW still had cheaper flights leaving on or before Dec 19th if you left before Christmas. Of course, that is offset by increased hotel costs at WDW (they drop to Value Season as of Jan 1st) so adding on to the front end increases hotel (or DVC) costs. Again, I can only speak for SW (not Jet Blue or Air Tran) but based on this past Christmas and what I recall from last Christmas ('05) it would be somewhere between US$1750 and US$1950 for a family of 5 plus your airport hotel or airport parking. Christmas is a tough one...you have limited time to drive (if you don't want the kids missing school and if you want to be home for Christmas); you worry about the weather while driving; but...there aren't any deals on airfare. I remember that in November Air Canada put on a seat sale for late November thru December 20th. They all know we'll pay through the nose at Christmas!

 

[Disneyof3]

Well that is what I thought questforthemouse. We are hoping to leave on the 23rd and staying for 1 week and then return. So technically we are leaving before x-mas. I was actually hoping to stay down there for x-mas and head to the parks (Universal Studios) My in-laws are on the gulf side and then we were going to head over there after a few days in the Orlando area. I also was told if I arrive at one airport and leave from another that would cost us lost too Do you know anything about that also?? I don't mind taking the kids out of school and driving. We're driving in March. I just don't want to drive again in December. I just thought maybe it would be cheaper (haha) to fly since everyone had been talking about leaving from Buffalo alot on this site. We won't be spending the same as we would if we were heading to WDW but still were spending enough with the tickets at US and then the hotel and then the flight. My limit is usually 3000 but that includes everything and also all but 1000 is usually paid by the time we go. Again this is a great help, thanks so much for the information.

 

[Questforthemouse]

Well that is what I thought questforthemouse. We are hoping to leave on the 23rd and staying for 1 week and then return. So technically we are leaving before x-mas. I was actually hoping to stay down there for x-mas and head to the parks (Universal Studios) My in-laws are on the gulf side and then we were going to head over there after a few days in the Orlando area. I also was told if I arrive at one airport and leave from another that would cost us lost too Do you know anything about that also?? I don't mind taking the kids out of school and driving. We're driving in March. I just don't want to drive again in December. I just thought maybe it would be cheaper (haha) to fly since everyone had been talking about leaving from Buffalo alot on this site. We won't be spending the same as we would if we were heading to WDW but still were spending enough with the tickets at US and then the hotel and then the flight. My limit is usually 3000 but that includes everything and also all but 1000 is usually paid by the time we go. Again this is a great help, thanks so much for the information.

Hi Disneyof3...

Regarding the two airport question...it used to cost a lot more to fly in and out of 2 different airports just as it used to cost much more to book two one-way flights rather than a round trip. This may still happen in some cases but if you look at both Southwest's and Air Canada's websites you'll find that the difference is almost nothing. I checked both airlines and the cost to fly into Orlando and out of Tampa (or the other way around) is virtually the same cost as a round trip to either airport. I guess you'll just have to check once you confirm your plans. I think we should start our own DISboards airline just for us to fly back and forth to WDW