Canadians Flocking to US Airports for Cheap Fares

[Diamondintheruff]

When I go to Vancouver from Toronto I fly from Buffalo to Seattle. Yes, it takes about 6 extra hours but I save from $400-$600 a person. For a family of five that's quite a lot.

 

[CanadianPaco]

I priced West Jet from T.O. to Orlando at $2100. Delta from Detroit $844. Seriously. From where we live, it's an extra hour to drive to Detroit than to Pearson.

 

[mkmommy]

Yes it usually is cheaper to fly from the states, but the difference is sure getting smaller and smaller. Flights out of Buffalo have gone up more than flights from Toronto have gone up.

First time we flew from Buffalo was 2007 and the difference then for 3 was over $1000. I have a feeling that for March break 2013 the differnce is only going to be about $500 and I will probably will not get direct flights from Buffalo, where I could get direct flights from Toronto.

 

[jennyjinx3]

For our dates in Sept

Toronto - $2900
Buffalo - $1320

No brainer for us. From Toronto 2011 it was $2100, in 2010 it was $2000. Flights went up alot this year.

 

[Questforthemouse]

Got a heads up today from Jet Blue that they will be releasing flights through January 6th 2013 this Sunday (March 25th). You can sign up (for free) to receive e-mail alerts. We have booked flights after receiving this alert for 2 previous trips and gotten wicked rates. Last trip out of Syracuse was Feb. 2011 for about $840 (2 adults + 2 kids) which was about $2000 cheaper than had we flown from Ottawa.

How did you sign up? I'm a True Blue member and they have my email address and I don't receive these emails....

 

[Disney Addicted]

I have not been able to figure out how to sign up either. When we flew with JetBlue, I had to create trueblue accounts for each person (2 adults, 2 kids). I'm the one that created the accounts, filled in the profiles, purchased the tickets, etc. And yet, my husband gets the e-mails from JetBlue instead of me!

Drives us both crazy. He hates receiving them, and I want them.

 

[newdeal]

the bottom line is there is no way for Canadian airlines to compete. Even during their great sales most of the time the TAXES are more than the entire trip if you book from the States. The Canadian government is the one to blame for the outrageous airline prices when you are talking about popular destinations. Sure I mean many routes in Canada are not popular so those will cost more but Toronto to Orlando should have no reason to be so much more than Buffalo to Orlando. I am guessing the airport fees the airline has to pay is more in Toronto and fuel is probably costing Canadian airlines more also but the majority of the difference is in tax

 

[Baloo'sCrew]

How did you sign up? I'm a True Blue member and they have my email address and I don't receive these emails....

I signed up in the summer of 2008 when booking our first flight via Syracuse for the spring of 2009. I can't yet post the url (haven't yet made 10 posts) but if you Google search 'jet blue sign up e-mails' the result will be a page where you can sign up. They now have boxes to check off depending on how you want to receive the info.

 

[Questforthemouse]

I have not been able to figure out how to sign up either. When we flew with JetBlue, I had to create trueblue accounts for each person (2 adults, 2 kids). I'm the one that created the accounts, filled in the profiles, purchased the tickets, etc. And yet, my husband gets the e-mails from JetBlue instead of me!

Drives us both crazy. He hates receiving them, and I want them.

I have everything set up with them correctly. I receive all the promo emails but for some reason never get the email notification about the new schedule opening. I called them today and they put me through to their IT department. They couldn't figure it out so they ended up "unchecking" my email address internally and then checking it again and saving. We're all hoping it'll work next time. Crossing fingers at this point.

 

[bankr63]

Ummm, How do you 'weigh' that?

Well, if for every hour we have a TON of fun, then I'm a VERY rich man!!!

The JetBlue website lists fares for sale until October 27th, 2012. How did you get the February 2013 prices? Do tell....I would love to be pricing out a New Years trip again from Syracuse!

Gina, I don't know what I was imbibing when I ran those fares. I went back to pull them again and couldn't get them. I can only assume I pulled the wrong date. Better though, I was actually looking at direct from YOW on WJ, not YUL. I remember now that they weren't showing any direct flights from YUL for Feb, but the Ottawa direct flights there.

So I reran them for the same dates in April '12. JB is about $700 cheaper for our family of four, but the times out of Ottawa are better, and no travelling required. I guess it all depends on priorities.

As usual, I will probably book a direct flight from Ottawa as soon as they release in a few weeks. We are considering leaving Friday evening this year instead of Saturday morning, and staying over until Sunday. We're gonna need a couple of extra nights, but more magic should ensue.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

the bottom line is there is no way for Canadian airlines to compete. Even during their great sales most of the time the TAXES are more than the entire trip if you book from the States. The Canadian government is the one to blame for the outrageous airline prices when you are talking about popular destinations. Sure I mean many routes in Canada are not popular so those will cost more but Toronto to Orlando should have no reason to be so much more than Buffalo to Orlando. I am guessing the airport fees the airline has to pay is more in Toronto and fuel is probably costing Canadian airlines more also but the majority of the difference is in tax

I totally agree. It's the taxes.

The landing fee's at Pearson are one of the highest in the World (I believe).
Any airline is hard pressed to make money on a $49 - $69 fare to Orlando (what it used to be out of Buffalo) BUT at $99-$149. it is still much cheaper than out of Canada.

 

[jtdl]

the bottom line is there is no way for Canadian airlines to compete. Even during their great sales most of the time the TAXES are more than the entire trip if you book from the States. The Canadian government is the one to blame for the outrageous airline prices when you are talking about popular destinations. Sure I mean many routes in Canada are not popular so those will cost more but Toronto to Orlando should have no reason to be so much more than Buffalo to Orlando. I am guessing the airport fees the airline has to pay is more in Toronto and fuel is probably costing Canadian airlines more also but the majority of the difference is in tax

Yes, you are correct, taxes are the bottom line. I always laugh when I see the travel section in the newspaper with all these great rates on Caribbean all inclusives - $147/week - then you get to the fine print that states taxes $389! The governments gets more than double the money that the resort and airline gets!!! Absolutely ridiculous - and the gov't still has us in a huge deficit, and closing jails, hospitals, etc., but can still send billions of dollars to other countries to help them out - OMG!!!! I got started on our gov't - better end this now - lol!!!!