Compared air prices - CDN to US

[phabric]

We have a cruise out of Miami for the CDN Thanksgiving weekend. I was able to get Southwest to Ft Lauderdale for $606 US$ for 2. Air Canada wants over $1,800 CDN for 2 going to Toronto to Miami.

Even if we drive 2 hrs to Buffalo and take the cruiseline transfer of $24, it is still cheaper. With our good rate of exchange it is even better.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Isn't funny that flying out of a different city can save so much money. I live in Cleveland Ohio but plan to drive to Detroit MI for our flight to WDW. It saved us $125. a person yet it will only cost us $40 in gas to drive there.
I can't tell you how many times we have driven to either Pittsburgh, Columbus, Akron & Detroit because the price was better.

 

[calgarygary]

Don't complain, at least you are in a part of the country where driving to the U.S. is an option. I have driven to Spokane in the past but we lose 2 days and the connections are usually not too good so the savings have to be huge for us to consider it in the future.

 

[mkmommy]

Take advantage of it while you can the gap is getting smaller. Air Tran released thier fares for Spring break 09 and they are much higher than last year.

 

[pooksma]

Don't complain, at least you are in a part of the country where driving to the U.S. is an option. I have driven to Spokane in the past but we lose 2 days and the connections are usually not too good so the savings have to be huge for us to consider it in the future.

This is part of the problem and Air Canada knows it! You are right, those of us who have the option to drive and fly from the US are lucky.

Personally, I would love to support my country's airline and in turn my fellow Canadians by flying AC.
But the price difference is too great.

 

[willise]

Our August trip was priced out of Moncton and Halifax for approx $4200 for four of us.

We ended up buying with Delta from Bangor at $1468 total.

Not even a contest!

 

[grantclaire]

I checked the Airtran website for flights from Buffalo to Orlando, Mar 14/09. For 4 flights return it was 2700 US, I booked on WJ out of Toronto to Orlando back in April for 2500 CDN for 4 return. Maybe the gap in prices is closing?

 

[trivial]

I checked the Airtran website for flights from Buffalo to Orlando, Mar 14/09. For 4 flights return it was 2700 US, I booked on WJ out of Toronto to Orlando back in April for 2500 CDN for 4 return. Maybe the gap in prices is closing?

US$2700 from Buffalo to Orlando sounds extreme, but I'm assuming that would be during March break. Even so, I wouldn't expect WestJet to be so competitive. I wonder what JetBlue/Southwest will be charging at that time.

 

[grantclaire]

WJ was only competitive for a few weeks, the fare have been rising each month. Now its up to 4700 for 4 return, it is March break in Ont.

 

[chrisann]

I checked the Airtran website for flights from Buffalo to Orlando, Mar 14/09. For 4 flights return it was 2700 US, I booked on WJ out of Toronto to Orlando back in April for 2500 CDN for 4 return. Maybe the gap in prices is closing?

The only thing with this, is you have a better chane of Air Tran having a special than Air Canada, plus don't forget, prices are always way higher when the dates first come out.

 

[Disneydaddycanada]

I still can't believe the difference!!!

We are heading down to WDW end of August. We flew westjet last Dec the cost pp was $449 for a total of $1350. Thank god we had airmiles so we only paid the taxes. The same flight as of today for Aug is $3505. It was higher when we started to plan this trip back in early May. We started looking at Buffalo but we decided to add 2 days to the beginning of our trip and drive down to Grove City PA and do some shopping (TAX Free on cloths). We will then drive the 45 mins to Pittsburgh. SWA non stop all 3 tickets $606. That a saves of $2900!!. Total cost of our trip for 3 plus an infant is $2013 with free dining, park tickets, staying at POP, and flight. That is just crazy.

The way things are going I think this will be our last trip down to WDW as it will be priced out of our budget. I think this is going to happen to alot of families which in turn is going to really hurt the tourist industry.

 

[wee-haggis]

You can get Sunwing from YYZ to MCO from Mar 13th to Mar 22nd for $2674 all in

 

[FayeW]

We fly JetBlue out of Syracuse because flying out of Ottawa is more than twice the price. I bought our tickets for Dec when JetBlue released their flights in May. Our cost for 4 non-stop return flights came to $997 CDN. The Canadian carriers were $2500-$3000.

This will be out fourth trip to Florida since 2003. If we had flown from Ottawa for that first trip, it would have been our only trip. Since we were able to do the first trip for about $4500 (4 people, 10 days total) we saw that going to Orlando doesn't have to be a budget buster and have been able to go again. Last trip in 2006 and this trip in Dec will both be less than $3K. This year we are staying in a 3bdrm condo at Windsor Hills for 9 nights. We budgeted our park tickets last time so we still have 5 day park hoppers/ 5 plus features. We will probably only use 3 of those days and a couple of plus features, so we will get a third trip out of those 10 day passes. Our US/IOA tickets cost $340 (4 -7 day tickets)

 

[Disneydaddycanada]

You can get Sunwing from YYZ to MCO from Mar 13th to Mar 22nd for $2674 all in

Aug24th-Aug31 Sunwing is charging $2505.00 for 3 tickets ($835pp) still a savings of $1900.00. I tried to book the Mar 13-Mar22 on sunwing website. They don't offer the disney resorts. I am guessing you would have to call to book.

When you say $2674 "all in" is that flight, disney Value resort, and park passes? Since Dining is free in August it is a free add on. For how many people?

Mine is for 2 adults 1 child and a infant that is free.

If I could get a price that makes it worth flying out of Toronto I would but apples to apples on dates they are not even close.

 

[wee-haggis]

Aug24th-Aug31 Sunwing is charging $2505.00 for 3 tickets ($835pp) still a savings of $1900.00. I tried to book the Mar 13-Mar22 on sunwing website. They don't offer the disney resorts. I am guessing you would have to call to book.

When you say $2674 "all in" is that flight, disney Value resort, and park passes? Since Dining is free in August it is a free add on. For how many people?

Mine is for 2 adults 1 child and a infant that is free.

If I could get a price that makes it worth flying out of Toronto I would but apples to apples on dates they are not even close.

Unfortunately not....just flight plus taxes and fees.
All (or most)of the previous posters were discussing flights only.
You'll probably find that in many cases its actually better to book everything seperately (packages aint what they used to be ).
If you want Air Only in the Sunwing website you have to click the tab above the search.

 

[TagsMissy]

Yeah we saved a bundle buying our tickets out of Seattle... both our trips!

 

[roscoepc1]

We saved over 2/3 by flying out of Detroit next April instead of Toronto (or anywhere else in Ontario, for that matter!).

Out of Detroit, it was $1529 for 5 of us return, including insurance.....it was over $4K from Ontario! That was 2/3 of our entire holiday budget! I'm so thankful I've got the tickets bought and paid for now, before they jump!

 

[Menteith]

Even with connection with Air Canada it still is cheaper to fly out of Buffalo for us.. That’s even a direct flight. I do like to support our Canadian economy, but would appreciate a break once in awhile

 

[suprgrlx]

I agree with most of the previous posters. It's fine to want to fly out of Toronto (both to support Canadian carriers and frankly for less hassle), but it's just so expensive.

We're doing a trip to Florida in October, just the two of us. Flights out of Toronto were over $1200 total (these were picking the cheapest flights available), whereas the Southwest flights we booked out of Buffalo were $490 total (and honestly, that's because we're flying out in the afternoon; had we been willing to do early morning, we could have got them for $400). Even with the price of gas, it's still a huge savings. And parking in Buffalo for the week appears to be pricing out cheaper than parking at Pearson (or cabbing), so that's an additional savings.

Unfortunately, as was mentioned, not everyone has that luxury of flying out of the States. My sister and her husband are meeting us in FL and flying out of Newfoundland. It would have easily cost them $2000 (thank goodness they have one of the flights free on rewards miles).

I read the budget and transportation boards here and I really do feel for the people in the States who are having their travel prices go up. However it's hard to be too sympathetic to people having to pay $200 round trip (all in!!) and saying "I guess we're being priced out of travel" when I'm worried about getting home for Christmas because AC and WJ want $1900+.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for some sort of solution!

 

[minnie56]

I think..the next year will see many airlines closing up shop as they really are not charging enough. I don't like to pay the AC prices anymore than the next person--but I am savvy enough to understand that if my car costs almost $100 to fill and that lasts me 540KM tops...filling an Airbus, Boeing or similar Aircraft must be staggering..never mind all the additional add on costs. We have been delusional for too long and enjoyed the ride for probably much longer than we should have...my 2 cents for what it's worth