Did I Pay Too Much?

[dvcdisney]

Boston is a lot cheaper airfare, but parking the car is PRICY $$$$ (if we had room in the driveway I'd offer you some; we're right on the subway). Navigating to Logan is also a bit complicated. I would say far better to fly out of Portland, Maine or Manchester, New Hampshire; the parking is cheap and easy, the drive is shorter and you can still get non-stop flights at decent prices (Southwest does the MHT-MCO route, while JetBlue and AirTran do the PWM-MCO, and those are just the non-stops).

Of course, if you're planning to do some Boston tourism, then BOS would make some sense. And the city would love to have more tourists and there's plenty to see and do here (I'd recommend the Duck Tour first, plus the Science Museum and the Aquarium, among many other attractions). When in Boston, I'd recommend not driving, since the streets are confusing even for those of us living here; it is far easier to get around using public transit and your feet.

But you'll save two hours minimum flying from PWM, and maybe an hour of the drive flying from MHT. Plus the parking and hotels are cheaper.

Thanks so much for the advice. I think we will be going to Boston because we'd really like to visit there. But I fully understand your recommendation for PWM. That was our first plan. We would most likely go to Portland the following year and fly from there.

And thanks for the suggestions for Boston. We do have the Museum and Aquarium on our list, but I will look into the Duck tour (I've never heard of it). And I definitely understand what you are saying about driving there. My cousin went to school there and kept her driving to a minimum. We were planning on staying at a hotel near the airport. I hope it's not too bad getting around to those places from there.

 

[mariethecat]

I just booked a vacation package through Maritime Travel yesterday for Jan 9-16, 2009 for a direct flight from Halifax to Orlando. When I priced the flight (Canjet) separately it was $550 per person. The prices were higher later in the month. We could have paid less for a package with a flight through Toronto but it is worth it to us to pay more for a direct flight

 

[ph-mtl]

We are flying from Montreal to Orlando in May 09. Our Price was 399.oo per person which includes all taxes. We had booked this in Nov when AC had a seat sale. This is the cheapest we had paid since 2006.

 

[crazy canuck]

Paid $670 per ticket all taxes and fees included from Fredericton YFC to Orlando MCO via Toronto back in November( seat sale) for feb 24th to Mar 6th. It was going for $550 out of Bangor so we decided to spend the extra and fly from home.

 

[pumpkinboy]

...And thanks for the suggestions for Boston. We do have the Museum and Aquarium on our list, but I will look into the Duck tour (I've never heard of it). And I definitely understand what you are saying about driving there. My cousin went to school there and kept her driving to a minimum. We were planning on staying at a hotel near the airport. I hope it's not too bad getting around to those places from there.

OK, the Boston Duck Tours are the best possible tour of the city. As an historic port, it was meant to be seen from the water as well as the land, and Duck Boats can do that. It's a little pricier than the other tours, but it is light years ahead/ head-and-shoulders above, IMO. Plus, it boards at the Museum of Science; how convenient is that?!

As for Boston hotels, I'd go with an airport hotel only on the night before the flight (for the park and fly option). For the rest of the time you will want to be someplace nicer and more accessible to the MBTA (public transit, aka "the T"). When you're doing your planning, feel free to PM or email me when you are vetting Boston area hotels.

 

[pumpkinboy]

We are flying from Montreal to Orlando in May 09. Our Price was 399.oo per person which includes all taxes. We had booked this in Nov when AC had a seat sale. This is the cheapest we had paid since 2006.

Wow, great price out of Montreal! Most times, I would be inclined to cross over to Burlington, Vermont to fly, esp since they now have non-stops there on JetBlue (the best airline ever). But for $400 r-t out of Dorval, that's a sweet deal!

 

[dvcdisney]

OK, the Boston Duck Tours are the best possible tour of the city. As an historic port, it was meant to be seen from the water as well as the land, and Duck Boats can do that. It's a little pricier than the other tours, but it is light years ahead/ head-and-shoulders above, IMO. Plus, it boards at the Museum of Science; how convenient is that?!

As for Boston hotels, I'd go with an airport hotel only on the night before the flight (for the park and fly option). For the rest of the time you will want to be someplace nicer and more accessible to the MBTA (public transit, aka "the T"). When you're doing your planning, feel free to PM or email me when you are vetting Boston area hotels.

Thanks again for the info. And maybe I will PM you when we are looking into the Boston Hotels. Thanks.

 

[dvcdisney]

We could have paid less for a package with a flight through Toronto but it is worth it to us to pay more for a direct flight

We had the same option. A direct flight is very important to us. I do feel it's worth going through customs in Halifax vs Toronto during a very busy time of the year. We had lived in Toronto for so many years that we know never to go through Pearson. It's just insanely busy.

The other reason we chose not to go through TO is because of the weather. During the March Break there will possible be weather delays. I would rather not be in Pearson for those delays. And there's a good chance that if there are delays in Halifax and we finally land in Toronto, there is another good chance they'll be a delay there too.

If we have to take a connecting flight, we usually fly with Continental or Delta and connect in Newark or Boston. We've been travelling to Disney quite often and we've learned not to have any connections in Toronto or Montreal.