driving from TO to Bufflo airport

[elismom]

Are flights leave on Sat at 12:30 P.M
What would be the best brigde to cross over at to avoide all the shoppers.
What time should we plan to leave in the morning?
Thanks

 

[Sharptooth]

If you go to Mapquest.com it will give you the shortest route to take and what bridge to cross. We live 2 hrs from Buffalo and the trip took us approx. 3 hrs. That was crossing the border and stopping at duty free. Have a great time.

 

[SaraMc]

Rainbow bridge has more actual custom's lanes but can be just as busy as Queenston Lewiston and Ive never crossed at Erie so I cant help you there. We crossed to go shopping on Saturday and we crossed at 8:30 and made it across at almost 9am.. ( We crossed at Queenston Lewiston) I would go early to make sure you are across and in the country before the big rush starts.
There is a phone number on a sign somewhere near Jordan with the number for border wait times, and if its really bad they sometimes have a sign up along the way to go to the other bridges if Queenston is bad..
The number is programed in my cel we go so often Its 1-800-715-6722 I myself because I hate being late would try to make it to be at the border for 8am.. Gives you time once your over to have breakfast, relax and mosey to the airport.

Good Luck!

 

[realfam]

We travel from Buffalo often. We cross at Queenston. Although we did hear on the news this week because of the high Canadian $ the lines have been large.
We normally drive down the night before the flight, most of the hotels around the airport give you upto 2 weeks parking with a 1 night stay. Plus feed you breakfast and shuttle you back and forth. Good deal!

Enjoy! We were there for Mickeys Not So Scarey Halloween Party a week ago. A must do if you can

 

[sean-1966]

Peace Bridge is generally the easiest. There is a sign just outside St Catharines that gives the wait times at Queenston and Rainbow.

 

[Canadian Girl 77]

The Peace Bridge in Fort Erie is usually less busy - plus it is SO close to the airport. I'd leave at 8 am to make it 2 hours before your flight. But I usually am early to ensure that I never miss a flight.

 

[OntFamily]

The Fort Erie crossing has the shortest lines, 90% of the time.

Before I leave home, I check the border wait times @
http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/times/menu-e.html

My practice is to use one of the following two methods, while I'm enroute, to determine the best crossing:

1) On my cell phone, I go to www.gc.ca, click on services, and then border wait times.

2) Or, I call 1-800-715-6722, to receive recorded info border crossing wait times.


There is road construction in St. Catharines which is causing traffic delays. Allow yourself extra time.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I think it depends on where in TO you live. I think you will need 2 hours to drive + 1/2 hour for boarder traffic + plan to be at the airport 2 hours prior to flight time. If it where me I would leave home between 7 - 7:30 ( I know that's more than 4 1/2 hours prior). I would rather be early than be stressed about being late. You can go and have breakfast or do a little shopping before you park at the airport if you arrive really early.

We cross over a lot for shopping as well as going to the airport. In my experience Queenston is always the slowest. The Peace bridge and Rainbow are always good. Just check before you leave home.

 

[dsneygirl]

I would go Fort Erie then you are avoiding Niagara Falls altogether. I find the signage to get to Buffalo once you are in NF, NY is not very clear. The airport though is well marked as soon as you get onto the freeway after Fort Erie. I would give yourself lots and lots of time. I'm sure the day shoppers are plentiful right now. If you are early you can always stop for something to eat.

 

[junebug88]

Someone told me that Queenston was closer to the airport, but I have never done it before and I am flying out of Buffalo in May.

 

[bluedaisy1974]

i've gone across the border about a 1/2 dozen times in the last few months for shopping.

queenston-lewiston is always the longest wait! the last time we came home this way we waited a good 2 hours to cross the border on a sunday evening.

cross at fort erie if you can, it has always been the shortest wait for us...usually no more than 4-6 cars in front of us. and i believe it's close to the airport. we're flying out of there in just over 2 weeks and plan to leave about 6 hours before our flight. i'd be pissed if we got held up at the border and missed our flight. i'd much rather arrive too early.

staying over in buffalo the night before is also a great idea. you can get a room for less than a hundred dollars with parking while you're away and a shuttle to the airport i believe!

 

[dancin Disney style]

Someone told me that Queenston was closer to the airport, but I have never done it before and I am flying out of Buffalo in May.

Queenston is the farthest from the airport, not the closest. The Peace bridge in Fort Erie is the closest crossing.

 

[Claud26]

do you think the closer it get to x-mas, that we should consider staying over night in Buffalo even if our flight is only @ 3pm ?
our flight is on Sat December 8th @ 3pm ... I'm just wondering if we would be better of staying overnight because of all the x-mas shoppers taking advantage of our dollar being so good?
Or am I good using the 6hr rule ... that would mean we would leave Toronto at 9am ... have lunch around the airport and just hang out until 3pm??

 

[jeannief]

we just travelled 2 weeks ago for that flight time, but a Friday. We live about 15 minutes from the 407/400 so took the 407 as far as possible. We left home at 7:10 and crossed over at peace bridge at 9:30 after a stop at the duty free. The walden galleria exit is just before the airport exit and there are a few places to shop/eat near there. We hit the walmart for last minute things we forgot.

 

[riu girl]

We have a Saturday 1:15pm flight close to Christmas and have always stayed near the airport the night before. This time DH is working until midnight Friday night so that is not an option.

Due to increased cross border shopping I am wondering if we would be ok if we leave at 5 am saturday for the 1:15 pm flight? Rather be safe then sorry.

Any thoughts would be really appreciated since this will be our first time not getting a room the night prior to our flight.

Thank you

 

[101DalmFan]

With the dollar so good, border crossings at Buffalo are nuts! Here's my thoughts: plan to be at the airport for two hours before your flight (security lineups are now longer and slower than in the past). Plan for two hours for border crossing and driving to the airport (sounds nuts, but from what I've seen on the news, it's best to plan for a long wait). Then, of course, factor in how long it takes you to drive to the border.

So, if you were a 1-hour drive from the border, for a 12:30 pm flight, leave home at 7:30 a.m. at the latest And cross at Erie, you're closer to the airport than at the other crossings.

I recommend staying overnight the night before in Buffalo though, if at all possible. Much more relaxing way to start a vacation!

 

[peacefrogdog]

With the dollar so good, border crossings at Buffalo are nuts! Here's my thoughts: plan to be at the airport for two hours before your flight (security lineups are now longer and slower than in the past). Plan for two hours for border crossing and driving to the airport (sounds nuts, but from what I've seen on the news, it's best to plan for a long wait). Then, of course, factor in how long it takes you to drive to the border.

So, if you were a 1-hour drive from the border, for a 12:30 pm flight, leave home at 7:30 a.m. at the latest And cross at Erie, you're closer to the airport than at the other crossings.

I recommend staying overnight the night before in Buffalo though, if at all possible. Much more relaxing way to start a vacation!

We're flying on a 12:30 flight, but leaving on a Thursday. Would you still recommend leaving that early for a weekday compared to the weekend?

 

[Amps]

How about this one. We have a 7:30am flight on a Monday (Oct 29) and live in Mississauga (15mins from the QEW). I was thinking of trying to be out the door at 4:30am. Our experience with Buffalo airport in the past has been that even at a busy time like a Monday around 10-11am the security line is no longer then 15-20mins.

I'm figuring about 1:30 to get to the airport which leaves us over an hour before our flight and some extra time for potential traffic (how much could there possibly be at 5am?).

Am I cutting it too close?

 

[realfam]

How about this one. We have a 7:30am flight on a Monday (Oct 29) and live in Mississauga (15mins from the QEW). I was thinking of trying to be out the door at 4:30am. Our experience with Buffalo airport in the past has been that even at a busy time like a Monday around 10-11am the security line is no longer then 15-20mins.

I'm figuring about 1:30 to get to the airport which leaves us over an hour before our flight and some extra time for potential traffic (how much could there possibly be at 5am?).

Am I cutting it too close?

I would say your cutting it really close.

What we normally due flying from Buffalo is arrive the night before at one of the airport hotels. Stay the night on one of there park and stay packages (prices vary from $89 to $130, which includes parking for upto 2 weeks and shuttle ride back and forth) and sleep in to a civilized time. Its not worth the stress of questioning whether or not you will make it on time.
$100 is worth paying for piece of mind and your going to have to pay for parking anyway.

Best of luck and enjoy your trip....

 

[dancin Disney style]

I would say your cutting it really close.

What we normally due flying from Buffalo is arrive the night before at one of the airport hotels. Stay the night on one of there park and stay packages (prices vary from $89 to $130, which includes parking for upto 2 weeks and shuttle ride back and forth) and sleep in to a civilized time. Its not worth the stress of questioning whether or not you will make it on time.
$100 is worth paying for piece of mind and your going to have to pay for parking anyway.

Best of luck and enjoy your trip....

I totally agree.......for a 7am flight the best option is to stay over. Most of the hotels also include breakfast.

AMPS....if you leave Mississauga 3 hours before your flight YOU WILL MISS IT. I live in Oakville and it's a 90 minute drive from here. Then add in 30 minutes to find a parking spot, get your luggage out of the car, secure the car, get to the shuttle stop, wait for the shuttle and drive to the terminal. Then you have to get inside and get through security, which at any time could take 5 minutes or it could take and hour. BTW, Monday mornings are very busy. This doesn't leave any time for traffic on the highway..accidents or construction....or boarder crossing traffic. Not to mention anything else that could happen.

A few extra dollars are not worth the stress of sitting in the car trying to make it to the airport. A missed flight is not my idea of a great start to my hard earned vacation.