Expedia.ca vs. Aircanada.ca

[bunnyfoo]

I was thinking of taking a mini-Disney trip in Jan 2003 and was checking out airline ticket prices. I noticed there was a big difference in the airport taxes between the two sites. Expedia.ca was charging $82.07 and Aircanada.ca was charging $154.22 ... Both sites were charging in Canadian currency.

Does anyone know why? I noticed a difference in taxes when I booked my ticket in May (I booked at expedia.ca) ... $72.15 is a big difference to me, especially when its two tickets. That's enough for a dinner and some souveniers. Maybe I just miscalculated ...?

 

[rcomputer]

Assuming it is from Pearson the C$154 is not too awful - which is why we mostly drive to Buffalo [cheaper taxes and fares]

Are the fares otherwise identical? There are so many taxes, fees and charges added on - they get hard to match up. For instance fuel surcharges are usually added to the airfare whilst Airport improvement fees are added to the government tax.

AC are probably just gouging ;-(

 

[bunnyfoo]

Both sites broke down the airfare by base price and then listed the taxes in the a separate section. The base price was cheaper at expedia.ca ... So maybe I'm comparing apples to oranges I just thought they might be comparable since the flights #s were identical.

Btw rcomputer, do you leave your car at the airport when you fly from Buffalo? How much do they charge? Or is the bus cheaper?

 

[rcomputer]

Buffalo airport parking is U$8.25/day or U$38/wk. We have parked there perhaps 20-25 times - never had a problem. They have men with shovels to dig you out in heavy snow.

The various airfare search/ticketing systems such as Galileo and Sabre are big complex databases and do not always update simultaneously. This can work to our advantage - if you find a fare has just gone away in one system it may still be bookable in another!

 

[dsneygirl]

For our honeymoon trip in June we flew from Buffalo. We got the Holiday Inn near the airport for $35 on priceline and we could leave our car at the hotel and used their shuttle with no problems.
Another option is Sunpark which is a private company across the street. I think there are about $5 a day and they usually have a coupon on their website for even less than that.

To put it in prespective you were quoted $150 in taxes we have flown from Buffalo for $200 CDN total. With exchange and taxes.

 

[rcomputer]

We used to use Sunpark when they had the CAA/AAA discount - then one March Break they were full and we had to use the airport parking. That is when we discovered that the Buffalo airport parking itself is cheaper!

Most of the hotels across from the airport provide parking with a room but the shuttles can be a little eratic in bad weather.

Our cheapest flights from BUF to MCO were on 29 Sep 2001 when we only paid C$110 each round trip with Continental. As you say - less than the taxes and fees for Pearson!

 

[bunnyfoo]

Buffalo is looking better and better ... The taxes are just too much and then I hear the story about Air Canada blocking police investigations at Pearson ... it doesn't make me feel too good about the new security tax

 

[rcomputer]

If you are thinking of Buffalo - driving from my office near the Ex it was almost exactly two hours to BUF parking lot anytime between noon and 3pm weekdays. Worst case (weather) was 2.75 hours.

Early morning going the other way (having dropped my wife off) it was surprisingly only 1.5 hours.