Flight from Buffalo... which carrier?

[AdamsMum]

If you are thinking Buffalo/MCO I’d check out SWOOP out of Hamilton to MCO. No exchange rate to factor in, prices are excellent. I priced Oct 16-23/19 last week for a possible trip - $234.38 CDN per person all taxes & fees included - you would pay for bags & seat selection but the fees were not outrageous.

Something to consider.

I just checked out Swoop from Hamilton. Seems like a reasonable price just under $300 return. Didn't look at baggage fees, do you remember how much they were? Anyway, it has to be cheaper than AC from Pearson. I've also travelled Southwest which I liked, except for the cattle call to board. I liked the option of 2 free checked bags, never needed that on my way down, but coming back it was handy. Next year I'm going in February so it could be a challenge leaving Buffalo, depending on the weather. Thanks for the tip.

 

[OnceUponATime15]

ooops.. double post - deleted

 

[OnceUponATime15]

I just checked out Swoop from Hamilton. Seems like a reasonable price just under $300 return. Didn't look at baggage fees, do you remember how much they were? Anyway, it has to be cheaper than AC from Pearson. I've also travelled Southwest which I liked, except for the cattle call to board. I liked the option of 2 free checked bags, never needed that on my way down, but coming back it was handy. Next year I'm going in February so it could be a challenge leaving Buffalo, depending on the weather. Thanks for the tip.

Here’s the Seat Guru travel blog’s Swoop baggage info..

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Swoop_Airlines/baggage.php

 

[ellbell]

I just checked out Swoop from Hamilton. Seems like a reasonable price just under $300 return. Didn't look at baggage fees, do you remember how much they were? Anyway, it has to be cheaper than AC from Pearson. I've also travelled Southwest which I liked, except for the cattle call to board. I liked the option of 2 free checked bags, never needed that on my way down, but coming back it was handy. Next year I'm going in February so it could be a challenge leaving Buffalo, depending on the weather. Thanks for the tip.

I just booked with swoop return from Hamilton to Orlando in December and in total with 1 checked bag it was 357 and some change.

 

[KNovacovschi]

See, it's that Southwest boarding that has me nervous. There are so many families flying out of MCO that it's said if you're not in the family group, you're not getting seats together.

You can purchase early bird check in and that way you are automatically checked in 36 hrs ahead instead of 24. Also if you are in A group then you board before families with small children which board between group A and B. We only fly SW and have never had a problem sitting together.

 

[darwinsrule]

With exchange we are seeing Toronto and Hamilton being competitively priced , and it’s not always cheaper to go out of Buffalo right now. However I prefer Buffalo airport to YYZ .. it’s just so much easier to get in and out of and to navigate .

Booked our first flights out of Pearson in 9 years a few weeks ago. Flying down to San Juan for the Wonder's repo to NOLA next February. Cost wise yes there were savings to be had flying from BUF (esp since SW hasn't released out that far yet), but decided we would rather pay the bit extra for the direct to San Juan. Not however looking forward to dealing with Pearson however.

 

[migel]

I'm flying Southwest next month, and again in October. I did check out Swoop, and while the prices were decent, I went with Southwest. Last year I booked with Flair out of Hamilton (low cost predecessor to Swoop), to fly to Halifax. I booked and paid 3 months in advance, reserved hotels, etc. I was going around Labour Day, so reserving hotels and rental car were important. Less than 2 weeks before my flight, I received an email advising my flight had been cancelled -- because they chose to change their Sept flying schedules. However they were nice enough to rebook my flight for 2 days later, same return flight. This completely screwed up my plans. Long story short, I had to rebook last minute with Air Canada, for $700. Twice the cost, no apology, no attempts to rectify. I vowed off low cost carriers that day. Now this was Flair and not Swoop, but every time I get tempted with those low fares, I remember this life lesson. This Sept, I'm driving out East.

 

[dancin Disney style]

See, it's that Southwest boarding that has me nervous. There are so many families flying out of MCO that it's said if you're not in the family group, you're not getting seats together.

That is not at all true. I've been flying SW for about 14 years now with 2-4 trips per year but many years with as many as 8 trips. In the last 2 or 3 years they have cracked down on family boarding. They only allow the parents and the kids to use the line (no grandparents, aunts, etc) and they are checking the ages of the kids. There are times when they don't even offer family boarding. Aside from that, I've had the very last of the B boarding many times and we still had seats together. Even the first part of C will probably have seats together. If having seats together is a big deal then just purchase your tickets far in advance and purchase the EBCI. Even if you didn't buy far in advance getting the EBCI gets you an advantage over everyone who didn't. Lastly, you can upgrade at the gate (when available) to get in the A1-15 boarding group....BTW most often there are only a couple of people, if any at all, in that group so remember that when you get your boarding position.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The thing that soured me on Southwest ( and we have flown with them out of Buffalo many times ) was when people would board with family boarding and then save seats for the giant party they were travelling with. It’s not allowed but nobody said anything. And that happened twice . So here we are paying for the EBCI so we can sit together as I’m a really anxious flyer and prefer to be up front, and some jerk saves 12 seats with hats and sweaters when he boards with his one kid . It didn’t happen every time but it’s not something I want to worry about.
We’ve flown Frontier twice and they were great but you do run the risk of not having as many planes available if there’s a problem.
We love JetBlue , but the price is usually much higher. So in general we try JetBlue, then Frontier and then Southwest.
With exchange we are seeing Toronto and Hamilton being competitively priced , and it’s not always cheaper to go out of Buffalo right now. However I prefer Buffalo airport to YYZ .. it’s just so much easier to get in and out of and to navigate .

I agree that people should not be saving seats but they do it because there is no policy on seat saving. The crew will almost never say anything about it even when they get complaints. The usual course of action is to offer free drinks.