Fly from Ottawa or the US?

[Mysteria]

I now live in the US (8 years now ) but I am from Toronto. We always flew out of Buffalo. Planning a big family trip in 2014 with people coming from Toronto and the Ottawa area. If you're from the Ottawa area is it worth it (time and money) to cross and fly? Where do you get the best prices from?

 

[Gigi22]

Really depends on what your priorities are, whether you like to drive, and the cost of gas. In the Ottawa area gas prices have just climbed to about $1.30 a litre, after hovering around $1.20+ for a while.

DH and I hate driving, so we would never drive to an airport in the U.S. for the sake of cheaper flights. In our view, if we can't afford the flights from a local airport, we aren't going.

A friend recently took a short flight to a close U.S. airport (Syracuse?) and then cheaper U.S. flights to Seattle. He was willing to tolerate a weird itinerary for the sake of spending less on flights.

 

[chrispeto]

I now live in the US (8 years now ) but I am from Toronto. We always flew out of Buffalo. Planning a big family trip in 2014 with people coming from Toronto and the Ottawa area. If you're from the Ottawa area is it worth it (time and money) to cross and fly? Where do you get the best prices from?

I would find out if there is a shuttle service from Toronto to Buffalo airport. I live near Detroit Windsor crossing and a family friend from London flew out of Detroit and she took a shuttle from London to Detroit and I have seen shuttles from Toronto to Detroit.

 

[Sue M]

I have no idea of driving time to Buffalo airport, but we drive 3 hr to Seattle, fares are 50% less. So worth it even factoring in over night hotels going down & return. The hotel we stay at has park & fly rate. This trip i booked a red eye, so will save on one night hotel. Usually we take a 6:00 am flight, so we can arrive by 5:00 PM.
I use Kayak search to find good fares. On a good seat sale I can get RT for $320 - $350 price range. Flying out of Vancouver it's in mid to high $600's

 

[minnie mum]

DD and DSIL live in Ottawa and always opt to drive from Ottawa to Syracuse when they are going to US destinations. The airfares are usually significantly cheaper and there are park and fly hotels close to the airport. They drive down late the evening before departure, stay overnight, and fly out early the next morning. They usually time their return flight for late afternoon or early evening so that they can drive home that night.

By doing this they have saved a lot compared to flying directly out of Ottawa.

 

[bankr63]

Best Prices are in the US. BUT always consider the opportunity cost of money saved. We pay ALOT for our Disney vacations, so while I may save a few hundred $$$ flying our family from a US airport, I lose precious vacation time, which is very expensive. We fly direct from Ottawa whenever we can (direct flights are only available from WJ and AC in the winter), and we try to leave the Friday evening so that we have the entire Saturday through next Sunday in Orlando. Every minute with the Mouse is precious...

If you have drive time, non-direct flights, etc. you are losing on your vacation investment the entire time you are NOT at your destination enjoying yourself.

 

[Nutbean]

It depends on how many are going. The first time we went to DW, we flew out of Ottawa as it was just the four of us. It cost about $350/person and we had a stop in Toronto.

The second time, we were a party of 8, so it was much more cost effective to pile into my mom's 8 seater van and split the cost for gas and parking to fly out of Syracuse.

This September will be our third time and we're going to be a party of 8 again. This time we are flying out of Rochester. For $90 each way non-stop, it's a huge savings vs flying out of Ottawa.

The travel time usually ends up being about the same anyway when you think about it. It's a 4 or 5 hour drive to get to Syracuse or Rochester but it's fairly easy to get an inexpensive non-stop flight. If flying out of Ottawa however, it still takes us an hour to drive there and there are very few non-stop flights which means 1 stop that usually doubles (at least) the time it takes to get to MCO.

 

[JediBonas]

I now live in the US (8 years now ) but I am from Toronto. We always flew out of Buffalo. Planning a big family trip in 2014 with people coming from Toronto and the Ottawa area. If you're from the Ottawa area is it worth it (time and money) to cross and fly? Where do you get the best prices from?

Just a little LOL, I'm from Buffalo and use to fly out of Toronto

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Direct flights are offered from Syracuse on JetBlue (which is an excellent airline that includes a free checked bag, free seat selection, and free snacks in their fare price, plus there is a TV on each seat which helps the journey pass much more quickly). They will also give you a credit to use on a future flight if your flight price decreases after booking.

Add in the fact that the Syracuse airport is small and super easy to navigate, and flying from the US is an easy decision for our family.

 

[disneyworldfamily]

Best Prices are in the US. BUT always consider the opportunity cost of money saved. We pay ALOT for our Disney vacations, so while I may save a few hundred $$$ flying our family from a US airport, I lose precious vacation time, which is very expensive. We fly direct from Ottawa whenever we can (direct flights are only available from WJ and AC in the winter), and we try to leave the Friday evening so that we have the entire Saturday through next Sunday in Orlando. Every minute with the Mouse is precious...

If you have drive time, non-direct flights, etc. you are losing on your vacation investment the entire time you are NOT at your destination enjoying yourself.

This is exactly why we always choose to fly out of Ottawa

 

[ottawamom]

It all depends on what time of year you are planning on going. We generally travel in the May to August time frame. There are no direct flights from Ottawa to Orlando. We would have to go through Toronto so that connection adds some time. We generally find it cheaper (hotel stay and gas included) to drive to Syracuse, Buffalo or now Rochester and fly on a direct flight from there. I have 3 boys and they enjoy being able to shop before we come back into Canada (two birds with one stone). This arrangement works for us because we travel during the summer. If we were going in the winter I would definitely go on a direct flight from Ottawa.

 

[Nagle]

I live in Brockville. It is just about an hour to Ottawa airport. Syracuse airport is about an hour and forty five minutes. For several reasons we much prefer to fly out of Syracuse. First is the cost. Usually significantly cheaper out of Syracuse. Usually find fares in the $129 each way range. Parking is eight bucks a day. Syracuse airport is small enough to be easy to get around. JetBlue is an airline that we like. One other big plus for us is that crossing the border at 1000 Islands is usually so much more relaxed than going through customs at the airport.

Our last trip we actually used AirMiles and flew out of Ottawa. Our 'free' flights cost us almost as much in airport taxes as full fare flights from Syracuse to MCO. Also, got a call from WestJet a couple of weeks before departure informing us that our flights had changed. The direct Ottawa -Orlando flights were now Otawa - Toronto - Orlando. Basically ruined our whole Friday night going through security a second time in Toronto, having to fetch our own bags and going through Customs, then flight from Toronto leaving an hour or so late. Finally got to our hotel in Orlando about 1 AM.


All things considered, we will head to Syracuse whenever possible.

 

[disneybound08]

We fly from Syracuse, just booked our next flights this past week. The main reason cost. We have an hour drive to Ottawa versus about 2 hours to drive to Syracuse. We have always taken Jet Blue direct flights, free snacks and TVs. The savings flying from Syracuse are definetly worth the extra hour driving in the car for us especially when we take my step children and we are then a family of five.

 

[Mysteria]

Thanks for the info everyone!

Side notes: I miss Canada and I love JetBlue too.

 

[Sprockie]

I live in Brockville. It is just about an hour to Ottawa airport. Syracuse airport is about an hour and forty five minutes. For several reasons we much prefer to fly out of Syracuse. First is the cost. Usually significantly cheaper out of Syracuse. Usually find fares in the $129 each way range. Parking is eight bucks a day. Syracuse airport is small enough to be easy to get around. JetBlue is an airline that we like. One other big plus for us is that crossing the border at 1000 Islands is usually so much more relaxed than going through customs at the airport.

Our last trip we actually used AirMiles and flew out of Ottawa. Our 'free' flights cost us almost as much in airport taxes as full fare flights from Syracuse to MCO. Also, got a call from WestJet a couple of weeks before departure informing us that our flights had changed. The direct Ottawa -Orlando flights were now Otawa - Toronto - Orlando. Basically ruined our whole Friday night going through security a second time in Toronto, having to fetch our own bags and going through Customs, then flight from Toronto leaving an hour or so late. Finally got to our hotel in Orlando about 1 AM.


All things considered, we will head to Syracuse whenever possible.

We too live near Brockville and ALWAYS fly out of Syracuse for all the same reasons. Jet Blue direct flights are wonderful. We stay in a park and fly the night before and get shuttled to the airport. Going through customs on a bridge is great and saves a great deal of time and hassle in an airport. You don't have to arrive there so far in advance before the flight since it's a domestic flight. I don't even price flights coming from Canada anymore. Flying from Syracuse is a win/win for us.

 

[maplevale]

We are in Kingston, Ontario. We have a 2.5-3 hour drive to Toronto, Ottawa, Syracuse or Montreal!

Our last trip (March 2011) we priced all 3 airports and it was within $100 to fly from TO as Syracuse (for us Syracuse required an overnight in a hotel - T.O my parents are close enough). So it was easier to go from T.O.

In February 2014 we are flying from Syracuse on jet Blue. Our 4 seats are less then we paid for 3 in March 2011.... so it was a no brainer. We were also able to get a flight time that means we don't need a hotel.


Admittedly - we are a little nervous - in 2009 we tried to fly from Syracuse to Miami for a cruise... we had 2 cancelled flights because they needed a part and had to wait for it to be flown from NYC..... because it's a smaller airport they have less parts on hand and less options for other flights/airlines if something goes wrong.

 

[mab2012]

We're 40 minutes from Ottawa Airport or about 3.5 hours from Syracuse. More often than not we fly from Syracuse to US destinations, and particularly to Orlando. Primary reason is cost; I'm willing to drive three hours to save over $1000.

And as others have pointed out, most days there are no direct flights between Ottawa and Orlando (I think there's one direct flight a couple of days per week, depending on season); if I can fly direct out of Syracuse the overall trip time actually works out about the same as connecting out of Ottawa. Especially when you consider that Syracuse is a smaller airport and the flight is domestic, which means less time in the airport.

The other reason we fly out of the US is that it gives us an opportunity to order stuff online at US prices and pick it up at a border Kinek point on the way home. Duty free (within limits) and you don't have to drag it on the plane.

That said, direct flights from Syracuse on JetBlue for the dates I want next March are only a few dollars per ticket less than Air Canada out of Ottawa right now. For that price I wouldn't bother to make the drive. I'm considering Southwest out of Rochester instead. It's a little further down the road, but tickets are literally half the price. For one or two tickets it might not be worth it, but it adds up when you're multiplying by four.

 

[bankr63]

Looking at MAB's example, I would pick Ottawa. For our family of 4, I would spend about $7k all in for our week long vacation, or about $1k/day. Our trips are ALWAYS on March break, so AC and WJ both have daily direct flights (2 choices).

I can drive 20 minutes to the Ottawa airport; regularly rated as one of the best rated medium sized airports on North America. I WILL spend an extra 15 minutes clearing customs vs a non-US flight but it generally takes 15 minutes to clear customs when driving too, sometimes longer if the lines are long. I will have an extra 3 hours and 10 minutes; hours spent in the Florida sun instead of possibly fighting the March lake-effect snow down through Fort Drum/Watertown area. 4.5 hours for Rochester. hmmm hot sun vs cold snow...

In reality what that means to me is that I am likely flying direct on Friday evening (if WJ hasn't changed the schedule again this year) and waking up early in Orlando Saturday morning and heading off to the parks. Flying from the US, I might leave home Friday after school, but am probably overnighting in SYR or ROC before catching a morning flight that gets me out of MCO airport after lunch on Saturday (but exhausted). I am not likely to hit a park at all on Saturday in that case.

Even for $1000.00 extra I would fly direct because I will probably enjoy my vacation time $1000 more. I know I am probably the minority opinion here; just letting you know how my mind works...

 

[parmajeanne]

I'm about 45 min east of Ottawa and we chose to fly out of Montreal (February 2014). Direct flights both ways, and arrival at Florida will be noon, and departure from Florida will be 9 p.m. - which maximizes our vacation time. Not sure about costs - didn't bother checking Ottawa - but Montreal is always another option (and not quite as far - depending on where in the Ottawa area you're coming from).

 

[badiggio]

We usually fly United from Ottawa.Leave Ottawa at 6 a.m.,short layover in Washington, and in Orlando by 11:00 am.I would hate the idea of driving for 3 hours to Syracuse and worse when coming back,but in winter that would be a definite no.