Flying from Buffalo - few questions

[Camilo]

Hi folks....
We are getting excited to plan a trip for November seeing the great prices from Southwest (~640.00 for the 4 of us on non stop flights). We are planning to go from November 9th to 17th (8 nights). It's been 4 years since our last trip to WDW.

Our preferred flight would leave at 4:55 PM from Buffalo. This would allow us to work 1/2 day on the 9th, leaving Mississauga around noon. I have a few questions on this:

1) Is it enough time leaving at noon to fly at 5:00 PM, including drive, border, parking at the airport and catching the shuttle and check in?

2) Is it a safe assumption that border wait should be minimal around 1:30 PM on a week day?

3) Does anyone know how they calculate parking charges for over 7 days? Their website only lists the price up to 7 days (http://www.buffaloairport.com/Parking.asp). Is it WEEK CHARGE + EXTRA DAY CHARGE + ANY EXTRA HOURS?

I want to try to book the flight ASAP and hence would like to clarify this first.

Thank you everyone for any help.

Camilo

 

[abdmom]

I would not count on a minimal wait at any time of the day. When we crossed the border for our trip in March, we crossed at 7 a.m. on a Saturday. We still had to wait 10 minutes. We ended up being bumped to a flight from Toronto and so we crossed back at 9 a.m. The line to get to the U.S. was an hour by that point. Waits can be up to 2 hours, so I would plan accordingly.

 

[OntFamily]

Hi folks....
We are getting excited to plan a trip for November seeing the great prices from Southwest (~640.00 for the 4 of us on non stop flights). We are planning to go from November 9th to 17th (8 nights). It's been 4 years since our last trip to WDW.

Our preferred flight would leave at 4:55 PM from Buffalo. This would allow us to work 1/2 day on the 12th, leaving Mississauga around noon. I have a few questions on this:

1) Is it enough time leaving at noon to fly at 5:00 PM, including drive, border, parking at the airport and catching the shuttle and check in?

2) Is it a safe assumption that border wait should be minimal around 1:30 PM on a week day?

3) Does anyone know how they calculate parking charges for over 7 days? Their website only lists the price up to 7 days (http://www.buffaloairport.com/Parking.asp). Is it WEEK CHARGE + EXTRA DAY CHARGE + ANY EXTRA HOURS?

I want to try to book the flight ASAP and hence would like to clarify this first.

Thank you everyone for any help.

Camilo

Leaving Mississauga @ noon, leave yu plenty of time, especially at mid day, during the week (if it was a weekend, the situation would be different). This is assuming you cross the border @ Fort Erie (do not cross at Queenston, 9 times out of 10 the waits @ Queenston are much longer than @ Fort Erie).

If you park your car for 8 days @ the airport, the cost to you will be one week + one day.

We'll be following the same schedule, a few weeks before you.

 

[canluvpooh]

We have flown many times out of buffalo - leaving at noon is enough time.
I agree with the previous poster - go Fort Erie, always seems to be better. Probably because mapquest tells you to go to queenston...

For us though the stress of having to worry about border times would be too much so I personally would leave earlier, but that is just because I am the designated worrier in my family

 

[dvc deernut]

Leaving Mississauga @ noon, leave yu plenty of time, especially at mid day, during the week (if it was a weekend, the situation would be different). This is assuming you cross the border @ Fort Erie (do not cross at Queenston, 9 times out of 10 the waits @ Queenston are much longer than @ Fort Erie).

If you park your car for 8 days @ the airport, the cost to you will be one week + one day.

We'll be following the same schedule, a few weeks before you.

We have lived here all our lives and always use Buffalo to fly. During mid day in Nov Peace Bridge Should be fast. Your only 20 min from airport once you get thru US customs. Once you park the shuttles come often. I think we paid $58 for week and daily for 3 extra days. That was this March. toal was $74. Dont go the following week. Last week of Nov is their Thanksgiving so Border will be busy and so will Airport. We usually fly Jet Blue and second choice Southwest.

 

[Eveningsong]

What about your trip to get to Fort Erie? The last time we went to Buffalo the trip from Toronto to Niagara Falls was slow due to construction and traffic volume. Personally I would leave earlier, and have a nice lunch in the states, before heading to the airport. Construction, accidents, traffic volume can all interfere with the best travel plans, as well there can be delays at the border if they decide to inspect you.

 

[Camilo]

Thank you all for the replies.
The "advantage" of leaving at noon would be to work 1/2 day. I really don't have too many extra days off at work.

The other option (that we are also considering) is working all day on November 8th, leaving Mississauga around 5:00 PM heading to Buffalo.

Using Priceline, we plan to get a hotel in Buffalo. For this, we have 2 options:

- bidding 3* on "Airport Buf" region, people seem to be getting the "Millenium" hotel for around 35.00. We would then drive next morning and park at the airport as planned orignally (parking at the hotelis around 7.00/day which is more expensive than at the airport)

- bidding 3.5* on "Amherst" region, the only hotel available seems to be the Marriot one. People are getting it for around 55.00. The advantage is that the hotel offers free parking and shuttle to the airport.

Either option above, we could then take the 11:30 AM flight which stops once (but no flight change) and arrives in Orlando at 3:35 PM. Has anyone used Priceline or stayed in the hotels above and can comment on this?

Thanks, Camilo

 

[You'vegotafriendinme]

We've recently booked the Millenium through Priceline for our upcoming trip in September. We did secure a room booking for $35 (plus fees). We called the hotel to confirmed details and were quoted a rate of an additional $7 a day to park at the hotel. We're going to park at the airport for the sake of convenience (and I think a bit of a savings when using the coupon from their website). We've always stayed at Holiday Inn Express before, so can't comment on the Millenium. I'm thinking it should be just fine for the little bit of money spent. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[My 2 princesses]

Am I the only one seeing the OP leaving on the 12th for a trip that starts on the 9th . Well, I'm sure that's a typo (or I'm seeing wrong as I'm still getting through my first cup of java).

Either way, I think you would be fine, but I'm no expert as we usually sleep over the night before, or like this year, we were at BUF at 9 a.m for a 4 p.m fligh. Yep, that's how paranoid we are, but we spent time shopping/eating etc before heading to the airport.

Shuttles are fast and conveninet. You would have to pay for a week and a day for parking. We ended up paying 60 bucks in the long term parking B for the exact same days. The coupon that was on-line at the time we were leaving, would have cost us almost the same as if we were parking at A, so we did not bother with it.

 

[Camilo]

Am I the only one seeing the OP leaving on the 12th for a trip that starts on the 9th . Well, I'm sure that's a typo (or I'm seeing wrong as I'm still getting through my first cup

It was a typo
I have fixed it now

 

[HotdogDncrs]

We always fly out of Buffalo - can't beat the prices, plus we love being able to do airline check in at the hotel before leaving. That way we don't have to worry about checking our bags in at Orlando airport. Another plus is that you've already gone through customs, so no need to do it again in Orlando- allowing you to start enjoying the sunshine even sooner

We've always allowed ourselves 3+ hours to get across the border and to the airport (we live west of Mississauga). However, we had a really bad experience this past March when after standing in Jet Blue's check in line for 3 hours (we had already done online checkin), we were told that our flight was leaving. Apparently, there were delays in Newark, and instead of asking those patrons to go to a separate line everyone waiting to check in for any destination was left waiting in line while the airline staff tried to rebook flights that would fit into the passengers' schedules. In the end, we were the last people to board the plane - but let's just say it was not how I planned to start my vacation.

We are leaving again from Buffalo (this time on a different airline) in 3 weeks, and are going to give ourselves lots of additional extra time.

As far as parking goes, we always park right at the airport in the closest lot. That way we can just walk into the airport, and don't have to worry about shuttles. Travelling with a toddler, a stroller, and luggage this makes the most sense for us. It is usually around $75 to park for the week, but it sure beats having to wait for a shuttle, and load everything on and off.

Good luck with the planning, and enjoy your trip!

 

[Camilo]

Thanks everyone....
We bought the air tickets today....
Now we have 4 months to:

- use Priceline for our Buffalo overnight stay (options above, rooting for Marriot or Millenium.

- use Hotwire to book our stay in Kissimmee (I'm planning to stay at Best Western Lakeside, where I stayed before and I HIGHLY recommend as a budget hotel). I believe I'll spend around 300.00 for the 8 nights, if the hotel showing up as 29.00 a night is indeed Best Western Lakeside.

- buy our oldest son Disney tickets (we already have ours from AirMiles)

- buy our oldest son Universal tickets (we already have ours from AirMiles)

- buy MVMCP tickets (although I might wait until I get there to check weather)

- rent a car (I am currently getting a rate of less than 200.00 for all days, insurance covered by my AMEX).

- book some ADRs

Last questions I have are regarding Priceline and Hotwire.

Is there a better time to book those, in Florida or Buffalo? Should I wait until a month out or so?

I love planning ahead

Camilo

 

[flyguy]

You should look at betterbidding.com, they have Florida forums. Should be able to give you a good idea about what you might be bidding on.

 

[TheBig2na]

i like to use www.parksleepfly.com you can get a hotel room for one night and park at the hotel for up tto two weeks i believe for free. they have airport shuttels as well.

 

[Alderbrook]

We have a 2 pm flight on September 18 & we're leaving our house (Hamilton) at 8:30 am. You just never know with that construction in St. Catherines. That worries me more than Ft Erie. Also do Ft Erie. There's a ton of construction on the US side if you cross at Niagara Falls.

There's a coupon for park & fly on the Buffalo Airport website. Shuttles are fast & the parking lots aren't huge! You could walk it if you really had to.

 

[twokids0204]

Thank you all for the replies.
The "advantage" of leaving at noon would be to work 1/2 day. I really don't have too many extra days off at work.

The other option (that we are also considering) is working all day on November 8th, leaving Mississauga around 5:00 PM heading to Buffalo.

Using Priceline, we plan to get a hotel in Buffalo. For this, we have 2 options:

- bidding 3* on "Airport Buf" region, people seem to be getting the "Millenium" hotel for around 35.00. We would then drive next morning and park at the airport as planned orignally (parking at the hotelis around 7.00/day which is more expensive than at the airport)

- bidding 3.5* on "Amherst" region, the only hotel available seems to be the Marriot one. People are getting it for around 55.00. The advantage is that the hotel offers free parking and shuttle to the airport.

Either option above, we could then take the 11:30 AM flight which stops once (but no flight change) and arrives in Orlando at 3:35 PM. Has anyone used Priceline or stayed in the hotels above and can comment on this?

Thanks, Camilo

We got the Millennium for $34.00.

We tried $60 for the Marriott and did not get in.

Millennium Parking is $7.00 for the extended stay, so 7 days x $7 = $49.

 

[Camilo]

We got the Millennium for $34.00.

We tried $60 for the Marriott and did not get in.

Millennium Parking is $7.00 for the extended stay, so 7 days x $7 = $49.

I have tried up to 65.00 to get the Marriot hotel. No luck so far.
Millenium is my second option but I will wait until closer to my trip.

 

[mtmbyck]

The Marriott Buffalo airport is amazing. Have stayed twice. I paid $99 and did not regret it with the free parking. Rooms and beds are super clean and comfy. I am a hotel snob and this is a lovely property! It is slightly further out than the other hotels but makes for a quiet sleep - about 10 minuites to the gate the next day.

 

[Camilo]

An update after almost a month:

1) For Buffalo, we are still trying to get the Marriot hotel for the night before our trip (Nov 8th to 9th). I have gone all the way to 75.00 on Priceline without luck being accepted.

2) In the meantime, I booked that night with La Quinta (www.lq.com), for a park and fly rate of 82.99 + taxes (using code STAYGO). This rate includes the parking for 8 nights, shuttle (every 30 minutes) and continental breakfast. The reviews on TripAdvidor are decent and if Marriot doesn't work, I think I got a very good rate here. I can cancel that reservations without penalties until the day of the trip.

3) For Orlando, we ended up getting a TravelZoo deal with Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista for 49.99 per night including buffet breakfast for the 4 of us (deal no longer available). When I compared what I would pay for Best Western Lakeside and adding the breakfast (not offered in Best Western price), I decided to try Comfort Inn. The recent reviews are good and the whole hotel has been renovated, including a new splash zone area for kids (for which I can't find a picture online yet).

4) I took advantage of Arimiles bonus deals and was able to get our oldest son's Universal ticket through AirMiles. I'm waiting for the ticket to arrive.

5) For my son's the Disney ticket, I went through www.undercovertourist.com. The newest son is still free (2 years old).

Everything is pretty much set, except for the car rental. I'm still looking into those.

3 questions:

* has anyone here stayed on La Quinta in Buffalo and can share their thoughts on their stay there, shuttle, etc?

* has anyone here stayed on Comfort Inn LBV and can share their thoughts on their stay there?

* for those who have stayed at the Marriot, what did you do for breakfast the day of the trip?

Thanks, Camilo

 

[my3kids143]

We stayed at Comfort Inns LBV for one night before checking into Bonnet Creek in June. I got it through Price Line for I think about $45.
The rooms were a good size, very nice and clean.
The staff were very friendly as well. I had ordered some things online and had them shipped there and they were waiting for me at the front desk.
The location is great as well, nice and close to everything. We would definitely stay there again.