Flying Out of Buffalo - what's the catch?

LOVE flying out of Buffalo!!! Recently we were looking at flying Air Canada (long story) and all I could think about was coming home to that long walk and wait in the Customs hall (and I used to be a Customs Officer!) plus if you have any flight during rush hour you are looking at adding at least an half hour if not more to getting into and out of Pearson. I live north of Milton-without traffic I can get to Pearson in about 35 minutes and with traffic I need to plan at least an hour if not more. PLUS you need to be at Pearson 2-3 hours ahead of your flight whereas in Buffalo Florida is a domestic and you can arrive 1 to 1.5 hours ahead of time OMG-I could go on and on about the benefits of Buffalo, welcome to the IFLYBUF club!
 
Wouldnt even consider Toronto even if the flights were cheaper Buffalo gets my vote any day, of course if Hamilton flights were more often and better flight times Id be flying from here even with the increased cost as its a great little airport too! :banana:
 
We love flying out of Buffalo. The snow can be a issue. We often book a hotel room at the airport and park our car there and take their shuttle to airport in the morning for our early flight. We usually fly Jet blue too.. I only fly out of Toronto normally for work and that's enough.
 
Thank you for all the replies! And I did it! I booked it! :rotfl: We are booked flying out of Buffalo Yippeee! And what a low price. $120 each down, and $99 each home. Crazy!:cool1: And 10 glorious days in a 4 bedroom presidential at Wyndham Bonnet Creek........:)

Awesome!
 

I've flown from Buffalo-MCO every September for the past three years (well, twice so far - this year is booked for us already). We fly JetBlue, first bag is free and your carry on can be a small suitcase, as long as it fits in their dimensions. I love JetBlue. Flights have mostly been on time (90min delay from MCO-BUF last year bc of weather), they're comfortable, and buffalo is a great, small airport. I love the curbside check in - so much better than dragging your baggage around the airport.

Another thing about JetBlue is they will offer you a JetBlue credit if the price goes down anytime between when you book and when you fly...so you always get the lowest price. Essentially that's why I've gone every year for three years...bc I have a credit waiting! This year I got direct airfare for three plus a car rental for the whole week for $750. Amazing.
 
Just a follow-up question.....we have never driven across the border before. How does it work? Do you park and get out of your car and go into a building? Do you stay in your car and an official comes to your car to check your passport? Do they want to see in the car and suitcases or put them through an x-ray or anything? Are these silly questions? :rolleyes1
For real, just wondering what to expect.......
 
Just a follow-up question.....we have never driven across the border before. How does it work? Do you park and get out of your car and go into a building? Do you stay in your car and an official comes to your car to check your passport? Do they want to see in the car and suitcases or put them through an x-ray or anything? Are these silly questions? :rolleyes1
For real, just wondering what to expect.......

Just drive up, sunglasses off, passports ready and be ready to answer questions. The usual questions are, Where are you going? How long are you staying? Be polite and to the point. Sometimes they ask you to open the trunk.

Same procedure on the way back into Canada, except they ask how much you've spent. Have receipts ready in case they ask you to pull over.
 
If we book an early morning flight from BUF on either SW or JB, we always go down the night before and stay in a hotel. My parents are picky and love the Hampton Inn (they like their HHonors points), so we will sometimes do the park 'n fly rate there depending on the cost. Otherwise if it's just me and my family, we stay at the Sleep Inn next to the airport on their park 'n fly rate. It's not fancy, but it was recently renovated, includes breakfast starting at 4am (Hampton doesn't start breakfast until 6am, but does have bag snacks to go earlier). I find the Sleep Inn is where a lot of the airline employees stay (pilots, stewardess', etc), so I figure if they stay there, that's saying something!

And I love the opportunity to cross border shop, and eat! PF Changs, Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory...yum!!
 
Just a follow-up question.....we have never driven across the border before. How does it work? Do you park and get out of your car and go into a building? Do you stay in your car and an official comes to your car to check your passport? Do they want to see in the car and suitcases or put them through an x-ray or anything? Are these silly questions? :rolleyes1
For real, just wondering what to expect.......

Not silly in the least-you are very smart to be figuring this all out ahead of time!
One thing you may want to consider is the time and day you are driving over. If you are crossing on a weekend, be prepared to wait a while for all of us cross border shoppers going over. If it is a long weekend or holiday then be prepared to wait even longer. A weekday is usually fairly light but you never know, I always check this website first
http://mobile.peacebridge.com/ it is pretty accurate but if you check before you leave home and it is a long drive it could change by the time you get there.

We always roll down the back windows and our kids know the drill, sometimes the officer will say their names or ask them "are you so-and-so" but that is the extent of the interaction with the kids and my hubby who usually drives is the one who answers on my behalf unless the officer directs a question strictly to me, then I answer. It is a very straightforward process and so many Canadians fly out of Buffalo that it is a basic thing for the officers to screen. Don worry, it is so much easier than the Canadian airport screening.
 
We always have the windows rolled down for when the officers ask us where we are going, the kids yell DISNEY:cool1:.. They have always done this and always get the same reaction. Have a great time and say hi to Mickey for me. This gets them even more hyped upped
 
I love flying out of Buffalo! We've done it twice now and unless the flights are significantly cheaper at Pearson we will never go back! It's such a hassle to wait in the customs line (for us it is anyways because we always get the earliest flight out and have to wait for customs to open in the morning). Plus coming home is even worse waiting in the customs line, I just want to grab my suit case and GO! The only downside for us is that it takes about 2.5 hours to get to Buffalo from where we live. But we just make it a little adventure and enjoy the ride down. Not to mention there are a lot of reasons to go the night before i.e. shopping, dining, sight seeing. In regards to the best prices, in all honesty I just keep checking everyday multiple times a day like a mad woman when I want to find a cheaper flight. I know there are a lot of people who say getting the flight booked when it is first opened up is a good way to go and that may be true but as a travel agent I haven't really seen any specific "golden period" to buy in. The cheapest time of the day or week is definitely during the week, so Monday-Thursday. The last couple of times we flew we left on a Thursday, and a Tuesday and it was significantly cheaper than weekend prices.

I do have a question for all of you who fly from Buffalo so often. Are there any really good shopping spots to stop at? I know the Niagara outlet mall was mentioned but are there any others? Like perhaps, a Disney outlet store? I've always wanted to go to the one's in Orlando but we never have our car. We usually just end up going to a Walmart and some grocery stores when we are in Buffalo. Oh and of course, the mall.
 
I do have a question for all of you who fly from Buffalo so often. Are there any really good shopping spots to stop at? I know the Niagara outlet mall was mentioned but are there any others? Like perhaps, a Disney outlet store? I've always wanted to go to the one's in Orlando but we never have our car. We usually just end up going to a Walmart and some grocery stores when we are in Buffalo. Oh and of course, the mall.

This past year I have discovered Kohls and I dont know why I had never been before but I just LOVE them! They are kind of like the Bay or Sears (quality) with Walmart prices and there are always coupons to be had. Then they do clearance sales that are awesome and the products are unique. It is out of the way but well worth it!
 
This past year I have discovered Kohls and I dont know why I had never been before but I just LOVE them! They are kind of like the Bay or Sears (quality) with Walmart prices and there are always coupons to be had. Then they do clearance sales that are awesome and the products are unique. It is out of the way but well worth it!


I love Kohls! I also like Joanns and Hobby Lobby. For quick food we love Ted's Hot Dogs a western New York institution.
 
Also a Kohl's fan :) Burlington Coat Factory, DSW Shoes, LOFT, Brookstone, Macy's, JC Penney...

When I cross border shop I head to Amherst/Cheektowaga.
The strip of Niagara Falls Blvd between the 290 & Maple Rd has pretty much every store you could want. Kohl's is in the opposite direction along Niagara Falls Blvd from the 290, not far.

Boulevard Mall is at Maple Rd, it has both Macy's & Penney's, The Olive Garden is behind the mall on Maple Rd. Panera Bread (yummy!) is just down the road on Niagara Falls Blvd as are a few other restaurants we don't have up here..
 
We always love to hit the Galleria mall when we are there. We always try to have dinner at the Melting Pot there, it's kind of our pre-vacation ritual now :)
 
We always love to hit the Galleria mall when we are there. We always try to have dinner at the Melting Pot there, it's kind of our pre-vacation ritual now :)

Glad to see we aren't the only ones with pre-vacation rituals. Lol. We always fly out of BUF around noon so we leave around 7am, stop at IHOP for breakfast & then to target for my diet cherry Pepsi & cherry coke zero. We always shop in the states but since those are not available here I'm always stopping to get a case. :)
 
Great! Thanks for the replies. I'll take them into consideration. Some of the stores we have in my area though. I'm pretty sure we have Panera and Kohl's around here.
 
Great! Thanks for the replies. I'll take them into consideration. Some of the stores we have in my area though. I'm pretty sure we have Panera and Kohl's around here.


No Kohls in Canada. not to be confused with Coles the book store.
 
We always love to hit the Galleria mall when we are there. We always try to have dinner at the Melting Pot there, it's kind of our pre-vacation ritual now :)

We always eat at the Olive Garden before our trip
 
we leave home at 6 am -- (we have a chore of crossing the US border as my wife is a perm resident, and not yet a citizen of Canada) get to the border at about 8:30 -- spend about an hour at the border, and then if we have time go for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

this next trip we will be travelling with our foster daughter as well -- so i am sure that will add some time to the trip as well.

but it is so relaxing and comfortable -- a very pretty and scenic drive as well.
 















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