Hey Ottawa, which Airport???

[canadian_mouse]

Hey fellow Ottawans!

Which airports have you flown out of? We're thinking of going in January and I normally check prices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Syracuse. Anywhere else near Ottawa that might have a great deal?

Love the dancing banana!

 

[Gigi22]

We fly nonstop from Montreal to Orlando, taking the train to Dorval so we never have any parking issues. There's a free shuttle (small bus) from the Dorval Via station to the airport. This is not a pricing issue for us, mainly a convenience issue--we have to fly nonstop, and we do not do 'road trips' to other airports.

 

[bankr63]

We fly nonstop from Montreal to Orlando, taking the train to Dorval so we never have any parking issues. There's a free shuttle (small bus) from the Dorval Via station to the airport. This is not a pricing issue for us, mainly a convenience issue--we have to fly nonstop, and we do not do 'road trips' to other airports.

We usually fly direct from Ottawa; depending on time of year, both WJ and AC offer daily non-stop for the same prices as Trudeau - check it out! The only trick for me is booking the DAY that fares are release as we always go on March break. The fares for that week go up very quickly after they first hit the system.

We have also flown from Trudeau a couple of times when we couldn't get flights from Ottawa; we generally drive the night before and use a Park&Stay deal near the airport. I'd consider JB out of Syracuse as well as a low cost option; haven't done it, but it's the nearest low cost option. Figure if I'm going to drive any further than Syracuse, then I might as well just keep on motoring all the way down...

 

[3pletprincesses]

THere's another airport at Plattsburg. Allegiant is the airline out of there.

We usually fly out of Syracuse with direct flights first thing in the morning.

 

[shenaniganzz]

We stick to flying out of Ottawa on WestJet. DH is deadset against flying any US airlines and Air Canada is too risky lately.

We have flown out of Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal and have just found paying the extra to fly out of Ottawa is easier and more convenient than driving somewhere and flying or taking multiple modes of transportation. Some people can handle it but we like to keep it simple.

As a PP stated, the fares aren't all that different. There is a difference when you cross the border (Syracuse, Buffalo, etc.) but if you can find a seat sale on WJ it won't be that far off!

 

[Peaseblossom]

We stick to flying out of Ottawa on WestJet. DH is deadset against flying any US airlines and Air Canada is too risky lately.

We have flown out of Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal and have just found paying the extra to fly out of Ottawa is easier and more convenient than driving somewhere and flying or taking multiple modes of transportation. Some people can handle it but we like to keep it simple.

As a PP stated, the fares aren't all that different. There is a difference when you cross the border (Syracuse, Buffalo, etc.) but if you can find a seat sale on WJ it won't be that far off!

I'm exactly the same. I love in winter when you have the direct fight with WestJet:

1 - WestJet is not likely to be on or threaten to be on strike
2 - WestJet employees make eye contact with customers and even smile from time to time - how refreshing!
3 - Doing the customs sprint in Toronto or Montreal is no fun, especially on the the way home
4 - With the direct flight, you only have to worry about the weather in two places
5 - WestJet reward program - you get WJ dollars and just use them against the cost of any flight you book, no black out periods, etc - there's a promotion to get a free companion flight when you sign up.

Love that feeling of slapping the DME tags on your luggage, clearing customs in Ottawa, and putting your brain in vacation mode, knowing that Disney will do all your thinking for you for the next week

The only downside (depending on your POV) - the flight leaves at 4:35pm, so you don't get to your resort until 9 or so. But the return flight leaves late in the day, so you can spend the full day in the parks. That may change from year to year.

[I'm not a WestJet employee BTW, just been burned one too many times by the other airline.]

 

[mtmbyck]

I have flown out of Montreal and out of Syracuse on Jet Blue. Jet Blue was better hands down. Cheaper hotel, same travel time, but no customs at the airport. I find AC and WestJet prices are always more than any US carrier. I'd love to try Ottawa someday but there are limited flights that go at decent times and days of the week. Almost ready to begin the hunt for March 2013.

 

[bankr63]

The only downside (depending on your POV) - the flight leaves at 4:35pm, so you don't get to your resort until 9 or so. But the return flight leaves late in the day, so you can spend the full day in the parks. That may change from year to year.

We made this one into an upside. The flights used to leave early morning and return late afternoon, which we thought was fantastic; almost like getting an extra day. Was a bit disappointed with the late outbound flight this year until I thought "we'll just leave right after school on Friday". Actually I'll have to get the kids out of school a couple of hours early, but we booked two extra nights at the resort and now we leave on Friday. So we are up and fresh on Saturday morning (none of that zombie first afternoon), and we extended the return flight to Sunday evening, so we have pretty much 9 days in Orlando for March break.

 

[ccudmore]

I've flown out of Plattsburgh, Montreal and Ottawa. Pros and cons for each. Ottawa will probably be the most expensive but the least hassle.

 

[disneyworldfamily]

This is only our first time (yay!) but we are flying direct from Ottawa. Driving to the US or another Canadian city was just not an option for us. With 2 young kids and the prospect of landing at the airport after a lovely vacation to face a road trip of X amount of hours...not for us.

We are paying more than if we were to drive somewhere else, but to us, it's worth it. We are not flying direct due to the season we are traveling (Westjet only starts direct service from Ottawa in the Fall). From what I am reading on here though, there is a shuttle from the Montreal train station. That we could do, maybe next time.

Good luck and when you do make it to Disney, have fun!