How far to nearest US airport from Nova Scotia

[Celidh]

I have never been over the border to the states from here and really don't know how far it is. It seems to me it is quite a drive (more than I would like to make before a trip and definitely further than I would like going home). I am just outside of Truro, NS.

Where is the nearest US airport from here and about how long does it to get there for those of you who have done this?

I just can't see it being worth it to drive for 6 or 8 hours to save a few hundred dollars on a flight but maybe I am missing something. Especially when you add in gas, most likely a hotel and parking. We do stay at a hotel in HFX the night before we leave but the cost of the hotel pretty much pays for the parking. We stay at Quality Inn and they allow you to park for free while you are gone if you stay there. It is an hour drive to the airport for us.

Anyone care to fill me in on what I am missing?

 

[Northstar]

I guess Bangor is closest. Still a day's drive.

You're not missing anything. It's just that, when you do that calculation of TIME DRIVING versus MONEY SAVED, different people come out with different answers.

I'm with you. I hate driving. Only one driver in my family, so can't switch off drivers. Starting vacation with a 7-hour drive (I think that's what you'd have to Bangor, but check it) is not my idea of a good time. If it's winter, forget about it! Not risking coming home to a long drive in a bad storm.

But if I had a big family, thus more airfares to pay for, and another driver to switch off with, I might bite the bullet and drive to the US if I found a really good airfare from Bangor or Portland.

 

[Tinkershelly]

I think the appeal of the US airports involves more than just money, but with a larger group travelling in one car and staying in one hotel room that is a great reason. Also if you are going to stay in an airport hotel and pay to park your car, as you do, that evens out some of the expenses.

If you travel outside of December-April there are no direct flights from here but you can get some from US airports, especially helpful if you are a nervous flyer.

Some people also make those few days part of their holiday and include shopping at the outlet malls as the start of their experience.

For us it doesn't make sense to go to Maine/New Hampshire to fly. We live a 15 minute drive from the Halifax airport and get DH's brother to take us there and pick us up when we return. And there's only the two of us so the savings don't add up and we would need to pay for a hotel and parking.

If you were a family of five, lived at least a two hour drive from the larger airports in Halifax or Moncton, save $250 each by flying from a US airport, pay less than $150 for a hotel and parking and get a direct flight it may be worth it to drive 6 or 8 hours each way.

As always, your mileage may vary.........

 

[Celidh]

Thank you both for your input. It seems the two of you are in the same boat as I am. We are a family of 5 and I know my kids would have a fit driving for 6-8 hours in the back seat of the car. Plus, because there are 5 of us, we either need to get a suite or two hotel rooms, which adds more money.

We have a family suite booked at the HFX Quality Inn, it is around $170 for the night but that gives us free parking. If we drove the day of and had to pay for park n fly that in itself would be over $100 and we would have to be up at 4 a.m.

Nope, I like my plan best unless someone comes up with a better plan.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

we flew out of portland in december, and it was a very very very long drive, but we have small kids, so have to factor in a lot of potty stops and meals. the savings were worthit, 1600 direct and return, even with adding on a day in maine each way. considering we were flying 3 days before xmas the price was well worth it. driving in maine during that storm that hit here around xmas however and nearly getting run off the road by 2 tractor trailers passing illegally did scare the snot out of me tho!

there are pros and cons tho and yes you need to budget in all those extras. we saved a bit and it was great, but i've also looked at some of the airfares from maine and they aren't always a great savings.

 

[caisland]

You have to pick what works for your family.

We drove to Manchester, NH. For the 4 of us it cost $1,000 with Southwest 3 hour direct flight. Spent about $700 to drive stay 2 nights and food. Still far cheaper than the $3,500 - $4,000 we were looking at from PEI.

 

[Celidh]

You have to pick what works for your family.

We drove to Manchester, NH. For the 4 of us it cost $1,000 with Southwest 3 hour direct flight. Spent about $700 to drive stay 2 nights and food. Still far cheaper than the $3,500 - $4,000 we were looking at from PEI.

How long did it take you to drive?

 

[fan1080]

We drove to Portland back in 2009. It was March break, so the flights were ridiculously high, over $800 per person. Flights out of portland came to about $250 per person (Airtran). Even with other costs such as gas, hotel, food, etc, we saved over $2000 driving to portland.

The drive for us was close to 10 hours, but we made some stops along the way.

I really thought the drive would bother us, but we all managed to push through it without any issues. Although, our youngest daughter was 13, not sure how it would have been if ours kids were younger.

 

[caisland]

It was 31 hours actual driving time from PEI.
We spaced that over 3 1/2 days.
My wife was not overly interested in driving so I drove the whole trip.
I have an Uncle near Boston so we stopped there first night when we could have driven further.
We got stuck in traffic around Washington 2nd day. I would try to avoid if doing again. Stayed around Virgina second night and I think it was far into South Carolina third night.
We stopped in Moncton on the way back. Family there as well.
We drove in 1993 as well with 2 vehicles and a lot of family attached. About 2 3/4 days each way that time with multiple drivers.

 

[caisland]

reread post.
To drive to Manchester was about 11 hours each way.

 

[PhotobearSam]

We have driven from Moncton to Bangor which is 5 hrs and we have flown out of Portland Maine which is 7 hrs. We have driven to Orlando 5 times from here and it's 32 hrs from Moncton and we don't go the 95 all the way. We take the 95 to the 84 to the 81 and down that way. We avoid all the traffic in New York and Washington.....we drive through the mountains. We stay for several months usually (at least one month ) so it is worth it.

I have told my hubby that I will NEVER take the 95 the whole way down no matter what......there are not enough tranquilizers in the world for that....LOL

 

[Honeystar120608]

We have flown out of Moncton, which we live a 3 min drive from and LOVED it. We had a deal of $1860 for the 4 of us to fly. But anything over $2000 just isn't worth it for us to pay. We can fly out of Portland with all expenses for about $1800. I would pay up to $200 more to fly from home, but anything above that is a waste. That's spending money in Disney! Plus we get to shop in Maine. Freeport, Bangor, and POrtland.

If anybody here can share some advice, I am getting a rate of $2300 give or take to leave from Moncton. If it could go down a little more it would be perfect! Anyone here think it might?