Need help with flying from within the US

[Puccaw]

We are thinking about driving to Bangor and flying from there. We are looking at late April 2010. It just seems so much cheaper although it does tack on two more days for travelling. We are in Halifax, has anyone done this and if so, does anybody have any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[willise]

We're not in Halifax, but in NB, and we use Bangor for our departures all the time. It is just not financially feasible to pay 3-4 times the price for the privilege of flying out of Canada for us.

I think it would be about a 7 hour car ride to Bangor from Halifax, so a hotel will definitely be needed in Bangor. We have stayed at the Days Inn, which offers a shuttle to the airport and you can leave your car (with the keys) in their parking lot for $2-3 a day.

I'd recommend the Sheraton Bangor. It is a little pricier than the other hotels but it has a skywalk to the terminal and has just been renovated and looks very nice. You can get a 7 or 14 day park- n - fly for $129 or $149. On the way back, it may be cheaper to get a hotel in Moncton or Fredericton than in the US.

Bangor is a very small airport, but most times everything runs without any delay. We have always used Delta, but if you want to rent a car in Orlando and save a little more money, you can fly Air Tran into Sanford. They have Bangor direct Sanford flights available.

Good Luck

 

[zarvgirl]

We made our first trek to WDW in April, booked everything through the Disney website including air tickets out of Boston. We are from PEI, so a little different experience, basically the savings were worth the drive when planning a vacation for a family of five. It was an easy non-stop flight with Airtran.

We stayed overnight at a hotel that provided a shuttle service to the airport in the morning. parking at the hotel was included with fee. The shuttle picked us up at the airport on our return.

 

[Macduffy]

We're flying out of Bangor for this trip but I live in Fredericton (3 hrs to airport). It is SOOOOO much cheaper. We got our tickets on Expedia for $173 CDN return - that is unbeatable in Canada. We were quotes $1500 for the 3 of us (one lap baby) to leave from Moncton. At the price we got it for we bought YDS his own seat

We are leaving at 6 AM (I want has much time in Disney as possible) so we are staying at the Sheraton in Bangor with the park and fly package. That was $127 USD. Depending on the ages of your kids I would do the drive to BGR, stay at the airport hotel and fly out!

The dollar is expected to hit Par or near par in the fall so it might be a great time to book!

Good Luck!

 

[coastgirl]

We've flown from Manchester NH twice now. Southwest flies from MHT, so we got a great deal. (Though the deals seem lesser lately.) We live in Halifax, it was about 10 hrs from Hfx to MHT. For us, Bangor was a six-of-one/half-dozen-of-the-other...a lot more choice from MHT and we were already on the road...

The flying part is so much less stressful. You clear customs in your car probably the day before, it's done...We always travel with our passports now, so have them for id for the airport anyway. Same coming back, the customs is less stressful. We have gotten a good deal for a park-and-fly at a Holiday Inn near the airport.

We are using points this time from Halifax--and the "free" points tickets for 4 cost us $300 MORE than our last flts on SWA!

Happy to answer any other questions...

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Bangor is a very small airport, but most times everything runs without any delay. We have always used Delta, but if you want to rent a car in Orlando and save a little more money, you can fly Air Tran into Sanford. They have Bangor direct Sanford flights available.

I thought I'd read somewhere that Allegiant has suspended its service to Sanford for most of the Fall. So, if that's your travel time, you might want to look into that. (BTW, we enjoyed that airline although beware that Sanford is quite out of the way with quite a few tolls to pay along the way.)

We live on the border with Maine so Bangor's 1 1/2 to 2 hours away. I've flown to FLA twice from there. It was a good airport to fly from. However, in reasearching our upcoming trip in Feb., I noticed that it's even cheaper again to fly from Portland, although it tacks on another couple of hours. So, we will likely take advantage of that.

As a side note, if anyone knows of Portland hotels with Park n Fly deals, we would love to hear about them.

 

[tribus121]

an other airport to consider is Portland Me it is about 2hr further but a larger airport ( about the size of Halifax ) Airtran and jet Blue both fly out of there and offer nonstop service at great prices alagant is the only airline that has direct flights out of Bangor and they fly to sanford ( only about 1 hr away but no Magic Express )not Orlando

 

[bfamily5]

For Portland the Howard Johnson is a nice little place with a free park and fly!!!! You can park there and they will shuttle you to the airport (and back to your car when you return) and you can leave your car there for the duration of your trip for free! I read about it on the DIS somewhere and I called and booked it myself for our Nov. trip.

 

[Puccaw]

Thanks so much for all of this info!

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

For Portland the Howard Johnson is a nice little place with a free park and fly!!!! You can park there and they will shuttle you to the airport (and back to your car when you return) and you can leave your car there for the duration of your trip for free! I read about it on the DIS somewhere and I called and booked it myself for our Nov. trip.

Thanks for this information. Do you know if there is a maximum amount of time you can stay parked there? Our trip will be for 14 days.

 

[Charleyann]

Thanks for this information. Do you know if there is a maximum amount of time you can stay parked there? Our trip will be for 14 days.

Last December I left my car for a month! I was told up to 3 months you can leave your car.

This year I am staying at Best Western. I am using airmiles gift certificates to pay it. 725 airmiles gives you $100 Best Western Gift Certificate. It cost $107 for the park and fly and they shuttle you to and from the airport. They too keep your car for a month. Stay two nights with BW and get a free night!!!

Charleyann

 

[candizfan]

Well, we are not on the coast but we fly out of the US all the time.

We live in Windsor (Ontario, not Nova Scotia) and we drive over to Detroit for our flights. It is about 40 minutes to the airport.

Just for fun, I got a quote with Air Canada from Windsor to Orlando (one stop in Toronto). The travel time was rediculous and the quote was almost $1600 EACH. A direct flight out of Detroit at great times was $255 Canadian EACH. . The travel dates are during the school March break but the whole trip won't cost me what Air Canada wanted for the flights alone.

No wonder I have not flown out of the Windsor airport in years.

I have family outside of Halifax and we are hoping to have them join us at the Treehouse Villas at SSR in a few years. I will have to let them know about the airports suggested.

 

[wannago2disney]

Just wanted to add in this great tip that I learned on the transportation board.

If you are booking with Airtran, remember to book through Kayak.com so that you do not have to pay the seat fee. And here is a link to the coupon they are offering if you are flying before Dec 18. $25 off.
www.airtran.com/sunshine

We drive to Detroit to fly. (about 1hr 15min) from our house in Sarnia, Ontario.The airports have great park N Fly deals and there is a huge $$$$$ savings. For us it is actually closer to drive to Detroit (unlsess we fly out of Sarnia which would mean a 2nd mortgage on my house )