Question for Ontario Travellers to Buffalo

[Kaitlyn08]

I know this is more of a travel question, but it's more specific to Ontario travellers, so here it goes:

I'll be driving from Waterloo, ON to the Buffalo/Niagara International Airport in May (on a Thursday, if that makes a difference). I know that I should arrive at least two hours in advance of our flight time, but how long does the drive actually take? I've gone to several map websites, and they have indicated anywhere between 2 and 3 hours travel time. Anyone made this trip starting near Waterloo?

TIA!!!

 

[Questforthemouse]

I know this is more of a travel question, but it's more specific to Ontario travellers, so here it goes:

I'll be driving from Waterloo, ON to the Buffalo/Niagara International Airport in May (on a Thursday, if that makes a difference). I know that I should arrive at least two hours in advance of our flight time, but how long does the drive actually take? I've gone to several map websites, and they have indicated anywhere between 2 and 3 hours travel time. Anyone made this trip starting near Waterloo?

TIA!!!

Presuming the following route...

401 --> #6 South --> 403 --> QEW --> Peace Bridge Fort Erie --> I-190/I-90 --> Airport

I would estimate 2 1/4 hrs driving + border crossing. I live in Burlington and it takes me 1 hour from house to Peace Bridge and 20 mins from Peace Bridge to Airport. I have a sister-in-law in Waterloo and that takes me 55 minutes from house to house. My math says 2 1/4 hrs. If you cross early morning or evening onward you'll have a short wait at the border. If you cross mid-day you could be 30 -45 minutes at the border. Once at the airport parking is quick and easy and so is the shuttle. I usually count on 15 mins max to find a parking spot, wait for shuttle and arrive at terminal front doors.

I should mention that my wife and I are the cautious type. We'll add an extra hour for traffic/border/weather issues and if there are none then we're at the airport 3 hrs ahead and all is good. We are also most likely to book an airport hotel (park/sleep/fly) the night before so we're good to go the next day. We've done this whether we're flying out early morning (anytime of year) or mid afternoon (in winter). Kind of like starting your vacation a day early

 

[mkmommy]

It takes me 2 hours from Guelph so I would say 2 1/4 hours it correct.

 

[Ham Ham]

The border is a crap shoot. If they pull you over then decide to toss your car you could be there several hours.

We've flown out of BUF with a SW departure @ 18:20

We arrive at the border around 12:00 then plan a little shopping and dinner prior to the flight. This way if there are delays at the crossings we have a sufficient buffer built in.

 

[disneynuts777]

The border is a crap shoot. If they pull you over then decide to toss your car you could be there several hours.

We've flown out of BUF with a SW departure @ 18:20

We arrive at the border around 12:00 then plan a little shopping and dinner prior to the flight. This way if there are delays at the crossings we have a sufficient buffer built in.

I totally agree with this. Until we got our NEXUS passes the boarder crossing sometimes took us 10 min once it took us nearly two hours!!!

 

[AndyMcV]

For this reason alone, we decided to stay over the night before at the Sleep Inn. Took our time relaxed driving down to Buffalo and had them shuttle us over to the airport in the morning after a nice breakfast. We live 1.5 hours east of Toronto.

 

[MkyMws]

I would agree you should go the night before.

Our usual trip to Niagara Falls is about 1-3/4 hours.

I am figuring about 2-1/2 hours to get to the hotel through Fort Erie.

We are going the day before & going to do some extra shopping before we leave.

tim

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Whatever you decide to do...whatever mapquest or mappoint may tell you, if you are using those, DO NOT take the Lewiston/Queenston bridge. For some reason that is the bridge that most maps tell you to take, probably due to it's direct connection to the US highway...but it is the smallest in terms of being able to handle traffic, it has the fewest booths available so on a busy day when the rainbow or peace bridge has 10 booths open they only have 5..that's not their fault that's all they have available....so redirect yourself if necessary to the peace bridge it is the easiest to use on the way to the airport!!! Have an awesome trip!!!

 

[Kaitlyn08]

I think I'll plan to stay over the night before. I don't think we look suspicious, but I can't really afford to be stuck at the border for two hours while our car is torn apart

 

[webworm]

Sounds like a bit of overblown hysteria to me. I've probably crossed the border about 10 times in the past year at the Peace Bridge and have never waited more than 10 minutes. I flew out of Buffalo last friday to Indianapolis for the weekend and was through customs in literally 5 minutes. This was at like 10:00AM on friday morning.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Chances are you'll be fine crossing the border but I always feel better arriving in Buffalo with the luxury of time on my side.

 

[minnie56]

In the 20 years I have been crossing the border, I have had a delay 3x. Twice because I was foolishly heading over for the Black Friday sales and the 3rd time it was a random computer check of my vehicle. I was directed over to another area and they went through the car but even then, I was on my way in 15 minutes. I have Nexus as well, and even with that, there can be random checks to delay, I wouldn't worry about it too much!!!! Allow yourself an extra hour for the 'what ifs' unless you prefer overnighting and a little shopping to begin the trip!!

 

[Evad]

You could try the Florida Vacation centre on Townline rd in Cambridge, right off the 401. See if they can get you a better rate for one of the hotels in Buffalo. They specialize in Disney vacations.

We booked our last trip through them. They took care of everything from our flight, hotel in Buffalo and of course our Disney package. If your in the area I highly recommend dropping in and see what they can do for you.

 

[monaleigh70]

For peace of mind, I'd say it's always better to go the night before. You never know what could happen, especially in bad weather. It's bad enough when the delays are due to high volume shoppers and vehicle volume but even worse if there is an accident. I got stuck once on the road for about 6 hours due to a terrible accident.

 

[Kaitlyn08]

You could try the Florida Vacation centre on Townline rd in Cambridge, right off the 401.

Wow, I live within 5 minutes of here! I didn't know if they'd have info about travel time to Buffalo (I already have everything planned, so I don't really need any other planning help), but I will give them a try. Thanks!

 

[LSmith]

Our family travelled to Buffalo this past Monday. We were making great time for my first appointment of the day, Target, even though we got off to a late start.

The border guard at the Peace Bridge told us to pull into the lot. We had to park behind a line of other cars that had been pulled over so they could x-ray our car. A big white truck drove around the vehicles, x-raying as it went.

This took about 40 minutes because they were waiting for other cars to put in the line.

They even x-rayed a stretch limo. We were not allowed to stay in the car during the x-ray which makes sense. Afterward they started tearing apart a pickup truck in the line. We weren't allowed to leave until this one truck was thoroughly checked.

It was quite cold out and some of us huddled in a tiny green, unheated shack they told us we could wait in.

This is our 4th time in 3 years getting pulled over. Usually they just go through the car but I guess times are changing.

 

[laura001]

It depends on your flight time....but....my DS goes to U of W...and we live in St. Catharines.

It is 1 1/2 hours from our house to Waterloo.

It is about 45 minutes to Buffalo airport if we have no delay at the bridge.

So that makes it about 2.25 hours best case scenerio. If you have an early morning flight, I would stay in Buffalo overnight. If it isn't early morning flight, I would leave myself 3 hours.....at that point who cares if you get to the airport 1/2 hour early than what you thought, or........whew, we were stuck at the border for a half hour, thank goodness we left ourselves some extra time! Guess it depends on how stressed you like to feel!

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

Border crossing estimates are very dependant on the time of day you are crossing. We always fly out of Buffalo on the 7am flight. There is rarely anyone in line when we cross, through in less than 10 minutes. Later in the day is not so predictable.

My sister lives in Kitchener. They are flying out of Detroit. The prices were even cheaper than Buffalo. I don't know much about the border crossing at Windsor or the Detroit airport, but when they asked around amongst their co-workers (mostly all teachers, travelling in the busy times) it seemed Detroit was the biggest choice. They are staying there the night before.

If they were flying out of Buffalo I would definitely suggest that they stay over the night before. It just takes the stress off. Your car can stay at the hotel, so you save the airport parking and the hotel cost becomes more reasonable that way.

 

[michelle1]

We rarely get delayed also but here is a number you can call that gives you specific wait times for each bridge...1-800-715-6722.