question on booking flights ..

[bestjsg]

originally planned to go to Buffalo then fly to MCO, but I just found a great deal from Westjet flying from YYZ to MCO direct cheaper than SouthWest from BUF, however, only the flight to MCO is cheap but the return flight is like 3 x the price...would you recommend bookng the one way ticket now anyways and wait for a sale for the return flight or do you know if there are car rental companies that we can rent a car from BUF , drive back and return the car in Toronto ?

thanks for your comments in advance...

btw, is Westjet flights refundable ?

 

[Northstar]

Don't know what to do about booking the airfare, but I wanted to warn you that there is apparently a law on the books that says Canadian residents can't drive a car they rented in the US into Canada. (You can rent a car in Canada and drive across the border.. just not the other way round).

I don't know whether they enforce this at all border crossings. A few years ago, we were on an Alaskan cruise and were not able to rent a car in Skagway to drive into the Yukon on a port day.

 

[iluveeyore]

This is true, you cannot rent a car in the US and drive across the border because it has american tags/ownership and you are not American. You are allowed to drive a Canadian rental car across to the US because you are Canadian and it's got Canadian plates on it.
We always book each way separately in case a change needs to be made or we find a cheaper flight, but I always book with Southwest who allows changes without penalty, so not sure about Westjet. The only way I would book at two separate airports is if the savings are phenomenal and I have someone who can pick us up when we come home or leave our car for us at the return airport.

 

[bestjsg]

thanks for the info....yah, the flight for 4 on westjet from yyz to mco last night was $ 500 CDN one way, but the return is like $ 1500 CDN, while if we drive to BUF , it is about $ 1200 USD on Jet Blue...so looks like still a better deal flying from BUF unless I can also find a return flight cheap from mco to yyz.

My trip is in May, do you think I still have a chance to get cheap tickets ?

 

[iluveeyore]

I just checked on Southwest.com and the whole month of May is $109 one way from Buffalo, plus they don't charge for luggage. It's also $109 return each. You could book these and then if the flights go down, they'll give you a credit towards future flights without penalty.

 

[irisesareblue]

Westjet allows you to make changes if necessary but there is a fee when you do (I think it's $75.00 per change per flight)

I think there are shuttles between Niagara Falls casino and Buffalo airport. What about booking the flights from Toronto, then if you have to fly from Buffalo, have a friend or relative pick you up in Buffalo or Niagara Falls (if they don't have a passport)? Just a thought - might not be feasible but it might work.....

 

[bestjsg]

I just checked on Southwest.com and the whole month of May is $109 one way from Buffalo, plus they don't charge for luggage. It's also $109 return each. You could book these and then if the flights go down, they'll give you a credit towards future flights without penalty.

thanks for the info, didn't know about if the price goes down will get refund credits..!

I read something about you have to checkin online 24 hr before the flight to get good seats , is that true ? just concern that I may not be able to do this on the way back (don't want to bring laptop..), and what if you don't do this 24 hr in advance , would there a good chance that all 4 of us may sit separately ? (wife and 2 kids..)

 

[bestjsg]

Westjet allows you to make changes if necessary but there is a fee when you do (I think it's $75.00 per change per flight)

I think there are shuttles between Niagara Falls casino and Buffalo airport. What about booking the flights from Toronto, then if you have to fly from Buffalo, have a friend or relative pick you up in Buffalo or Niagara Falls (if they don't have a passport)? Just a thought - might not be feasible but it might work.....

yes, I have thought of that but asking someone to pick us up in Buffalo that might be tough....I probably don't want to do that myself...

 

[Diamondintheruff]

thanks for the info, didn't know about if the price goes down will get refund credits..!

I read something about you have to checkin online 24 hr before the flight to get good seats , is that true ? just concern that I may not be able to do this on the way back (don't want to bring laptop..), and what if you don't do this 24 hr in advance , would there a good chance that all 4 of us may sit separately ? (wife and 2 kids..)

There are places at Disney you can do this from. I'm hoping someone will pop up with the answer b/c I'm a little fuzzy on it.

You can get someone at home to do it for you. You just have to give them your information and what time they need to do it for you.

I've found that worst case scenario, and you can't check yourself in until you arrive at the airport, people generally move to help you sit with your travelling party. Or at least someone from your travelling party. Especially if we are talking small children.

On a solo flight on southwest, a passenger made a big deal because they didn't get a window seat. They hadn't checked in early and really made a fuss about it. The airline staff offered anyone who wanted to give up their window seat a free drink and some money. I took it. I got a voucher in the mail a couple of weeks later. So, the airline staff really do try to get you seated where you want to be.

 

[Eveningsong]

You could use Megabus to travel from the Buffalo Airport to Toronto.
877-462-6342

Their prices are very reasonable, and I have never heard never negative reports on their service.

 

[formill]

thanks for the info, didn't know about if the price goes down will get refund credits..!

I read something about you have to checkin online 24 hr before the flight to get good seats , is that true ? just concern that I may not be able to do this on the way back (don't want to bring laptop..), and what if you don't do this 24 hr in advance , would there a good chance that all 4 of us may sit separately ? (wife and 2 kids..)

Sign up and pay $10 each for Early Bird Check In (Southwest just checks in for you )for the way home and you don`t have to worry about finding a computer and you will get to sit together.

 

[badiggio]

Id take the westjet going for $500 and wait it out a bit for returning;they will probably drop their returning fares as well,or take a different airline coming back.I'm going down in May,on United right from Ottawa-wash_orlando and coming back on Continental.I find "usually" around the 3 month mark to your destination is the best time to book;they want to fill up their flights.After that if people haven't booked their flights,the airlines know you will be desperate.There are the odd last minute cheap fares,but are you willing to gamble?

 

[dancin Disney style]

thanks for the info....yah, the flight for 4 on westjet from yyz to mco last night was $ 500 CDN one way, but the return is like $ 1500 CDN, while if we drive to BUF , it is about $ 1200 USD on Jet Blue...so looks like still a better deal flying from BUF unless I can also find a return flight cheap from mco to yyz.

My trip is in May, do you think I still have a chance to get cheap tickets ?

$2000 for 4 tickets roundtrip from YYZ is pretty much the going price. You can get fares a little lower but at best you would be in the $1600 range.

From BUF....you can get tickets much, much lower than $1200. We fly from BUF often and the most I have paid for 4 tickets was $747 those were roundtrip including taxes and non stop flights. Last summer I paid $556 for the same roundtrip flights.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Sign up and pay $10 each for Early Bird Check In (Southwest just checks in for you )for the way home and you don`t have to worry about finding a computer and you will get to sit together.

Yes...this is the best option if you have concerns about were you sit.

Also, if the child(ren) are age 5 or less you can have a family pre board which occurs between the A and B groups. So if you have a child that age you can do it that way and save the $10 per person.

 

[iluveeyore]

thanks for the info, didn't know about if the price goes down will get refund credits..!

I read something about you have to checkin online 24 hr before the flight to get good seats , is that true ? just concern that I may not be able to do this on the way back (don't want to bring laptop..), and what if you don't do this 24 hr in advance , would there a good chance that all 4 of us may sit separately ? (wife and 2 kids..)

You can go to any guest services at any park or to the front desk of your resort anytime after the 24 hour mark to print off your passes. If you do that, you should have no problem being in the A or B boarding group, and you can choose which seats you can have. How old are your children? If you have a child under 4, you can do the family pre-board in between A and B group, then you don't have to worry when you print your passes! (This is all for Southwest).

 

[dsneygirl]

What dates are you going in May? We booked 3 of us for $500 US return from BUF. SW had thier $64 each way almost every day of the month.

 

[carolynb]

My kids are flying down out of Buffalo May 14 and returning May 19th. They are thinking of flying Southwest. Did you get the $64 rate recently and on the Southwest site?

 

[bestjsg]

What dates are you going in May? We booked 3 of us for $500 US return from BUF. SW had thier $64 each way almost every day of the month.

April 30 to May 8, they don't have the $ 64 direct flights anymore, the outbound is $ 109 each and inbound is $ 129 each, so all 4 x both ways with taxes and everything is $ 1017.60 ..

 

[bestjsg]

thanks for all replied/info.

I have decided to fly from BUF because flying direct from YYZ cost $ 300 more (need to fly a day early to get the lower fare) plus fact that these cheaper tickets flies out/arrive MCO at almost mid-night , wife kind of conern of safety with young kids and that the return flight is 7 am ...it will be a huge task to dig the kids (including me I suppose..) up like 4-5 am in the morning..