???'s about the different airlines in Buffalo

[erin1998]

Good morning everyone....

We are travelling to WDW this summer and starting to look at our flight options. We always fly out of Toronto, however, we are moving to the St.Catharines area in a few weeks and Buffalo is much closer. I have no idea which airline is better or if there is any difference at all between them. I am looking at JetBlue, Southwest or AirTran, flying direct round-trip. Can anyone offer any advice on these airlines?

Thanks a bunch....
Erin

 

[formill]

We have flown all three. Jet Blue is the best- for assigned seats and the little tvs. Seat room seems about the same on Southwest and Jet Blue- Air Trans was noticeable smaller- legs hit seat ahead. Air Trans also charges extra for your luggage and seat selection- Southwest right now you are allowed 2 bags per person no extra charge- Jet Blue one bag. Southwest has more non stop flights than Jet Blue. So I would pick Jet Blue first if price and times work.....Southwest second and Air Trans last. We have also flown one of them one way and returned on another airline.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

I can't comment on the service through Jet Blue or Airtran, but we always fly Southwest when we go anywhere..I've done Vegas, DC and Fl with them and they are great!! Can't beat the fee situation for sure, but one warning about Jetblue and Airtran, you may book a direct flight and have it be switched to a connection...so watch out for that..never had it happen on SW so far..

 

[minnie56]

Have flown Jetblue as well as Southwest many times. Southwest this past week in fact.

I prefer Jetblue though should there be need to cancel your flight, Southwest has better cancellation/fee policies.

I hate the herding like cattle to board with Southwest...I really like having my seat booked.

 

[erin1998]

Have flown Jetblue as well as Southwest many times. Southwest this past week in fact.

I prefer Jetblue though should there be need to cancel your flight, Southwest has better cancellation/fee policies.

I hate the herding like cattle to board with Southwest...I really like having my seat booked.

You reminded me of another question I had about Southwest...thank you

Can someone explain to me how the seating works on Southwest? Is there anyway to prebook my seat? I am a single mom and don't want to sit seperately from my son.
Thanks again,
Erin

 

[dsneygirl]

I prefer SW for more direct flights and ease of cancellation/changing times. We once called on Sat and switched to the Sun later flight (just had to pay the difference).

No pre assigned seating. You are assigned a number A32, A33 etc and line up in that order then just pick any seat. You can check in 24 hours before hand and should have no problem getting an 'A'.

With this numbered system I don't find it "herding" at all, to me it's not different than calling for rows 1-10, instead they call for numbers A15-A30 to come up and so on.

 

[minnie56]

We were online 5 mins prior to the 24 hr prior time period for both our outbound and return flights and both times were in B and the 40's - 50's. I think a lot more folks are paying the addt'l fee now to check in earlier than 24hrs prior.

 

[vacation_junkie]

Good morning everyone....

We are travelling to WDW this summer and starting to look at our flight options. We always fly out of Toronto, however, we are moving to the St.Catharines area in a few weeks and Buffalo is much closer. I have no idea which airline is better or if there is any difference at all between them. I am looking at JetBlue, Southwest or AirTran, flying direct round-trip. Can anyone offer any advice on these airlines?

Thanks a bunch....
Erin

Southwest by far. You get 2 bags free per person.
We fly them all the time.
Airtran changes flight times all the time.
It takes us 42min to get from our door..through the the border to the airport in Buffalo so we always love to fly outta there. Plus the flights are half the price of Toronto!!! We paid $448 for 3 of us round trip including taxes for mid-april!! Southwest...Air canada would have cost approx $800 more!
We have never had any problems with seats as well on Southwest...

 

[MomDad&2boys]

I prefer Jet Blue because they are a participating airline with Magical Express. This means that on the return flight you can check your bags, check in for your flights and get your boarding passes right at your Disney resort. Very convenient.

 

[Eeyore's the Best]

Jet Blue for sure! We flew them for the first time in January and were so impressed!!! Resort check-in, individual tvs, free snacks and drinks and lots more legroom IMO.

 

[snickerboo]

I have flown SW and AT from Detroit and Delta from Buffalo. My favourite of the 3 is definitely Southwest. Download their Ding program for their best deals. I had no problem on AirTran, either. They do change your flights so you have to watch for that. The one change they did made our connection tight and we had little kids so I just called and told her thta would be very difficult for us to do and she put us on a non-stop instead. It was no problem at all. I did not like Delta at all.

Buffalo is much better for flying to WDW than Pearson, and cheaper!

FYI: We went American to DL this past fall and both Air Tran and Southwest were better than American which was very small space, very full flights, no snack (you could get a drink), & they trashed dh's expensive suitcase.

 

[connorsmom911]

You reminded me of another question I had about Southwest...thank you

Can someone explain to me how the seating works on Southwest? Is there anyway to prebook my seat? I am a single mom and don't want to sit seperately from my son.
Thanks again,
Erin

Previous posters have already explained the way Southwest does the seating, but I just wanted to add my opinion. Love them!! Even with the changes to the way they have done the "cattle call" seating over the years.

I would however, from one single mom to another, advise that you add the "early-bird check in" feature (it's $10 pp each way). This way you don't have to be at your computer (or at guest services when in WDW) at the 24 hr mark. SW automatically checks you in at 36 hrs before your flight (so you should get a better boarding pass number than those at the 24 hr mark, but it's dependent on when you buy your ticket, what price you paid for your ticket, and when you buy the earlybird check-in feature...it's all technical!). All you need to do then is reprint your boarding passes at the airport.

I purchased it for my return trip home last fall, shortly after it was introduced, and we were first in line (after the business select class, A1-15, which I have never seen). Having read other posts now, it seems to be catching on, and I think more people are using it, so if you take your chances with the regular boarding at the 24 hr mark, you'll be further back. I'm travelling in April, just my 7yr old and I, so I made sure to buy it both ways so we will be in the first group to board.

I have looked into Jet Blue as well, due to the wonderful reviews they receive, but right now they don't offer very many non-stop flights from Buffalo. SW schedule just fits better with my plans, and I have never had them change the flight schedule, as I have heard happens occasionally with Air Tran.

Good luck with your travels, and trust me (and the others here!), you will be hard pressed to EVER fly out of Pearson again!!

 

[DutchsMommy]

I prefer Jet Blue because they are a participating airline with Magical Express. This means that on the return flight you can check your bags, check in for your flights and get your boarding passes right at your Disney resort. Very convenient.

For more info on Magical Express and checking your bags at the hotel for the return flight - check out the Transportation Board. SWA is beginning to be added as a participating airline at some resorts with more to follow, so depending on where you are staying this might not be a factor.

 

[erin1998]

Thanks everyone for your help!!!
I think we have narrowed it down between Southwest and Jetblue. It will probably come down to price and which one is cheaper. I certainly love all the flight options out of Buffalo!!!! I imagine we will do alot more travelling now that we are closer to Buffalo....woohoo!!!
Thanks again,
Erin

 

[Oshawa]

Love SW!!

 

[iluveeyore]

Welcome to the Niagara Region! We have flown all three and always seem to choose Southwest. They have always had cheaper fares, plus their change/cancellation policy has no fee, you just get credit for your next flight. It's great too if you notice your flight went down in price, you get to keep the credit towards a future flight if you re-book at the cheaper rate. And even with five of us boarding in the B group, we have never gotten separated!