To any Canadians (or anyone else) who may understand my problem

[brooker]

Hey all,

We are travelling from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Orlando in Dec. for $1377 Canadian on Canjet. My dilema is that we have to get from Newfoundland to Halifax. We can fly the day before our actual trip from an airport close to my home, overnight it at a friend's place, and travel to Orlando the next day and do the same on return, which would cost us $900 more. Or we can travel by car and ferry 2 days before to get to Halifax, which takes approx. 14 hours total each way. (7 hrs by ferry and 7 by car). We would have to leave home on a Thursday to travel to Orlando on Saturday. Coming back we would land at 9:00 in Halifax on the following Saturday and have to drive 5 hours to catch the ferry back to Newfoundland on Sunday, we would get home late Sunday night. What would you do in this case? The cost to us by driving would probably be around $250-300.

 

[RedRuby]

Hey all,

We are travelling from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Orlando in Dec. for $1377 Canadian on Canjet. My dilema is that we have to get from Newfoundland to Halifax. We can fly the day before our actual trip from an airport close to my home, overnight it at a friend's place, and travel to Orlando the next day and do the same on return, which would cost us $900 more. ---What would you do in this case? The cost to us by driving would probably be around $250-300.

I lived in Halifax for a while so that's enough of a connection for me to reply, I suppose
I'm a little unclear -- do you mean that a connecting flight would cost $900, and the cost of driving-with-ferry would cost $300, so the actual difference is $600?
Or, do you mean that the flight would be $900 *more* than driving, e.g. flight is $1200, driving is $300 and the difference is $900?

Would anyone need to take extra time off work to accomodate the extra day of travel with teh driving? If so, you might want to include that in the cost of the driving -- which might make flying more attractive.

If you've got the money, I would suggest flying.(Well, I'd definitely suggest it for a $600 difference, though I might not be so enthused about a $900 difference). The difference of $600 might be more easily rationalised as $/per person -- and it would be a lot faster and more restful than driving. You also avoid potential problems with ferry times, traffic and road/sea conditions -- all of which can be moderate to severe in December. That's my 2c. Hope that helps.

 

[Chickkypoo]

I know personally, the drive wouldn't bother me. We are driving about 13 hours from Regina to Minneapolis, to save around $1100 on airfare. We figure even with the cost of gas and the hotel room down in Minneapolis which includes a Park and Fly package, we'll still be saving $600-$700 dollars. I know for me at least it doesn't make much diffrence driving, as last year, the connections were so crummy. We flew from Regina to Calgary and got there around 9:30pm, and didn't fly out of Calgary (to Orlando) until 8 or 9 the next morning.

 

[brooker]

Sorry if I was unclear...the cost would be approx. $600 more....as it stands right now to catch a flight Saturday morning from Halifax we would have to leave western Newfoundland on Thursday morning to catch the ferry at noon(because of the schedule). If we flew up we could fly from Deer lake(30 min drive from our house) on Friday afternoon and stay at a friends only Friday instead of Thursday and Friday. By ferry I will have to 2 extra days of...by flying up only one afternoon.

Coming back we land in Halifax on a Saturday night (9:00PM) and we have to drive to get the ferry at 11:30 Sunday morning, with another 2 hours again on the Nfld side. If we flew back we would land Saturday night, stay again at friends and leave for Deer Lake the next afternoon.

 

[pumpkinboy]

So geographically, we're talking the Cornerbrook area, are we? When I first read your post I looked at flights out of St John's, but since that is apparently really far (what, maybe 6-7 hours drive form you?) and we're talking Deer Lake as the nearest airport, I threw out any thought of the bigger Nfld airports (YQX or YYT) as Halifax is probably just as convenient (or inconvenient). Man, just about everything is a long trip for you!

I think I'd be inclined to fly if at all possible, tho the price differential is pretty steep. Still, you'd ge the extra day, impose on your friend a little less, and just spend less time in transit. Good luck!

 

[brooker]

Your exactly right it is Corner Brook. I guess what it comes down to by flying from Deer Lake we would save a total of approx. 25 hours of travel time for a cost of close to $600 more. Hopefully the free dining plan will come out for my travel times which will make this decision a lot easier. Up to this point for flights down and back for 2 adults and 1 child, 7 nights at a value resort, with 7 day magic plus passes with the dining plan we have spent about 3500 to this point. If I add on another flight I am looking at $4400 total.....would this seem to outragous?

 

[Adora]

Hey, so here I am, living 45 minutes from Deer Lake and I happen to read this. We just boked our flight and decided it was easier on everyone to just do the whole thing Air Canada than even think about the issue you're having. Maybe you can drive in the dead of night the night before and take a nap in teh car? You mention having to leave Thursday to get across for your flight Saturday, what month are you leaving in that there's only one ferry crossing? Seeing how you already bought your tickets, I can't imagine paying to fly out of Deer Lake to Halifax, that would break my heart. Good luck with it, and if you add anything maybe I can ask around town!

 

[brooker]

So heres the deal...we are flying from halifax Dec 3, Saturday at 8:00am I believe. We we're going to cross the ferry Thursday night and drive to Halifax Friday morning and stay all night. Turns out the ferry has a schedule for dangerous cargo that night so we would have to cross Thursday morning and drive up Halifax Thursday evening. We can't take the chance to cross the ferry Friday morning....I am sure you are familiar with how the ferry can be off schedule. So Adora what price did you get on flights? It will cost an extra $925 from Deer lake to Halifax-return($1377 from Halifax to Orlando-return) I checked flights at the same time through Air Canada and they were very close. The thing I hate the most is the long travel and wait times just to get to fly to Orlando.

 

[mbb]

high winds, disgruntled fishermen..*anything* can throw off the ferry schedule...

And the drive through CB to New Glasgow is just two lanes...and can be a little nasty with "onshore flow" snow...if the weather is going to be yucky..Last year all of December was great, though

WestJet has a sale right now..it's pricing $770 for the 3 of you - but out of St. John's...PAL is sitting at $1100, out of Deer Lake...blech...

That's a tough one...

Let us know what you decide

 

[brooker]

Right now by travelling from Halifax to Orlando is is costing us $459 per person. If I add on the Deer LAke to Halifax it will be and additional $308 per person for a total of 767 per. Does this seem extremely unreasonable? It would be approx 30 hours of extra travel (land\sea) compared to 3 by flying, and I would leave Friday afternoon instead of on early Thursday morning.....I am convinced, I just can't convince my wife. Does anyone have know of anything to say to convince her?...lol

 

[mbb]

Right now by travelling from Halifax to Orlando is is costing us $459 per person. If I add on the Deer LAke to Halifax it will be and additional $308 per person for a total of 767 per. Does this seem extremely unreasonable? It would be approx 30 hours of extra travel (land\sea) compared to 3 by flying, and I would leave Friday afternoon instead of on early Thursday morning.....I am convinced, I just can't convince my wife. Does anyone have know of anything to say to convince her?...lol

30 hours vs. 3 hours - you just convinced me!! LOL!

By the time you pay ferry costs, gas, meals on the way, stress of extra driving... (not so much going, but facing all that travel time coming home after a wonderful vacation is what sways me EVERY time we start thinking about driving to Florida 38+ hours!!)

I'm thinking all the "extras" are going to add up to at least $500 to drive to YHZ and back...so $767 isn't that much at all.

We really wanted to fly from Sydney this year, and we did the same math...driving to YHZ (4 hours), hotel overnight there and back, meals on the road, gas, and booking off the extra travel time...we figure about $600 total.

Unfortunately, airfare from Sydney is so much more $$$ this year, as in an extra $1700

$700 I would have jumped at , happily

 

[sherry66]

I would fly.I know it is more money but God only knows how much gas in going to be by Dec I live 30min outside of St. John's and I am always worried about the weather on the day we leave. Dec isn't to bad a month. We go in Feb which is always bad for us on the east coast.If you drive you have to worry about having to leave your car for the duration of your trip.I would be afraid to chance driving to Halifax in Dec.