When you fly out of Buffalo ...

[KerriMc]

Hello

When you fly out of Buffalo airport which airline have most of you used? I am looking for next March and of course most like Southwest haven't released tickets that far ahead. The only one I saw was United and it was over 500 per person US, which is WAY too much. Air Canada has flights listed for 385 round trip for the time we are going. I'm wondering if I should book these or wait and see what some of the American airlines will offer. What do you think?

As well ... I am worried about doing a flight that requires us to switch planes. Is this difficult? Will our luggage be switched over to the other plane for us? What about a stroller that you would check right at the airplane door ... would we just pick it up there to use through the airport to catch the new plane? We have two young ones with us and I don't know if switching planes is worth the hassle. I was just so frustrated with Pearson airport when we travelled in March, but if they are comparable in price I am willing to use them if I must

Thanks for any help

Kerri

 

[patsal]

I would wait until Southwest opens those dates; roundtrip should be $200 or less US per person non-stop. I would expect March to offer decent discounts since Easter break is in April and most Buffalo area schools have February break. Demand in March should not be too high.

As far as the other stuff, the airlines will just check your luggage at boarding and you will retrieve it at your destination. The airline is responsible for transferring it. The stroller you leave at the door will be waiting by the door when you disembark the plane. It is always easier to fly non-stop with children (heck even without!). Southwest will give you that option at a fair price, many of the other carriers do not have non-stop service to Orlando from Buffalo.

 

[hockey mom]

We also use Southwest, I really like this airline.

 

[maryliz]

Ditto ... wait for SWA to release their rates for your dates. Even if they're at higher rates for a peak season, it will be way cheaper than what you'll get here in Canada. And Buffalo airport is easy to get to and get around.


MaryLiz

 

[sammi]

We have flown with Southwest out of Buffalo and loved it!

I would wait until they release your travel dates and then book. They also do 2 nonstop flights daily to MCO (Orlando) and have great airfares too!

 

[KatieKateKate]

Air Tran. Cheapest rates I have ever found.

 

[RedRuby]

Hello

When you fly out of Buffalo airport which airline have most of you used? I am looking for next March and of course most like Southwest haven't released tickets that far ahead. The only one I saw was United and it was over 500 per person US, which is WAY too much. Air Canada has flights listed for 385 round trip for the time we are going. I'm wondering if I should book these or wait and see what some of the American airlines will offer.

Kerri

If tyou want to book now to ensure dates, you might try CanJet out of Hamilton (four seats will cost you about $1330Cdn for a Hamilton-Ottawa-Orlando itinerary). Catches are: the stop in OTtawa, although I'm not sure if you need to actually change planes, and it runs on Sundays only.
you'll need the Canjet.ca website for this.

The next affordable GTA area option is on Skyservice, direct Pearson to Orlando, non stop. They have more flight options and for four seats their rates range from $1400-$1500.
exit.ca has a booking tool for charter flights.

Depending on where you're travelling from, one of these options might be cheaper and easier than getting to/from Buffalo. I'd definitely take 'hassles' at Pearson to hassles getting to another country, paying in US$$ and dealing with American-run airlines which aren't known for customer service such as preboarding with children! But, if the savings are great enough, I can see why you'd do it.

BTW, I priced Southwest from Buffalo for September and didn't get much better fares than the Hamilton option, not enough to justify a $200 car ride out to Buffalo. But, maybe I didn't get cheap enough fares.
Good luck.

 

[surfer_ed]

I have used both SWA and JetBlue. Usually SWA is cheapeast but if you book far enough in advance you can get a simmilar price with JetBlue.

I did pay about $20 more last time for JB but you get a personal TV for each seat and unlike SWA you also have advance seat selection so you know that you can sit together.

I think most BUF airlines will have a connecting flight.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I started checking prices for my July trip back in December. Southwest had a sale that was January through April and the BUF to MCO was between $35 and $49 one way. If they have the same sale for Jan. 2006 I'm buying.
I booked this trip on Air Tran, $79 each way total was $747 US for 4 people. I have talked with many people that have used AT and they were happy. Best advice I got was -- if you find a price that you think is good jump on it because it might be gone an hour later.

 

[dsneygirl]

I've flown both Air Tran and Southwest several times. Very good experiences with both. I would wait to book you have lots of time. Go to southwest.com and sign up for their email alerts. I wouldn't book until at least the fall.

 

[hipmaman]

Hello

Air Canada has flights listed for 385 round trip for the time we are going. I'm wondering if I should book these or wait and see what some of the American airlines will offer. What do you think?

Depend on how many people in your party (and how old) and how far you have to travel to BUF, etc. I personally would choose Air Canada for $385 CAD/round trip and direct out of Pearson (with all taxes included, dare I hope?), I would take that over driving down to Buffalo with a US flight for about $200 USD.

We just returned from Disneyland last week with driving from Oakville to BUF (not a big deal), but having to make one-stop in Newark (yeah flew east to go west ) and to Orange County. We are a party of four with 2 little travellers (3 and 5 yrs old), so it took us the whole day to travel with the kids started to get restless in the end. But since we saved over $1000 CAD, it made much more sense to fly out of BUF. We flew Continental, by the way. It was the cheapest through Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, etc. for BUF-SNA and for early to mid May.

 

[KerriMc]

Thanks for all of your replies

Tam - of course it doesn't include taxes ... and it is actually 450 before taxes as of checking today It could be about 30 cheaper if I went with just Tango, but this time I am going to go Tango Plus as you get to have seats confirmed ahead of time. We had a REAL hassle this past March as our flight was a United flight, BUT run by AC ... so their systems can't "cross" ... so I'm told ... and apparently the good price we got quoted by United was a Tango fare which can't have chosen seats ... and yada yada yada ... it was a nightmare each way as we have two small children (20 mos and 4 yrs) and we wanted to be seated two adults to each child ... strength in numbers you know . So we always had to wait while they paged people, as both flights we were put in the emergency exit rows and we can't sit there with children. In Toronto it was a major pain as the lady at the boarding area was VERY rude to us because people weren't coming up to offer to change seating (probably because she didn't explain it very well and she mumbled over the speakers and I had no idea what she was saying!). Orlando was much better. We ended up two, two, and two (way apart), but at least she was really nice about it! I made many calls ahead of time ... but nothing anyone could ever do ... so I'm never booking that kind of flight again. Not sure about having to do a switch over with the kids ... like you said it is a long day of travel and I know my youngest will be a holy terror by the end of it all Plus for us, we have at least a three hour drive to Buffalo and I worry about weather at that time of year as well as having to add that drive to the end of the trip. So I may just have to tolerate Pearson!

Thanks again everyone ... you are all so helpful!!

Kerri

 

[marylou]

If you can get a decent price for air canada goe for it. We flew ac and it was great. More room and actual food. We flew BUF with united and it was ok but the connection sucked with a car seat etc . but they did offer us on the way back a non stop flight which was nice.

 

[hipmaman]

Thanks for all of your replies

Tam - of course it doesn't include taxes ... and it is actually 450 before taxes as of checking today

QUOTE]

Yeah, I was just being hopeful while deep down I knew it could be the case.

With you being so far from BUF, why don't you think about driving down one day earlier so you don't feel press for time with the weather, crossing the border, etc., stay in a nearby hotel and then fly out first thing in the morning?

Good luck with your decision (and finding lower prices)

 

[jersey shark]

If you've never flown out of Buffalo, it's a good idea to try this at least once in order to then permit a "first hand comparison" as to which option (Toronto or Buffalo Airport) will work better for your own situation.

As a frequent US-based traveler, (formerly to Canada a lot), I never did get used to the way people are processed at Cdn airports - it seems very taxing(not really Canada's fault - it's mostly the customs thing that makes it seem so difficult) -but even when you consider security, "line-ups", ease of parking, hotel shuttle buses, and overall "user-friendliness"...(not to mention cost!) I personally would do anything I could to fly in/out of Buffalo instead of Toronto (needed to get to Burlington so that was a consideration as well).
The bottom line ...Buffalo's a breeze - and makes for a very pleasant flying experience!

Try it and see for yourself - I think Southwest has non-stops to Orlando, Jet Blue is worth trying (despite a connection at JFK) - the live TV on all seats will be a god-send for those of you travelling with small kids (Cartoon Channel included!)

 

[chasbos]

Ditto what jersey shark said - do not knock it until you have tried it! Buffalo was great and we flew with 4 kids! It is so much smaller than Pearson (we have flown many times out of Pearson and my kids have always been bored stiff!)

The biggest advantage to flying to Orlando from Buffalo is that you do not have to clear customs when you land and WOW does that ever save time! We had a direct flight from Buffalo at 7:15 a.m. and we were off the plane in Orlando, had our luggage and were in our limo to Port Canaveral before 10:00 a.m.!

The same for the return trip - get your luggage and go!

Aside from the fact that 6 of us flew for $451 US not having to clear customs at the airport is priceless!

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We flew Southwest in early February out of Buffalo. It was well worth the two hour drive to Buffalo as for two we paid $170 US all in return to Orlando. The flight down was non-stop but we did have a stop in Baltimore on the way home.

Southwest service was wonderful. The flight attendants were great. There was preboarding for those with children under 4.

We stayed the night before at Comfort Suites and used their shuttle to go to and from the airport with not one problem. The shuttle driver on the way home drove the shuttle up to our car and loaded our suitcases into it!

Would fly again from Buffalo in a heartbeat.

Incidentally we live approx 45 minutes from Pearson and priced the flights out of Pearson at the same time and it would have been $1400 Cdn. No comparison in cost.

 

[RedRuby]

W
Incidentally we live approx 45 minutes from Pearson and priced the flights out of Pearson at the same time and it would have been $1400 Cdn. No comparison in cost.

Okay this thread has got me convinced to keep an eye on fares out of Buffalo. Our only 'problem' is that we don't own a car, and so would need to find someone to drive us out and back (unlikely!), rent a car to sit at a hotel for a weekor two (could still provide a cost savings over all), take public transit (a pain and time consuming), or pay for a car/limo to the airport. Right now, I'm not getting good enough fares to justify that, but I can see how some specials would work!

As for clearing customs when flying from Canada, on direct flights to the States, travellers clear US customs in Pearson before getting on the plane anyway.

 

[riu girl]

I own a car but don't distance drive. I am also wondering how to get to BUF from the Peterborough area. DH drives but may or may not be with us for some future holidays (work issues) and I was wondering how to get to BUF. I know I can catch a shuttle van to Pearson but doubt I could get from Peterborough to BUF. I wonder if I took a bus to Toronto and then another bus to BUF?

Has anyone ever taken a shuttle or Greyhound etc from GTA to BUF? If so, how did it work out for you?

Suzy V.