Is Going Through Customs Worth Saving Money?

[have2getaway]

$500. $100 x 5 tickets. 3 hour shorter drive. I would do it as long as OP has the necessary documents.

We don’t have passports because we don’t need them to cross the border, so we would have to add on that cost, which would be an additional $480. The only other concern I have is that I’ve heard Airtransat frequently changes flights.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

We don’t have passports because we don’t need them to cross the border, so we would have to add on that cost, which would be an additional $480. The only other concern I have is that I’ve heard Airtransat frequently changes flights.

Totally not worth it, then - unless you foresee needing passports in the next year for something else.

 

[have2getaway]

Totally not worth it, then - unless you foresee needing passports in the next year for something else.

I doubt it. We have been thinking about a Disney Cruise, but now that Star Wars land is opening, we are too anxious to get back to Disney World for that.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I hate to be picky but going through Customs is EASY! What your need to be concerned about is immigration!


I can't see that this is a great deal for the OP as they have to drive to Montreal, buy passports etc...

 

[Jimsig]

IMO opinion using Orbitz and Expedia and the like are great for comparing fares for those airlines they list. But SW does not allow them to list their flights so you have to ck SW on your own.

 

[have2getaway]

IMO opinion using Orbitz and Expedia and the like are great for comparing fares for those airlines they list. But SW does not allow them to list their flights so you have to ck SW on your own.

Thank you! I checked Southwest’s web site, and the fares aren’t out yet for our travel period.

 

[sponica]

Thank you! I checked Southwest’s web site, and the fares aren’t out yet for our travel period.

I think SW typically releases their fares about 7 months in advance. The next fare release is scheduled on March 8 for Oct 1 through Nov 3. Keep an eye on their release schedule and pounce when they release your dates.

And I would not drive to an airport in Canada to fly to the US. You'd have to save a ton of money to pay for the passports...

 

[nkereina]

Our drivers license and our boys’ birth certificates have always been enough to cross the border, but would we need passports to fly out of Montreal?

Are you sure? I live in Buffalo so we frequently drive across at the Niagara Falls/Fort Erie area of Ontario. We are required to have either an enhanced driver's licenses or passports for re-entry into the United States. This is fairly recent, maybe within the last 10 years. I would suspect all border crossings have the same requirement.

 

[have2getaway]

Are you sure? I live in Buffalo so we frequently drive across at the Niagara Falls/Fort Erie area of Ontario. We are required to have either an enhanced driver's licenses or passports for re-entry into the United States. This is fairly recent, maybe within the last 10 years. I would suspect all border crossings have the same requirement.

Yes, but both my husband and I have the enhanced licenses. Our children have only ever needed their birth certificates. We most recently went last August to Canada’s Wonderland.

 

[nkereina]

Yes, but both my husband and I have the enhanced licenses. Our children have only ever needed their birth certificates. We most recently went last August to Canada’s Wonderland.

Ohh gotcha, you just said licenses up-thread so didn't realize they were enhanced.

 

[have2getaway]

Ohh gotcha, you just said licenses up-thread so didn't realize they were enhanced.

Sorry! You were right to question it. I should have specified that before.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Are you sure? I live in Buffalo so we frequently drive across at the Niagara Falls/Fort Erie area of Ontario. We are required to have either an enhanced driver's licenses or passports for re-entry into the United States. This is fairly recent, maybe within the last 10 years. I would suspect all border crossings have the same requirement.

The problem is the flight. You need a passport for flights to the US from Canada and from the US to Canada. Enhanced Drivers's licenses don't work for flights.

 

[Nancyg56]

I would NOT purchase airfare from any 3rd party. If there are any issues after you purchase your ticket, you'll need to work through the 3rd party.

It's very possible Orbitz is advertising the low fee, and then when you go through the process, the total will change to reflect all the taxes, or the price magically won't be available.

Go through Orbitz' site until you're asked to put in your credit card information. At some point before that, you should get the real price.

I wanted to chime in on this. My neices are in Uostate Vermont, almost on the Canadian border. They had originally booked airfare out of Montreal through Expedia to Mexico becuase they were able to secure non stop flights. Well, the event fell though, so after over 90 minutes on the phone, and over three representatives and $152 later, (despite travel protection that has conditions they missed) they are now booked to Orlando.

Do you mind if I chime in to ask a few questions? They are on our reservation so I know that the tags will come to us. If I send them teh DME tags, will thier bags get collected at MCO, or should I just plan on them either grabbing their bags at MCO before boarding DME with us, or if we are in the area before the trip, grabbing their bags and taking them with us? This is one of my nieces forst tip, and the other has not been to DIsney since she was with me 12 years ago. I want their arrival to be as smooth as possible.

 

[nkereina]

The problem is the flight. You need a passport for flights to the US from Canada and from the US to Canada. Enhanced Drivers's licenses don't work for flights.

I understand that, I was just questioning what the OP said up-thread about driving and licenses.

 

[vandort]

I've done something like this. I flew from London, Ontario to MCO. Customs was really easy to manage on both ends. MCO is much easier than some airports for international travel. You do need a passport. The only slow part of that trip was the bridge stop on the border between Michigan to Canada. I now have Nexus, which means that waiting with international border entry is not an issue for me anymore. Nexus is the global entry program between the US and Canada. With Nexus, you have a faster entry/exit into Canada as well as TSA pre-check and global entry (for flights). We flew WestJet, which was a delightful airline.

 

[have2getaway]

I wanted to chime in on this. My neices are in Uostate Vermont, almost on the Canadian border. They had originally booked airfare out of Montreal through Expedia to Mexico becuase they were able to secure non stop flights. Well, the event fell though, so after over 90 minutes on the phone, and over three representatives and $152 later, (despite travel protection that has conditions they missed) they are now booked to Orlando.

Do you mind if I chime in to ask a few questions? They are on our reservation so I know that the tags will come to us. If I send them teh DME tags, will thier bags get collected at MCO, or should I just plan on them either grabbing their bags at MCO before boarding DME with us, or if we are in the area before the trip, grabbing their bags and taking them with us? This is one of my nieces forst tip, and the other has not been to DIsney since she was with me 12 years ago. I want their arrival to be as smooth as possible.

As far as I know, if you send them the DME tags and they put them on their luggage, their luggage will be picked up at MCO and will arrive at their Disney reserved hotel. There should be no need for you to pick it up separately. Of course, this is an assumption. When we did DME, it was a very smooth process, but we were all flying out of Albany to Orlando, but I don’t see why flying separately would change anything? We all boarded the Magical Express and our luggage was conveniently delivered to our room for us. I was sent a text message when our room was ready with the room number. We already had our Magic Bands and so were able to use the Magic Band to get into our room and unpack. We never went to the front desk, and had a minimal wait for our luggage to arrive.

 

[have2getaway]

I've done something like this. I flew from London, Ontario to MCO. Customs was really easy to manage on both ends. MCO is much easier than some airports for international travel. You do need a passport. The only slow part of that trip was the bridge stop on the border between Michigan to Canada. I now have Nexus, which means that waiting with international border entry is not an issue for me anymore. Nexus is the global entry program between the US and Canada. With Nexus, you have a faster entry/exit into Canada as well as TSA pre-check and global entry (for flights). We flew WestJet, which was a delightful airline.

Thanks for sharing! How do you go about getting Nexus? It sounds very convenient.

 

[Nancyg56]

As far as I know, if you send them the DME tags and they put them on their luggage, their luggage will be picked up at MCO and will arrive at their Disney reserved hotel. There should be no need for you to pick it up separately. Of course, this is an assumption. When we did DME, it was a very smooth process, but we were all flying out of Albany to Orlando, but I don’t see why flying separately would change anything? We all boarded the Magical Express and our luggage was conveniently delivered to our room for us. I was sent a text message when our room was ready with the room number. We already had our Magic Bands and so were able to use the Magic Band to get into our room and unpack. We never went to the front desk, and had a minimal wait for our luggage to arrive.

I plan to send them their tags now that I know flying from Montreal will not be an issue. I was just not sure if it was, and wanted their experience to be as easy as possible. I tend to be a control freak, so anything outside of my direct hands on is a mess for me. My family just ignores it. LOL!

 

[have2getaway]

I plan to send them their tags now that I know flying from Montreal will not be an issue. I was just not sure if it was, and wanted their experience to be as easy as possible. I tend to be a control freak, so anything outside of my direct hands on is a mess for me. My family just ignores it. LOL!

I completely understand. I’m the same way actually. It’s also very hard to not be anxious when it’s something new that you’ve never done before. I was worried we weren’t putting the DME tags on the luggage incorrectly. I made my husband call Disney just to check, and they said as long as they could read the information, we were fine, which is exactly what he said before making the call. Have a fun trip. DME is wonderful!

 

[Nancyg56]

I completely understand. I’m the same way actually. It’s also very hard to not be anxious when it’s something new that you’ve never done before. I was worried we weren’t putting the DME tags on the luggage incorrectly. I made my husband call Disney just to check, and they said as long as they could read the information, we were fine, which is exactly what he said before making the call. Have a fun trip. DME is wonderful!

So you do understand! I love DME, and given my choice my girls would have just driven to our house the night before the flight, and I could haul everyone to the airport together. We live 15 minutes away, so we are spoiled. My girls have at least a 2 to 3 hour drive no matter where they fly out of, so coming to us would not have been a problem, however with that pesky Expedia issue, they had few choices. They will be sure to keep us informed every step of teh way, and hopefully we all converge on MCO about the same time. Now to stop wishing the time away! LOL!