# FAQ: Flying Out of Buffalo OR Detroit



## CanadianGuy

Post your best tips and guidance for flying out of Buffalo or Detroit to MCO in this thread here.. 

I've asked for it to be made a sticky.

Thanks!

Knox


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## son3disfan

Great Idea!

For Buffalo....
There is a  parking coupon on the Buffalo airport website .


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## Ham Ham

BNIA parking coupon link

http://www.buffaloairport.com/airport_info/parking_availability.phtml


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## BitsnBearsMom

find hotels with park/sleep/fly at www.parksleepfly.com

Good place to do a search for flight prices with most major US carriers www.kayak.com


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## son3disfan

Ham Ham said:


> BNIA parking coupon link
> 
> http://www.buffaloairport.com/airport_info/parking_availability.phtml



oh, Thanks Ham Ham... 
I guess I should have added the link....


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## Ham Ham

I think that a thread about driving routes would be a good idea.
I'm sure there are folks from all across the country that could provide tips and tricks. I often respond to people posting about driving from Ontario to WDW.

Disboards could also post from out east and the folks out west too with routes to Disneyland.


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## usetheforceluke

Bridges to USA:

Lewiston-Queenston Bridge
Lewiston, NY, USA

** A small US dollar toll Fee must be paid on this route to the airport.  Ensure you have small US bills or US coins. **
** A bridge fee must be paid on this route back into Canada.  Both US and Canadian currencies are accepted. **

1: Start out going NORTHEAST on ROBERT MOSES STATE PKWY N toward ROBERT MOSES STATE PKWY S.  	1.4 miles  	
2: Take the RT-104 W / RT-18F N ramp. 	0.4 miles 	Map
3: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto NY-104 / NY-18F / CENTER ST / RIDGE RD / CR-907. Continue to follow NY-104 / NY-18F / CENTER ST / CR-907. 	0.1 miles 	
4: Turn LEFT to take the RT-104 W ramp toward I-190 W / CANADA / BUFFALO. 	0.2 miles 	
5: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto NY-104 / LEWISTON RD. 	0.7 miles 	
6: Turn LEFT onto MILITARY RD / NY-265. 	0.7 miles 	
7: Turn RIGHT onto UPPER MOUNTAIN RD / CR-11. 	0.2 miles 	
8: Merge onto I-190 S toward NIAG. FALLS / BUFFALO (Portions toll). 	14.2 miles 	
9: Merge onto I-290 E / YOUNGMANN EXPY via EXIT 16 toward I-90 / TONAWANDA / ROCHESTER. 	9.8 miles 	
10: Merge onto I-90 W / NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY W via EXIT 51-61 toward ERIE. 	1.5 miles 	
11: Merge onto NY-33 E via EXIT 51E toward AIRPORT. 	1.8 miles 	
12: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto GENESEE ST / NY-33. 	0.4 miles 	
13: End at Buffalo Niagara Intl. Airport (BUF):

Total Est. Time: 39 minutes     Total Est. Distance: 31.96 miles


Rainbow Bridge
Niagara Falls, NY, USA

** A small US dollar toll Fee must be paid on this route.  Ensure you have small US bills or US coins. **
** A bridge fee must be paid on this route back into Canada.  Both US and Canadian currencies are accepted. **

1: Start out going NORTHWEST on RAINBOW BRIDGE toward FALLS AVE (Portions toll) (Crossing into *CANADA* ONTARIO).  	0.2 miles  	
2: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto FALLS AVE. 	<0.1 miles 	
3: Turn RIGHT onto HIRAM ST. 	<0.1 miles 	
4: Turn RIGHT onto RIVER RD. 	0.3 miles 
5: Turn RIGHT onto CLIFTON HL. 	<0.1 miles 	
6: Turn RIGHT onto FALLS AVE. 	0.1 miles 
7: Turn RIGHT onto RAINBOW BRIDGE (Crossing into *UNITED STATES* NEW YORK). 	0.3 miles 	
8: RAINBOW BRIDGE becomes NIAGARA ST. 	0.7 miles
9: Turn RIGHT onto NY-384 S / JOHN B DALY BLVD. Continue to follow JOHN B DALY BLVD. 	0.4 miles 
10: Take the ROBERT MOSES PKY ramp. 	<0.1 miles 
11: Stay STRAIGHT to go onto ROBERT MOSES STATE PKWY S. 	3.0 miles 	
12: Merge onto I-190 S / NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY via the ramp on the LEFT (Portions toll). 	7.8 miles 
13: Merge onto I-290 E / YOUNGMANN EXPY via EXIT 16 toward I-90 / TONAWANDA / ROCHESTER. 	9.8 miles 
14: Merge onto I-90 W / NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY W via EXIT 51-61 toward ERIE. 	1.5 miles 	
15: Merge onto NY-33 E via EXIT 51E toward AIRPORT. 	1.8 miles 
16: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto GENESEE ST / NY-33. 	0.4 miles 
17: End at Buffalo Niagara Intl. Airport (BUF):

Total Est. Time: 36 minutes     Total Est. Distance: 26.93 miles


Fort Erie Public Bridge
716-881-9671
1 Peace Bridge Plz, 
Buffalo, NY 14213, US 

** A bridge fee must be paid on this route back into Canada.  Both US and Canadian currencies are accepted. **

1: Start out going SOUTH toward BAIRD DR.  	0.1 miles  	
2: Merge onto I-190 S / NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY toward DOWNTOWN BUFFALO / I-90 / NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY. 	6.6 miles 	
3: Merge onto I-90 E / NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY E via EXIT 1-52 on the LEFT toward BUFFALO AIRPORT / ALBANY. 	4.5 miles 	
4: Merge onto NY-33 E via EXIT 51E toward AIRPORT. 	1.6 miles 	
5: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto GENESEE ST / NY-33. 	0.4 miles 	
6: End at Buffalo Niagara Intl. Airport (BUF):

Total Est. Time: 17 minutes     Total Est. Distance: 13.50 miles



Buffalo Niagara International Airport
716-630-0000
4200 Genesee Street
Buffalo, New York.
14225, USA


Poster's Notes:  

1) We have used the Buffalo Airport on too many times to mention, and we could probably get there 'by memory', but I always ensure that I have road directions to refresh my memory.  There are no 'follow these signs to the airport' signs from the border, so print directions prior to leaving.  

2) If you're staying over in Niagara Falls, Ontario prior to departure, do *not* rely on the hotel's printed directions to the airport; both times we've done this they've been incorrect.


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## NikP

For those of us worried about traffic crossing the border, check out the Niagara Falls Bridge Commision website for updates:

http://www.niagarafallsbridges.com/index.php3

Also the NFBC traffic update line: 1-800-715-6722. We usually call this number when we are on the Q.E.W. around St Catherines to determine which bridge to take.


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## mollyseven

If you are coming from east of Toronto ...what would be the easiest route?
Are both the niagara and queenston bridges in Niagar falls?....
If we go to Fort Erie do we still head towards niagara falls or ?

Ahhhhhh
help?


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## OntFamily

mollyseven said:


> If you are coming from east of Toronto ...what would be the easiest route?
> Are both the niagara and queenston bridges in Niagar falls?....
> If we go to Fort Erie do we still head towards niagara falls or ?
> 
> Ahhhhhh
> help?



The easiest route to Buffalo airport is to cross @ Fort Erie.  90% of the time, Fort Erie also has the shortest lineup @ US/Canada Customs.


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## mtmbyck

I did the research and from Toronto - I would say Detroit is your best savings (obviously pending on when you travel). Detroit is a Hub for NWA and I looked today and you can still get direct flights to Orlando for March Break for $147.00 return!! I find direct flights difficult to find out of Buffalo.


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## petbren

mtmbyck said:


> I did the research and from Toronto - I would say Detroit is your best savings (obviously pending on when you travel). Detroit is a Hub for NWA and I looked today and you can still get direct flights to Orlando for March Break for $147.00 return!! I find direct flights difficult to find out of Buffalo.



You are defiantly right. We're flying March break through SWA, saved $750 by doing the extra 3 hour drive(as opposed to flying out of Buffalo), and close to $2200(for 4) rather than out of TO.
Never flew from Detroit though, if anyone has any tips.....please post them.
Thanks


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## wee-haggis

We have flown out of Buffalo numerous times. Love the small compact airport so much better than Pearson in Toronto.

You can fly direct on JetBlue, Southwest and Airtran for very reasonable costs and we have with excellent results.

I would reccomend Detroit only if you are west of London, Ontario or within an easy commute. For GTA travellers Buffalo is the way to go.


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## mtmbyck

Not sure I agree Wee-Haggis. I am in Newmarket and the trip to Buffalo airport would be close to 2.5 hours drive (not taking into consideration the wait at the bridge - since we'll be doing that in Sarnia anyways). so for an extra 1.5 hours drive, I am flying for MUCH cheaper (have you seen March flights for $167.00 return during daytime hours?) and I am flying direct - I hate stopovers in Chicago and New York!! 

Detroit Airport is easy to get around - well, as easy as Pearson. We've never had a problem. It's big, but you are flyng domestic so no issues at all! Actually, the NWA flight we've been on the last 2 years have been out of a new terminal that is lovely with a tram that takes you to the gates that are further down the hall. It's lovely. We go the night before and stay at an airport hotel (using airmiles points) and then do a park and fly with the car.

I've done a bit of examination oin the distance crossing in Sarnia vs Windsor and I believe Sarnia to be faster so we go that route.


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## wee-haggis

mtmbyck said:


> Not sure I agree Wee-Haggis. I am in Newmarket and the trip to Buffalo airport would be close to 2.5 hours drive (not taking into consideration the wait at the bridge - since we'll be doing that in Sarnia anyways). so for an extra 1.5 hours drive, I am flying for MUCH cheaper (have you seen March flights for $167.00 return during daytime hours?) and I am flying direct - I hate stopovers in Chicago and New York!!
> 
> Detroit Airport is easy to get around - well, as easy as Pearson. We've never had a problem. It's big, but you are flyng domestic so no issues at all! Actually, the NWA flight we've been on the last 2 years have been out of a new terminal that is lovely with a tram that takes you to the gates that are further down the hall. It's lovely. We go the night before and stay at an airport hotel (using airmiles points) and then do a park and fly with the car.
> 
> I've done a bit of examination oin the distance crossing in Sarnia vs Windsor and I believe Sarnia to be faster so we go that route.


I guess it depends the time of year you are going as well(March can be a wee bit pricey from BUF).However,last month we went via BUF and for 4 it was $730 incl taxes with SWA.We are booked for august and we are geting 4 tickets on Jetblue for $800 and change.For us its a 2hr 35 min trip to BUF and 4hr 45 min to Detroit.The Detroit drive would be just a bit too much (particularily in the winter).
I can't speak for Sarnia, but he Peace Bridge for us (the past 4 times) has been a breeze (you have to pick the right time).As previously mentioned BUF airport is a joy compared to that monstrosity called Pearson.


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## dancin Disney style

For those that travel from Detroit...I'd like to see some info pertaining to parking there.   Costs?...Safety?...Sleep/park/fly?

Last summer I almost booked 4 tickets from Detroit at around $425 but DH said he was not comfortable leaving the car there.


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## BitsnBearsMom

I can let you know after March about Detroit.
We are doing SPF at the Marriot Fairfield Detroit and it's costing us $109 for the thursday night before March break ($129 if you don't pay till you get there) and it includes 8 days parking.  
From what I've read/asked it is a secured lot that the car is being put into.
There are cheaper SPF options but my dh is picky as to where he will and won't stay!!


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## CJ

Just a quick note on the short term parking at Buffalo airport. It's very easy to find following their signs, and really cheap! I just picked up my daughter and her friend and it only cost me $3.26, and I was there a good 45 minutes!

Plus it is very easy to get into the airport from there! Love flying out of Buffalo!


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## Step

I haven't flown out of detroit or buffelo before but I plan to now that I live in London Ontario. We have a shuttle from here to the detroit airport that only costs around $100 return. Still an incredible savings compared to flying out of London or Toronto.


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## mickeymorse

dancin Disney style said:


> For those that travel from Detroit...I'd like to see some info pertaining to parking there.   Costs?...Safety?...Sleep/park/fly?
> 
> Last summer I almost booked 4 tickets from Detroit at around $425 but DH said he was not comfortable leaving the car there.



We have flown out of Detroit many times and have never had any issue with leaving the car. If you are flying from the LC Smith terminal, the big blue deck runs $10 per day. Not sure from the Macnamara terminal.

As for park/sleep/fly, we did this just this past Oct. for MNSSHP. Cost was $90 for the night at HoJo and 8 nights parking in a secured lot. Shuttle was easy to and from the airport. Only a couple minutes from the terminals.

Rob


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## MikeJ

We live in London and almost always fly out of DTW.  We usually fly Spirit (out of the older Smith terminal) departing for Orlando at 7:00am, so we do the SPF routine.  Last two times we've stayed at the HoJo.  Never again.  It is cheap, but you get what you pay for.  Rooms are dark, dirty, and often moldy in the wet areas.  The Marriott Fairfield is right next door and is a much cleaner hotel - that's where we'll stay next time.  Also the Marriott is immediately adjacent to Qwik Park for long-term parking.  We used Qwik Park for our last trip and the lot is large, well laid out, and the shuttle service was very good.

- Mike


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## mtmbyck

we leave our car for 2 weeks - this year we are staying at the Airport Crowne Plaza for $147 and this includes 8 nights parking and then we pay /day to park the additional days. The cars are parked in supervised lots - we leave ours for 2 weeks every year - no problems at all. I would not be concened about that.


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## DVCanuk

I live in the Windsor area and we fly from Detroit regularly. It's a relatively safe area. I say that, as a business traveller, most airport neighborhoods are not in subdivisions. Usual rules for safety apply. I am comfortable walking to and from restaurants and hotels in that area.

As far as car safety, most of the airport hotels have deals with the commercial park 'n fly lots. $20.00 over room rate gets you a 7 days in a guarded, fenced lit lot. A few still let you park in their lot, but last time I stayed pre-trip, I could not find one, so maybe it's hearsay.... Park 'n Fly works out well. Park your car, ride the shuttle to the airport, get dropped at the correct terminal check luggage, grab cocktail, start vaca... reverse when arriving. Extra days are paid per day. Not sure, but I think it was around $8.00 - $10.00.

Last time I stayed it was the Comfort Inn. Has a small restaurant and bar inside.  Nothin' fancy, but clean. We agreed we would stay there again. I think around $65 w/o parking, $85 w/ parking. I'll try to post a small map with hotels on it. Not sure how, but I'll try. These are not all the Hotels, just a few across from the Airport.


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## milmom6

I am trying to find the fares you all quoted from NWA.  We have reservations at OKW Mar 23-28 and I've tried a couple days before and after and the trips are much higher.  Can you all help?


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## candizfan

petbren said:


> You are defiantly right. We're flying March break through SWA, saved $750 by doing the extra 3 hour drive(as opposed to flying out of Buffalo), and close to $2200(for 4) rather than out of TO.
> Never flew from Detroit though, if anyone has any tips.....please post them.
> Thanks



If you are flying out on Saturday of March break, you would be wise to stay near the airport in Detroit the night before.  I live in Windsor and once school lets out on Friday, it will be a long wait to cross the bridge.  

We got a really good rate at the Crown Plaza near the airport that included 7 days of parking and the nights stay.  Then we can get the shuttle to the airport in the morning.  

I stayed at the Westin in 07 and we had to wait 40 minutes for bell services, so I figured I will not do that again.  I was very disappointed.

Let me know what time you think you will be passing through Windsor and I will give you whatever tips I can.


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## candizfan

dancin Disney style said:


> For those that travel from Detroit...I'd like to see some info pertaining to parking there.   Costs?...Safety?...Sleep/park/fly?
> 
> Last summer I almost booked 4 tickets from Detroit at around $425 but DH said he was not comfortable leaving the car there.



There are different types of lots.  Blue lots are the cheapest.  I fly out of Detroit all the time both for personal and business.

You can park at the old Smith terminal the cheapest - $7 or $8 per day and they will shuttle you to either terminal.  Allow at least 20 minutes to get around.

You can park at the Northwest terminal but I think it is $13 a day.

You can also park offsite and they will shuttle you in for a bit more than the blue lots.

The lots are very safe and I have come home at 1am alone and had no worries since they drop you off right at your car.  They do a drive around until you locate your car.

WRITE DOWN YOUR LOT AND AREA!!!!!  I write it on the parking stub since you have to keep that and I keep it in the same pocket as my car keys.


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## candizfan

milmom6 said:


> I am trying to find the fares you all quoted from NWA.  We have reservations at OKW Mar 23-28 and I've tried a couple days before and after and the trips are much higher.  Can you all help?



You booked at a very busy time of the year for air travel and since the trip is coming up, the rates are much higher.  Check Spirit.com since they often have deals come up.  NWA - at this late date might be really hard to get.

Good luck


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## BitsnBearsMom

So how busy do you think it will be crossing over to Detroit on the Thursday night before March break??  March 6th.  We aren't leaving Guelph until 4:30pm or so.  And how bad will the airport be on the Friday - our flight leaves for San Juan at about noon-ish.
All the schools in our area have a PD day on the Friday so we chose to fly out on the Friday and leave from here the Thursday after work.  I'm hoping that not alot of the people from our end will want to drive the 4 hrs to DTW and will fly from BUF instead.
We already have the fairfield booked at $109 for the one night including 8 nights parking.


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## candizfan

You should be good crossing on Thursday night.  It might take you 45 minutes to get across the bridge, but that can be pretty normal. 

There is an AppleBee's at Windsor Crossings mall on Highway 3 (401 turns into Hwy 3) on the left side of the road.  It is right on your way if you need to eat.

Guelph is only about 3 -3.5 hours from Windsor.  The airport will be busy but not crazy on Friday about noon. 

Since Windsor schools do not have a PA day on Friday, only the kids and parents that have taken the day off will be travelling at the same time you are.


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## BitsnBearsMom

Good to know... thanks!!


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## adkkev

FWIW ...

We have only flown through Detroit as a connector on NWA ... but so far NWA has lost our luggage once, damaged our luggage another time, gave us a horrendous time when we missed our connection (to Anchorage) because of mechanical problems on the flight we flew into Detroit (which involved circling Detroit, dumping fuel, and preparing for a crash landing ... was NWA in the least bit sympathetic and helpful?  not a chance!!), and are seldom, if ever, on time.  

We try to avoid NWA as much as we can ... unfortunately there are few alternatives out of our home airport when we are travelling to visit our son in Alaska.


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## mtmbyck

WOW< sounds like you've have had a rough time on NWA. Quite the contrast, we have flown with them the last 3 years with absolutely no issues at all - and last year they overboked the flight and had to separate my husband from my two DD's and myself, and they gave us $300 of flying credit for our trouble - without batting an eye!

Sorry you have had such bad experiences.


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## Debbie

mtmbyck, I know a few people that fly NWA almost exclusively, and their experience has been positive, too.

Now.  *Detroit Hotels with an airport shuttle included, breakfast-early-preferred.  Which have you used?  Which would you recommend?  Which would you definitely stay away from?* 

Thanks for ALL your input.


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## KNovacovschi

I have only been on an airplane once in my life and that was going to WDW. I have to say that I enjoyed the Buffalo Airport. The cost to fly to Orlando was 1/2 the price then what I would have paid if I had flown out of Toronto. I live in Hamilton and got lucky that it only took us about 11/2 hours to get there....we also left at like 6am. We parked our car at the airport for the week as well and the price was good. It only cost us $55US in the long term parking at the airport. My husband has flown many times and he has said that was the cheapest. So even though I am a novice traveler my suggestion would definitely be to fly out of Buffalo. We flew with Airtran and I thought is was a great experience!!! Even though I don't have anything to compare it to.


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## busterblue

I have never flown out of Buffalo but we are flying Southwest from there to Orlando February 1'st. Direct flight and it was 1400 dollars Canadian cheaper than the Air Canada or West Jet flights out of Toronto. That pays for seven day passes for all four of us and the rental car.

You must drive very carefully as I live in Mississauga and have made it to the Buffalo arena in an hour and a half !

I will go on the airport web site but do you recall the amenities and pricing at the Buffalo airport once you clear security? We are planing on getting there about 2 hours before departure and have a 5 & 7 year old to feed and entertain.  I assume they have newstands and fast food restaraunts when you are past security right? 

Any suggestions about flying out of Buffalo will be greatly appreciated.


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## Momto4boys

I just booked flights for Disney in November out of Detroit. I will be driving from Kitchener (flights were cheaper than Buffalo AND got a direct there) Any suggestions on parking, safety, ease of getting through the airport?


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## CanadianGuy

Yes.. I merged your post into this sticky thread filled with LOTS of great info.

Knox


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## Momto4boys

Ah I posted a thread then found this. Glad for all the info! Was worried about crossing the border then flying out but it seems to not be any more hassle than just crossing the border to shop.I just hope I don't get lost and get to my flight on time! 

Oh and the NWA stuff scares me! That's who we are booked through


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## candizfan

I have flown on a lot of different air lines and they all have good and bad stories.

Just remember that no matter what happens, be pleasant to the people at the desk.  Getting angry will get you no where FAST! 

Good luck.


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## TreesyB

Does anyone have a hotel map for BUF like the one for Detroit on the previous page?  I always forget which hotel is across the street from the airport!


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## jtdl

Debbie said:


> Now.  *Detroit Hotels with an airport shuttle included, breakfast-early-preferred.  Which have you used?  Which would you recommend?  Which would you definitely stay away from?*
> 
> Thanks for ALL your input.



We just flew out of Detroit a couple weeks ago - NWA with no problems at all - we were actually 20 minutes early arriving back to Detroit.

We stayed at the Ramada. It was adequate - clean, comfortable.  Of course it was a bit worn, but I think that is to expected of any hotel that is basically just overnight guests - in and out to catch a plane. They offer free breakfast which includes hot items - eggs, sausage, waffles, as well as the usual pastries, cereal and bagels.  We let the front desk know what time we wanted the shuttle and it was there on time - loaded and unloaded our bags.  You park directly across the street at the Airlines Parking, which is a very efficient place!  

The Ramada had no parking vouchers when we checked in so I had to call their shuttle to pick us up at the airport (it was there already), take us back to the Ramada, unload our bags, drag them inside, get the voucher and then call the parking shuttle to come and get us!  It was kind of a pain and wasted probably about 30 minutes of our time (could've been halfway home by then!) since we had to drive around to another terminal to pick up others and then do a drop at the Baymont.  Next time I book there I will specify when I make the ressie to be sure they have a voucher for me when I get there.......or else    LOL


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## A&CsMom

I haven't flown for over 10 years and we are flying out of Buffalo for the first time in a week.  We will cross at Fort Erie, as that seems to be the best, easiest route from the Hamilton area.

I have been reading about the Skycap and was wondering if they have that at the Buffalo airport?  If they do, can anyone tell me where it is and how exactly to use it?  We will already have our Southwest boarding passes which I will print out at work on Friday.

Also, any other tips or information, such as what types of food services there are to grab some lunch would be appreciate.  DD and I have several food allergies so that can be difficult for us.

TIA


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## wee-haggis

A&CsMom said:


> I haven't flown for over 10 years and we are flying out of Buffalo for the first time in a week.  We will cross at Fort Erie, as that seems to be the best, easiest route from the Hamilton area.
> 
> I have been reading about the Skycap and was wondering if they have that at the Buffalo airport?  If they do, can anyone tell me where it is and how exactly to use it?  We will already have our Southwest boarding passes which I will print out at work on Friday.
> 
> Also, any other tips or information, such as what types of food services there are to grab some lunch would be appreciate.  DD and I have several food allergies so that can be difficult for us.
> 
> TIA


The Skycap is available at Buffalo Airport,but to be honest the SWA desk is 
about 20ft inside the front door and its a breeze checking in (if you already have your boarding passes printed off, you just approach the SWA desk and use one of the several touch screen monitors to weigh and check your luggage).Then in a few short minutes you are off to the Security checkpoint to go through to the departure lounge.
The food areas (at least some of them) ,are just outside Security although there are a few when you get through Security as well.
Here is a list of the food services available.

Monarch Newsstand & Gift Shop
Located: Upper Level, just inside Security
Hours: Sunday - Friday 5 AM - 7:30 PM, Saturday 5:30 AM - 7:30 PM
Phone: (716) 565-9333

The Monarch Newsstand & Gift Shop has a large, varied selection of hard to find items. Call ahead for gift wrap. Merchandise shipped worldwide. Business services and currency exchange available.

AllStars Bar
Located: Upper Level, just inside Security
Hours: 10 AM - 7 PM

Features a full bar, satellite TVs, and food menu featuring Niagara Grill items. Located in the upper terminal, just inside Security.

Burger King
Located: Gateway before Security 
Hours: 5:30 AM - 8:30 PM, Monday through Friday, and 6 AM - 8 PM, Saturday and Sunday.

DNC Travel Hospitality Services
Food and Hospitality Service Operator (click here for more information) 

The Coffee Beanery
Located: Across from the gift shop. 
Offering a fine selection of regular and speciality coffees, lattes, cappuccinos, muffins, pastries and other refreshments. It also carriers Vito's Gourmet Deli sandwiches and salads.

Freshens
Located: Gate 4
Hours: 5 AM - 7:30 PM, Monday through Friday, and 6:00 AM - 7:30 PM, Saturday and Sunday.

Serving frozen yogurt, fresh fruit, pastries and coffee. 

Jake's Bistro & News
Located: Near Gate 21
Hours: 5 AM - 8 PM

Salads, wraps, beverages, magazines, books. Eat in or to go.

Landmark Bar and Carvery
Located: Near Gate 9 
Hours: 5 AM - 10:15 PM 

Frank Lloyd Wright architecture with a full bar, table side service and freshly carved sandwiches daily - roast beef, smoked ham and turkey breast. Freshly baked breakfast pastries and gourmet coffee are served daily starting at 5:00 am.

Matties Texas Red Hots
Located: Near Gate 21 and Gate 4 
Hours: 8 AM - 7 PM

A local favorite serving a variety of smoked sausages with all of your favorite toppings.

Niagara Grill
Located: Gateway before Security
Hours: 5 AM - 10 PM

Freshly baked breakfast pastries and hot off the grill sandwich and salad specialties offer a taste of local favorites. Beer available.

Vending
Coffee, snack and soda machines are located on the lower level in the baggage claim area.

Wings to Go
Located: Pick up in the Landmark Bar 
Freshly carved sandwiches, chicken wings made to order, packed to fly or


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## Pugmom25

I live in London and fly out of Detroit almost exclusively.  Most recently we flew to Ft. Lauderdale with Air Tran and I would recommend them as an airline.  If you book early they have some really cheap flights.  We're going to WDW in October and got non-stop round trip flights for $175 which I thought was pretty good.  We always park at Airlines Parking (the yellow buses).  
I've left my car there many times and have never had any problem.  On our most recent trip we parked there for the entire week for $54 with CAA discount.  You have to show them your card when you leave but that saved us $8.00.  

We've also stayed at the Airport Sheraton which was very clean and recently updated.  It also has a pool which would be good to burn some energy off the kids who will be really excited.  They have a park n' fly option but we've never used it.  Here's the link for pricing:

Hope that helps!

Christine


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## NikP

TreesyB said:


> Does anyone have a hotel map for BUF like the one for Detroit on the previous page?  I always forget which hotel is across the street from the airport!



This is the link to the Buffalo Airport site that shows a map of local hotels.

http://www.buffaloairport.com/misc/accommodations.asp


----------



## maggieb9975

Step said:


> I haven't flown out of detroit or buffelo before but I plan to now that I live in London Ontario. We have a shuttle from here to the detroit airport that only costs around $100 return. Still an incredible savings compared to flying out of London or Toronto.




Hi there, I am so happy for your post! I live in Wingham and after reading your post checked out shuttle service and am so happy!! I can drive to London which I don't mind doing, leave my car FOR FREE at the Ramada Inn in London , without staying there, and Robert Q airbus will take me to Detroit airport!

My DD and I are going to WDW in October. I have enough Airmiles to get one seat and was so excited about that, figuring I was saving a bundle,,, BUT when I called I found out you have to pay the taxes! So, for me and my daughter to fly out of Toronto with a connecting flight throuigh Montreal, it was still going to cost $859.00  

I wasn't too sure about traveling to Detroit by myself but now with this shuttle service I am all set......now I have to start checking for prices from Detroit...

Thanks to everyone who has posted here, it has been very helpful


----------



## fatty4iz

Are the parking lots fairly safe at the airport to leave your car for extended periods of time? Thefts, damage etc.


----------



## candizfan

maggieb9975 said:


> Hi there, I am so happy for your post! I live in Wingham and after reading your post checked out shuttle service and am so happy!! I can drive to London which I don't mind doing, leave my car FOR FREE at the Ramada Inn in London , without staying there, and Robert Q airbus will take me to Detroit airport!
> 
> My DD and I are going to WDW in October. I have enough Airmiles to get one seat and was so excited about that, figuring I was saving a bundle,,, BUT when I called I found out you have to pay the taxes! So, for me and my daughter to fly out of Toronto with a connecting flight throuigh Montreal, it was still going to cost $859.00
> 
> I wasn't too sure about traveling to Detroit by myself but now with this shuttle service I am all set......now I have to start checking for prices from Detroit...
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has posted here, it has been very helpful



Check out the cost of picking up the Rober Q in Windsor.  You can drive to the Holiday Inn and pick up the shuttle there.  It cost $25 per person each way the last time we took it.


----------



## CdnTink

We fly out of Detroit and find it to be safe, it is in a suburb of Detroit, not in a risky area.  We also take the tunnel, we find it to be less of a wait than the bridge.  I wouldn't leave anything of value in your vehicle, but I think that's true of any area.

We have stayed in a hotel and saved the parking.  We are planning on staying in the lot on our next trip.  Will let you know how it goes.


----------



## Bubbie

The blue lot at Metro is where I always park. $10.00 a day and they shuttle you to your terminal. We leave on Thursday!


----------



## yensidtlaw

Not sure if every is aware but Southwest will be releasing fares throught o October 30th on April 17th. We usually fly Northwest out of Detroit but figure we'll try Southwest out of Buffalo this year if prices are comparable as it's closer to home (Cambridge).


----------



## DearDaisyinDurham

yensidtlaw said:


> Not sure if every is aware but Southwest will be releasing fares throught o October 30th on April 17th. We usually fly Northwest out of Detroit but figure we'll try Southwest out of Buffalo this year if prices are comparable as it's closer to home (Cambridge).



Thanks for the terrific info!! It's great to have options and I always find options on the Dis boards!


----------



## BitsnBearsMom

We are at the fairfield in Detroit as I type - very very nice hotel.  Clean, good service and the free brekie was your standard  fare - muffins, donuts, toast, breakfast sandwiches, fruit, yogurt - everything was fresh and pretty good.
There is some noise from the planes but it didn't keep me up at all last night.

Parking is right beside the hotel at the quick park - we have 8 days included and will have to pay for the other 2 days.  If you are heading to the airport before 9am you have to pre-book the shuttle otherwise it comes about every 30 mins - we're catching it at 11am so we have time at the airport to have lunch before our 1:45 flight to San Juan.

I'd stay here again.

Any questions feel free to ask - I probably won't be online again though until after the March break.


----------



## CDNmouse

Local Windsor radio station reporting about 1.15 hour wait to cross into US at the tunnel. No time frame given to cross at the bridge but traffic is backed up on Huron Church road.

Grab a coffee before entering the parking lots.

Gary


----------



## Cdnmommy

This is great!  Thanks for all of the tips!


----------



## KNovacovschi

fatty4iz said:


> Are the parking lots fairly safe at the airport to leave your car for extended periods of time? Thefts, damage etc.



We flew out of Buffalo and left our vehicle in the preferred long term parking for the week and when we returned it was just the way we left it...coffee cup and all...DH forgot to take it out when we arrived...


----------



## BitsnBearsMom

Just got home last night and our car was safe and sound in one piece at the quick park in Detroit.  Even my St paddy's day Mickey antenna topper was still there!


----------



## realfam

We just booked flights out of Buffalo for our August DVC trip.  We paid $660 for the 3 of us with AirTran.  I thought that was an awesome deal...
Westjet want $1760 return.. That's a big difference!


----------



## BKMETV

BitsnBearsMom said:


> We are at the fairfield in Detroit as I type - very very nice hotel.  Clean, good service and the free brekie was your standard  fare - muffins, donuts, toast, breakfast sandwiches, fruit, yogurt - everything was fresh and pretty good.
> There is some noise from the planes but it didn't keep me up at all last night.
> 
> Parking is right beside the hotel at the quick park - we have 8 days included and will have to pay for the other 2 days.  If you are heading to the airport before 9am you have to pre-book the shuttle otherwise it comes about every 30 mins - we're catching it at 11am so we have time at the airport to have lunch before our 1:45 flight to San Juan.
> 
> I'd stay here again.
> 
> Any questions feel free to ask - I probably won't be online again though until after the March break.



By Fairfield do you mean the Marriot Fairfield?  I'm looking for a good place to stay with 2 kids and need to leave the car for 8 nights so this sounds ideal.

Thanks


----------



## petbren

BKMETV said:


> By Fairfield do you mean the Marriot Fairfield?  I'm looking for a good place to stay with 2 kids and need to leave the car for 8 nights so this sounds ideal.
> 
> Thanks



I'm sure that is what they meant.We stayed there too just before March break.
It was a great hotel, so close to the airport and parking.
The hotel was only opened in June/07, so nice and new.
We had a room that had a pull out couch in one area, with a flat screen tv and lot of channels, and a queen bed in a semi-private area with another reg. tv. There was a small fridge, microwave and coffeemaker.
There were 4 computers to use to check-in at your airline, good for us flying SWA.  There is a nice small indoor pool and whirlpool, and a nice workout room.
The only complaint was they were not prepared for all us Canadians leaving at March break with only one person at the desk,and a hotel with no vacancy.  The lady servicing the cont. breaky was running out of food just before 10am.
We booked on line and got the room for $99+tax, with 8 days of parking.
I would stay there again in an instant.


----------



## BKMETV

Petbren:

Thanks for the info.  I've been looking at both the Marriot and the Embassy Suites.  Its nice to hear from someone that's been there.  We live about 4 hours north of Detroit so will be travelling down the day before so are looking for a hotel with pool & bkft.  (a definite must with kids)


----------



## MikeJ

I haven't seen this site mentioned anywhere in the thread, but check out the reviews of DTW-area hotels at TripAdvisor.  Pretty much echoes what we've been seeing from the first-hand reports...

- Mike


----------



## MrMarv

Fairfield Inn By Marriott is their 'budget' level hotel , although you'd never know it; every one that I've ever stayed in has always been flat-out spotless.

I *heartily*  recommend looking for one anytime you're on vacation or a business trip.


----------



## Step

My TA is recommending The Comfort Inn Suites for the night we stay in Detroit. Anyone stay there before?


----------



## chumsmum0916

Hi all, we are heading to Pop in Sept (14-20th) and are flying out of Buffalo.  For four of us it is costing $748 taxes included, not so sure I like our fly times but about the best deal we found without having a lay-over. We fly out of Buffalo at 3pm on the 14th and 8:30am from Orlando on the 20th.


----------



## froglover2

Has anyone stayed at Days near the Buffalo airport?
We have booked it for August 24th I think $140 ish.
Thank you


----------



## caresy

Hey everyone - I just flew out of Detroit and back and wanted to give everyone a heads up that there is major construction in Detroit right at the Ambassador Bridge and detours are set up to get to the Interstate and to the Bridge.  It is especially a headache when returning to Canada.

If at all possible go through Sarnia instead.  Mapquest directions says it takes 2 minutes longer to drive down the 402 and go through Sarnia instead of through Windsor from my place (near Brantford) to DTW - it seems a lot longer on the map though - and you will avoid the construction which held me up for about 40 mins just getting to the Bridge once I got off the highway.

As well there is construction on the 401 East and West bound in Windsor for 7 kms.  This didn't slow me down as I was driving mid afternoon, but at rush hour it could be a real pain.  (Sorry if this info has been posted before).

c.


----------



## mommylo

Can someone please clarify the direction to Buffalo Airport via Fort Erie?  The direction posted at the beginning of this sticky indicated 190 south after passing the bridge.  On the Buffalo Airport website, it says 190 north.  Which one is correct?  We are going to drive that route in July.   Queenston Lewiston was just a bit too crowded when we did it last time.  Also, is the Peace Bridge route straight forward?  Any tip? Thanks in advance.


----------



## Ham Ham

mommylo said:


> Can someone please clarify the direction to Buffalo Airport via Fort Erie?  The direction posted at the beginning of this sticky indicated 190 south after passing the bridge.  On the Buffalo Airport website, it says 190 north.  Which one is correct?  We are going to drive that route in July.   Queenston Lewiston was just a bit too crowded when we did it last time.  Also, is the Peace Bridge route straight forward?  Any tip? Thanks in advance.



You can go either way.

I-190 South to I-90 East to 33 east
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=...78.813885&sspn=0.134287,0.317574&ie=UTF8&z=12

I-190 North to 198 to 33
This is my preferred route
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=...78.791885&sspn=0.134314,0.317574&ie=UTF8&z=12

I-190 South, exit at Elm and follow Elm to the 33
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=...78.791885&sspn=0.134314,0.317574&ie=UTF8&z=12


----------



## mommylo

Thanks for the google link.  I am a much better visual person.  Now I get it!!


----------



## Minnie & Me

We need parking for 16 days at DTW this summer.  Which park and fly hotel offers the best deals? Most hotels seems to include 7 or 8 days of parking.


----------



## chumsmum0916

Check to see if you stay one night when you come back if they will count that for an extra week of parking.  My parents do that when they take their winter holiday, they say it is cheaper than paying for a extra week of parking or works out just about the same usually.


----------



## Disneydaddycanada

Hello,

I know this is a thread for buffalo or detroit but I thought I would share what we are planning.

We live in the east end of Toronto. We will be driving down to Pennsylvania Grove City (prime Outlet) staying there for 2 nights, hotel is free on airmiles   (The wife can do some shopping) . Then driving to Pittsburgh airport  (1hr away), direct flight to Orlando for 3 plus a 1 yr old in lap was $577 return.  
Compare that to $2077  westjet out of Toronto.  

This makes for a happy wife  as she can buy cloths for the kids for school in the fall as there is no tax on cloths.

Driving time is 4 1/2 hr to Grove city with another hour to Pittsburgh. To save $1500.00 

Just my 2 cents!!


----------



## BKMETV

Disneydaddycanada said:


> Hello,
> 
> I know this is a thread for buffalo or detroit but I thought I would share what we are planning.
> 
> We live in the east end of Toronto. We will be driving down to Pennsylvania Grove City (prime Outlet) staying there for 2 nights, hotel is free on airmiles   (The wife can do some shopping) . Then driving to Pittsburgh airport  (1hr away), direct flight to Orlando for 3 plus a 1 yr old in lap was $577 return.
> Compare that to $2077  westjet out of Toronto.
> 
> This makes for a happy wife  as she can buy cloths for the kids for school in the fall as there is no tax on cloths.
> 
> Driving time is 4 1/2 hr to Grove city with another hour to Pittsburgh. To save $1500.00
> 
> Just my 2 cents!!



I love your idea...unfortunately unlike you, my DH would never agree to let me loose in a warehouse mall.


----------



## Disneydaddycanada

BKMETV said:


> I love your idea...unfortunately unlike you, my DH would never agree to let me loose in a warehouse mall.



It is either do it before we go down to disney or we end up at downtown disney for a whole day or even worse renting a car and going to the outlets in Florida!! Last Christmas we ended up renting the car getting up at 7am and not getting back to the hotel till 11pm. The kids were freaking out as was I I can take the kids swimming at the hotel in grove City while my wife shops. She is pretty good at the budget thing so I don't have any worries


----------



## maryrego

Just another Trip 
Air Tran also has cheap flights out of Rochester NY 
2.5 Hr drive from Toronto

For Me DH and DD we paid $500 taxes Inc
Its $45-50 to park for the week
Usually we drive but for that price we are flying


----------



## DISDANCEMOM

froglover2 said:


> Has anyone stayed at Days near the Buffalo airport?
> We have booked it for August 24th I think $140 ish.
> Thank you



I've never stayed there but I am booked for the 8th of Aug (returning the 19th)  We got our room for $99 including 2 weeks parking.  The only thing is that we must check in after 10pm.  This works for us b/c we want to leave Whitby around 8 o'clock when the kids normally go to sleep that way hopefully they will fall asleep in the car and not wake up till the next morning!  I couldn't find this price for reserv. on-line but I called the hotel directly and booked it.


----------



## froglover2

Our TA booked it I may have to call my self??


----------



## mollyseven

I continue to be amazed at the prices and the simplicity of flying out of buffalo. After our march break trip I swore I would never go from Toronto again. We just last Sunday booked our christmas flights to orlando. We are going december 22nd and they actually had 99.00 seats.!! Less than 1000.00 for the 4 of us !!! and wayyyy less stress and time than going from Toronto. Oh and toronto was 3200.00 and even Jet blue was 1640.00 so this was greeeaat.

Easy fast and cheap.


----------



## senator@cogeco.ca

southwest airlines fly out on wednesdays internet get away rate as low as $85.00 including all taxes each way and they have some direct flights what a fantastic airline would never go any other way


----------



## senator@cogeco.ca

go to there website trying flying wed just returned left wed at 6 pm in  orlando by 830 total cost $82.00 included everything


----------



## caresy

Can anyone tell me of a clean and decently priced hotel near DTW that has the park and fly program?  I am having trouble finding one where the reviews on tripadvisor don't say it's a rathole, or the price isn't astronomical.   

Thanks so much!!

C.


----------



## MikeJ

We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott earlier this month and we would definitely stay there again.  We paid $99/night, although I see the P&F rate is now up to $109.  That includes up to 8 days parking at Qwik Park which is literally next door.  The Fairfield is rated #1 on the TripAdvisor web site for Romulus-area hotels.

Hotel is very clean (anything would be, compared to the HoJo just up the street where we stayed last time) and breakfast starts at 5:30 just off the lobby.  The pool looked OK (but small) but we didn't make use of it.  The rooms was very nice with a brand-new plasma TV and free high-speed Internet access.

- Mike




caresy said:


> Can anyone tell me of a clean and decently priced hotel near DTW that has the park and fly program?  I am having trouble finding one where the reviews on tripadvisor don't say it's a rathole, or the price isn't astronomical.
> 
> Thanks so much!!
> 
> C.


----------



## petbren

caresy said:


> Can anyone tell me of a clean and decently priced hotel near DTW that has the park and fly program?  I am having trouble finding one where the reviews on tripadvisor don't say it's a rathole, or the price isn't astronomical.
> 
> Thanks so much!!
> 
> C.



Gotta agree with Mike 
We stayed there before trip at March break this year.
We were told the hotel had not yet been open a year, I guess that's why everything was still in such nice shape.Also, probably why they weren't prepared for the Canadian March break exodus though, as they did not seem to know why the whole hotel had been booked up Friday and Sat. night 
The kids were in the pool, it was nice, nice work out area next to it.
There are computers in the lobby that you can use to check into your airline, and print boarding passes(great when using SWA).
Breakfast was great.  We didn't leave 'till 2pm, so asked for late check out-no problem.
Pickup at the airport on the way back was very good.
Would stay there again, anytime.


----------



## caresy

Thanks for the info on Fairfield MikeJ and Petbren!  That was the hotel I was leaning towards.

Can either of you tell me how often the shuttle runs to the airport?


----------



## petbren

caresy said:


> Thanks for the info on Fairfield MikeJ and Petbren!  That was the hotel I was leaning towards.
> 
> Can either of you tell me how often the shuttle runs to the airport?



We just drove our van over, literately, across the parking lot.  The attendant asks where you are going, and tells you where to park, and the little bus just came over and picked us up and drove us to the airport, no wait time at all.


----------



## roscoepc1

My husband is a professional truck driver, and for them, it's a well known fact that Sarnia is quicker and easier (plus, more reasonable guards) than Windsor. Professional drivers try to avoid Windsor whenever possible.


----------



## roscoepc1

maggieb9975 said:


> Hi there, I am so happy for your post! I live in Wingham and after reading your post checked out shuttle service and am so happy!! I can drive to London which I don't mind doing, leave my car FOR FREE at the Ramada Inn in London , without staying there, and Robert Q airbus will take me to Detroit airport!
> 
> My DD and I are going to WDW in October. I have enough Airmiles to get one seat and was so excited about that, figuring I was saving a bundle,,, BUT when I called I found out you have to pay the taxes! So, for me and my daughter to fly out of Toronto with a connecting flight throuigh Montreal, it was still going to cost $859.00
> 
> I wasn't too sure about traveling to Detroit by myself but now with this shuttle service I am all set......now I have to start checking for prices from Detroit...
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has posted here, it has been very helpful



My hubby is a Wingham boy...well, Whitechurch, lol. We live in Ripley now! What a small world after all!


----------



## 4everluvDisney

mollyseven said:


> I continue to be amazed at the prices and the simplicity of flying out of buffalo. After our march break trip I swore I would never go from Toronto again. We just last Sunday booked our christmas flights to orlando. We are going december 22nd and they actually had 99.00 seats.!! Less than 1000.00 for the 4 of us !!! and wayyyy less stress and time than going from Toronto. Oh and toronto was 3200.00 and even Jet blue was 1640.00 so this was greeeaat.
> 
> Easy fast and cheap.



Who did you book with? Southwest just came out with their rates today for Christmas and New Year's and they were alot more than that.  It was going to be just over $1100 for my DH and myself (we have got 4 flights out of Buffalo to Orlando the end of September for $800 return). We always fly out of Buffalo (we love that airport) but unless rates come down somewhat I will be cancelling our first DVC vacation.


----------



## jmann

MikeJ said:


> We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott earlier this month and we would definitely stay there again.  We paid $99/night, although I see the P&F rate is now up to $109.  That includes up to 8 days parking at Qwik Park which is literally next door.  The Fairfield is rated #1 on the TripAdvisor web site for Romulus-area hotels.
> 
> Hotel is very clean (anything would be, compared to the HoJo just up the street where we stayed last time) and breakfast starts at 5:30 just off the lobby.  The pool looked OK (but small) but we didn't make use of it.  The rooms was very nice with a brand-new plasma TV and free high-speed Internet access.
> 
> - Mike


That's good to know. We are staying there in September. We stayed at the La Quinta last time which is on the other side of the driveway (The Fairfield was not finished yet). I had no complaints staying there however our travel agent booked us into the Fairfield saying she had had some complaints about the La Quinta.


----------



## disneyfan2

4everluvDisney said:


> Who did you book with? Southwest just came out with their rates today for Christmas and New Year's and they were alot more than that.



i wonder too,  i did not see any cheaper rates for SW in Dec.  We need flights too but if we cant get decent rates, we will be canceling our Dec trip


----------



## roscoepc1

Try looking through Orbitz....they had the best price (by over $1K) when I looked (and booked! ).

Another site with good prices was http://www.bookpackrelax.com/

The agent listed is a personal friend of mine...hth!


----------



## 3 Mouseketeers

Just wondering if anyone flew out of BUF using Airtran before? Reason I ask, is that we usually fly out of Buffalo using Southwest but we are getting a better price with Airtran, which we have never used. The flight is direct to and from Orlando, but I have been reading elsewhere on these boards about Airtran changing flight times and turning direct flights into connecting ones, just nothing posted about Buffalo flights.
Has anyone experienced any of these issues?


----------



## momto1disneyfan

We are flying Airtran this August, however we got a better rate flying out of Detroit over Buffalo.  We booked out flights back in May for both Non-Stop flights and they have not changed.  We flew out of Buffalo two years ago with US airways both were originally non-stop but one month before we left they were both changed to have stop-overs.  With that being said.  I am not saying I persoanally would recommend flying with airtran at all.  I am quite nervous if they will still be in business in August.  There is quite a few threads going on in the transportation board with people speculating that they will either file for bankruptcy or be delisted on the stock market.


----------



## momandseandodisney

we got air tran for $646 USD going Sept 11th til the 23rd
westjet was $2,745 CDN  for the same 4 of us, on the same day WOWWIE


----------



## mommylo

We are trying Southwest for my upcoming trip.  I booked Jetblue for our Christmas trip because of their seat selection.  We shall see...


----------



## realfam

We got a direct flight from Buffalo to MCO for $99 in Dec.   We just need to find our return flights now...


----------



## riu girl

Courtyard Marriott Buffalo
4100 Sheridan Drive
Buffalo, NY 14221

Has anyone ever stayed here?  I just booked park and fly rate for $116 plus tax including 3 weeks of parking, room, shuttle transfers but NO breakfast.

It is a little further from the airport but the best rate I could find that includes 3 weeks parking.

Any opinions would be appreciated.


----------



## Jen M

I haven't stayed at the Courtyard in Buffalo but I can tell you that when I fly out of Detroit I stay at the Fairfield by Marrott. The Courtyard is suppose to be better and I really liked the Fairfield. Anytime I travel in the US now I try and stay at a Marriott.  I hope this helps. 

They also have really good park and Fly rates in Detroit and the hotel is 1 mile away from the airport.


----------



## MomtoEmIs&Ow

riu girl said:


> Courtyard Marriott Buffalo
> 4100 Sheridan Drive
> Buffalo, NY 14221
> 
> Has anyone ever stayed here?  I just booked park and fly rate for $116 plus tax including 3 weeks of parking, room, shuttle transfers but NO breakfast.
> 
> It is a little further from the airport but the best rate I could find that includes 3 weeks parking.
> 
> Any opinions would be appreciated.



You'll have to let me know if this hotel was good.  We are looking at booking a Buffalo hotel for September....  Thanks   Oh and where did you find this rate????


----------



## riu girl

The rate is a CAA rate direct from the hotel.


----------



## MomtoEmIs&Ow

riu girl said:


> The rate is a CAA rate direct from the hotel.



I can't seem to find that rate on-line, maybe I will have call....  Thanks!


----------



## mkmommy

I stayed there last Dec before a flight and it was nice, I think it is a not all that old. With 3 weeks parking that is a good deal, and I think it was only about 5 minutes to get to the airport.




riu girl said:


> Courtyard Marriott Buffalo
> 4100 Sheridan Drive
> Buffalo, NY 14221
> 
> Has anyone ever stayed here?  I just booked park and fly rate for $116 plus tax including 3 weeks of parking, room, shuttle transfers but NO breakfast.
> 
> It is a little further from the airport but the best rate I could find that includes 3 weeks parking.
> 
> Any opinions would be appreciated.


----------



## riu girl

Thanks for the info.  I really appreciate it.


----------



## WDWcanuck

riu girl said:


> Courtyard Marriott Buffalo
> 4100 Sheridan Drive
> Buffalo, NY 14221
> 
> Has anyone ever stayed here?  I just booked park and fly rate for $116 plus tax including 3 weeks of parking, room, shuttle transfers but NO breakfast.
> 
> It is a little further from the airport but the best rate I could find that includes 3 weeks parking.
> 
> Any opinions would be appreciated.



That's a great rate that you got, especially since parking is about $40 a week at the airport. Our family have stayed there before, and it's a great hotel to overnight at.


----------



## WDWcanuck

realfam said:


> We got a direct flight from Buffalo to MCO for $99 in Dec.   We just need to find our return flights now...



Who is this flight with? 

Right now, looks like it's going to be at least $380-$400 return in December. However, that's during the holiday season.


----------



## Ham Ham

Here's a link to a discount code for parking at the Buffalo airport.
http://www.buffaloairport.com/pdfs/BNIA_Parking_Coupon.pdf


----------



## lisabrown

I booked direct flights from Rochester NY to Orlando for $140.00 per person - return on Airtran.  We normally fly Jetblue from Syracuse, but the extra distance by car is worth it!


----------



## realfam

Ham Ham said:


> Here's a link to a discount code for parking at the Buffalo airport.
> http://www.buffaloairport.com/pdfs/BNIA_Parking_Coupon.pdf





Thanks for the coupon.  I'll probbly use it on the Dec trip.  Our Aug trip were staying 1 night at the Sleep Inn to get the free parking....


----------



## SAGE

This is a great thread.... do people prefer the long term parking at the *Buffalo airport* or do you use the *Fasttrack* lot?  
For both, do you park and then take a shuttle to the terminal?

Thank you!


----------



## Jetstar

Hello My fellow Canadians 

We are flying out from Bufflo International Dec 1/08. We are flying with Air Tran and I was wondering what your thought were on this airline? 

Thank you.


----------



## realfam

Jetstar said:


> Hello My fellow Canadians
> 
> We are flying out from Bufflo International Dec 1/08. We are flying with Air Tran and I was wondering what your thought were on this airline?
> 
> Thank you.



We just returned for WDW on wednesday.  We flew Airtran, it was a good flight.  On time,good service.  Only piece of advice I would give you is to check in online 24hrs in advance to get your seats.  Each flight we had was over sold.  Were flying with Airtran again in Dec as well.


----------



## momandseandodisney

Ok, I will be at the Bufflao Airport Sept 11th and I will need to part for 12 nights - now what? Tell me who,what where, why, when! (well I already know somet of these lol) THANKS


----------



## jmann

We flew Spirit out of Detroit last week and one thing I will say is to constantly check your flight times. We flew on Sunday originally scheduled for 7:45am. When I was checking on the Friday night both our departing and returning flights had been changed. Our return was for 7:45pm and was moved up to 6:15. The departing flight was moved back to 8:45. The departing flight was oversold and they were asking if anyone was interested in flying later and they would be compensated. If they had offered this coming home we would have taken it!! The airlines are so cash strapped that they cancel and combine flights to make it cost effective. 
 On a side note when we left we flew out of the old terminal in Detroit. When we returned we flew into the new terminal which was nice but having to go downstairs to get our bags then either get back on the escalator or elevator to back upstairs to catch our shuttle was a little poorly thought out.


----------



## maggieb9975

Hi all, 
We are staying overnight at the Westin Hotel and would like some recommendations for where to eat dinner...either close by Westin Hotel or perhaps in airport? Nice but not too expensive...a chain would be fine .....Thanks!


----------



## jmann

maggieb9975 said:


> Hi all,
> We are staying overnight at the Westin Hotel and would like some recommendations for where to eat dinner...either close by Westin Hotel or perhaps in airport? Nice but not too expensive...a chain would be fine .....Thanks!


I can tell you where not to go. When in Michigan we have eaten at Big Boy restaurants before and although it is really just a greasy spoon they are not bad, the Big Boy on Merrimen Rd however is disappointing. There is a Bob Evans nearby but I have not eaten at that particular location. Bob Evans is a chain and is not a bad (nothing fancy) family restaurant. There is good old Macdonalds on Merrimen as well.


----------



## DVCanuk

maggieb9975 said:


> Hi all,
> We are staying overnight at the Westin Hotel and would like some recommendations for where to eat dinner...either close by Westin Hotel or perhaps in airport? Nice but not too expensive...a chain would be fine .....Thanks!



Maggie,

As your staying right at the airport, there is a restaurant there. I have not eaten at the new hotel, but if it is on par with the old hotel at Metro, be prepared for an expensive meal. We typically stay near the park n fly on Merriman and usually eat at the Merriman Street Grille. It is 1.25 Km. north of I94 on Merriman (on the west side). Reasonably priced and food is pretty good. There are a few restaurants on Merriman, but I can't comment on them. Once we found one we liked, we just go back. Have a great vacation.

Tim


----------



## Terapin

When is the ideal time to book for a flight from Buffalo to Orlando for mid-March?  How far out is best?  I'd like to buy ASAP but at a good price.  What can I expect to pay for a good deal out of Buffalo per person, round trip, for that time period?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## BitsnBearsMom

Can someone tell me where to park for just 4 days at the buffalo airport?  Short trip - Saturday early morning to Tuesday late evening.  What parking lot is the coupon listed above good for?
Also flight is at 9:30am on a Saturday morning - if I aim to leave Guelph at 5amish will that give me enough time to comfortable get to the airport??  I believe every other time we've done the drive it's been about 1 hr 45 mins to get there but we've always done a park and fly!


----------



## mkmommy

BitsnBearsMom said:


> Can someone tell me where to park for just 4 days at the buffalo airport?  Short trip - Saturday early morning to Tuesday late evening.  What parking lot is the coupon listed above good for?
> Also flight is at 9:30am on a Saturday morning - if I aim to leave Guelph at 5amish will that give me enough time to comfortable get to the airport??  I believe every other time we've done the drive it's been about 1 hr 45 mins to get there but we've always done a park and fly!




I would just park at the Airport long term parking, which I think the coupon you are talking about it good for. http://www.buffaloairport.com/airport_info/parking_availability.phtml


The shuttle service is very good  a van usually follows you to your spot and returning from the airport I have never had to wait for the shuttle.

I leave 5 hours before our flights, we live near Stone Road Mall, but we always stop for lunch so 5:00 AM sounds about right for a 9:30 flight. Make sure to cross at Fort Erie.

Lisa


----------



## BitsnBearsMom

Great - thanks Lisa!!  I think almost everything is organized now except the dog.  Will call the kennel today and we'll be good to go!


----------



## biggroofy

Hi everyone,

We are flying out from Buffalo in January (Southwest)! Family of six (grandparents, me and DW, DD1 and DD5) - This will be our first time driving to Buffalo airport and I have a question (debate) with my wife. 

Our flight is on Jan 4 (Mon) at 6:00pm. We lived in Richmond Hill and technically speaking we should be very fine even if we leave home around noon. However, Jan 4 seems to be the first day of work/school after the holidays and I wonder if traffic (and border wait) would be bad.

My wife wanted to buy some stuff from Walmart/Target etc - so she suggested to leave a day early (i.e. Sunday). I have objection on that because Jan 3 seems to be the last day of holiday (school holiday, or even someone taking a long weekend off for New Year) and I worry if the border will be super busy (i.e. even worse than Monday). 

Any suggestions? I don't mind paying an extra $70 or so for hotel but really concern about the traffic (border wait-time) for those two days. 

Any preference on Rainbow bridge or Peace bridge?

Thanks


----------



## mkmommy

biggroofy said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> We are flying out from Buffalo in January (Southwest)! Family of six (grandparents, me and DW, DD1 and DD5) - This will be our first time driving to Buffalo airport and I have a question (debate) with my wife.
> 
> Our flight is on Jan 4 (Mon) at 6:00pm. We lived in Richmond Hill and technically speaking we should be very fine even if we leave home around noon. However, Jan 4 seems to be the first day of work/school after the holidays and I wonder if traffic (and border wait) would be bad.
> 
> My wife wanted to buy some stuff from Walmart/Target etc - so she suggested to leave a day early (i.e. Sunday). I have objection on that because Jan 3 seems to be the last day of holiday (school holiday, or even someone taking a long weekend off for New Year) and I worry if the border will be super busy (i.e. even worse than Monday).
> 
> Any suggestions? I don't mind paying an extra $70 or so for hotel but really concern about the traffic (border wait-time) for those two days.
> 
> Any preference on Rainbow bridge or Peace bridge?
> 
> Thanks



Peace Bridge for sure. I would think the traffic would be busier coming into Cananda not leaving on the Sunday.

Last US Thanksgiving I was worried that the bridge to the US would be busy on the Sunday going back into the states, being such a busy US travel weekend, but when I got to the Peace Bridge I just drove right up to the booth and was through in less than a minute.


----------



## biggroofy

mkmommy said:


> Peace Bridge for sure. I would think the traffic would be busier coming into Cananda not leaving on the Sunday.
> 
> Last US Thanksgiving I was worried that the bridge to the US would be busy on the Sunday going back into the states, being such a busy US travel weekend, but when I got to the Peace Bridge I just drove right up to the booth and was through in less than a minute.



Thanks mkmommy  

We may consider driving on that Sunday. If we drive on Monday we expect to be at Peace Bridge between 1-2pm.


----------



## glenpreece

Hey everybody i just booked a family of 4 on a NWA flight out of Detroit, it was just over $1000 CAD for them. BUF was close to $2000. They will be going end of April, any tips to pass along to them? They live in the east end of the GTA.


----------



## petbren

glenpreece said:


> Hey everybody i just booked a family of 4 on a NWA flight out of Detroit, it was just over $100 CAD for them. BUF was close to $2000. They will be going end of April, any tips to pass along to them? They live in the east end of the GTA.



I think you mean $100*0*, not $100, if not, I'm booking today 
Anyway, we flew Detroit instead of Buffalo March break this year, also much cheaper. We're from Hamilton.
We stayed Park and Fly at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Detroit Metro Airport Romulus. It is a new hotel, so nice and clean with nice rooms, a small indoor pool, nice breakfast and right next door to the Park n' Fly lot. They have computers there to do your check-in at 24 hours if you fly SW too 
We paid $110 with taxes and I think up to 8 days of parking, mind you the dollar was above par at that time, so great deal.
A word of advice, we ended up driving right through downtown Detroit on a Friday night at 5pm. I would avoid doing this if possible. 
Detroit airport is similar to Buffalo, but they were doing a lot of construction, and I think still are, so it was nice to just hop the shuttle, and let them get us there.

I hope they have a great time.


----------



## glenpreece

petbren said:


> I think you mean $100*0*, not $100, if not, I'm booking today
> Anyway, we flew Detroit instead of Buffalo March break this year, also much cheaper. We're from Hamilton.
> We stayed Park and Fly at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Detroit Metro Airport Romulus. It is a new hotel, so nice and clean with nice rooms, a small indoor pool, nice breakfast and right next door to the Park n' Fly lot. They have computers there to do your check-in at 24 hours if you fly SW too
> We paid $110 with taxes and I think up to 8 days of parking, mind you the dollar was above par at that time, so great deal.
> A word of advice, we ended up driving right through downtown Detroit on a Friday night at 5pm. I would avoid doing this if possible.
> Detroit airport is similar to Buffalo, but they were doing a lot of construction, and I think still are, so it was nice to just hop the shuttle, and let them get us there.
> 
> I hope they have a great time.


you were right it was $1000

thanks for the response


----------



## Wilec

We are flying in 3 weeks form Detroit, on NWA and are staying at the Fairfield as well. Looking forward to the adventure.


----------



## Jackie Psarianos

I would try either one since we're really keen on going over the day before and making an event out of it.  We'll stay somewhere near the airport, go shopping at the malls, park it at a Cheesecake Factory and well the rest continues with wonderful memories at Disney.


----------



## maggieb9975

Am wondering if I should wait or book...the price for 2 adults from Toronto to Orlando on Mar 11-18 2009 is $781.00 total incl taxes. How does this compare to other yrs..I have never flown during March break.....


----------



## Disney Khi

maggieb9975 said:


> Am wondering if I should wait or book...the price for 2 adults from Toronto to Orlando on Mar 11-18 2009 is $781.00 total incl taxes. How does this compare to other yrs..I have never flown during March break.....



If you were thinking of flying out of Buffalo, Southwest shows the fare for two adults March 11-18 to be $484.40 for those dates.


----------



## Disney Khi

NikP said:


> This is the link to the Buffalo Airport site that shows a map of local hotels.
> 
> http://www.buffaloairport.com/misc/accommodations.asp



The airport has a new website, and this link doesn't work anymore. Try this one instead: http://www.buffaloairport.com/AccommodationsMap.asp


----------



## candizfan

This March we are flying out of Detroit late on Thursday and we are going to stay at a hotel near the airport in Orlando instead of staying over in Detroit before flying out.  

We find we don't sleep well the night before we leave if we stay over in Detroit.


----------



## son3disfan

Any one park at Big bLue Deck in Detroit lately?

Website says $16.00 a day   
I must be missing something. That 's $80 for a five day trip...

That is suppose to be the long term parking, which I understand to be the least expensive???

Wow. That's expensive!

Anyone?


----------



## Jen G

I was just Feb 4th and yes, it was $16.  Crazy expensive.  We are going for 2 weeks for March break and will be staying a night at Fairfield to park there.  




son3disfan said:


> Any one park at Big bLue Deck in Detroit lately?
> 
> Website says $16.00 a day
> I must be missing something. That 's $80 for a five day trip...
> 
> That is suppose to be the long term parking, which I understand to be the least expensive???
> 
> Wow. That's expensive!
> 
> Anyone?


----------



## son3disfan

Jen G said:


> I was just Feb 4th and yes, it was $16.  Crazy expensive.  We are going for 2 weeks for March break and will be staying a night at Fairfield to park there.



Thanks for letting me know. 
I went ahead and booked "Airlines"- I think it's called...from the park and fly network- for $51.00 for 6 days.


----------



## CantWait2009

My DH and I have flown out of Detroit a few time now and find it easy to get to, only thing is parking is super expensive even more then pearson.  But they have park n fly at hotels in Romulus for 109US includes 8 day parking voucher.


----------



## disneymath

Obviously price will play a big part, but in terms of past experience (customer service, on-time flights, overall quality) which airline would you recommend?

FWiW, we're going to fly out of Detroit.


----------



## MikeJ

We've never had an issue with Spirit, but then again we've never had a problem - other than a suitcase which failed to make our flight home.  They had a driver show up at our door in London with it Christmas morning.  I was impressed, but I know a lot of people have had customer service issues with them.  Never had a problem with flights being delayed.

We've only used Air Tran once (out of Flint) but I liked them.  They remind me a lot of WestJet.  If their schedule was a little better (most of their flights go through Atlanta and we prefer non-stop) we might use them more often.

NWA has the best flight selection (4-5 nonstops a day) and we're using them for our trip in May.  They actually came in about $300 cheaper than Spirit for the two of us.  I don't think any of the North American-based carriers have the type of customer service they used to, but of the three we've had the best experience with NWA.  Air Tran might be good as well, but with only one flight on them we don't have adequate statistics.

Hope that helps.

- Mike





disneymath said:


> Obviously price will play a big part, but in terms of past experience (customer service, on-time flights, overall quality) which airline would you recommend?
> 
> FWiW, we're going to fly out of Detroit.


----------



## Bubbie

We have only used Spirit and Southwest.Never had a problem with either airline.If I had to choose between the two, it would be Southwest.They don't charge for luggage and you can sit where you want as long as you check in on line and get A boarding pass(B isn't bad either).
FYI-I just checked some flights on Spirit and they are only offering 2 flights out of Detroit to Orlando for my dates.1 morning flight and 1 evening flight.


----------



## theweave

I have to say that *BUFFALO AIRPORT ROCKS!* I flew out of there to MCO on March 19 and it was a breeze! I flew non stop with SWA both ways and it was only $298.00 USD, which is still 300 cheaper than TO!

The comparison of BUF to DTW is 1.5 hour drive to BUF and 3 hours to DTW, price of gas pretty much negated any savings between the two. Not to mention that the Peace Bridge is a breeze to cross at!

I love that they expanded the Security area at BUF too, though I miss the cheap Burger King there!  It is faster clearing security now than before!

Lots of Park and Fly hotels around there too. I stayed at the Sleep Inn by the airport and it was good... I didn't park the car this time but last year we did and it was not too bad if I remember.


----------



## jenbear123

I have always used Toronto Pearson International Airport but now that I see you can save tons flying out of Buffalo, this whole idea has captivated me. We're planning a short trip July 18-21 and flights from TO have already gone up. Paying $200USD compared to $410CAD looks to be quite the bargain...

BUT There are some things that concern me though:

1. If we get travel insurance (i.e. medical and/or trip cancellation) will flights out of Buffalo be covered?

2. Driving from Thornhill area, is it really worth the cost of gas, hotel, and parking to drive to Buffalo? After it's all said and done, don't you end up paying the original cost of a flight out of Toronto?

3. Do U.S. customs give you a hard time with holding a Canadian passport? Departing from Buffalo and when returning?

Any advice is appreciated


----------



## MrMarv

In light of the rock-bottom *$186.00* R/T airfare from LAX/BUF on SWA right now, what are my options from getting from Buffalo to Toronto (downtown or airport), and how much should I expect to spend?

Thanks!!!


----------



## Ham Ham

Do you have a car?

If not this may be the most economical way to GO.
http://www.megabus.com/us/


----------



## MrMarv

Thanks for that link--I appreciate it.

Toronto's public transportation is among the best in the world, and arguably the best in North America (apologies to Montreal & San Francisco). 

Although I haven't visited Toronto in over a decade. I hope that it's still as exceptional now as it was in the mid-nineties.


----------



## BitsnBearsMom

We are flying out of BUF in August and are looking for a park/sleep/fly hotel - which ones are being recommended these days?  Needs to be clean, breakfast included would be a major plus and airport shuttle.  Will need probably 10 days of parking!!

Have stayed at the Clarion before and want to try something different as it was very run down last time!!

Thanks!


----------



## jmann

jenbear123 said:


> I have always used Toronto Pearson International Airport but now that I see you can save tons flying out of Buffalo, this whole idea has captivated me. We're planning a short trip July 18-21 and flights from TO have already gone up. Paying $200USD compared to $410CAD looks to be quite the bargain...
> 
> BUT There are some things that concern me though:
> 
> 1. If we get travel insurance (i.e. medical and/or trip cancellation) will flights out of Buffalo be covered?
> 
> 2. Driving from Thornhill area, is it really worth the cost of gas, hotel, and parking to drive to Buffalo? After it's all said and done, don't you end up paying the original cost of a flight out of Toronto?
> 
> 3. Do U.S. customs give you a hard time with holding a Canadian passport? Departing from Buffalo and when returning?
> 
> Any advice is appreciated



I fly out of Detroit but remember you cross the border in your car and show your passport there. Once at the airport you are in the US and other than ID to get on the plane you are done with customs. I use my passport as ID at the airport because it is the easiest and I have it with me. Check with your provider as far as insurance goes, my trip has been covered because I booked through CAA. As far as cost goes I would work it out to see what your best deal is.


----------



## phabric

We are flying out of Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale Thanksgiving weekend Oct 9-12.  I booked with Southwest for $219.20 US/pp and it was $272.97 Cdn/pp charged on my credit card.  Air Canada and Westjet was over $1,000+ for 2. Even with a tank or 2 of gas, the drive, parking it is way cheaper than Toronto.  Now we have to decide if we book a hotel with parking or get up and leave at 4am.


----------



## 3 Mouseketeers

We booked SW out of BUF Oct 5 - Oct 17. Flight to MCO was $59 pp and back to BUF was $109 pp. When flying within the US, we never fly out of Pearson anymore. Last month we flew SW out of BUF to Las Vegas for $89 pp direct!!! 
As for hotel/ parking, we usually just park at the airport but this time we are doing the park, sleep, fly option at the Millenium. Anyone stay there recently?


----------



## 5boyz

We are flying out of Buffalo July 24-Aug 7 for $556.80 for 4 of us....$59ea ea way.... I have flown from Buffalo once and Detroit twice.....I would only fly from Detroit again if the offer was too good to pass up....it is too far and feels like it takes forever to get home. Buffalo is just like going shopping over the boarder...... 

 I was wondering what Fasttrack parking was? We parked at Airport last time.


 3 Mouseketeers....we just stayed at Millenuim May 16-18. It was nice. We had a King Superior on the 2nd fl room 218 to be exact....it was facing the pool and had a balcony, it would have been great for the kids too. Well maybe not the king bed.....lol


----------



## 3 Mouseketeers

Thanks for the info on the Millenium 5boyz!

As for Fasttrack, it is located on Genesse St, directly across from Buffalo airports lot A. They have a shuttle that takes you directly to the airport, but honestly, with the 10% off coupon on the Buffalo airport website, its cheaper to park at lot A. 
When Fasttrack was Sunpark, we always parked there as they were alot cheaper than the airport, but since Sunpark was bought out, thats not the case anymore.


----------



## 5boyz

3mouseketeers...No problem that's what we are here for... , back attcha with the fasttrack parking. I did print a coupon for $40/wk at the Buffalo Airport parking. So I guess that's not to shabby. We parked there the last time we flew out of Buffalo.


----------



## boundfordisney

WE STAYED AT THE MILLENIUM IN DEC. 08  POOL AREA IS NICE BUT ROOMS WERE IN NEED OF REFURBISHMENT. My daughter had booked 3 rooms for all of us, with park and fly on 2 rooms. My oldest daughter and I both paid cash when departing the hotel, my daughter Jolenewho booked the 3 rooms paid on her credit card which was also used to hold our reservations when she booked it back in  aug.08. All was fine to this point until we got into the Orlando airport and went to use her credit card for 2 car rentals and found that the millenium had taken 500 dollars off the card over her room price. This became a big problem, called the millenium and they said it would go back credited to the card in 2 days well it became an even bigger problem as my daughter was planning on the credit card for the car rentals . I was able to help out but in the end after repeated calls to the millenium when the card didn t get credited turned out it never got credited till thier return home after 8 days!The millenium staff were in fact very rude when we did call so be very aware when using credit cards for room holds, we stayed at the Quality inn in  may  nice enough and I told the manager what had happened with the card and I didn t want to use a credit card for hold and she held our room without one. you do need to speak with a manager for that to happen but they were very helpful and we will stay there on future trips.


----------



## 5boyz

boundfordisney....that was not good! I heard there were some terrible rooms when I was waiting to check in....a friend of ours who works at a  high end hotel got us the ressies for Millenuim so I knew she would not steer us wrong. She booked the Superior King and it was very nice. I think that was one of the ones refurbished. As for the credit card, I think they did the same to me for a few days too. But has since been added back on. I usually dont pay for the room with credit card but.....we did so much shopping I ran out of cash . Thanks for sharing, it is always great to hear different experiences.


----------



## krazy4crusing

Air Tran has direct flights to MCO for $62 and only $16 in tax as opposed to the $200 + that we pay here at YYZ.  We are taxed to death here in Canada!!

We booked our October flight yesterday and paid 518 tax in (we have to pay extra for checked baggage though)

It is worth the drive.  I am going to look into Detroit next time, I hadn't thought of that!


----------



## lovemyboys2009

We are flying out of detroit (never been to the airport before) with Air Tran the end of Sept.  We don't fly until early evening so I had thought we would leave London at lunch and then have time to burn energy there.  I'm thinking maybe staying at a hotel is cheaper for parking?  Although we are CAA members does that make it better?  Is there stuff to do around the airport if we stayovernight as we will have the day to waste?  Sorry for all the questions.


----------



## jmann

lovemyboys2009 said:


> We are flying out of detroit (never been to the airport before) with Air Tran the end of Sept.  We don't fly until early evening so I had thought we would leave London at lunch and then have time to burn energy there.  I'm thinking maybe staying at a hotel is cheaper for parking?  Although we are CAA members does that make it better?  Is there stuff to do around the airport if we stayovernight as we will have the day to waste?  Sorry for all the questions.


There is not much around the Detroit airport. There are restaurants and hotels. We paid $109 to stay over at the Marriott but we were flying at 7:00am, that included breakfast and parking at the Qwik Park. CAA/AAA works at many places. If it was me I would check for the best park n fly rate, then drive down earlier in the day.


----------



## lovemyboys2009

jmann said:


> There is not much around the Detroit airport. There are restaurants and hotels. We paid $109 to stay over at the Marriott but we were flying at 7:00am, that included breakfast and parking at the Qwik Park. CAA/AAA works at many places. If it was me I would check for the best park n fly rate, then drive down earlier in the day.




thanks for the info.  I kind of thought that might be the best option but thought it wouldn't hurt to see what other's said.  thanks again!!


----------



## jmann

lovemyboys2009 said:


> thanks for the info.  I kind of thought that might be the best option but thought it wouldn't hurt to see what other's said.  thanks again!!


The Qwik Park is pretty efficient and there are others. Parking at the airport is expensive I have heard. The shuttles for Qwik Park came very quickly and the lot is 5-10 minutes away from the airport(if that). I think the Qwik Park website has coupons. There is another parking lot across the road but I don't know their name.....Have fun!!


----------



## lovemyboys2009

jmann said:


> The Qwik Park is pretty efficient and there are others. Parking at the airport is expensive I have heard. The shuttles for Qwik Park came very quickly and the lot is 5-10 minutes away from the airport(if that). I think the Qwik Park website has coupons. There is another parking lot across the road but I don't know their name.....Have fun!!



Thanks for the info.  I went to the qwik park site and printed the coupon (buy one day and get one free).  That's a great deal.


----------



## lovemyboys2009

I was wondering if anyone knows much about the nexus passes?  we obtained ours and wanted to make sure that they were going to be enough to fly with?  we are flying within the US, but wasn't sure as Canadians if we would have to have a passport or not......?????


----------



## CanadianPaco

lovemyboys2009 said:


> I was wondering if anyone knows much about the nexus passes?  we obtained ours and wanted to make sure that they were going to be enough to fly with?  we are flying within the US, but wasn't sure as Canadians if we would have to have a passport or not......?????



We go for our interview tomorrow. If you google Nexus and go to the US website, you'll find all the info you need. We have passports but want the Nexus card for quicker bridge crossings... especially into to Port Huron!


----------



## kjetjl

jmann said:


> There is not much around the Detroit airport. There are restaurants and hotels. We paid $109 to stay over at the Marriott but we were flying at 7:00am, that included breakfast and parking at the Qwik Park. CAA/AAA works at many places. If it was me I would check for the best park n fly rate, then drive down earlier in the day.



Hey, did you stay at the Fairfield by any chance?
What time did you leave the hotel to get the 7 o'clock flight?
Was there breakfast foods out that early?


thanks for any info.


----------



## CanadianPaco

Anyone try thr Days Inn Detroit, at the airport? Any feedback?


----------



## phabric

I have the Best Western booked for Oct 8/09 for $82.99+taxes (1 night for 3 adults) with a Park & Fly stay.  Booked directly with hotel online, cheaper than using www.ParkSleepFly.com.  They have a shuttle and contintenal breakfast.

Has anybody stayed there.


----------



## formill

We stayed there last November before a flight-room was small but clean and fine.  Breakfast was fair enough for the price of room (waffles, fruit etc) and started very early (4:30 am or so).  Shuttle was good and no waits they picked us up within a few minutes of calling on the return.  We did have to park our van around the corner of the hotel where there was no pavement but was still right at the hotel not a different lot-  it was not an issue for us in November as there was no snow at the time.  Could walk to Denny's for a meal.  We are staying there again this December.


----------



## NikP

formill said:


> We stayed there last November before a flight-room was small but clean and fine.  Breakfast was fair enough for the price of room (waffles, fruit etc) and started very early (4:30 am or so).  Shuttle was good and no waits they picked us up within a few minutes of calling on the return.  We did have to park our van around the corner of the hotel where there was no pavement but was still right at the hotel not a different lot-  it was not an issue for us in November as there was no snow at the time.  Could walk to Denny's for a meal.  We are staying there again this December.




Not sure, Where did you stay??


----------



## formill

Sorry........Best Western BUFFALO,NY


----------



## DVC_Kds

Thanks for the information!


----------



## jenbear123

Can someone explain how the parking process at Buffalo airport works? Do you pay before you leave or when you are leaving the lot? Are there signs that direct you to the lot? It will be our first time flying out of Buffalo and we don't want to be lost! We want to be able to park in the Long Term A or B lots. Thank you!


----------



## Ginzu

jenbear123 said:


> Can someone explain how the parking process at Buffalo airport works? Do you pay before you leave or when you are leaving the lot? Are there signs that direct you to the lot? It will be our first time flying out of Buffalo and we don't want to be lost! We want to be able to park in the Long Term A or B lots. Thank you!



Parking at BIA is pretty straightforward.  There's lots of big signage for each of the different lots.  You pay upon exiting the parking lot, so just have your coupon ready when you exit.

We went last January and found much, much easier than Pearson.  Just make sure you park in an actual spot - it was so snow covered when we went that I guess I parked in an invalid spot.  I paid a $30 fine but given the less hassles getting through the airport, it was worth it


----------



## jenbear123

Ginzu said:


> Parking at BIA is pretty straightforward.  There's lots of big signage for each of the different lots.  You pay upon exiting the parking lot, so just have your coupon ready when you exit.
> 
> We went last January and found much, much easier than Pearson.  Just make sure you park in an actual spot - it was so snow covered when we went that I guess I parked in an invalid spot.  I paid a $30 fine but given the less hassles getting through the airport, it was worth it



Thank you so much for that information. I figured there would be plenty of signage but you never know! I have to be sure I'm educated or else my mom won't want to fly out of Buffalo. And I refuse to pay double the cost to have the "privilege" to fly out of Toronto. 

Fortunately, we will be travelling at the end of April and won't have to deal with snow (hopefully!) That really stinks about getting a fine after you couldn't see where you were parking in the first place  Thanks again for the info!


----------



## CanadianPaco

We flew out of Detroit on this trip and did a hotel/parking deal at the Days Inn Airport location in Detroit. I have to post this... it was aweful!! The first room we stayed in smelled FOUL! Mouldy and putrid! The second room lacked the smell but the bathroom was mouldy! It was late and a Sunday so we decided to stay. The mattresses were paper thin and the continental breakfast was a joke. Stale bread, cereal and pastries...ugh. 
We booked this place on a recommendation from my brother. I should have checked it out more thoroughly. So be warned!


----------



## Chuckles70

Has anyone stayed here?  For the room for the night and to leave the car there for a week it is going to cost $134.  We are going in April and got a great rate of $665 for 4 of us flying with Continental.


----------



## mickeyfanatic09

Best way to go is through Buffalo International.  I  just did it about 2 weeks ago through Southwest, and no issues at all.   They are a great airline, and me and my fiance have been them since 2006 (my first trip to WDW).   Any question, feel free to email or message me.  Thanks, and good luck.


----------



## petbren

mickeyfanatic09 said:


> Best way to go is through Buffalo International.  I  just did it about 2 weeks ago through Southwest, and no issues at all.   They are a great airline, and me and my fiance have been them since 2006 (my first trip to WDW).   Any question, feel free to email or message me.  Thanks, and good luck.



Glad you had a good experience. Did you pay the extra $10 to prebook your seat? this is new since we last flew, so hope to get a seat together without paying more. We have flow SW 3 times before, 2 from buffalo, 1 from detroit and had nothing but good experiences....hope it continues, we leave out of Buffalo in 10 days


----------



## Jackie Psarianos

We live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and used to pay $2500 to fly out of Toronto until we discovered Buffalo.  Now we pay roughly $700 for the four of us and save a bundle.

I recommend driving out the day before your departure and staying across the street (Genessee Street) from the airport.  We always stay at the Hilton Garden Inn and Suites because we own a Hilton timeshare.  They have just built a couple of Mariott's right beside the Hilton.  There is a Mac Donald's there also where you can grab a quick bite before you head over to the airport.  Further down on Genessee there is also a small Tim Horton's.  The Galleria Mall is a short drive away.

We get a discount coupon from the Buffalo International Airport web site and always park in lot B.  The shuttles are quick and come within minutes of you parking your car.  The airport is modern and very easy to navigate.

Do go inside to check your bags that way you'll avoid the gratuity if you leave them at the outside check in.


----------



## mlegerto

Just for those of you who are worried about flying out of Buffalo.

I have done this countless times (and I am usually traveling with a few other young adults ages 19-22) and I have always had a GREAT time.

We always fly with southwest and have never had a single problem! We check their website regularly (www.southwest.com) and look for some low fares. We grab them when we see / feel that they are low and a decent price. IF the prices decrease after you have purchased you can re-buy the tickets at the new cost. You will not get a cash refund (or a refund on your credit card), but you will get a credit note that will be good for a year (sometimes you can extend them by another 6 months IF you call customer service and ask them to for an upcoming flight)

Hope this information helps everyone.

As for the hotel vs. driving part, we always leave relatively early within the morning (close to 3:30 - 4:00 am). We live in Toronto ontario and drive to buffalo arriving there around 5:30 -6:00 ish and usually try to take the first flight out around 7:30 ish. We have never had a problem so for those of you who do not want to stay at a hotel, this shouldnt be an issue. 

We always print the parking coupon from the website and park in parking lot B. When you leave the lot, hand the cashier the coupon (make sure its cut out and down to proper size hee hee) and then pay as you leave. We are usually there for (parking for) 9 - 14 days and it usually cost us approx. $70 or so!


----------



## mkmommy

Detroit Westin at the airport, anyone have good things to say about this hotel?

I was just looking and they have a penny parking special where you can get 10 nights of parking for a penny so for a Friday in March the rate is 119.01, I know I have looked before and the rates were over $200.

We have an early morning flight so thought it would be nice to be able to walk to the airport, is that possible?


----------



## maggieb9975

mkmommy said:


> Detroit Westin at the airport, anyone have good things to say about this hotel?
> 
> I was just looking and they have a penny parking special where you can get 10 nights of parking for a penny so for a Friday in March the rate is 119.01, I know I have looked before and the rates were over $200.
> 
> We have an early morning flight so thought it would be nice to be able to walk to the airport, is that possible?



Hi there, My oldest DD and I stayed at the Westin last October and REALLY liked it..luxury hotel..we asked for a high floor facing runways and we got to see airplanes take off and land...beautiful rooms and lobby..I have pics if you want....

You can get in to the terminal right from hotel but there are 2 terminals there and we flew out of other one but they had a shuttle.....

That is a great rate you got. I am booked again for October 2010 and ours is way more..I will keep checking for a lower rate...


----------



## lizzyb

We are flying out of buffalo in Jan. Our passports will expire in March. Is this going to be an issue as I know when you fly to another country they passport has to be valid for 6mths.


----------



## cslittle999

lizzyb said:


> We are flying out of buffalo in Jan. Our passports will expire in March. Is this going to be an issue as I know when you fly to another country they passport has to be valid for 6mths.



According to the US Border Patrol site, Canadian citizens are only required to have a passport that is valid after their return date to Canada.

https://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=619&p_created=1056630853


----------



## lizzyb

cslittle999 said:


> According to the US Border Patrol site, Canadian citizens are only required to have a passport that is valid after their return date to Canada.
> 
> https://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=619&p_created=1056630853



Perfect! Thanks!


----------



## kw2kids

Does anyone know of any shopping close to the Buffalo airport?  Like a Walmart or Target or a mall?  We'd like to pick up a few things before our flight, but we won't have a lot of time.
Address / directions would be GREAT too!

Thanks!


----------



## tgropp

*For those of you whos are staying at the Westin hotel in Detroit, please note that the security checkin beside the front desk  that hotel guests use does not open till 7:30 A.M., so early morning flights must use the regular line where the checkin counters are.*


----------



## curlylocks

Driving from Toronto to Buffalo Feb 2nd need a cheap cheap cheap and clean hotel to stay in with dh me and the kids I was looking for something under $100 any tips....Ill need park and fly 8 days and 24 hr shuttle will be leaving around 5am for the airport. The hotel doesnt need a pool just clean and safe no extras...LOL will be getting there 9pm at night and the kids will be asleep most likely any way......Id love any info Ive been looking but most are over $100 .....thanks Tammy


----------



## CdnDisneyNut

What are the pros cons of parking on site or off-site (Fast Track)  @ Buffalo Airport.  What are the price difference?  Will be travelling for a week; but in their books it will be 8 days.

TIA


----------



## formill

We used hotwire for upcoming trip flying out of Buffalo. We got the Best Western Airport Hotel Buffalo for $54/night then will park at Long Term B at the airport for maximum weekly of $40 plus daily max of $8......or print coupon for Long Term A from Buffalo airport website and have a daily maximum of $10 and a weekly maximum of $50.  The Millenium Hotel in the mall parking lot sometimes has a park and fly for $99.  I think with taxes and parking no matter which way you do it parking at hotel or airport you are going to be a little above the $100.  Make sure you check hotels for how early their breakfast starts- Best Western is very early so is Sleep Inn-around 4:30 a.m. I think.


----------



## TreesyB

I just booked with Fairfield which is directly across the street from BUF.  For 14 night Park Sleep and Fly, it was $169 for 2 Queens over Xmas holidays.  That's not bad, and they said they wouldn't charge me for 2 additional parkig nights, and they are across the street.  I was not impressed with Best Western last couple of years.  I'll let you all know what I think of Fairfield.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hote...-and-suites-buffalo-airport/?offerInfo=444802


----------



## CdnDisneyNut

Looking at the airport and off site (Fasttrack) web sites at Buffalo airport; it looks like the airport is cheaper parking at the A or B lots at the airport than on offside parking.  Is the discount coupon only for the A lot?  Do the parking lot get filled to capacity?  Travelling the week prior to the Ontario school break in March.  Flight departure is 1:30pm and plan to get to the parking lot around 11:30 Will the lot be packed?


----------



## TreesyB

Fairfield Inn was great. Brand new hotel. Lots of onsite parking. I highly recommend this hotel and they let me park two extra days at no additional charge.


----------



## DearDaisyinDurham

You can also Priceline bid (I did Name Your Price) for $65. at the Buffalo Marriott Niagara which is in Amherst, it's the only 3.5 star hotel in the area so even if you bid instead of name your price, it's the one you'll get.
The parking is included which you can confirm with the front desk.
BTW - this is the ONLY priceline'ing I've ever done & it does work! 

Good luck!


----------



## Camilo

DearDaisyinDurham said:


> You can also Priceline bid (I did Name Your Price) for $65. at the Buffalo Marriott Niagara which is in Amherst, it's the only 3.5 star hotel in the area so even if you bid instead of name your price, it's the one you'll get.
> The parking is included which you can confirm with the front desk.
> BTW - this is the ONLY priceline'ing I've ever done & it does work!
> 
> Good luck!



I've been trying to get the Marriot for 65.00 for November 8th for over a month now, with no luck.
I've increased my bid up to 69.00 with no luck.
I'll keep trying as the date gets closer.

thanks...


----------



## DearDaisyinDurham

Camilo said:


> I've been trying to get the Marriot for 65.00 for November 8th for over a month now, with no luck.
> I've increased my bid up to 69.00 with no luck.
> I'll keep trying as the date gets closer.
> 
> thanks...



Hope it works out for you! I've gotten it twice now, once on a Friday night & once on a Sunday night. FWIW I'll never 'open bid' or whatever it's called below the 3 or 3.5 star rating. I had to do so last weekend bc there was NO availability & ended up paying $90 at McKinleys Hotel which was a DUMP.


----------



## punkyhunky

Quick Question, What's the quickest way to the Detroit Airport? We're heading there on tuesday and was wondering if we should go through Windor or Sarnia? HOw's the traffic?


----------



## Wilec

I have always taken Sarnia and find it is your best option


----------



## tgropp

punkyhunky said:


> Quick Question, What's the quickest way to the Detroit Airport? We're heading there on tuesday and was wondering if we should go through Windor or Sarnia? HOw's the traffic?


*
We always go through Sarnia. Its freeway to the border stop and freeway after the border stop. No traffic lights, etc. Once you cross the bridge and clear customs, you just get on 94 south and it leads you to the airport (approx 1 hour). Traffic on the 402 to Sarnia is great. Traffic going to Detroit depends on what time you are travelling. Rush hour times can be hectic, but I have never seen it as bad as Toronto.*


----------



## punkyhunky

Thanks! Sarnia it is!


----------



## SydandPaige'sMom

punkyhunky said:


> Quick Question, What's the quickest way to the Detroit Airport? We're heading there on tuesday and was wondering if we should go through Windor or Sarnia? HOw's the traffic?



Please leave yourself at least an hour and a half to two hours for the bridge/customs. It has been a nightmare lately. DH was on his way home from work on Thursday (drives the 402). Once cars got just past exit 6 (modeland road) they were throwing their cars in reverse, backing up and taking the exit ramp. Once you went past the exit, you could see the line up of cars.The lines were backed up to there. One person even drove down the on ramp backwards to get off the 402 there was someone driving up it that also had to start backing up to get out of the person's way. It's crazy out there.


----------



## kevinedenmarg

I missed that part of the website, I guess that means I can stop at the Duty Free shop on my way crossing the border. Its great flying out of Buffalo. They have shuttles that circle the lots, you call from a station near your car, and they come and get you.


----------



## CanadianPaco

SydandPaige'sMom said:


> Please leave yourself at least an hour and a half to two hours for the bridge/customs. It has been a nightmare lately. DH was on his way home from work on Thursday (drives the 402). Once cars got just past exit 6 (modeland road) they were throwing their cars in reverse, backing up and taking the exit ramp. Once you went past the exit, you could see the line up of cars.The lines were backed up to there. One person even drove down the on ramp backwards to get off the 402 there was someone driving up it that also had to start backing up to get out of the person's way. It's crazy out there.



We always check the border/customs websites - it helps our planning.


----------



## tgropp

*We are staying at the Westin in the airport and we want to take a taxi to the airport hotel area and find a nice restaurant to eat at. Any Suggestions?*


----------



## phabric

I am interested in Buffalo's parking.  Is there a coupon off for one of the lots?  Which lot is better?

Usually we stay over with a hotel that has parking but this time our flight is at 5pm so will have plenty of time to get there from Toronto.


----------



## iX.

I fly out of Buffalo *a lot* for business.

I live about 1.5h from the NY boarder and about 3h from the Windsor border.

Last time we went to DW I couldn't resist the flight savings and went to Detroit.

I picked the long term lot that was fairly close but not the most expensive.  I paid more to park my car there ($150) than I did to rent a mid-size car for a week in Florida ($138).

The return border crossing was a 3 hour nightmare.  The drive is long and dull.  Navigating in Detroit is difficult, between constructions and bad signs.  Anywhere you get off the highway for a bite or a pee break is pretty much lock-the-doors-and-keep-moving ghetto.

Detroit airport is easy enough once you're there... the tram is great, lots of moving sidewalks, terminal couldn't be simpler for its size.

I'd seriously look at the stay-park-fly option there... gives you time to get there get lost, whatever, without worrying about a missed flight and probably is cheaper than airport parking.

But by comparison... typically 15 minute Queenston-Lewiston crossing, Buffalo is like a big easy bus stop, usually about 10 minutes at security.  Airtran does hub out of Atlanta but stopovers are often 45 minutes.  There are direct flights once a day.  It's easily worth a couple hundred more on the entire trip for four to fly out of Buffalo, even if I have to transfer once.  I once got out of my car (arrived late) and within 20 minutes, yes, literally, I was sitting on a plane.  No special treatment or allowances, that's just how long it took.


----------



## phabric

Southwest opened their flights to November 4 today.

Their next update for flights will be May 26 for flights to January 6,2012.


----------



## BigTikiDaddy

We are going to fly out of Flint, only an hour from Sarnia. DW's family is in Sarnia, so we can sleep overnight there and head out bright and very early to the airport. my FIL is going to drive us out, and in his opinion, it's easier to drive to. We got decent rates, and as a plus, the flight times give us a little more time to enjoy the parks...


----------



## Susan595

I got what I think is a great deal out of Detroit for 3 of us 604 bux and that's reserving our seats.  We are just outside of London so DTW was the obvious choice for us, is there a hotel that connects onto that airport and if not where is a good place to spend the night before?  I've always flown out of Toronto DTW is a first for me, but the difference in price was ridiculous I don't know how they can justify that.


----------



## tgropp

Susan595 said:


> I got what I think is a great deal out of Detroit for 3 of us 604 bux and that's reserving our seats.  We are just outside of London so DTW was the obvious choice for us, is there a hotel that connects onto that airport and if not where is a good place to spend the night before?  I've always flown out of Toronto DTW is a first for me, but the difference in price was ridiculous I don't know how they can justify that.



*The Westin hotel is located right inside McNamara Terminal and it is an awesome hotel. They have a package this year that you can get one nights stay and 10 days parking (valet) for $129.00 plus tax. This is for a Thurs-Fri-Sat night stay. Use promo code LNC*


----------



## phabric

Anybody know if there is a covered parking garage at the Buffalo airport?  We are thinking of going through Buffalo at Christmas and a covered garage would saving us shovelling out the car after a flight.


----------



## alohamom

I dont think so, I am not 100% sure but we have flown many times in winter and had to come out to a snow covered (and I mean COVERED!) car. IT may exsist though, check out their website  http://www.buffaloairport.com/


----------



## phabric

alohamom said:


> I dont think so, I am not 100% sure but we have flown many times in winter and had to come out to a snow covered (and I mean COVERED!) car. IT may exsist though, check out their website  http://www.buffaloairport.com/



Thanks for the site.

They say Short Term Garage, so it must be covered, the other lots don't say garage..  It is $168 weekly max.  It might be worth it in the winter months.


----------



## Susan595

Thanks I just booked the room, makes things even more exciting for me I didn't get the 129 rate though 149 which still fine, parking for a penny a day


----------



## LondonMommy

Hi... first time poster here : )

We're planning a last minute trip to WDW (11 more sleeps!), and will be flying out of Detroit for the first time.

I have called the airport parking services (the various coloured lots), and they do not allow you to pre-book. I don't like leaving that loose end.  I would hate to arrive to find no spots available and scramble to make other, likely more expensive arrangements.

I have seen the referrals for both Airlines Parking, and Qwik Park (although can't find rates on QP's website).  Would you recommend one of these over the Airport's own lots at all? Can you pre-book with them? 

We're looking for a resonable price for a 6 night stay and will not be staying overnight in Detroit because our flight doesnt leave until after 9pm. 

Any tips/suggestions welcome!

Roxanne


----------



## teamaaron

getting a ride to buffalo by a close friend, but ya flying out of buffalo really saved us A LOT of money. Leaving via Continnental from Buffalo on Monday May 2nd. 

See a bunch of you there if you're going.


----------



## CanadianPaco

Which terminal does Air Trans fly our of in the Detroit airport? North or McNamara?


----------



## thehowells

macnamrra, as far as i can remember


----------



## phabric

I tried Priceline for August 20 one night up to $85 US and was rejected.  I went to Hotwire and got Quality Inn for $95 CDN for a total of $117 CDN.  

Does anybody know if you can leave your car there or will be have to pay to park at the airport?


----------



## Trinityloo

Hello everyone!  I am from Toronto and have been to WDW a few times now, but have never flown out of Buffalo before.  I am looking for any and all tips you may have for me regarding how I can best pull this off!  Off the top of my head are the following questions:

1.  What airlines have you used?
2.  Do you stay at a hotel the night before and if so, which hotel?
3.  Approximately how much money do you think you save by flying out of      Buffalo?
4.  Do you park at the airport or,as I have read on this thread, at a hotel?

I am sure there are many things that I haven`t even thought of!  Any help would be so much appreciated!
Thanks!


----------



## son3disfan

Trinityloo said:


> Hello everyone!  I am from Toronto and have been to WDW a few times now, but have never flown out of Buffalo before.  I am looking for any and all tips you may have for me regarding how I can best pull this off!  Off the top of my head are the following questions:
> 
> 1.  What airlines have you used?
> 2.  Do you stay at a hotel the night before and if so, which hotel?
> 3.  Approximately how much money do you think you save by flying out of      Buffalo?
> 4.  Do you park at the airport or,as I have read on this thread, at a hotel?
> 
> I am sure there are many things that I haven`t even thought of!  Any help would be so much appreciated!
> Thanks!


All of your questions can be answered in the previous posts in this thread. Start at page one....and work your way through! There has been some awesome info posted, maps, and even hotel/parking info.
This thread was created for travelers from Canada using Buffalo and Detroit airport.
And yes, the savings are quite substial flying out of Buffalo.


----------



## Trinityloo

son3disfan said:


> All of your questions can be answered in the previous posts in this thread. Start at page one....and work your way through! There has been some awesome info posted, maps, and even hotel/parking info.
> This thread was created for travelers from Canada using Buffalo and Detroit airport.
> And yes, the savings are quite substial flying out of Buffalo.



Thanks!  I have read through some of the thread and you are right, there is some very useful information there already.  I was just hoping for some more up to date info since most of the entries date back a few years.


----------



## son3disfan

Trinityloo said:


> Thanks!  I have read through some of the thread and you are right, there is some very useful information there already.  I was just hoping for some more up to date info since most of the entries date back a few years.



Not much changes...maybe some new hotels in the area...

The three airlines that have non-stop flights out of Buffalo are( in order of my favorite!)

Jetblue
Southwest
AIRTRAN

You can check their websites for the best deals and compare prices out of Toronto. Right now, Jetblue has some pretty high fares for 2012...The highest we have ever paid. But they are a great airline.


----------



## Trinityloo

son3disfan said:


> Not much changes...maybe some new hotels in the area...
> 
> The three airlines that have non-stop flights out of Buffalo are( in order of my favorite!)
> 
> Jetblue
> Southwest
> AIRTRAN
> 
> You can check their websites for the best deals and compare prices out of Toronto. Right now, Jetblue has some pretty high fares for 2012...The highest we have ever paid. But they are a great airline.



That`s exactly the type of input I am looking for!  I don`t have experience with those airlines, so it`s good to know which are reliable.  When I checked the prices for Jetblue today, they are $1100 cheaper than flying out from Toronto on Canjet!!!  And you say that this is the highest you have ever paid?!!!!  I should have looked into this 3 trips ago.  Thanks again for your help!


----------



## son3disfan

Trinityloo said:


> That`s exactly the type of input I am looking for!  I don`t have experience with those airlines, so it`s good to know which are reliable.  When I checked the prices for Jetblue today, they are $1100 cheaper than flying out from Toronto on Canjet!!!  And you say that this is the highest you have ever paid?!!!!  I should have looked into this 3 trips ago.  Thanks again for your help!



In 2009 we paid $548 for 5 roundtrip, non stop flights. That is the total price for 5 people....that was on Spirit airlines out of Detroit. Not a fan of Spirit. Super budget airlines, and not very reliable.

Jetblue has tvs, 1 free checked bag, no fee to pick a seat , and free drinks/ snacks. Also if the price goes down, they will give you a Jetblue credit to spend on another flight within a year.

Southwest has no change fees as well ( you can change your flight / day / time for credit or a new flight) , and free checked bag. You can pay $10 per person for early priority check in, otherwise, if you dont want to pay that, you can check in 24 hours before the flight, and you get an A ,B , or C boarding pass, to which you line up to board ( this is why I like Jetblue 
better ). Southwest s a great airline though.
AIRTRAN you need to pay $6.00 per person for seats and $20 a checked bag.sometimes you will see a low fare, but keep in mind to add those things in to the fare....they usually work out the same as Southwest ( which just bought out AIRTRAN).There fares change constantly, ( ths has been our experience) and on many occasions, non stop flights are changed to layovers...
Again, this is why I choose Jetblue as our fav.

All three offer nonstop to MCO which is a must for us.
We usually pay anywhere from $89 to $99 each way, nonstop. The days of $59 fares are gone.....
We are travelling at a peak time this year, March break and are laying $159 there and $139 return. Again, the most we have ever paid, but it s peak time and fares have increased this year.
Still way cheaper then out of YYz. Or anywhere in Canada for that matter.

Hope that helps.


----------



## Trinityloo

Thanks so much son3disfan!


----------



## WannabeCinderella

I live in Toronto.  I have never flown to Orlando from here, but have done so from both Buffalo and Rochester many times.  We go during the New Year's week or March Break, prime time highest prices.  On average, we pay less for our entire tickets flying from Rochester, than just the tax cost from Toronto.  The price from Buffalo is half of Toronto.  The price from Rochester is half of Buffalo.  I know that the Niagara falls airport (Direct air) is the absolute cheapest and closest to Canada. However, it usually sells out the prime time weeks 4 to 6 months in advance.


----------



## WannabeCinderella

If you visit kayak.com , you can check multiple airlines easily for many dates, for both Buffalo and Rochester. It is my favourite website. You can also find car rentals in Orlando.  Some trips, we drove directly from Toronto to Buffalo or Rochester.   However, the last couple of times, we drove over the night before because we didn't want to take a chance of missing our flight.  All it takes is one fender-bender accident on the highway, to bring traffic to a standstill, and you can miss your flight.  Also, you can't always predict the line ups at the border.  We also found it to be CHEAPER to stay a night at the hotel than to park at the airport, and parking is cheap!  Hotels will give you free hot breakfast, free parking for the week, and free shuttle to and from the airpport, all for less than the cost of park and fly.


----------



## sue_gowin

WannabeCinderella said:


> If you visit kayak.com , you can check multiple airlines easily for many dates, for both Buffalo and Rochester. It is my favourite website. You can also find car rentals in Orlando.  Some trips, we drove directly from Toronto to Buffalo or Rochester.   However, the last couple of times, we drove over the night before because we didn't want to take a chance of missing our flight.  All it takes is one fender-bender accident on the highway, to bring traffic to a standstill, and you can miss your flight.  Also, you can't always predict the line ups at the border.  We also found it to be CHEAPER to stay a night at the hotel than to park at the airport, and parking is cheap!  Hotels will give you free hot breakfast, free parking for the week, and free shuttle to and from the airpport, all for less than the cost of park and fly.



This is so true!! We've always flown out of Detroit on their first flight of the day, so we've had to spend the night. We've been staying at the same hotel for years, and it's so much less stressful than wondering if you're going to make it on time!


----------



## phabric

When we went to Disney flying out of Buffalo in August, it took us nearly 5 hours due to traffic from our house near the Toronto airport to our hotel across from the Buffalo airport.  It was 1 1/2 hours (alone) from the Duty Free store to the border.  We were glad, we were staying the night near the airport and flying out the next day as we would have missed our flight.


----------



## Trinityloo

So we are still considering flying out of Buffalo for the first time, but my husband has concerns (besides driving in a potential snow storm) about what happens if your luggage is lost upon your return.  Last year, a couple of our bags were lost on our way to Disney and this has made him a bit paranoid.  Has this happened to anyone before?  We are wondering if we would be responsible for the costs involved in having it sent to Toronto.  Right now it is looking like it will save us $1000 if we fly out from Buffalo, so it is very tempting!


----------



## webworm

Trinityloo said:


> So we are still considering flying out of Buffalo for the first time, but my husband has concerns (besides driving in a potential snow storm) about what happens if your luggage is lost upon your return.  Last year, a couple of our bags were lost on our way to Disney and this has made him a bit paranoid.  Has this happened to anyone before?  We are wondering if we would be responsible for the costs involved in having it sent to Toronto.  Right now it is looking like it will save us $1000 if we fly out from Buffalo, so it is very tempting!



It has not happened to me but my sister got her luggage delivered to her from Syracuse to Ottawa the next day at no charge. We usually just take carry on luggage to avoid the extra fees and we have a washer and dryer at vacation home rental anyhow.


----------



## Trinityloo

Thanks Webworm!  That will be a very helpful piece of info I can use to persuade my hubby into flying out of Buffalo.


----------



## archdandy

I've heard that it's cheaper to fly out of the states than from Canada. Is this true? And on average how much cheaper is it? I'm thinking about this for our trip in September.


----------



## KNovacovschi

archdandy said:


> I've heard that it's cheaper to fly out of the states than from Canada. Is this true? And on average how much cheaper is it? I'm thinking about this for our trip in September.



Last time we went it cost between $7-800 for 3 of us from Buffalo, from Toronto it would have cost about $2000. That was in 2007. I recently checked the prices for September 2012 and for the 3 of us out of Buffalo it will be $1078 where it would be $2400 from Toronto. I'm not sure where you live but for us the Buffalo airport is maybe an extra half hour drive, so worth it to save $1400. 

Good Luck!!!!


----------



## archdandy

KNovacovschi said:


> Last time we went it cost between $7-800 for 3 of us from Buffalo, from Toronto it would have cost about $2000. That was in 2007. I recently checked the prices for September 2012 and for the 3 of us out of Buffalo it will be $1078 where it would be $2400 from Toronto. I'm not sure where you live but for us the Buffalo airport is maybe an extra half hour drive, so worth it to save $1400.
> 
> Good Luck!!!!



Thank you! We live in south Ontario, about an hour and a half drive from Toronto and 3 and a half from Buffalo. But we might consider going to one of these other air ports if it can save us that much more money!


----------



## sue_gowin

archdandy said:


> Thank you! We live in south Ontario, about an hour and a half drive from Toronto and 3 and a half from Buffalo. But we might consider going to one of these other air ports if it can save us that much more money!



We live in London, and always fly out of Detroit. We always fly out first thing in the morning, and we book a fantastic "park, sleep and fly" hotel for the night before our flight. It's the Fairfield Inn and suites (we book through parksleepfly.com). We've done this several times and have loved it every time. Rooms are comfortable with flat screen tvs and great bathrooms. There's also a fun little pub next door where we have dinner once we check in. I recommend this to everyone I know!!!


----------



## MikeJ

To give you an idea of the taxes involved, we just flew out of Detroit using Delta frequent flier miles.  The taxes-only total cost worked out to $4.95 each.  Frequent flier flights out of Toronto would have been at least $150 taxes-only.


----------



## ash-n-brensmom

Hi guys..we always fly out of Buffalo and being in Niagara Falls, we never stay over night before because we are so close...we are considering it for Jan though just because of the weather.  So, I was wondering if any of the hotels on the discount sites like hotwire, hotels.com etc, will let us park at the hotel for the week...or is it always extra for that perk?  I don't see any info on the discount sites regarding park and fly.  Thanks for any help!


----------



## stuff-and-fluff

archdandy said:


> I've heard that it's cheaper to fly out of the states than from Canada. Is this true? And on average how much cheaper is it? I'm thinking about this for our trip in September.



Flying out of Buffalo last week cost my bf and I $600 total. To fly out of Toronto, it would have been $1600


----------



## canadiankim

ash-n-brensmom said:


> Hi guys..we always fly out of Buffalo and being in Niagara Falls, we never stay over night before because we are so close...we are considering it for Jan though just because of the weather.  So, I was wondering if any of the hotels on the discount sites like hotwire, hotels.com etc, will let us park at the hotel for the week...or is it always extra for that perk?  I don't see any info on the discount sites regarding park and fly.  Thanks for any help!



We flew out of Buffalo in October for a quick trip to Washington DC and booked rooms at the Best Western on stay123.com and that included our parking.  the hotel is just across the road from the airport and took less than 5 minutes to get there.

We fly out to Orlando in May 2012 from Detroit and will be driving down the night before and this time we booked our hotel The Baymont via parksleepfly.com and this too included our parking.


----------



## thebigman65

The first few times we went to Orlando, we flew out of Toronto.....last March, we decided to go out of Bufflao because the flight costs were at least 1/3 of what is cost to go out of Toronto.  We will never fly out of Toronto again unless we get an absolute awesome deal.....which doesn't seem to happen.

We usually stay at the Marriot....it's about a 15-20 min drive to the airport, but much cheaper and nicer than the hotels across from the airport....like all the others, you park, sleep, and Fly!


----------



## ciniagara

Please anybody from out of the Niagara region that are planning on flying out of Buffalo take the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie. Do Not take the Queenston Lewiston bridge or the Rainbow bridge. The drive between them and Fort Erie is minimal and the drive from the Peace bridge and the airport is so much easier. Also the wait times at the Peace bridge are a lot shorter than you will ever find at Queenston Lewiston


----------



## 3 Mouseketeers

I cant remember the last time we flew out of Pearson. Anywhere in the US we fly out of Buffalo. Whether flying to California, Nevada, Florida or even close by to NYC, Pearson cant even touch the cost of flying out of Buffalo even after you put in the "park, sleep, fly" cost. Time isnt a factor as Buffalo is only an extra 20-30 minute drive for us.
For our upcoming trip, our direct SW flight was $215 pp return! Thats with taxes and all fees in. Cheapest direct return flights I found out of Pearson were about $400 pp.

As for bridge crossing, we always cross at Fort Erie. First few times we crossed at Queenston/Lewiston but not any longer. As ciniagara mentioned the waits are always much much longer.


----------



## BareNecessities

thebigman65 said:


> The first few times we went to Orlando, we flew out of Toronto.....last March, we decided to go out of Bufflao because the flight costs were at least 1/3 of what is cost to go out of Toronto.  We will never fly out of Toronto again unless we get an absolute awesome deal.....which doesn't seem to happen.
> 
> We usually stay at the Marriot....it's about a 15-20 min drive to the airport, but much cheaper and nicer than the hotels across from the airport....like all the others, you park, sleep, and Fly!



I think I know which Marriott you are talking about...could you write which one, and where it is? Was it expensive? We're looking to do that too - I've stayed across from the airport and felt very unsafe.


----------



## Chickkypoo

I've never flown out of Buffalo before, only Toronto and Detroit.

What is JetBlue's service like? Is $300 US resonable for a flight from Buffalo to Orlando?

Is Buffalo a safe place to stay in overnight (I'm going on a solo trip) and any recommendations on Stay/Park/Fly?


----------



## sue_gowin

Chickkypoo said:


> I've never flown out of Buffalo before, only Toronto and Detroit.
> 
> What is JetBlue's service like? Is $300 US resonable for a flight from Buffalo to Orlando?
> 
> Is Buffalo a safe place to stay in overnight (I'm going on a solo trip) and any recommendations on Stay/Park/Fly?



I've only ever stayed overnight in Detroit. I've driven to Buffalo to fly out the same day. I personally love the Detroit airport, and the hotels servicing that hotel.


----------



## kg66

Is it just me or is the airfare out of this world this year
Usually our family of 4 can do Detroit to Orlando round trip for $1000 or under, this year it's closer to $2000!!! What's up with that? Any suggestions I've checked all the airlines direct websites, as well as Kayak, Priceline, Hotwire, etc... Looking to go out Mar.23 ret'n Mar 31...


----------



## Bubbie

Same problem here.We always fly out of Detroit for March Break, but with airfare so expensive, we will be driving instead.


----------



## Chip_Dale

What are the airline options out of Buffalo for a direct flight?  Are there any other cariers other than Southblue or JetBlue?


----------



## MrsB1228

Chip_Dale said:


> What are the airline options out of Buffalo for a direct flight?  Are there any other cariers other than Southblue or JetBlue?



AirTran also offers direct flights to Orlando.  Has anyone had any experience with them?


----------



## CanadianPaco

We've flown Buffalo to Orlando many times direct with Air Trans. Piece of cake! This next trip, Delta had cheaper direct flights out of Detroit for us though.


----------



## archdandy

So I've been scouring the internet trying to get a good deal on flights these past few weeks. We are going down in September and the flights from Toronto ranged from $750-$1000 for two adults. That's way too expensive for us. We had talked about driving but neither of us are really thrilled about that option. I started looking at prices from Buffalo today and found what I think is a good deal. Its $480 for both of us including taxes. Then its about $50 for both of our checked bags and I'm estimating around $60 for gas. Plus another $60 for parking. The dilemma is that the flight is at 6:00am which is what I wanted but that would mean we would have to leave home around 10:00m the previous night to get to the airport on time. Plus there's a stop so its a 5.5 hour flight. What I'm wondering is if you guys think this is worth it or should we just drive?


----------



## MrsB1228

Another option would be to drive to Buffalo the night before your flight and stay in one of the hotels that offer a parking package with your room.  Check out the Park, Sleep, Fly website to see a listing of airport hotels that offer these packages.  I'm sure there are other members here who could offer hotel suggestions too.  We're going to fly out of Buffalo this September too, for the same reasons.  Flying out of Toronto is just ridiculously expensive, almost double what we'd pay to fly out of Buffalo.


----------



## archdandy

MrsB1228 said:


> Another option would be to drive to Buffalo the night before your flight and stay in one of the hotels that offer a parking package with your room.  Check out the Park, Sleep, Fly website to see a listing of airport hotels that offer these packages.  I'm sure there are other members here who could offer hotel suggestions too.  We're going to fly out of Buffalo this September too, for the same reasons.  Flying out of Toronto is just ridiculously expensive, almost double what we'd pay to fly out of Buffalo.



Thanks! It looks like your going to be arriving the same day as us!  I'll definitely check out that website.


----------



## DVC Melissa

CanadianGuy said:


> Post your best tips and guidance for flying out of Buffalo or Detroit to MCO in this thread here..
> 
> I've asked for it to be made a sticky.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Knox



We fly out of Detroit as we are in London Ontario. The hotels that offer Park and Fly are reasonable and your vehical is secure.


----------



## DVC Melissa

MrsB1228 said:


> AirTran also offers direct flights to Orlando.  Has anyone had any experience with them?



I have travelled on AirTran from Detroit to Orlando and find it much much better than Spirit Air and less expensive. I have also used Delta but it can be a bit higher of a price.


----------



## grantclaire

We are flying out of Buffalo for the first time this December.  Direct flight to Fort Lauderdale with Southwest.  Should be no problem driving to Buffalo as long as the weather is good.  Am a little worried about flying Southwest after watching the show On the Fly!  Are they always bumping people from the flights?


----------



## MrsB1228

archdandy said:


> Thanks! It looks like your going to be arriving the same day as us!  I'll definitely check out that website.



Did you have any luck finding a hotel you like?  We're going to be staying at the Days Inn, which is right across from the airport.  Which Disney resort are you staying at?  Maybe we'll see each other!


----------



## MrsB1228

CanadianPaco said:


> We've flown Buffalo to Orlando many times direct with Air Trans. Piece of cake! This next trip, Delta had cheaper direct flights out of Detroit for us though.





DVC Melissa said:


> I have travelled on AirTran from Detroit to Orlando and find it much much better than Spirit Air and less expensive. I have also used Delta but it can be a bit higher of a price.



Thanks for your feedback!  I've booked our flight with AirTran flying out of Buffalo direct to Orlando.  It cost $926.40 for 4 adults, including all taxes and choosing our seats in advance.  We'll have to pay $20/suitcase at the airport and the hotel will cost us $151.73 including all taxes, fees and 14 days parking.  I'm also budgeting an additional $125 for gas and food.  The best price I could find for direct (I hate connecting flights and avoid them whenever possible) out of Toronto was $1722.40 flying with WestJet.  Air Canada was comparable at $1722.48.  AC charges $25 for the first suitcase and I believe the first is still free with WJ?  Parking would set us back approximately $130 for the two weeks.  So the total out of Buffalo is US$1283 and out of Toronto (flying WJ) CDN$1852.  At todays exchange rate, we're still saving around $550.  Which means more money for Disney!


----------



## tgropp

*We are flying out of Detroit to Orlando for 12 days..hence we need 12 days of parking. We always stay at the Westin at Mcnamara terminal but since we leave on a Thursday, the rates with taxes and 12 days parking is over $400.00. So, we are still staying at the Westin for free on points and I can get 12 days of parking at the big blue deck at the north terminal of detroit airport for $120.00 plus tax. It says that it has a free shuttle to Mcnamara terminal/Westin hotel. and that it is a covered lot. Has anyone ever parked here before. I think that this is the terminal where Southwest and some other airlines fly out of.*


----------



## MrsB1228

ciniagara said:


> Please anybody from out of the Niagara region that are planning on flying out of Buffalo take the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie. Do Not take the Queenston Lewiston bridge or the Rainbow bridge. The drive between them and Fort Erie is minimal and the drive from the Peace bridge and the airport is so much easier. Also the wait times at the Peace bridge are a lot shorter than you will ever find at Queenston Lewiston





3 Mouseketeers said:


> I cant remember the last time we flew out of Pearson. Anywhere in the US we fly out of Buffalo. Whether flying to California, Nevada, Florida or even close by to NYC, Pearson cant even touch the cost of flying out of Buffalo even after you put in the "park, sleep, fly" cost. Time isnt a factor as Buffalo is only an extra 20-30 minute drive for us.
> For our upcoming trip, our direct SW flight was $215 pp return! Thats with taxes and all fees in. Cheapest direct return flights I found out of Pearson were about $400 pp.
> 
> As for bridge crossing, we always cross at Fort Erie. First few times we crossed at Queenston/Lewiston but not any longer. As ciniagara mentioned the waits are always much much longer.



Thank you both for this advice!  This will be our first time flying out of Buffalo and we had been planning to cross at Queenston/Lewiston but will do as you suggest, thanks again!


----------



## Da2154

tgropp said:


> *We are flying out of Detroit to Orlando for 12 days..hence we need 12 days of parking. We always stay at the Westin at Mcnamara terminal but since we leave on a Thursday, the rates with taxes and 12 days parking is over $400.00. So, we are still staying at the Westin for free on points and I can get 12 days of parking at the big blue deck at the north terminal of detroit airport for $120.00 plus tax. It says that it has a free shuttle to Mcnamara terminal/Westin hotel. and that it is a covered lot. Has anyone ever parked here before. I think that this is the terminal where Southwest and some other airlines fly out of.*




We just did exactly that!  Yes, the Big Blue Deck is covered and costs $10/day. It's a large parking garage so write down where you parked. The Terminal-Westin-Terminal shuttle is free but it will take you some time. On our return, the shuttle was just driving away as we got to ground level. So, the Green Lot shuttle driver offered to take us to the Big Blue Deck, which was very kind of him.


----------



## ryckpen

We live in Windsor and are flying to Disney at the end of January. We are lucky to live so close to Detroit Metro Airport. Just wondering about s/p/f. We need to be at the airport at 6:30 am and with January weather and border issues thought this might be a viable option. Any info would be apprieciated.


----------



## tgropp

ryckpen said:


> We live in Windsor and are flying to Disney at the end of January. We are lucky to live so close to Detroit Metro Airport. Just wondering about s/p/f. We need to be at the airport at 6:30 am and with January weather and border issues thought this might be a viable option. Any info would be apprieciated.



I am presuming s/p/f means stay.park and fly. If so stay at any one of the airport hotels. They all include free parking (usually 7-10 days) and a free shuttle to and from the airport. If you are leaving on a Fri-Sat_Sun, I would reccomend the Westin that is attached to McNaamara Terminal . For $175 you get valet parking, 10 days free parking and your hotel room is a 5 minute walk to the terminal (Delta). We are staying there the last night in January.


----------



## ryckpen

tgropp said:


> I am presuming s/p/f means stay.park and fly. If so stay at any one of the airport hotels. They all include free parking (usually 7-10 days) and a free shuttle to and from the airport. If you are leaving on a Fri-Sat_Sun, I would reccomend the Westin that is attached to McNaamara Terminal . For $175 you get valet parking, 10 days free parking and your hotel room is a 5 minute walk to the terminal (Delta). We are staying there the last night in January.



Thank you Tgropp. That would be a really nice way to start my vacation just wake up and walk to my teminal.  Hope you have a great time in Disney. We might just be passing in the airport I am returning Feb 1st.


----------



## GGKoul

As someone who lives in Southern Ontario, I have a choice to fly out of Buffalo or Toronto.  Sure Toronto is closer, but usually these Buffalo to Orlando or anywhere warm flights are usually in the early AM, so crossing the boarder takes a few minutes since there isn't usually a line up.  And when you get to the Buffalo airport, checking in and security is a piece of cake especially when compared to Toronto security & US customs.  I would actually say when comparing driving to Buffalo vs Toronto.  When you consider driving, customs, and check in time, I would say Buffalo and Toronto total time from home to gate is a push for me.

You have to remember the flight costs are usually cheaper when compared to Toronto costs.  As I'm been lucky to book my 4 family members direct from Buffalo to Orlando for $1000.  Once with Jet Blue and my next flight is with Air Tran.  That's at least half of what Air Canada would have charged.

Then you consider parking, Buffalo airport is 20-40% cheaper then Toronto options.  So that helps with the gas costs.  But when you consider picking up some cheap beer from customs and then filling up on cheap gas before crossing, the costs of getting there is a push.  Regarding Buffalo Airport parking, there is round the clock shuttles that basically picks you up where you parked, they give you a ticket # to assist with finding your car when you come back and then they take you right to the terminal.  Then when you arrive, you give the ticket to the shuttle driver and they take you right to your car.  Awesome Service!!!

So for me its a no brainer to book a flight from Buffalo.

Note, I usually cross at Lewiston.  As the Niagara Falls/Fort Erie route is very dark at night and at least the Lewiston/St. Catharine's part is lite up some what.

Hope that helps!
-GG


----------



## CanadianPaco

ryckpen said:


> Thank you Tgropp. That would be a really nice way to start my vacation just wake up and walk to my teminal.  Hope you have a great time in Disney. We might just be passing in the airport I am returning Feb 1st.



I never thought of the Westin! Awesome! Thanks!


----------



## Zabnee

We've flown out of Detroit twice, to head to Orlando, in the past 4 years.  If there's one thing I've learned, it's this:  don't stay at the Super 8.  

Even being from two hours north of Toronto, along the 400, the amount we saved going to Detroit instead of T.O. was soo worth it!

Next time, though, we're going to watch for sales and try to fly Buffalo.

Next adventure:  possibly trying the drive, again, down to WDW in October, with a party of 10!


----------



## Mummyof4

Any recommendations for Buffalo hotels, to leave your car at instead of the airport (or any who don't recommend this at all)?


----------



## Mickey'sCanadiannurs

Ham Ham said:


> I think that a thread about driving routes would be a good idea.
> I'm sure there are folks from all across the country that could provide tips and tricks. I often respond to people posting about driving from Ontario to WDW.
> 
> Disboards could also post from out east and the folks out west too with routes to Disneyland.



Have done this for over 30 yrs... and know it so well don't need a map ! It is fantastic.... we have taken flights, but preference depends on the trip !


----------



## Disneylover99

Mummyof4 said:


> Any recommendations for Buffalo hotels, to leave your car at instead of the airport (or any who don't recommend this at all)?



Days Inn Buffalo Airport
4345 Genesee St.


----------



## archdandy

I'm coming from just north of Toronto and I wanted to know which bridge is best to cross at? I'm worried about getting stuck at the border for a really long time next week.


----------



## MrsB1228

archdandy said:


> I'm coming from just north of Toronto and I wanted to know which bridge is best to cross at? I'm worried about getting stuck at the border for a really long time next week.



We crossed at Fort Erie last year around mid-day (between 2:30 & 3:00) and were through in less than 10 minutes.  We'll be doing the same thing this year.


----------



## MrsB1228

Disneylover99 said:


> Days Inn Buffalo Airport
> 4345 Genesee St.



I second this!!  We stayed there last year and are returning this year.


----------



## tgropp

It all depends on when you cross. Either bridge will be good during the week except rush hour times but weekends is a different story.


----------



## JenluvsDisney

archdandy said:


> I'm coming from just north of Toronto and I wanted to know which bridge is best to cross at? I'm worried about getting stuck at the border for a really long time next week.



When we drive we either cross at the Peace bridge (Fort Erie) or at Queenston/Lewiston.  I use the mobile version of the peacebridge.com website which gives up-to-date information on current wait times.  As we get closer to the border I check on my phone which bridge has the shorter time and we go to that one.  

If you're looking for other crossing information The Canadian Border Patrol maintains this website, which includes information on all the other crossings you might be considering:  cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/bwt-taf/menu-eng.html

Sorry I can't post the exact links -- I haven't posted to the disboards enough times to enable that feature  -- but you can hopefully copy and paste and add a "www" to follow the links, if you're interested.


----------



## archdandy

Thanks guys. I will download the mobile app so we can keep checking the wait times. We are crossing on a Monday in the early afternoon so hopefully it won't be too busy.


----------



## mamabear0222

Keep in mind for anyone crossing both Queenston Lewiston in Buffalo is under construction as well as a lot of Windsor to the bridge.

Detroit tunnel was extremely slow for us a few weeks ago, take the bridge if you  must cross there.

For Buffalo we crossed at Ft Erie, 20 min wait on a weekend, came back rainbow, about the same wait.  

Queenston was a mess, the electronic signs to Niagara are even telling people it's over an hour wait time there while under construction.

Just thought I'd update this a bit for this summer for anyone travelling. We cross quite a bit.


----------



## jayjay13

I'm leaving on Monday for FL via BUF on an 8:50am direct JetBlue flight. DH decided at the last minute to stay overnight in BUF. Where are you guys finidng hotel deals for the park.sleep.fly? I can't find anything under $200 for the 5 of us. 

Thanks!


----------



## MrsB1228

jayjay13 said:


> I'm leaving on Monday for FL via BUF on an 8:50am direct JetBlue flight. DH decided at the last minute to stay overnight in BUF. Where are you guys finidng hotel deals for the park.sleep.fly? I can't find anything under $200 for the 5 of us.
> 
> Thanks!



I always use the park, sleep, fly website here: "http://www.parksleepfly.com"

How long will you be leaving your car?  That can affect the price.


----------



## MrsB1228

BTW, we stayed at the Days Hotel which is right across the street from the airport.  It was awesome and the price was very reasonable.  There were two of us and we were parking the car for 15 days.  I think the price was around $105US, taxes in.  This was the end of September/early October 2012. 

Good luck with your search and have a great trip!


----------



## MrMarv

There's a Comfort Suites 2 1/2 miles from the airport offering 2 double beds for 5 guests for $130.50, but you'll have to call them (716-633-6000) for details about their Stay & Fly packages.

There's also a Homewood Suites by Hilton as well as a Hilton Garden Inn at the airport, so try both of them as well.

 Good luck!


----------



## stevelle

I booked the La Quinta for $66 a night on priceline...then I will park at the airport (which is about $45).  That way I don't need to worry about hotel shuttles and can just get my car and go when we return from our trip.  I like having that little bit of control.


----------



## MidnightParade

I have a question about the AIT (body imaging thing) at security in at Buffalo airport as I have never done it before. When you go through where do they have you empty your pockets/leave your purse? I'm assuming you have to face the screen so does it go through behind you or behind the screen?

I ask because while returning from Disney in 2010 we saw a woman talking to security in MCO and what happened was while going through the metal detector, while pushing her wheelchair bound husband, her purse went through the scanner before her and someone picked it up and waked away with it. With all their money and ID. It was terrible! Since then I am paranoid and would hold on to my purse until it was actually my turn to go through and then I would watch like a hawk. That was with the old metal detector process.

Just wondering what to expect with the AIT in Buffalo?  Appreciate any help and insight!


----------



## smashing

We used Buffalo in September.  It was great.   We were the only people in security at the time so we didn't have any issues .  It's such a small airport I can't imagine that when its busy they would push people through as much as they do in MCO.


----------



## Tinkermom76

subscribing


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## avlee

Flint is a great option if you are driving in from southwestern Ontario.  Small but modern airport, easy to find and to navigate once you're inside.

Offsite 1974, 1988/9, 2005/6/7/8/9/10, All Star Sports 2011, offsite 2012, Riverside 2013/14


----------



## CristianoSantos

Just got an email with this special:

http://www.millenniumhotels.com/usa...0107&utm_content=parkandfly&utm_term=external

Stayed at Millenium once and it was not so bad


----------



## canadiandisneynut

Which site is everyone using to find great prices with NWA- we have always made the drive to Buffalo but would absolutely consider Detroit


----------



## Cottager

canadiandisneynut said:


> Which site is everyone using to find great prices with NWA- we have always made the drive to Buffalo but would absolutely consider Detroit



NWA was absorbed into Delta airlines back in October 2008.  The references to NWA in this old thread are now outdated.


----------



## canadiandisneynut

@Cottager Thanks! I hadn't realized how old those references were. I spent some time online and see that Spirit seems to be the best prices out of Detroit. We are east of Toronto and will stick to going out of Buffalo


----------



## canadiankim

We got good prices out of Buffalo on Delta for August 5-16 2015.  Four of us for $1350 CDN, it isn't a non-stop flight but that's okay with us.  We leave BUF at 7am, to LaGuardia, quick hour layover which works out great for breakfast and then land at MCO for 12:30 ish.  We are meeting friends who are flying from NYC so it worked out great with the timing.

I have booked the hotel and parking via parksleephotels.com and have booked the Clarion with 21 days (not that we need that many days) parking for $119 USD


----------



## Anderkym

I was just able to book flights from Buffalo on Southwest for August 17-26. $880 Canadian for three of us.  ($113 American each way non-stop)


----------



## Hockeyfan17

I also booked on Southwest today, August 25-September 2 for $784 American for four of us, all direct flights from BUF to MCO ($99 each way). Couldn't ask for better prices.


----------



## MammerJammer

SW flights--$99 one-way, non-stop seem to be gone for Buffalo for my dates.

Has anyone flown Delta or Spirit out of Detroit? How is it?


----------



## Frank4202

MammerJammer said:


> SW flights--$99 one-way, non-stop seem to be gone for Buffalo for my dates.
> 
> Has anyone flown Delta or Spirit out of Detroit? How is it?



Never used Spirit but have used Delta numerous times including our trip back in October. Detroit is a very straight forward easy to navigate airport.


----------



## MammerJammer

Thanks! It seems my DH does not want to drive to Detroit (4.5 hours) but he will drive to Buffalo (2.5 hours).


----------



## kimber11

We have flown out of both Buffalo and Detroit.  Both were great.  We have flown with Jet Blue which is wonderful since you each get a tv and we have flown Southwest which is great too.  Just no tv.  We got a great deal for Southwest for our next trip in September.


----------



## MammerJammer

Ahhh! I wish my DH would agree we could fly out of Detroit. Everything seems so much better vs what I'm seeing out of Buffalo. It's really a difference of, what, 2 hours? Maybe I can get him to see the light if I show him what's going on out of Buffalo right now.


----------



## Queen of Oakville

MidnightParade said:


> I have a question about the AIT (body imaging thing) at security in at Buffalo airport as I have never done it before. When you go through where do they have you empty your pockets/leave your purse? I'm assuming you have to face the screen so does it go through behind you or behind the screen?
> 
> I ask because while returning from Disney in 2010 we saw a woman talking to security in MCO and what happened was while going through the metal detector, while pushing her wheelchair bound husband, her purse went through the scanner before her and someone picked it up and waked away with it. With all their money and ID. It was terrible! Since then I am paranoid and would hold on to my purse until it was actually my turn to go through and then I would watch like a hawk. That was with the old metal detector process.
> 
> Just wondering what to expect with the AIT in Buffalo?  Appreciate any help and insight!




I'm always paranoid about this at any airport.  DH goes first, followed by the kids.   I go last and our last bin to get scanned is the one with the passports, money, cameras etc.  This way I know DH has cleared and is able to grab my stuff.  I sometimes wave other ahead to make sure DH is ready.  i don't trust anyone


----------



## archdandy

I just booked flights out of Buffalo for April 7-14 for two round trip adults, with one stop for an hour at BWI on the way home. It cost $617 CDN once it was converted and such. Its not a terrible price considering the cheapest I could find from Pearson was $677 CDN plus an extra $100 for bags. I know we have to drive further and pay for hotel and parking but we prefer flying from Buffalo as you don't have to go through customs and the airport is much easier to navigate. Besides we would be paying for a hotel the night before in Toronto anyways as we like to fly out on the earliest flights available. I've definitely gotten cheaper flights from Buffalo before though.


----------



## busymommy2pink

MammerJammer said:


> Ahhh! I wish my DH would agree we could fly out of Detroit. Everything seems so much better vs what I'm seeing out of Buffalo. It's really a difference of, what, 2 hours? Maybe I can get him to see the light if I show him what's going on out of Buffalo right now.



We have flown from both and actually prefer Detroit. We drive there from Toronto (4.5 hours or so). They have really great hotels just by the airport, we got a GREAT deal ($56 i think) and they had a Continental breakfast and complimentary shuttle! Honestly, after fly Pearson (Toronto) in Sept with just my youngest, I would rather drive to Detroit (or even Buffalo) in a heartbeat. Bonus is Detroit usually has direct flights. We usually fly Delta there and it's always been a pleasure.


----------



## Queen of Oakville

We had the same experience.  In November, we flew A/C to Miami because we were not sure of transfers from FLL to the Port of Miami.  Never again.  Waited forever for the park and fly shuttle.  The airport was so disorganized.  PEople were in the wrong lines; you had to print your own luggage tags.  Never again!!!!


----------



## MammerJammer

busymommy2pink said:


> We have flown from both and actually prefer Detroit. We drive there from Toronto (4.5 hours or so). They have really great hotels just by the airport, we got a GREAT deal ($56 i think) and they had a Continental breakfast and complimentary shuttle! Honestly, after fly Pearson (Toronto) in Sept with just my youngest, I would rather drive to Detroit (or even Buffalo) in a heartbeat. Bonus is Detroit usually has direct flights. We usually fly Delta there and it's always been a pleasure.



We've decided to do this even though, as you say, it's a 4.5 hour drive for us. Direct, cheap flights. We'll stay over at a hotel near the airport and park free for the week.


----------



## canadiankim

We have done DTW to MCO a number of times and like the DTW airport and hotels around that we can leave the car at.  This year we opted to fly from BUF which isn't a direct flight but is so good for times etc that we couldn't resist the shorter drive home at the end of our trip.  We got good prices and a cheap hotel to park the night before....Role on August - I can't wait!!!


----------



## KanataDad

For Ottawa residents.   There was something posted a year ago about Ogdensburg expanding their airport to cater for direct flights to Orlando.   Any one know when this will be completed or if there are any more details?


Found the news article from last year ...
http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ogdensburg-airport-in-expansion-mode-to-attract-ottawa-passengers-1.1904713


And here one about approval of extending the runway ...
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20141122/NEWS05/141129592

But no news of when they will start offering (direct) services to newer (further) destinations.


----------



## MikeJ

My son and his girlfriend are flying from BUF to MCO in May (Victoria Day weekend).  I have limited experience flying from BUF (we usually go from DTW) so I'm curious how much time they should leave to get from Mississauga/Etobicoke to the airport.  Would leaving 4 hrs before flight time be enough to travel the QEW and cross the border or should they allow more?  Also, is Niagara or Ft. Erie the preferred crossing these days?  They'll be driving down on a Sunday.  Thanks.

- Mike


----------



## wendy123

I will be flying out of BUF and plan on staying at the Days Inn Buffalo Airport. 

We plan on taking Southwest.  Our flight is at 5:30 AM.

Anybody have any idea how often the Days Inn"s shuttle runs?

What time should we be at the airport?


----------



## canadiankim

I drive from Guelph to the Buffalo airport and usually allow 2.5 hours to get there, that way I am not rushing to drop off the car, or check in.  We rarely take checked baggage so check in online the day before and go straight to security check.  Its a nice small airport and never seems to feel busy.  We usually cross at Ft Erie as that is the most direct route to the airport.  I wouldn't think that it should be that busy going into the US on a Sunday but you can always check the bridges on-route and if Ft Erie is really busy use one of the other crossings.


----------



## OttawaDisGirl

KanataDad said:


> For Ottawa residents.   There was something posted a year ago about Ogdensburg expanding their airport to cater for direct flights to Orlando.   Any one know when this will be completed or if there are any more details?
> 
> 
> Found the news article from last year ...
> http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ogdensburg-airport-in-expansion-mode-to-attract-ottawa-passengers-1.1904713
> 
> 
> And here one about approval of extending the runway ...
> http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20141122/NEWS05/141129592
> 
> But no news of when they will start offering (direct) services to newer (further) destinations.



This is exciting!  I found this article that says November 2016...

I hope so!

http://www.ogd.com/article/20141125/OGD/141129041

(I could only read this article if I answered survey questions...)


----------



## KanataDad

Was hoping it would be sooner - but yes it will be worth the wait.   I think prices will be much lower than flights out of Ottawa!


OttawaDisGirl said:


> This is exciting!  I found this article that says November 2016...
> 
> I hope so!
> 
> http://www.ogd.com/article/20141125/OGD/141129041
> 
> (I could only read this article if I answered survey questions...)


----------



## Krikir

Has anyone flown Spirit Airlines out of the Detroit airport?  Are they reliable?


----------



## Frank4202

Krikir said:


> Has anyone flown Spirit Airlines out of the Detroit airport?  Are they reliable?




I fly out of Detroit on a regular basis. However, never used Spirit. Have always heard poor things about their service and hidden fees. What exactly where you wondering?


----------



## Krikir

I was searching for flights from Detroit to Orlando and the cheapest flights were offered by Spirit.  I had never heard of the airline but everything in me tells me this could be one of those airlines where it will get you to Orlando but while you are down there, it could go bankrupt.  I believe there was another US budget airline that went bankrupt during March Break a few years back.  Doesn't sound like a good idea for me.  Plus I read you have to pay for every bag including carryon luggage.


----------



## Frank4202

Krikir said:


> I was searching for flights from Detroit to Orlando and the cheapest flights were offered by Spirit.  I had never heard of the airline but everything in me tells me this could be one of those airlines where it will get you to Orlando but while you are down there, it could go bankrupt.  I believe there was another US budget airline that went bankrupt during March Break a few years back.  Doesn't sound like a good idea for me.  Plus I read you have to pay for every bag including carryon luggage.




Yes, they have many hidden fees. Some of which include...

-Carry on $35
-First Checked Bag $30 (Could be $100 if checked at the gate). Must be under 40lbs to avoid overweight charges.
-Up to $50 if you want to select your seat
-Up to $10 for snacks
-$10 for an agent to print your boarding pass. Free if you do it at home or $2 to print it yourself at the airport


----------



## Krikir

Wow, that really does add up, thanks Frank 4202!  I think I will pass on this airline and see what SW comes out with on May 14 from BUF to MCO.


----------



## MegaSilver

wendy123 said:


> I will be flying out of BUF and plan on staying at the Days Inn Buffalo Airport.
> 
> We plan on taking Southwest.  Our flight is at 5:30 AM.
> 
> Anybody have any idea how often the Days Inn"s shuttle runs?
> 
> What time should we be at the airport?



Just got back from the same thing. Flew out at 5:30, stayed overnight at Days Inn. A small continental breakfast is served at 4am. The shuttle bus seems to run on demand. We told the staff at check-in that we need to leave just after 4am, and he said no problem. We got down to the lobby around 3:50am, and most of the breakfast items were available. Grabbed a few pieces of toast and a coffee, and took them with us on the shuttle to the airport about 4:05am. Ate on the bus and waiting in line at the Southwest counter. Once we checked our bags, we tossed the remaining food in the garbage and headed to security. We were lucky and got TSA-Pre so breezed right through security. Then, we sat round the airport for almost an hour

Coming back, we arrived at midnight. We grabbed our bags, then from the Niagara/Buffalo Info desk, made a call to the hotel. 5 minutes later the shuttle arrived and drove us back to the lot. 

Very simple. I would recommend them again


----------



## sk8jdgca

I've started flying southwest out of Flint Michigan. They offer a good selection on non stop. There are around 5 gates in total. Cheap parking but with sleep and flys near by.


----------



## Frank4202

sk8jdgca said:


> I've started flying southwest out of Flint Michigan. They offer a good selection on non stop. There are around 5 gates in total. Cheap parking but with sleep and flys near by.



Ive actually found some non stop flights for $99 in November! Great prices outta Flint.


----------



## archdandy

Does anyone know if there is a specific section that Southwest flights board in at Buffalo airport? I'm wondering if I'll be able to know what section we will be in for our next flight.


----------



## Lesverts

I hate flying out of Buffalo. Boarder guards are also not the nicest I've found. But 214USD for Southwest with a free bag compared to 550CAD on Westjet, there is just no comparison. I get my Dad to drive, I treat him and my mom to a hotel stay near the Fallsview Casino, we do some Christmas shopping before I go. It makes getting to Orlando cheaper but if I have the choice or only save 100ish dollars I always prefer Pearson.


----------



## brighteyes

I am flying out of buffalo on Aug 11 but plan on staying at a hotel the night before to do a park sleep n fly. I will need parking for 16 nights including the night before our flight. I am wondering which is a good hotel to stay at with good shuttle service and a well lit, locked parking lot? Also, what is a decent amount to pay? 

And which bridge would be the best to cross at if I am coming from Kitchener? 

Is there anything else I need to know as well? I have never flown out of Buffalo or at all in the last 10 years. I am flying SWA.

Thanks.


----------



## MrsB1228

We stayed at the Days Hotel Buffalo Airport the last 3 times we flew out of Buffalo.  It's an older hotel but very well kept and is right across the street from the airport.  They start serving their complimentary breakfast early (around 4am if I remember correctly) and the shuttle service is fast and runs "on demand".  We would go down for breakfast, then back upstairs to brush our teeth, grab our suitcases and then back to the front desk to request the shuttle.  They call and about 5 minutes later, it arrives to pick you up.  You're at the airport in about 10 minutes, easy-peasy.  We got a coupon for 20% off our last stay, but I think standard prices run around $115 - $125 for the time we travel (end of September).  You'd have to check the website for August pricing.  7 days parking is included, and each additional day is around $8/day I believe.  The have a locked, fenced compound right behind the hotel for your car, and it's monitored by video cameras 24 hours a day.  You park your own car and take your keys with you.

We always cross at the Peace Bridge.

Hope that helps!


----------



## brighteyes

MrsB1228 said:


> We stayed at the Days Hotel Buffalo Airport the last 3 times we flew out of Buffalo.  It's an older hotel but very well kept and is right across the street from the airport.  They start serving their complimentary breakfast early (around 4am if I remember correctly) and the shuttle service is fast and runs "on demand".  We would go down for breakfast, then back upstairs to brush our teeth, grab our suitcases and then back to the front desk to request the shuttle.  They call and about 5 minutes later, it arrives to pick you up.  You're at the airport in about 10 minutes, easy-peasy.  We got a coupon for 20% off our last stay, but I think standard prices run around $115 - $125 for the time we travel (end of September).  You'd have to check the website for August pricing.  7 days parking is included, and each additional day is around $8/day I believe.  The have a locked, fenced compound right behind the hotel for your car, and it's monitored by video cameras 24 hours a day.  You park your own car and take your keys with you.
> 
> We always cross at the Peace Bridge.
> 
> Hope that helps!



Great! That does help! May I ask how you got the discount coupon? Any $$ saved is money I can spend at Disney.


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

brighteyes said:


> Great! That does help! May I ask how you got the discount coupon? Any $$ saved is money I can spend at Disney.



I'm not the PP you were quoting, but we stayed at the same property a few years ago and got a coupon for a future stay (sent to us via email, if I remember correctly) after we stayed the first time.  Considering the PP has also stayed there now for multiple trips, I am guessing they might still be offering that promotion (fingers crossed, because we are flying out of BUF in both October and December, and have park and fly reservations for both trips at the Days Inn).

brighteyes, you may also want to see what rates for Days Inn Buffalo Airport are through Peace Bridge Duty Free.   Sometimes they are lower than through the hotel itself, and then you also get a $5 voucher to apply to any of your purchases at the Duty Free store.

http://www.dutyfree.ca/DaysHotelFlying.aspx


----------



## MrsB1228

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina is exactly right, we received our 20% off coupon directly from the hotel via email, about 4 months after our stay.  It was good for any future stay.  The deal through Peace Bridge Duty Free, if available, would definitely be the way to go!  It looks like the charge would be $89 + tax and it includes 30 days parking!  If you can get that, it's definitely a sweet deal.  Good luck!


----------



## hardis5

Anyone have recent parking experiences in Detroit?  Any recommendations?


----------



## Frank4202

hardis5 said:


> Anyone have recent parking experiences in Detroit?  Any recommendations?



I ALWAYS park at the green lot which is $8 per day. They shuttle you in and out to your terminal using large vans. There is also a blue covered lot available for what I believe is $10 a day.


----------



## brighteyes

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:


> I'm not the PP you were quoting, but we stayed at the same property a few years ago and got a coupon for a future stay (sent to us via email, if I remember correctly) after we stayed the first time.  Considering the PP has also stayed there now for multiple trips, I am guessing they might still be offering that promotion (fingers crossed, because we are flying out of BUF in both October and December, and have park and fly reservations for both trips at the Days Inn).
> 
> brighteyes, you may also want to see what rates for Days Inn Buffalo Airport are through Peace Bridge Duty Free.   Sometimes they are lower than through the hotel itself, and then you also get a $5 voucher to apply to any of your purchases at the Duty Free store.
> 
> http://www.dutyfree.ca/DaysHotelFlying.aspx





MrsB1228 said:


> Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina is exactly right, we received our 20% off coupon directly from the hotel via email, about 4 months after our stay.  It was good for any future stay.  The deal through Peace Bridge Duty Free, if available, would definitely be the way to go!  It looks like the charge would be $89 + tax and it includes 30 days parking!  If you can get that, it's definitely a sweet deal.  Good luck!



Thank you everyone I booked the Days Hotel through the Peace Bridge Duty Free for 89. Night which includes 30 days of parking. Leaving Monday for Buffalo and flying out Tuesday.


----------



## brighteyes

How far is the hotel from the Peace Bridge?


----------



## Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina

brighteyes said:


> Thank you everyone I booked the Days Hotel through the Peace Bridge Duty Free for 89. Night which includes 30 days of parking. Leaving Monday for Buffalo and flying out Tuesday.



Have a great trip!!  Let us know what you think of the hotel after you have stayed there.  We haven't flown from BUF since Christmas 2012 (prices have been better from Syracuse, which is a bit closer for us) but we will be at the Days Inn Buffalo Airport is less than 9 weeks and again in December, so I'm interested to hear if anything has changed in the last 2.5 years.


----------



## shaynar

Does anyone know of a hotel near the Buffalo airport that has a full fridge in the room?


----------



## doobie11

Does anyone know if Southwest is still flying nonstop to Orlando from Flint? I've been looking and can't see it. Or does anyone besides Spirit and Delta fly nonstop from Detroit to Orlando? I've looked on Southwest website, but can't seem to find the info. We would fly out of Detroit, Columbus, Flint or even southwest Ontario, but only if nonstop flights. 
 Why is it so hard to find on airline websites? I want *them *to tell *me* where they depart from that are nonstop. I finally saw on Westjet route map that they departed from London to Orlando on what I thought was a nonstop flight. I picked the dates, and they were all connecting flights. I don't want to have to input 5 airports in the search function in order to figure it out. What am I missing?
thanks so much


----------



## Frank4202

doobie11 said:


> Does anyone know if Southwest is still flying nonstop to Orlando from Flint? I've been looking and can't see it. Or does anyone besides Spirit and Delta fly nonstop from Detroit to Orlando? I've looked on Southwest website, but can't seem to find the info. We would fly out of Detroit, Columbus, Flint or even southwest Ontario, but only if nonstop flights.
> Why is it so hard to find on airline websites? I want *them *to tell *me* where they depart from that are nonstop. I finally saw on Westjet route map that they departed from London to Orlando on what I thought was a nonstop flight. I picked the dates, and they were all connecting flights. I don't want to have to input 5 airports in the search function in order to figure it out. What am I missing?
> thanks so much



As far as I know, Southwest no longer offers non stop flights from Detroit Metro or Flint. They all have stops. I checked for about two months before I gave up and went non stop with Delta. It was cheaper too.


----------



## MidnightParade

doobie11 said:


> Does anyone know if Southwest is still flying nonstop to Orlando from Flint? I've been looking and can't see it. Or does anyone besides Spirit and Delta fly nonstop from Detroit to Orlando? I've looked on Southwest website, but can't seem to find the info. We would fly out of Detroit, Columbus, Flint or even southwest Ontario, but only if nonstop flights.
> Why is it so hard to find on airline websites? I want *them *to tell *me* where they depart from that are nonstop. I finally saw on Westjet route map that they departed from London to Orlando on what I thought was a nonstop flight. I picked the dates, and they were all connecting flights. I don't want to have to input 5 airports in the search function in order to figure it out. What am I missing?
> thanks so much



I think sometimes if you look at the airport website they may have a list of destinations they have direct flights too. But not 100%.


----------



## RCMommy

We have flown out of Detroit numerous times.  Sometimes drove in the night before, other times the day of.  Never ever felt unsafe, and you are not right in Detroit anyway.  We leave the car with Qwik Park on Merriman Rd. Red shuttles.  It is secure parking. Grab the shuttle and there in minutes.  We have stayed at a few of the hotels right across the street. I recall getting a coupon off of their website.  I know when we booked a hotel and 8 nights parking it was around $150 USD.

Also flown out of Buffalo airport BUF. We take the Qweenston -Lewiston bridge.  That bridge is more quiet than Blue Water in Sarnia and the Buffalo airport is not as busy as Detroit in my opinion.  They are both roughly the same drive for us from London, so I start watching flight prices and book out of whatever airport is cheaper.  This coming trip it is SWA out of BUF. For the dates I want there is no direct SWA flights from DTW to MCO.  I find Delta is often a little less out of Buffalo than Detroit.  I know a lot of people that claim to have gotten great deals with Jet Blue out of BUF to MCO but I have yet to ever find one of those deals.


----------



## RCMommy

Frank4202 said:


> As far as I know, Southwest no longer offers non stop flights from Detroit Metro or Flint. They all have stops. I checked for about two months before I gave up and went non stop with Delta. It was cheaper too.



I believe all of the United flights from London stop over in Chicago, where they switch to bigger planes.  All the Air Canada flights first go to Toronto and that is on a prop plane , then switch.

West Jet I personally find all of their flight prices are downright ridiculous prices or you lose an entire day to travel time.


----------



## kat0291

RCMommy said:


> I believe all of the United flights from London stop over in Chicago, where they switch to bigger planes.  All the Air Canada flights first go to Toronto and that is on a prop plane , then switch.
> 
> West Jet I personally find all of their flight prices are downright ridiculous prices or you lose an entire day to travel time.


----------



## kat0291

Another cheap airline from dtw to mco is fronter.  It is like spirit but for a 2 hour direct flight the prices are good.


----------



## kat0291

Krikir said:


> Has anyone flown Spirit Airlines out of the Detroit airport?  Are they reliable?


never had a problem.


----------



## MainStreetMouse

We used to fly Southwest all the time but wold rather fly direct now so we now fly Delta. Prices are often the same or a bit cheaper. Since Delta charges $25 for checked luggage we are usually able to check just one bag with items that TSA will not allow in carry on. This keeps prices comparable.

Big difference with Delta is the direct flights, I do not like lay overs any more.




Frank4202 said:


> As far as I know, Southwest no longer offers non stop flights from Detroit Metro or Flint. They all have stops. I checked for about two months before I gave up and went non stop with Delta. It was cheaper too.


----------



## RCMommy

Southwest has two flights a day that are direct from Buffalo to Orlando.


----------



## robinsnest49ers

Help with Parking -  So I get a great deal at the Westin at DTW because my daughter works for Starwood, but not too thrilled to pay $23/day for parking for 12 days. Was wondering if I could park at Quik Park, get shuttled by them to the Airport, then find my way to the Westin. We are staying the night before we fly out in the morning. Then on the way home, we just get the Quik Park shuttle to our car. This way parking is only $10/day with a free day. Opinions please, we have never stayed at the Westin. Is it easier to go through security? We will have to check bags in the morning so my understanding is we have to check our bags then go back to the hotel (if we want) and go through their security. Is it worth it or should I just stay at the Fairfield which is right next door to Quik Park?


----------



## tgropp

robinsnest49ers said:


> Help with Parking -  So I get a great deal at the Westin at DTW because my daughter works for Starwood, but not too thrilled to pay $23/day for parking for 12 days. Was wondering if I could park at Quik Park, get shuttled by them to the Airport, then find my way to the Westin. We are staying the night before we fly out in the morning. Then on the way home, we just get the Quik Park shuttle to our car. This way parking is only $10/day with a free day. Opinions please, we have never stayed at the Westin. Is it easier to go through security? We will have to check bags in the morning so my understanding is we have to check our bags then go back to the hotel (if we want) and go through their security. Is it worth it or should I just stay at the Fairfield which is right next door to Quik Park?





We always stay at the Weston but always get park n fly package. It is a beautiful hotel. It has its own security area but only opens up at 8 or 9 a.m.  the beauty of it is if you have a later flight, check in your bags and go back to the room and rest


----------



## robinsnest49ers

So here's the deal, if I book the park and fly it is $275 (we need 13 nights of parking plus the room) The friends and family rate for the Westin is  $69 (no parking included, to pay for parking is $24/day) which makes it over $300. Here is what I was thinking - family rate at the Westin @ $69 park offsite at Quikpark @10/day - 1 day free = $120, which makes it $189. Quikpark will shuttle us to the Delta gate, but just worried about getting to the Westin from there? Also wondering how far it is to bag check? Is it really worth it if I have to go to bag check and our flight is early so may end up going thru regular security anyway? (8:30 a.m.)


----------



## tgropp

robinsnest49ers said:


> So here's the deal, if I book the park and fly it is $275 (we need 13 nights of parking plus the room) The friends and family rate for the Westin is  $69 (no parking included, to pay for parking is $24/day) which makes it over $300. Here is what I was thinking - family rate at the Westin @ $69 park offsite at Quikpark @10/day - 1 day free = $120, which makes it $189. Quikpark will shuttle us to the Delta gate, but just worried about getting to the Westin from there? Also wondering how far it is to bag check? Is it really worth it if I have to go to bag check and our flight is early so may end up going thru regular security anyway? (8:30 a.m.)




If your flight is at 8:30, the Westinghouse security gate is not open. The Westin hotel is a 4 minute walk to the  Delta baggage checkin so that is no problem. Some people say it is longer but it is right beside the end of the delta check in. It is a great hotel . You can go through security the night before and go to the terminal for dinner or shopping


----------



## robinsnest49ers

tgropp said:


> If your flight is at 8:30, the Westinghouse security gate is not open. The Westin hotel is a 4 minute walk to the  Delta baggage checkin so that is no problem. Some people say it is longer but it is right beside the end of the delta check in. It is a great hotel . You can go through security the night before and go to the terminal for dinner or shopping[


----------



## robinsnest49ers

Thanks, I was trying to figure out if it would be worth the hassle to park offsite and then stay at the Westin vs staying at the Fairfield and getting a shuttle in the morning (how much time I would save in the morning so I could sleep in a bit more - early flight 8:30) So maybe stay at the Westin, park offsite and get a shuttle to the terminal (Westin) the night before, stay at the Westin, get up and go through baggage check and regular security I guess. Sound like a good plan??? Trying to save some $$ on parking (it's like half price to park offsite).[/QUOTE]


----------



## tgropp

tgropp said:


> If your flight is at 8:30, the Westinghouse security gate is not open. The Westin hotel is a 4 minute walk to the  Delta baggage checkin so that is no problem. Some people say it is longer but it is right beside the end of the delta check in. It is a great hotel . You can go through security the night before and go to the terminal for dinner or shopping





robinsnest49ers said:


> Thanks, I was trying to figure out if it would be worth the hassle to park offsite and then stay at the Westin vs staying at the Fairfield and getting a shuttle in the morning (how much time I would save in the morning so I could sleep in a bit more - early flight 8:30) So maybe stay at the Westin, park offsite and get a shuttle to the terminal (Westin) the night before, stay at the Westin, get up and go through baggage check and regular security I guess. Sound like a good plan??? Trying to save some $$ on parking (it's like half price to park offsite).


[/QUOTE]


JMHO but yes, stay at the Westin. You will appreciate your decision come departure morning


----------



## dish rag

We fly at least twice a month out of Niagara to Sanford/Orlando. In fact did so today back to Fla.


----------



## robinsnest49ers

JMHO but yes, stay at the Westin. You will appreciate your decision come departure morning[/QUOTE]

Just an update, we ended up staying at the Westin and parked there as well. Could not have asked for a better experience. So happy we did that, I have a feeling this will be our new norm. It was so quick and easy it was worth the extra $$


----------



## casprmt

We generally leave from Rochester or Buffalo. This year we were looking at Detroit but ended with the exchange rate so crappy  we ended up going with ottawa


----------



## Zife

casprmt said:


> We generally leave from Rochester or Buffalo. This year we were looking at Detroit but ended with the exchange rate so crappy  we ended up going with ottawa



Wait, it was cheaper for you to fly to Orlando from Ottawa then it was from either Buffalo or Niagara?


----------



## casprmt

Zife said:


> Wait, it was cheaper for you to fly to Orlando from Ottawa then it was from either Buffalo or Niagara?


 I think it was about the same but with a return time we wanted


----------



## stfxkid

I got 3 people RT Niagara Falls to MCO for the week over the May 2-4 for $76 US (taxes in) on Spirit, trick was passing by the airport to buy the tickets (waives the passenger usage fee).


----------



## Norton figment

Wow I don't know you could do that.  Can you by in person at Canadian Airports and save fees too?


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## Terrarankin

I see buffalo actually has 4 direct flights a day to Orlando up until about the end of August. Then I'm only seeing 2 per day for September.
I'm planning on going in September do u think they will add more flights? I've always gone in September and there have always been 4 a day, and I've always booked around April/may


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## Topher99

Has anyone ever used Frontier Air out of Detroit?  If you have, can you share your experience?  Thank you!!


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## DisneyHereWeComeAgain

Is there still a coupon for parking at the Buffalo Airport?


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## scrappinginontario

DisneyHereWeComeAgain said:


> Is there still a coupon for parking at the Buffalo Airport?



I'm not sure about a coupon for Buffalo Airport parking but we normally use The Parking Spot and there are coupons available for them.  GREAT company!  More than once they have unloaded my luggage from the shuttle directly into my car.  Each person gets a bottle of cold water when you're leaving.  Top notch customer service and about the same $$ as Buffalo Airport parking.


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## Gigi@Disney

Topher99 said:


> Has anyone ever used Frontier Air out of Detroit?  If you have, can you share your experience?  Thank you!!


I'm also wondering about the logistics of flying in to Detroit without a car, what's the best way to cross into Windsor & get Via?


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## jadephoenixx

DisneyHereWeComeAgain said:


> Is there still a coupon for parking at the Buffalo Airport?



It's on the website: http://parking.buffaloairport.com/


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## OntFamily

Terrarankin said:


> I see buffalo actually has 4 direct flights a day to Orlando up until about the end of August. Then I'm only seeing 2 per day for September.
> I'm planning on going in September do u think they will add more flights? I've always gone in September and there have always been 4 a day, and I've always booked around April/may



I'm trying to book for March 2018, and I've noted a big decrease in the number of flights from BUF to Orlando on Southwest after Dec.  Plus, no evening flights (on weekdays, the last direct flight of the day is mid afternoon).   Last year, there were direct flights leaving until mid evening (and they were full, so I'm surprised there's not more scheduled).


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## flower_petals

Gigi@Disney said:


> I'm also wondering about the logistics of flying in to Detroit without a car, what's the best way to cross into Windsor & get Via?


Not sure if you still looking for this info, but Robert q has an Airbus service that leaves from Windsor to Metro. $50 per adult. https://reservation.robertq.com/airbus/Reservation/Trip/8d4cd0fae63071d

I'm in Windsor, but don't drive, so I'm trying to figure out the same. I'm not sure if it's best to train it to Toronto and fly, or go from here to Detroit ( which would only be 45 min away) I'm not going until September 2018 do I guess the dollar will determine that for me.

*Edit I read this wrong, you're coming into Windsor to get via in Windsor to go where?


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## marisabuzz

Has anyone parked at BUF over Christmas last year? We usually park in Hourly/Daily because we like the convenience (two kids, luggage, time of flights etc) and don't want to consider less expensive options and usually budget for this expense. How busy is it?


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## Memojo

What is considered as being a good price for a Buffalo to Orlando flight.

Thx.


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## marisabuzz

The best we've gotten was round trip for $150ish USD pp (back in Aug 2014). We have been averaging about $200-$250 USD pp return lately, but we have also been going at peak times (March break and Christmas). And this price includes ECBI with Southwest. We have also been picky with when we depart/arrive and direct flights, so this can drive up cost. They day you leave can also drive up costs with weekends (Fri to Mon) tending to cost more.

If you book with Southwest immediately when they release their schedules, it's usually the cheapest. For our recent Christmas trip, we tried to book on release day and for our family of four it cost about $1300 USD total. We ended up waiting and found prices just after Black Friday for non-stop, ECBI, decent flight times leaving Tuesday and returning two Fridays after, all for just over $900 USD.

I was watching prices out of YYZ prior to Southwest releasing schedules for flights for our Christmas trip. And the days leading up to release day, Westjet had direct flights for $1200 CAD for our family of four. Had we had known at the time that we would be renting a car in Orlando for our vacay, I would have booked the flight out of YYZ instead. It would have saved on time to drive to BUF and parking. Flying out of BUF using Southwest or any of Disney's participating resort check-in airlines makes it worth the drive since you can check-in with bags for your flight at the hotel and take MDE. Otherwise, if the prices are the same for flights out of BUF and YYZ and you are renting a car, then I would fly out of YYZ instead.


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## Memojo

Thanks for the info.

We generally need to go in the summer months (prime time for Disney), as my wife works in a school.   Looking at the Southwest cost out of Buffalo, return flight to Toronto is quoted at $265 US vs a A/C best price of $611.  As well the A/C flight doesn’t Arrive into Orlando until late afternoon.  Easy decision here


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## ellbell

Just a little warning to those flying Southwest. If you make changes on your flights you may lose earlybird checkin if you've purchased it.

Yesterday I made changes from a one stop flight to a non stop flight and it dropped my earlybird check in and after much struggle the agent said she couldn't fix it.  I ended up speaking with a manager and they said that the only way to fix it is to refund the original and recharge it (I'm canadian so also lost money on the exchange).  By doing this I also lost my place in line from when I originally bought our tickets with earlybird checkin. My flight is less than 2 months from now so I'm not even sure it was worth re -adding


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## pigletto

ellbell said:


> Just a little warning to those flying Southwest. If you make changes on your flights you may lose earlybird checkin if you've purchased it.
> 
> Yesterday I made changes from a one stop flight to a non stop flight and it dropped my earlybird check in and after much struggle the agent said she couldn't fix it.  I ended up speaking with a manager and they said that the only way to fix it is to refund the original and recharge it (I'm canadian so also lost money on the exchange).  By doing this I also lost my place in line from when I originally bought our tickets with earlybird checkin. My flight is less than 2 months from now so I'm not even sure it was worth re -adding



It has always  been  that if you “changed” your flight it carried over, but if you “cancelled” and rebooked it does not. So you have to use the change feature when rebooking yourself (I’ve done it many times). The only time I ever had a problem was when I called in and had them make the changes for me. The agent cancelled and rebooked instead of just changing the reservation and lost my EBCI. Then I had to argue with them to get credited and like you, lost my place in line even though i had booked on opening day.
So I would advise people to do it on their own on the website (making sure to “change” or “modify” the reservation and not cancel outright) or to explain the process to the agent because as you and I discovered the hard way.. they don’t all know how to do it.
I’m sorry .. I know how frustrating that can be!


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## ellbell

pigletto said:


> It has always  been  that if you “changed” your flight it carried over, but if you “cancelled” and rebooked it does not. So you have to use the change feature when rebooking yourself (I’ve done it many times). The only time I ever had a problem was when I called in and had them make the changes for me. The agent cancelled and rebooked instead of just changing the reservation and lost my EBCI. Then I had to argue with them to get credited and like you, lost my place in line even though i had booked on opening day.
> So I would advise people to do it on their own on the website (making sure to “change” or “modify” the reservation and not cancel outright) or to explain the process to the agent because as you and I discovered the hard way.. they don’t all know how to do it.
> I’m sorry .. I know how frustrating that can be!


I tried the app first and kept getting an error. That is why I called in.  They never said it would he removed and she seemed surprised when it happened. Their customer service is horrible in cases like this and they just keep daying there isn't anything they can do.


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## marisabuzz

Memojo said:


> Thanks for the info.
> 
> We generally need to go in the summer months (prime time for Disney), as my wife works in a school.   Looking at the Southwest cost out of Buffalo, return flight to Toronto is quoted at $265 US vs a A/C best price of $611.  As well the A/C flight doesn’t Arrive into Orlando until late afternoon.  Easy decision here



We've been twice late August/early September. In 2014, we flew out of Toronto with WestJet as part of a package so not sure entirely how much the flight cost. In 2016, we flew SW out of Buffalo for $198 USD pp which included EBCI. Booked in Feb @ $250 USD pp, but prices dropped twice before our trip.

Other things you have to factor include drive time and parking, as well as each passenger getting two free checked bags each and Resort Airline Check-in when returning (you don't get RAC when you fly on any Canadian carrier).


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## marisabuzz

ellbell said:


> Just a little warning to those flying Southwest. If you make changes on your flights you may lose earlybird checkin if you've purchased it.
> 
> Yesterday I made changes from a one stop flight to a non stop flight and it dropped my earlybird check in and after much struggle the agent said she couldn't fix it.  I ended up speaking with a manager and they said that the only way to fix it is to refund the original and recharge it (I'm canadian so also lost money on the exchange).  By doing this I also lost my place in line from when I originally bought our tickets with earlybird checkin. My flight is less than 2 months from now so I'm not even sure it was worth re -adding



We've changed flights successfully with Southwest many times without losing ECBI (**knock on wood** hope I didn't jinx myself). I have heard good and bad scenarios of how the Southwest Customer Service teams have handled this.


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## Frozen2014

Funny as I keep hearing how cheap Buffalo is, but when I look at prices Toronto to Miami vs Buffalo to Miami, there isn't much difference.  However, Detroit to Miami seems to have savings.  Not sure I'd want to take the risk driving to Detroit for a flight in March (as we have a cruise booked) but am looking at it for an option in August.  Anyone done the drive?  How is the airport, parking, etc?  Also, am I missing some lookup for Buffalo flights?  I've never seen it cheaper.  Maybe it's only when flights are first released?


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## marisabuzz

Frozen2014 said:


> Funny as I keep hearing how cheap Buffalo is, but when I look at prices Toronto to Miami vs Buffalo to Miami, there isn't much difference.  However, Detroit to Miami seems to have savings.  Not sure I'd want to take the risk driving to Detroit for a flight in March (as we have a cruise booked) but am looking at it for an option in August.  Anyone done the drive?  How is the airport, parking, etc?  Also, am I missing some lookup for Buffalo flights?  I've never seen it cheaper.  Maybe it's only when flights are first released?



Can't speak true for flights to Miami (FLL to be exact), but I have generally seen flights out of Buffalo cheaper the Toronto to Orlando. The exception was for our trip this past December when flights out of Toronto were cheaper than MCO 6+ months ahead of our dates. We should have booked then, but waited for Southwest to release their flight schedule for December and when that happened, flights out Toronto became more expensive with flights out of Buffalo just as expensive.

Southwest is typically cheaper on release days and 1.5-2 months ahead of your travel dates for Orlando. If you are flying anywhere else, Toronto is often better as they have more routes and options.


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## Average Joes

Frozen2014 said:


> Funny as I keep hearing how cheap Buffalo is, but when I look at prices Toronto to Miami vs Buffalo to Miami, there isn't much difference.  However, Detroit to Miami seems to have savings.  Not sure I'd want to take the risk driving to Detroit for a flight in March (as we have a cruise booked) but am looking at it for an option in August.  Anyone done the drive?  How is the airport, parking, etc?  Also, am I missing some lookup for Buffalo flights?  I've never seen it cheaper.  Maybe it's only when flights are first released?



The Detroit airport is about 45 minutes from the bridge. Highway driving. There is plenty of parking near the airport. They have shuttled us to the airport almost immediately. Recently we have taken really early flights and stay in a nearby hotel that includes parking. I would not stay in a cheap one.


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## Frozen2014

Average Joes said:


> The Detroit airport is about 45 minutes from the bridge. Highway driving. There is plenty of parking near the airport. They have shuttled us to the airport almost immediately. Recently we have taken really early flights and stay in a nearby hotel that includes parking. I would not stay in a cheap one.



Thanks.  Was looking at booking a late afternoon flight to avoid the hotel stay and just park at the airport (think it's about 4.5 hrs from Toronto?).  But if the flight was earlier, then we would want drive in night before and stay overnight.


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## alohamom

Frozen2014 said:


> Thanks.  Was looking at booking a late afternoon flight to avoid the hotel stay and just park at the airport (think it's about 4.5 hrs from Toronto?).  But if the flight was earlier, then we would want drive in night before and stay overnight.



There are some pretty decent choices for hotels around the Detroit airport. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and you could see the airport from the hotel. Very convenient, clean and well run.


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## Frozen2014

alohamom said:


> There are some pretty decent choices for hotels around the Detroit airport. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and you could see the airport from the hotel. Very convenient, clean and well run.



Thanks so much for a good hotel name.  I just checked and the price is decent (esp when it includes breakfast)


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## Average Joes

Frozen2014 said:


> Thanks.  Was looking at booking a late afternoon flight to avoid the hotel stay and just park at the airport (think it's about 4.5 hrs from Toronto?).  But if the flight was earlier, then we would want drive in night before and stay overnight.



Yes about 4.5 hours. The border is usually not bad for mid morning.  We stayed at two different hotels. One was La Quinta and it was very reasonable and clean. Left too early for breakfast. It was maybe $50 more than parking on its own. Fairfield looks nicer, a bit more $. Another Days we went was an Inn that was outdated, not that clean and busy.


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## alohamom

I chose the Fairfield because it is part of Marriott and I happened to have points. The parking lot for the off site parking was right there too so it was a win win for me. My impression was any hotel that was pretty close to the airport would have been ok, they all seemed decent from the outside and again, it isn’t inner city or sketchy at all. I liked the airport too, it was smaller than I thought it would be, clean and easy to navigate. If you decide to park right at the airport the parking structure is right beside it, you don’t have to worry about shuttles or anything. All in all our experience at the Detroit airport was a really good one. I would fly from there again.


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## dmbcanada

Anyone know if the Days Hotel Buffalo Airport is still accepting Canadian $ at par?


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## sk8jdgca

I just called them this week and they weren't but $85 a night with up to 30 days parking is still decent


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## Frozen2014

Anyone coming from Toronto and flown out of Detroit the same day ?  it's a big savings flying from Detroit to Miami/Fort Lauderdale vs flying from Toronto or from Buffalo.  We're already going in a day early as it's for a cruise....so would prefer to drive to Detroit and then fly that same day.  So if we did that....what is the earliest flight from Detroit that would be safe to take with the drive, check in, etc.  ?  We have no issue leaving at 6am in the morning. 
This is for August and March months...if that makes a difference.


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## amw

Just booked a 9:30am flight out of Buffalo for August 14. The previous releases had a 12:30 flight instead and I had planned to drive directly to the airport. The new time is a bit of a snag. 

We live in Markham (GTA). What time would you leave to get to airport? Or would you not chance it ... I’m travelling with my two DD teens and one of their friends so 4 of us total and two of them would be 18. A hotel room would be pricey and cramped - and two rooms negates any savings of going through Buffalo.


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## Micharlotte

amw said:


> Just booked a 9:30am flight out of Buffalo for August 14. The previous releases had a 12:30 flight instead and I had planned to drive directly to the airport. The new time is a bit of a snag.
> 
> We live in Markham (GTA). What time would you leave to get to airport? Or would you not chance it ... I’m travelling with my two DD teens and one of their friends so 4 of us total and two of them would be 18. A hotel room would be pricey and cramped - and two rooms negates any savings of going through Buffalo.


I live about an hour and a half closer to Buffalo than you do and I would never chance the border on the day of a flight. Just my opinion, but the aloft is about 2 minutes to the airport, really nice and it has a pool and for $150 I would rather be sure that I'm going to make my flight. I used to cross at Buffalo all the time and sometimes it was really quick and sometimes it's been hours.  We're taking the same flight 3 weeks after you and that's where we're staying. The price also includes parking and a shuttle to the airport.


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## ellbell

amw said:


> Just booked a 9:30am flight out of Buffalo for August 14. The previous releases had a 12:30 flight instead and I had planned to drive directly to the airport. The new time is a bit of a snag.
> 
> We live in Markham (GTA). What time would you leave to get to airport? Or would you not chance it ... I’m travelling with my two DD teens and one of their friends so 4 of us total and two of them would be 18. A hotel room would be pricey and cramped - and two rooms negates any savings of going through Buffalo.


I'm headed out of the buffalo airport on a 5:15 am flight on March 13 and live in Hamilton.  We are leaving at 2am the day of.  When we went in September we crossed the border during rush hour with no wait.  I would leave at least an hour before you think you need to just in case though.


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## Frozen2014

What's everyone's threshold for flying out of Buffalo or Detroit (i.e. For the hassle of the extra 3-4 hr drive vs savings)?  There is about $300 difference from Toronto to Buffalo and another $300 comparing Buffalo and Detroit.  Not sure $300 is worth it (as you still need hotel, food) but $600 might be).
P.s. -Unfortunately even our Detroit option went up today by $400.  Ugh.


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## ellbell

Frozen2014 said:


> What's everyone's threshold for flying out of Buffalo or Detroit (i.e. For the hassle of the extra 3-4 hr drive vs savings)?  There is about $300 difference from Toronto to Buffalo and another $300 comparing Buffalo and Detroit.  Not sure $300 is worth it (as you still need hotel, food) but $600 might be).
> P.s. -Unfortunately even our Detroit option went up today by $400.  Ugh.



I fly out of buffalo because even though the price out of toronto is comparable I like dropping my bags at the airport and not thinking about it again until my bags arrive in my room.  The distance from where I live to either city is only about 20 minutes though. Buffalo airport is a lot less chaotic which I prefer.  I priced everything out and had to go with other pros and cons too.


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## casprmt

ellbell said:


> I fly out of buffalo because even though the price out of toronto is comparable I like dropping my bags at the airport and not thinking about it again until my bags arrive in my room.  The distance from where I live to either city is only about 20 minutes though. Buffalo airport is a lot less chaotic which I prefer.  I priced everything out and had to go with other pros and cons too.


Toronto is an international airport so ME tags work...(?) Last time we left through Ottawa and went through customs prior to boarding so our bags went through with the ME tags


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## ellbell

casprmt said:


> Toronto is an international airport so ME tags work...(?) Last time we left through Ottawa and went through customs prior to boarding so our bags went through with the ME tags


Ya I flew out of Toronto on my last trip 3 weeks ago and hated it.  Even though I didn't have to deal with my bags. Going through customs was a pain there and back and I hated the airport.  I'd rather drive over the boarder, it usually only takes a few minutes to cross. Standing in line for 40 minutes at customs on our way home wasn't fun and neither was waiting at the luggage carousel for another hour and a half. At buffalo airport I'm in and out usually in 30 minutes at the most.

In general I hate Pearson

ETA: Also if we fly out of buffalo on our way home using Southwest we can check our bags at our resort on the way back and go about our day not having to worry about them until our flight lands.


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## Seyar Smart

Seyar hasn’t ever left Canada


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## tgropp

I know at the Detroit airport hotels that you have to take your car to a private lot away from the hotel but there are a few that let you park at the hotel lot . Does anyone know of a hotel that lets you do that or the name of a convenient good hotel that they have stayed at.


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## deedubb

tgropp said:


> I know at the Detroit airport hotels that you have to take your car to a private lot away from the hotel but there are a few that let you park at the hotel lot . Does anyone know of a hotel that lets you do that or the name of a convenient good hotel that they have stayed at.



We fly direct for our winter trips so we don't have to worry about driving in bad weather.  In the summer, we drive to Detroit and fly from there.  I always stay in one of the Marriott hotels and use QuikPark.  It's very convenient.  They tell you which row to park in, their shuttle van picks you up at your car and drops you off at the airport.  They constantly have shuttles going back and forth, so the wait at the airport to be shuttled back to QuikPark is usually not very long.  If you have CAA, you get a discount for parking.


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## jenrus

Do you need to teat for co id to fly domestic? Within. USA?


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## ellbell

jenrus said:


> Do you need to teat for co id to fly domestic? Within. USA?


No


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