FAQ: Flying Out of Buffalo OR Detroit

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


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. :rolleyes:
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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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. :rolleyes:
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.
 
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.
 


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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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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any one else notice that the prices out of Buffalo are just as expensive as Pearson? Detroit is less money than Pearson, but gone are the days where the savings were enticing enough to fly out of these airports.
 
any one else notice that the prices out of Buffalo are just as expensive as Pearson? Detroit is less money than Pearson, but gone are the days where the savings were enticing enough to fly out of these airports.
For our dates and flight times in early April, we're still saving $300+ flying Southwest from Buffalo compared to WestJet or Air Canada from Pearson. We were tempted to fly Porter but didn't want to do the 8am flight home - plus, when you add in the extras (like checked luggage), it ended up being a bit more than Southwest.
 
On the flip side… coming from Buffalo, we eye Pearson for international flights to the Caribbean and Europe, as there are many that are direct.

While I can only speak to what I know, and while I usually prefer Southwest, JetBlue has had some really nice flight times between Buffalo and Orlando. Direct flight leaving buffalo around 8:30am, so touch down around 11:30am. Return, another direct flight leaving Orlando around 5:00pm, with touch down around 8:00pm.

For us, this is awesome, as it doesn’t require a bleary-eyed drive to the airport to get down, has us there early to enjoy the resort most of the day, and on the way back, can stay until after lunch. So we don’t lose the equivalent of a day if, for example, it was a late afternoon flight to MCO and an early morning flight back north.

Cost-wise, not horrible. With taxes, etc., r/t for the 3 of us is about $1,100 USD.
 
For our dates and flight times in early April, we're still saving $300+ flying Southwest from Buffalo compared to WestJet or Air Canada from Pearson. We were tempted to fly Porter but didn't want to do the 8am flight home - plus, when you add in the extras (like checked luggage), it ended up being a bit more than Southwest.

Price wise, we would have saved $300 using southwest airlines but we booked with Air Canada because of Aeroplan and getting our points and SQM's etc. We spent quite a bit more compared to southwest but the hope is that the following year we will have an upgraded status on Aeroplan, e-upgrades and a companion pass would significantly negate the cost we spent booking AC.
 

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