Getting Creative with Flights for a Cruise

[Frozen2014]

Looking to book flights for a cruise we have in December (we are in Toronto) and

• Air Transat is cheaper than flying other common airlines (e.g. Air Canada, WestJet, Delta)
• Flying out of Buffalo is much cheaper than flying out of Toronto (1 flight at the moment which is JetBlue)

Has anyone done either of these when their trip is date sensitive? We would fly in the day before.

Our issues are: (1) Air Transat only has 1 flight per day. If that one is cancelled then what? (2) If out of Buffalo, we would most likely need to return the next day which means driving our son back to university on the drive home from Buffalo. For both, December is a risk for bad weather.

AirTransat is $1200 less than major airline.
Buffalo is $2000 less if we return home next day.

Regular airlines out of Toronto are more than 4k for direct. Ugh.

 

[bababear_50]

Hi Hon
If I was flying from Buffalo I would want a day or two in a Buffalo hotel just to make sure I could meet the cruise boarding.
My kids got stuck in Buffalo one year ,,,thankfully we didn't have a time sensitive cruise to make.

Having kids in University make traveling difficult to plan around.
Just wondering if your son might have another week off not in Dec that might mitigate the bad weather travel to Buffalo?

So sorry the direct from Toronto flights are so expensive.
Best wishes
Hugs Mel

 

[Frozen2014]

Hi Hon
If I was flying from Buffalo I would want a day or two in a Buffalo hotel just to make sure I could meet the cruise boarding.
My kids got stuck in Buffalo one year ,,,thankfully we didn't have a time sensitive cruise to make.

Having kids in University make traveling difficult to plan around.
Just wondering if your son might have another week off not in Dec that might mitigate the bad weather travel to Buffalo?

So sorry the direct from Toronto flights are so expensive.
Best wishes
Hugs Mel

Thanks for the response and sharing your families experience. Sounds like we should skip the Buffalo option. This past year was an example too of what can happen.

This will be our son's first year in university so we don't know his schedule yet, but I have seen that xmas time to new years coordinates with regular holidays should work. We still have a younger one who will be in grade 9, and they both work in the summer so it's really the only time that works for all. Thanks for suggesting though.

 

[mort1331]

Buffalo winter time is a crap shoot. We have had great luck up until one March break,,,,,7 hour return drive to Toronto. So wife will not let me book there unless its summer.
Air transat is more reliable IMO then some of the new start up no frills. If others are flying they are too. Worse case scenario is booking another airline last minute if AT doesnt work. This is what happened to us when Buffalo was a white wall. Another reason I love driving down. But please book at least 1 day before cruise,,if not 2 to go down just to be sure. Boats dont wait for planes.

 

[Frozen2014]

Thank you. Buffalo seems like a bit of a risk. I think Air Tranat would make me nervous on the way there. For a cruise, we always book for the day prior.

We ended up biting the bullet and booked with WestJet, direct out of Toronto. Price is high, but not surprised based on time of year. We did book with our cruise line so it's refundable until our final payment so will keep watching for other options. The return flight is a bit later than we'd like but is on the same day that the cruise ends so will do.