Southwest Rapid Rewards - Bay Area to Toronto via WN Q3?

I don't see an easy/direct way at the present time to do it but if one wanted to how would one fly from OAK, SFO, or SJC (Preferred) to Toronto via WN?

Any one hear of anything opening up by early September?

Fly to Buffalo and drive the rest of the way, or take the bus from BUF.

Fly to MDW and connect on Porter. Give yourself plenty of time at MDW though...

Fly to MDW and connect on Porter. Give yourself plenty of time at MDW though...

That's probably the OPs best bet or fly to DTW (means connectingto get there though) and taking Air Canada/United to YYZ if they want to fly into YYZ instead of Toronto city. And in either case the OP should try to carry on since WN won't interline.

OP is probably better off just flying SFO/YYZ direct on Air Canada. Not sure what porter's fares are from MDW, but to fly to YYZ on AC or Delta from DTW or on Porter from Windsor is absurd. You are lucky to get that fare for $800 now. Would probably be cheaper and the OP won't have to deal with claiming bags and rechecking them and reclearing security.

Any one hear of anything opening up by early September?

Highly unlikely, I'd say. When WN finally figures out how to do international, they'll almost surely start by converting AirTran stations.

Fly to Buffalo and drive the rest of the way, or take the bus from BUF.

As long as you aren't talking the first three days of September, RT fares on MegaBus (http://us.megabus.com/) are mostly under $20/person. If the second week of September, it could be as low as $2.50/person if booked soon. More like $80/person for the holiday weekend, though.

Unlike in most MegaBus cities, there is a stop in Buffalo at the airport itself. Thus if you are going to downtown Toronto anyway, the bus is a great option. If not, and/or if you need a car anyway, renting in Buffalo may be the way to go. It is only about a two-hour drive (but allow for border delays, which of course you'll have at some point anyway).

BUF-Toronto is an easy drive, avoids lots of immigration hassles and fees, and also Niagara Falls is right on the way. I think it can be done in 90 minutes easy. Toronto airport to downtown is probably 30 minutes so the difference is only like 60 minutes.

I would think that any announcement about going into Canada would have a longer lead time than 2 months. It doesn't seem like it's in the cards anyway.

BUF is a good option for Toronto. As long as WN has a pretty straightfoward one-stop itin to BUF, do that plus a rental car. If it's a convoluted path to BUF, I'd probably just buy SFO-YYZ on AC. At some point, the time invested getting from BUF to YYZ kills off any value you get out of a lower fare. Is it just you flying or several people?

We've used Southwest for Vancouver and Toronto trips before, but always with a carload of people. When you're talking a total of $1000+ in savings across 3 or 4 airfares, driving 2-3 hours each way starts to sound a little better.

I would think that any announcement about going into Canada would have a longer lead time than 2 months. It doesn't seem like it's in the cards anyway.

BUF is a good option for Toronto. As long as WN has a pretty straightfoward one-stop itin to BUF, do that plus a rental car. If it's a convoluted path to BUF, I'd probably just buy SFO-YYZ on AC. At some point, the time invested getting from BUF to YYZ kills off any value you get out of a lower fare. Is it just you flying or several people?

We've used Southwest for Vancouver and Toronto trips before, but always with a carload of people. When you're talking a total of $1000+ in savings across 3 or 4 airfares, driving 2-3 hours each way starts to sound a little better.

I'm traveling for business and while I will be with a group once there, I will probably be flying alone. I have points racking up with AA, so that nags at the back of my mind to look for a flight from them, but my luck it will be a 757 and I detest those.

BUF-Toronto is an easy drive, avoids lots of immigration hassles and fees, and also Niagara Falls is right on the way. I think it can be done in 90 minutes easy. Toronto airport to downtown is probably 30 minutes so the difference is only like 60 minutes.

if there are no border lines and depending on traffic and time of day...and that is a very big if. now if OP has a nexus card, i would agree with your statements.

as to more hassles, i think it is pretty much even in terms of those.

even with my nexus card, from BUF to the centre of YYZ is 1:25 minutes and I do this drive ALL the time. factor in time to get a rental car etc., OP is saving some time...

I'm traveling for business and while I will be with a group once there, I will probably be flying alone. I have points racking up with AA, so that nags at the back of my mind to look for a flight from them, but my luck it will be a 757 and I detest those. bay area to YYZ is not ideal on AA. you can have non stop on AA from LAX. [non-stops to LAX on AA are almost always 738s as I recall]

I'm traveling for business and while I will be with a group once there, I will probably be flying alone. I have points racking up with AA, so that nags at the back of my mind to look for a flight from them, but my luck it will be a 757 and I detest those.

Lots of 1-stop SFO-YYZ on AA that don't involve a 757.

Through ORD on a 738 or through JFK on a 762 are the two most logical routings. Also a couple SJC-ORD options on a 738. (The short segment into YYZ will inevitably be on a small plane.) For a solo business trip, I'd probably go that route vs. a BUF fly/drive route.

if there are no border lines and depending on traffic and time of day...and that is a very big if. now if OP has a nexus card, i would agree with your statements.

as to more hassles, i think it is pretty much even in terms of those.

even with my nexus card, from BUF to the centre of YYZ is 1:25 minutes and I do this drive ALL the time. factor in time to get a rental car etc., OP is saving some time...

Something else that needs to be factored in is if the OP even wants a rental car to begin with. If OP flies to NY and rents a car they are going to be stuck with the cost of the rental car, parking if they are staying downtown, gas, tolls, etc.

Not to mention the extra time. If I am flying that far last thing I want to do is drive another 90 minutes. And IME, it can take a lot longer to cross at a land border crossing than at the airport (but my only experience has been at the windsor/DTW crossings).

If OP doesn't need a rental car, I would just fly on another airline non-stop to YYZ and take a cab or shuttle (or if the OP doesn't have a lot of luggage rocket is always a very cheap alternative to getting into the city as well). Flying in ALB and taking Mega or into MDW and taking porter would be too risky for me. If there is a problem with the flight they miss their porter or mega bus they could be screwed. If they are on time, there is extra time to kill, etc.

I don't see an easy/direct way at the present time to do it but if one wanted to how would one fly from OAK, SFO, or SJC (Preferred) to Toronto via WN?

Any one hear of anything opening up by early September?

Likely not to happen...

-YYZ is an expensive airport to operate from. VX came and went, partly because the operational break even would always be higher than the border US airports based on the user tax in Canada. For leisure pax, the extra time to cross into BUF was offset by the significant tax differences.

This is all great info so far everyone. Thank you for the continued posts.