Seat13F_AC_CRJ

From today's G&M.
An ominous flight pattern: Canadians opting for U.S. airports
--
13F

DanJ

Here's my reason. AC YYZ-PBI in January $489 all in. Delta DTW-PBI $194 all in. I really really wanted to use AC, but for 4 of us, it just doesn't make sense. And I suspect I can either park, or do a park and fly hotel, cheaper at DTW than I can at YYZ.

magsmeplease

I so wish there was a viable airport within driving distance of Calgary.

MoreMilesPlease

The Buffalo airport is always full of Canadian cars. The hotels do a brisk business in stay/park/fly rates.

B1

Niagara Falls Airport (IAG) is now being used by some budget carriers that are targeting Canadian passengers. There used to be occasional charters and some commter service but the terminal has been renovated and it looks like the trans-border traffic has an even easier destination. The ads from Vision Airlines offer cheap fares to a small airport in Florida with connections to Miami.

Wally Bird

From flightaware.com:
RBY5815 B738 Charlotte County (KPGD) Mon 06:17PM EST Mon 08:47PM EST Mon 08:47PM EST
CXP332 B734 Charlotte County (KPGD) Sun 01:33PM EST Sun 03:57PM EST Sun 03:56PM EST
CXP434 B734 Charlotte County (KPGD) Wed 06:43PM EST Wed 09:10PM EST Wed 09:12PM EST
SGB3805 B734 Palm Beach Intl (KPBI) Sat 11:28AM EST Sat 02:08PM EST Sat 02:11PM EST
CXP323 B734 Charlotte County (KPGD) Thu 03:16PM EST Thu 05:49PM EST Thu 05:46PM EST
SGB3805 B734 Palm Beach Intl (KPBI) Mon 11:20AM EST Mon 01:53PM EST Mon 01:57PM EST
SGB3805 B734 Palm Beach Intl (KPBI) Mon 11:51AM EST Mon 02:20PM EST Mon 02:24PM EST
CXP323 B734 Melbourne Intl (KMLB) Sun 03:38PM EST Sun 06:00PM EST Sun 06:06PM EST
CXP323 B734 Melbourne Intl (KMLB) Thu 03:30PM EST Thu 05:56PM EST Thu 06:02PM EST
CXP323 B734 Melbourne Intl (KMLB) Sun 09:46PM EST Mon 12:02AM EST Mon 12:11AM EST
CXP324 B734 Charlotte County (KPGD) Fri 06:22PM EST Fri 09:16PM EST Fri 09:11PM EST
SGB5815 B734 Charlotte County (KPGD) Fri 07:05PM EST Fri 09:25PM EST Fri 09:28PM EST
SGB3805 B734 Palm Beach Intl (KPBI) Fri 11:34AM EST Fri 02:23PM EST Fri 02:27PM EST
CXP323 B734 Melbourne Intl (KMLB) Thu 03:16PM EST Thu 05:37PM EST Wed 07:00PM EST
RBY5815 B733 Charlotte County (KPGD) Mon 06:43PM EST Mon 09:08PM EST Mon 09:04PM EST

Charlotte County is Punta Gorda FL, and it's a looong way from Miami. I don't think even Ryanair would have the gall to advertise like that.

MoreMilesPlease

Palm Beach isn't that far from Miami, at least not in the scheme of driving distances in Florida.

DanJ

I don't think anyone is advertising that as Miami. DirectAir calls it Fort Myers/Punta Gorda. The ads for Vision Air say Destin/Ft Walton with connections to Miami.

What I find a bit of a stretch is this statement in the IAG press releases.

"In addition to Niagara Falls being a tourist destination in itself, the Niagara Falls International Airport is also conveniently located near Buffalo, New York and just across the border from Toronto, Canada."

Wally Bird

I'm going by the record of actual flights, not what the ads say. Maybe the IAG-VPS-MIA flights haven't started yet though, and it's a through flight not a connection at VPS as per Vision's website.

DanJ

Then I'm not sure why you mention Miami being a loooong way from Punta Gorda, and the comparison to Ryanair and their loose definition of what city an airport serves. The one airline flying IAG-PGD isn't claiming it to be Miami. The other airline going IAG-VPS-MIA is also advertising it as such.

Wally Bird

I assumed the 'Miami' flights on Vision had already started, and based on that assumption (false ?) the RBY actual flights appeared to be going to Punta Gorda.

I can never resist a dig at Ryanair under any circumstances .

DanJ

I remember Allegiant started advertising (although I don't know if they ever started actually flying) Toronto flights, that were based at IAG. Air Tran used to have listed on their website "Detroit Area (Flint)", before they actually started flying to DTW. Even now, they have Cleveland AREA listed, which is actually CAK, about 45 miles away. Maybe not Ryanair-esque though LOL

TheMadBrewer

Most of my relatives heading outside of Canada use CIU instead of YAM -- but not enough of them to make the article, I guess

cavitron

For flights within the USA or Caribbean I prefer to fly from DTW than Canadian airports. The difference in price is staggering and there is much greater flexibility. To Europe, however, I have not noticed a major difference and I still fly from Canada.

gglave

Allegiant's web site lists "Vancouver/Bellingham" as one of their serviced airports. (Bellingham, WA is about an hour to an hour-and-a-half's drive from Vancouver, plus the border queue time).