billybob123

Incidentally B6 has non-stops (perhaps seasonal only) to both MCO and FLL from BTV. I wonder what % of pax are Québecois?

Good news for the Montreal area, and Ottawa if people are willing to drive that far. Plattsburgh is around as far as Syracuse time-wise.

ETA: Plattsburgh and Saranac Lake are actually currently having a problem with their EAS service - Commutair has filed notice to abandon it, and the currently favoured "supplier" to replace them is Big Sky, who fly the EAS upstate NY subsidy to Watertown, Ogdensburg, and Massena. This should help not only Canadians but the Northeast NYers and people flying into/out of Lake Placid.

ALW

Well that didn't last long. Some friends in Montreal asked about Plattsburgh so I looked it up. Appears Allegiant is sold out on Dec 21. $259 on Dec 25 and $259 to return on Jan 4 or Jan 8.

Still $500 per person cheaper than Montreal, U$534.30 all-in for Dec 25-Jan 4. I wonder if they'd put on another plane and start at those prices, maybe if only for Dec 22 and Jan 5 or something.

=aw

ALW

Sorry, double post.

Sebring

I checked AC and for YUL-FLL, same dates, the return fare, all in, would be C$771.69 for a Jan 4 return, C$589.37 for a return on Jan 8. I used the deductions for no changes to the fare and no Aeroplan miles, as this would be comparable to Allegiant with its limited schedule.

So where do you get $500 more per passenger? And considering the extra gas and travel time, why would anyone fly Allegiant with a Jan 8 return unless they live E/SE of Montreal?

ALW

No, U$534.30 all-in after the onerous fees of $16.30 are added.

For AC, I used my calculations from post #75. I should have re-calculated based on a Christmas Day departure. I would have stuck with Jan 4 return since my original calculation for was a family who have to work/teach/have kids in school for the Quebec school holidays.

=aw

ALW

I see that the base Tango fare on Dec 21 has dropped to $348 for the morning flights and $398 for the late flight ($468 for the mid-afternoon departure). When I posted earlier, it was a straight $463 for all four flights. I wonder if it will go back up now that Allegiant's sold out that day.

For Jan 4 return, AC has dropped to $348 and $398, again when I posted #75 it was $463 all day. My total is $701.73 all-in.

Allegiant also charges $8.50 per passenger for a convenience fee, unless you book at an airport ticket counter (which seems backwards but there you go).

=aw

ALW

It's roughly an hour to Plattsburgh from Montreal, call it 1:15 with Nexus at the border and the extra drive to Exit 36 (vs. Exit 37).

Free parking at PBG helps with the gas, and not having to take a shuttle from a remote lot probably helps with the extra time.

To answer your last question, when the difference is only $50 per person, I'm not sure I'd take Allegiant, probably not from Montreal and certainly not from Ottawa. I don't think I ever suggested I would.

=aw

ALW

http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise...articleID=8582

I thought there were other airports served than just BOS, in the same way that Ogdensburg and Watertown have service between each other as well as the hub airport.

Obviously this isn't a huge option for Montrealers, although a friend in Boston wants to visit next week, and her daughter doesn't have a passport, so I suggested PBG as an option.

=aw

billybob123

The Ogdensburg-Watertown-Massena flights are a circle flight; you CAN buy tickets between them but they're usually prohibitively expensive. Big Sky now flies once or twice a day to Albany from Watertown (then through to Boston), while they fly three (twice on weekends) circle trips - BOS-ART-MSS/OGS-OGS/MSS-ART-BOS. It will be the same with Plattsburgh and Saranac Lake.

The benefit for Montrealers (and Upstaties) is that now, the connector flight is on Delta connection instead of Commutair (Continental) - much greater connection opportunities out of Boston, which should definetly lower the fares. Prices out of Ogdensburg and Watertown are almost always 10-50% cheaper than Ottawa or Kingston. (trust me - I made Prestige two years in a row on US connections from Ogdensburg, and the fares now are generally even lower with Delta)

When Big Sky moved into ART/OGS/MSS they put an introductory $99 oneway offer to Boston. Perhaps for your friends, they will do the same to Plattsburgh.

YOWkid

And you wonder why U.S. air fares are cheaper and/or why there is service to some areas where really, there should be NO air service because it is just not commercial viable.

ALW

Well, it's really that the government has decided that it's in the greater good to have service into those small communities and is willing to take a larger role in making sure it happens. It may be (and is, IMO) ironic that they don't feel the same way about health care, but that doesn't negate the value of the air service.

It's also ironic that _we_ spend much more money than the US government on paying people to stay in their home towns (through subsidies, EI, etc.) but don't spend, or divert, money to make it more possible to earn a living while staying there.

=aw

Salisbury5

I am seriously considering booking Plattsburgh-FLL for March Break (ONT) 2008. But does anyone know what airplane will likely fly the route? My wife refuses to step onto a turboprop. She has to see the jet engines before she will board.

(We have had long long talksabout how a CRJ is in fact a jet)

Thanks

ALW

I was going to say they're only selling until Feb 2008 but I see the calendar offers dates through May. Notice the $79 introductory fare ends Feb 12 or so, after that it's the regular $99.

AFAIK Allegiant only flies MD-83 (150 seats) and MD-87 (130 seats), i.e. real planes.

=aw

FATFlyer

Then you can show your wife these pictures of Allegiant's aircraft. As ALW says they only fly MD series aircraft.
http://www.allegiantair.com/aaAircraftPhotos.php

excentrus

Montrealer here....just returned from a weekend in Florida on Allegiant Air. Return flight + car for four days (Alamo thru Allegiant website) cost 340 $. Amazing deal....but at introductory flight prices (79 $ per flight segment). Flight out on Friday, back on Tuesday. It actually takes less time to drive from downtown Montreal, cross border and park at PBG than it takes to do the same at YUL in Montreal. The planes were full....and they use older equipment :-( but the flight crew was super friendly and seemed to be enjoying their job..............take note Air Canada. PBG might just take off. A direct, non-stop flight to Florida from Plattsburgh, New York is much more appealing than a similar JetBlue flight from Burlington, Vermont with a change at JFK.