Quote:
Originally Posted by cmyden
Here would be great!
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Well I just had this huge long post typed up and then accidentally hit the back button on my browser. FML.
The comparison is essentially this. Using Aruba as an example, whether you're flying out of Victoria or Vancouver the price is essentially the same.
Taking a flight out of Bellingham to a major hub such as LAX, LAS, SFO, PHX through Allegiant or Alaska will save you about 7-10 hours of travel time each way and upwards of $200. Sometimes I like to mix and match the two and buy one way on Allegiant and return on Alaska, and vice-versa. Their prices are competitive, but you're probably look at somewhere between $150-$250 (return) including taxes to get from BLI to one of your hubs.
The other negative of using the major Canadian carriers is that you're likely facing one of those long, but not long enough layovers in a city like Miami, Toronto, etc. As in, you can expect to be sitting around an airport for 6-8 hours each way.
If you do use Allegiant, you may run the risk of a layover, but as you're not bound to one carrier to get you home, you extend your layover for as long as you want - say an extra two nights in Vegas or L.A. Obviously this cuts into your budget (well not if you know how to work Vegas), but it beats spending the equivalent of a day in an airport.
An example I used was a trip to Aruba. Here's the itinerary from YYJ (cost $875):
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/view/d...c-aa9b7cee20b3
Total hours in transit depart + return = 40
Total layover hours = 20
Here's an example of an itinerary from Vegas (cost $451):
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/view/d...c-aa9b7cee20b3
Total hours in transit depart + return = 21
Total layover hours = 3
Now, granted those layover numbers are a bit deceiving, as it's likely you'll have to spend a night in whichever city you catch Allegiant or Alaska out of on the way back, unless you can get an early morning flight out of Aruba or wherever. However, the beauty of this is you can add it to your vacation, as you're no longer tied to your major carrier. For instance, my girlfriend and I are planning on doing one of these and spending a couple of days in Vegas on one or both sides of the Carribean aspect of our trip.
Here's an example itinerary for us:
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/view/d...c-aa9b7cee20b3
Our plan would be to fly from BLI to LAS on Monday, August 5th, then the night of the 5th from LAS overnight to Aruba. The cost of this flight is $510 after taxes. I'm pretty confident flight prices will go down between now and then, but either way, not bad. Coming back our flight lands in Las Vegas at 11:30 PM, so we're going to spend a couple of days there before hopping an Allegiant/Alaska flight and driving home. The Allegiant portion of the the trip is $150 after taxes.
Overall, with ferry, parking, etc. It will probably end up being a $700 trip, but the time saved and spent doing things we'd enjoy, with the extra $200/pp saved seems to make it worthwhile.
We haven't decided on Aruba. Hell, I think she's still leaning to Poland, but this was just an example. Flights to the Bahamas, T&C, Barbados, etc. are all anywhere from $200-$400 cheaper to do out of Bellingham.
One note I did want to add, for those who are interested in flying to the Bahamas, is to check prices to Ft. Lauderdale. There is now an express ferry service that runs for about $50 (I think that's return) between Ft. Lauderdale and Freeport.