Canadians Flying Out Of The US

[Superflyer]

Found this article discussing how Canadians are going to the US to fly somewhere because it is much cheaper. It focuses more on Ontario but it is happening everywhere.

I know myself, I am heading to Billings this year to fly to Orlando because it saves me over $1500.

http://www.financialpost.com/news/Mo...193/story.html

[Bigtime]

Yup, it's an issue alright.

YYC is losing some passengers to Great Falls and Billings (as you have pointed out). Vancouver is losing passengers to Bellingham, Washington. It's gone so far as to have airlines like Hawaiian realize the potential and start operating flights from BLI to siphon passengers away from the YVR-Hawaii services.

[firebug]

I flew my family (4 tickets) from Great Falls to Phoenix last september for around $300.

1 single ticket from YYC was about $60 more than that.

The drive is about 9 hours (return) but we have family in Lethbridge which allows us to break up the trip a bit.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

Found this article discussing how Canadians are going to the US to fly somewhere because it is much cheaper. It focuses more on Ontario but it is happening everywhere.

I know myself, I am heading to Billings this year to fly to Orlando because it saves me over $1500.

http://www.financialpost.com/news/Mo...193/story.html

1500 bucks savings? How many people are flying?

Return flight to Orlando this May cost me 500$ on westjet.

[return to the red]

It's been discussed in the Vegas thread but huge amounts of people from Lethbridge, including myself, fly out of great falls to Vegas and Phoenix.

Not only is it much cheaper but there are many other benefits as well including wait times at security, baggage and customs (boarder). Flying out of Great Falls you can pretty much show up at the airport 45 minutes before your flight and you will be fine.

Last time I flew out of Calgary to Vegas I measured the drive time, time through security, customs, etc. and it actually worked out quicker both ways to fly out of Great Falls. Not to mention parking down there at the airport is $5 a day.

[squiggs96]

I fly from YVR to San Francisco about once a month to watch baseball. WestJet doesn't offer service on that route until May so if I want to go during April it cost me $550 roundtrip, whereas in the summer it's about $325. When the World Series was on it was going to cost me $1,400 to fly roundtrip from YVR, but if I drove to Seattle it would only cost $180. I always look at the Bellingham and Seattle options, but for most flights I'd rather spend the extra $100-$200 and not have to drive home once I landed. If it got more than that or I was flying with more people I'd consider going to a US airport first.

[Superflyer]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

1500 bucks savings? How many people are flying?

Return flight to Orlando this May cost me 500$ on westjet.

4 people, 2 adults + 2 kids. On westjet it will cost just over $3000 return and out of Billings it is $1500. The savings are paying for our hotel, meals and park tickets while we are there plus the hotel, gas to get there and parking in Billings.

[FlamesKickAss]

Well that's what happens when there is really only two companies in the country

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

Well that's what happens when there is really only two companies in the country

I believe the actual problem is all the extra charges and fees that we get up here in Canada, mainly due to the fact that airports here have to pay for their own expansions plus rent to Ottawa. Whereas in the US they get federal funding.

[TylerSVT]

Only cost me $1100 round trip to go to Korea... Yet it costs 1000 round trip to go from YYC to Victoria.

Tell me how that makes any sense at all.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

Only cost me $1100 round trip to go to Korea... Yet it costs 1000 round trip to go from YYC to Victoria.

Tell me how that makes any sense at all.

We're encouraging you to leave the country.

[Codes]

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

Only cost me $1100 round trip to go to Korea... Yet it costs 1000 round trip to go from YYC to Victoria.

Tell me how that makes any sense at all.

I disagree with that. It's pricey, I agree, but not THAT expensive!

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

Well that's what happens when there is really only two companies in the country

Not the issue at all. The airfares themselves are very comparable usually, the problem is the extra fees. The US charges fees to use their pre-clearance facilities that they don't charge to cross the border in the car, security fees are lower in the US, the airport improvement fees. I can speak for WestJet when I say that our airfares are very competitive, but it's the fees that we don't control that make the difference.

Having said that, I certainly urge people to calculate the costs carefully and weigh it against your own time. Factor in gas, wear and tear on car, hotel/motels, and the fact that out of Calgary they are adding 5-6 hours each way to their trip. Also, Allegiant charges for everything----every checked bag, and everything on board. I have heard of several people who were surprised at how much they ended up spending due to the ancillary charges.

[cmyden]

People blogging about these deals from U.S. cities doesn't help either!

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

Only cost me $1100 round trip to go to Korea... Yet it costs 1000 round trip to go from YYC to Victoria.

Tell me how that makes any sense at all.

I can certainly think of similar examples, such as it costing about the same to get to Halifax or London, UK for the same price from YYC, but if you're paying $1000 roundtrip for a ticket to Victoria...

... that had to have been about an hour before departure on Christmas Eve

... or you were referring to the State of Victoria in Australia

... or you're just exaggerating to make a point.

Around $300ish is about the baseline price (after tax) these days from Calgary to YYJ.


Just out of curiosity, anyone care to answer this question for a guy that's interested in such matters.


What's the minimum you would have to save to make it worth the 5 hour drive each way to Great Falls?

Would you make the drive to save $200 ?

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Just out of curiosity, anyone care to answer this question for a guy that's interested in such matters.


What's the minimum you would have to save to make it worth the 5 hour drive each way to Great Falls?

Would you make the drive to save $200 ?

Being from Edmonton I'd do it if I saved about $400.

As an example, if the schedule lined up for me and I could take the time off I would be all over the $479 flights from Great Falls to Barcelona.

EDIT: Also, if a flight out of Calgary saves me about $150 over what I'd pay in Edmonton I would drive down there. Best example is the $260 flights from Calgary to Newark last year that I took advantage of.

[Bigtime]

Now it looks like the US may slap another $5.50 charge per person flying into the States:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/busines...033/story.html

Yet another add-on that will make it increasingly harder to combat this trend of flying out of the US instead of Canadian airports.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

Being from Edmonton I'd do it if I saved about $400.

As an example, if the schedule lined up for me and I could take the time off I would be all over the $479 flights from Great Falls to Barcelona.

EDIT: Also, if a flight out of Calgary saves me about $150 over what I'd pay in Edmonton I would drive down there. Best example is the $260 flights from Calgary to Newark last year that I took advantage of.

Thanks! Was that $150 savings after subtracting gas, which would be around $50 from Edmonton to Calgary and back, and another $40-$50 for parking?

[kirant]

Originally Posted by TylerSVT

Only cost me $1100 round trip to go to Korea... Yet it costs 1000 round trip to go from YYC to Victoria.

Tell me how that makes any sense at all.

You must be going to the wrong Korea.

[MRCboicgy]

It's been like this since I was a kid. I remember crossing the border and flying to and back from Bangor, Maine for a trip to the maritimes. I want to say it was 70% cheaper to do that.

[Lee of Red]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Not the issue at all. The airfares themselves are very comparable usually, the problem is the extra fees. The US charges fees to use their pre-clearance facilities that they don't charge to cross the border in the car, security fees are lower in the US, the airport improvement fees. I can speak for WestJet when I say that our airfares are very competitive, but it's the fees that we don't control that make the difference.

There is maybe $40 difference in the taxes and fees between an internal US flight and a US to Canada flight yet flights out of somewhere like GTF can be up to $150-200 cheaper. if you are flying as a couple or a family those savings become exponentially awesome.

I would say that I much prefer the service on AC and Westjet. But they charge that because they lack decent competitors and can get away with it.