Cheap Plane Tickets to Canada?

I don't fly all that often anymore, and maybe I'm just freaking out because I've added 2 family members in the past 4 years so I am forced to purchase more tickets, BUT I'm having difficulty rationalizing paying upwards of $650 per person to fly to Toronto from Houston.

Anyone have any advice to share? I'm possibly planning a long weekend in October to renew my TN-1.

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Permalink Reply by Randy Brazeau on October 4, 2009 at 9:12pm

Yes, fly to Buffalo. Our last trip in August was SouthWest and it cost $186.00 to fly into Buffalo, return. Significant savings.

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Permalink Reply by David on October 6, 2009 at 11:00am

Whenever i fly home to Hamilton, I ALWAYS fly to Buffalo. It's a lot cheaper (almost always under $200 pp) and crossing the border at Fort Erie is MUCH less hassle than going through Customs at Pearson

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Permalink Reply by Shawn & Jenn on October 12, 2009 at 9:37pm

Southwest Air to Detroit if you don't mind driving over. and Southwest flys outa Hobby so yah don't have to deal with Crowds as much as Bush.

I have actually seen Air Canada as cheap as 79$ each way to Toronto. Their flight prices change soo much I tend to check it at least once a day just to see if any good deals come up.

But their best pricing I find is found 2 to 3 months before departure only

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Permalink Reply by Kate Pak on October 15, 2009 at 11:01am

Air Canada has a seat sale. Christmas prices are around $390 roundtrip at the moment. Best of luck!

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Permalink Reply by Kate Pak on October 15, 2009 at 11:01am

Sorry..I forgot to mention that its to Toronto.

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Permalink Reply by Jean Younker on October 20, 2009 at 10:38am

There are no direct flights into Buffalo from Houston, but there are into Torotno.
You pay a premium for this.
If you fly to Buffalo, the cost is significantly less.
To compare flights easily go to
www.bookingbuddy.com
Also, register with travelzoo and they will send you flash fares.
www.travelzoo.com
Jean

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Permalink Reply by Greg Johnson on January 4, 2010 at 11:42pm

With two little kids, it's the same situation for us now. Air Canada had a IAH-to-YYZ promotion a few years ago and we got lucky and paid about $280 CDN each for direct non-stop flights, but usually now we just fly to Albany, NY and drive the rest of the way from there. Even with the rental car expense, it's still less expensive, and we'd always rather deal with Customs at the border than in the airport.

We've also compared the expense of flying vs. driving, and if you have the time, the driving comes out slightly better... depending on the price of gas and what quality of hotels you stay in on the way there and back, naturally.

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Permalink Reply by Christine Haroldsonn on February 26, 2010 at 10:39am

When you are comparing airline fares, remember that Air Canada and Southwest do not charge checked baggage fees. If you are checking two bags then that is over $100 return on another airline and that can be a significant difference in the fare. That is something that I had to keep in mind when looking at fares on other airlines, such as from discount websites.

Greg, are there direct flights to Albany? With the layover time to fly to Buffalo, it might be faster to go directly to Albany and take the longer drive from there.