What alternative airports do you fly to to get cheaper airfares?

[ozbeachbabe]

Just curious as to what some of you may do to avoid paying expensive airfares to some cities such as those in Canada.

I've heard of people flying to Detroit (DTW) or Buffalo (BUF) instead when their final destination is Toronto (YYZ) then driving across the border into Canada.

Vancouver (YVR) is a popular place to visit but airfares can be expensive however sometimes you can save hundreds of dollars by flying into a nearby city in the USA then catching a train or hiring a rental car. I know people who fly into Seattle (SEA) & catch the train or drive the 141 mile journey.

The closest major airport offering schedules RPT services would be Bellingham (BLI) which is only 51 miles and just over an hours drive.

On recent thread below when looking at a side trip DFW/YVR/DFW the cheapest fare was USD880.00 however DFW/SEA/DFW was less than half of that at AUD334.00. I'm sure there would be many other international examples also.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nce/best-flight-options-east-coast-57135.html

 

[RooFlyer]

The only airport I try to avoid with a passion is LHR - not only for their charges but also the fact that it can be hell on earth for pax. Fortunately these days there are good alternatives like Manchester or even Edinburgh if you are heading anywhere north.

But English trains can be very expensive, so I usually hire a car.

 

[Grooba]

I've heard of people flying to Detroit (DTW) or Buffalo (BUF) instead when their final destination is Toronto (YYZ) then driving across the border into Canada.

I've looked at heading to Niagara Falls via flying into BUF a few times, but fares have always been what I thought to be expensive, so haven't crossed this off the list yet.

For sure anyone wanting to head to Vancouver it's cheaper to get to Seattle then drive up.

 

[drron]

On this last trip we did it twice.Flew EWR-MIA as a YUPP LGA-MIA was ~$800 but from EWR the F fare was ~$350.
Also flew FLL-DFW but not because cheaper but better timings and easier than MIA.

 

[NM]

SFO and SJC when needing to be in the Silicon Valley area (San Jose, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Mountain View etc). My next trip have chosen to use SFO for a few reasons:
1. Colleague from Europe arriving into SFO, so we can meet there and share a car
2. LAX-SFO departs from Terminal 4 (where there is an AAdmirals Club) rather than from the Eagle departure shed that has few facilities
3. AAdmirals Club lounge at SFO for return departure

But reasons for sometimes choosing SJC include:
1. Closer to destination hotel
2. Baggage delivery is quicker at SJC
3. Smaller, less busy airport than SFO

OAK could also be considered, but I have not used it.

 

[JohnK]

Commuting into BNE can see some expensive airfares occassionally so for me it makes sense to fly into/out of OOL as that appears to be on sale all year round.