My GF and I are going to see my family in November as they have never met her, and I haven't seen my family in over 2 years, and its the only way to see the family as no way I am ever getting them to come visit me...lol

Anyhow, I had a credit on Southwest Airlines for 156 dollars, and I found a fare for 2 people from Seattle for 424 so minus the 156 only 268 for 2 people not bad.

Yes it take 3 hours and some change, but I am willing to sacrifice time for significant savings.

My GF told her mom yesterday we were flying out of Seattle, and good lord you would have thought it was the end of the world, it was quite to see the reaction.


So anyone else fly from US airports to save money?

I know a lot of BC folks do based on the amount of BC plates in Bellingham, its not locals in Bellingham keeping those flights busy.

Lowest fare from YVR was 420 per person on Alaska. Air Canada was 465 per person, and Westjet was 570 per person. (Westjet is consistently the highest of all when I check prices.)

Just a random post for the day. YVR is like the Four Seasons of airports, and US airports are like the Holiday Inn....lol

We flew Alaska Airlines to Mexico. Our flight was delayed because one of the attendants had forgotten she needed a passport for Mexico and had to go back to her hotel to get it. Things just got worse from there.

Many people in Southern Ontario fly in and out of Detroit and Buffalo to take advantage of cheaper fares.
What is your GF's mother's concern with Seattle airport or is it any US airport?
I have flown in and out of countless US airports (including SeaTac) and have never experienced anything untoward.

Her mom seems to think Seattle is just soooooo far away and we will spend so much on gas to get there...But reality is YVR takes 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic through Downtown, the bridges and all that fun stuff.

So time wise Seattle vs YVR is really not a huge difference, plus the flight is non-stop out of Seattle vs a connection in Seattle, LAX, SFO, DEN or whatever random US hub the airline uses, so once the connection is taken into account, total travel time is about the same.


I have used YVR 2 times, first time to Canada, and when I had an emergency and needed to leave same day within a couple hours, so had to. Otherwise all my trips have been from Bellingham, and 2 from Seattle.

Alaska can vary service wise, but overall I have only had minor issues with them, nothing major. Because of their dominance on the west coast, they are my primary airline.

We flew from Buffalo to Phoenix instead of Toronto to save money. An extra couple of hours in the car but it was worth it.

Seems the sensible thing to do.

We routinely do this. Toronto is a shitty, utterly disorganised mess of an airport with expensive parking so, even if the fare was 15% higher from Buffalo or Detroit, I'd go there. That the fare is 30-50% less makes the choice simple.

For a decade or so I flew weekly, oh how I wanted to live in Buffalo!

I used to fly out of Buffalo lots of times. It was about an hour's drive down from our place, but then it was also about an hour to Pearson, so it was worth the saving.

Where will you park your car for the duration of your trip? Is this parking free?

I've flown from Bellingham and Seattle, no problem at all. Well, apart from coming back from xmas in Florida to snow in the Seattle and all the way up the 5 to an ice rink called Vancouver. We're going to LA in November from Bellingham cos its about 300 bucks cheaper.

Off airport lot, same as if we were flying from YVR. No alternative to driving from Squamish to YVR so either way the car has to be parked in an off site parking lot near the airport. About 11 bucks a day or so usually.


The lots at YVR I am familiar with charge around 15+ per day so parking costs are comparable at both airports.

Plus Southwest allows 2 checked bags free, and I check 1 bag when I fly, so that is an extra 50 round trip on most other airlines on top of the air fare.

Parking at Buffalo and Detroit is not free but, for what they charge, it may as well be. That said, what we usually do is to get a flight early in the morning, drive down the night before so to make the border crossing non-urgent and non-stressful, stay for the night in the Holiday Inn and take their shuttle to the airport. The car has always still been there when we came back.

Ah, the expert is on here. It's been a while since I flew internationally and I've forgotten the rules.

Next month I am doing Ottawa-New York (AC), New York-London (United) and London-Ottawa (AC). Not all on the same days, obviously. Do I have to do this advance passenger information cobblers? If so, can I just do it with AC, given that United code shares?

I booked my trip over the phone with Flight Centre, so the issue didn't come up.

I believe the answers to be yes, and yes. AX likely has more recent experience of this particular load of cobblers; I haven't been home for months.

Oh, I forgot that you lived in Squamish and had to drive to YVR. In that case, you really are taking the cheaper option by driving down to SeaTac. Well thanks for pointing out another downside to living in some small towns. Airport parking fees must be paid since there is no way to take a cab to the airport while leaving your car at home.

Even if you live in the Vancouver region outside of certain area's most end up driving if they have an early morning flight since transit doesn't start early enough to make it to the airport from most of the region, and a cab cost from say the PNE are of Vancouver round trip likely will cost more then just parking at an offsite parking lot.

Now if you live in Richmond, a cab would be worth it, but from anywhere else it becomes pricey.

If I recall from downtown a cab runs 30-40 dollars or so to the airport.