Maggie68

We are hoping to spend 10 days in Newfoundland this summer. Just checked airfare from D.C. - best is over $1,000. Any suggestions? Are there any boats/ferries/ships?

Thanks.

irecommend

There is a ferry. It best to do the overnight trip and get a berth. You should book it ahead. It sails from Sydney Nova Scotia.

irecommend

http://www.marine-atlantic.ca/

Here is the website. You could check flying in to Halifax.
Newfoundland is amazing.

kodi

I'm not sure the ferry would save you much money. Check the prices of flights from DC to Nova Scotia and then the price of the ferry ( and time) and you will probably find it's not really much, if any savings.
Try flying to Toronto and taking West Jet to Newfoundland. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a reasonably priced way of getting to Newfoundland. I have a friend who was contemplating the same thing, without success.

Newfoundland is SO worth it though. I hope you find a more reasonable fare.

ldb7

Have you checked Reagan National (DCA) ? I am traveling in June and have been watching airfares for months - while still high, AirCanada has several one stop flights right now from DCA to St John's for as low as $833 (this is the cheapest I have seen it for 1 stop). We switched our departure day to a Friday to get a better time/flight and are flying through Montreal on the way out and Toronto on the return. Also, seems like the early AM flights are the priciest - if you can afford the extra time you might look into leaving later one day vs early am the next - for us the savings more than made up for an extra hotel night.

Also, if you haven't booked your car yet do so as soon as you can - I booked a couple of months ago and have prices have definitely gone up. Check all the providers because there are pretty major differences.

Dukey1

You can also fly into Deer Lake but the fares from the US are never "cheap" IMO. And, you I've also noticed that rental cars don't necessarily included UNLIMITED free mileage, either.

Having lived on the island in the late 1950's I would have to agree that depending on why you are going the pace can be VERY worth it.

kodi

Dukey I didn't know you had lived there. It must have been quite different then. I've heard stories my dad told me of when he would go there in the '50s and '60s.

I love it there.

rhawkes

Both Westjet and Air Canada periodically have lower fares if you keep watching for sales from Halifax to St. Johns. Generally fares to fly from other places in eastern Canada to Newfoundland are much more than from Halifax. I realize needing a flight from your takeoff location further complicates it.

I hope it will work out for you.

Bob

tomfuller

Direct flight from Newark to St. Johns on Continental (1808 outbound) Round trip is $793.10 per person. Amtrak from Union Station to Newark is $108 per person RT. Total $901.10 PP
If you are a AAA member you can get a 10% discount on Amtrak.
AAA also may be able to get you a better airfare deal.

Maggie68

The general advice is Newfoundland is so worth it. So we will keep checking flights and just do it! Thanks for the suggestions.

persimmondeb

I don't know how much time you have, and I'm not sure it would actually work out cheaper, but you could drive/ferry it. We did it round trip from New Jersey in the early 80's and had a blast. We took a ferry from Portland, ME (which I believe is still running) to Yarmouth, drove to Sydney, and took the ferry from there.

It took a while, although we did some sightseeing in Nova Scotia and my parents always drove like snails, so I ended up with some odd ideas of drive times. I think we were gone at least two weeks, and it might have been closer to three, but we did a lot of bopping around, and there were things my Dad needed to visit for work.

CapeRace

The average price from Toronto to St. John's return is $510 CDN tax-in. Flights drop as low as $350 tax-in, and can go as high as $800 tax-in. With a six month travel window you should be able to book a $400 tax-in return flight. Using these numbers you can compare the direct Continental flight out of New York with any number of connections through Toronto. Use Expedia to shop, sign up for seat sale alerts on Air Canada and WestJet. Ken