inexpensive airfares NS
 

I've been told that the least expensive way to get to NS is to fly as far north in the US and rent a car to drive to NS. Any comments or thoughts?
Bob Swanson

Anyone who tells you anything firm about air fares does not know what he or she is talking about.

The ONLY firm thing about air fares is that they vary by the hour. There was a great show on TV the other night about air fares on one particular American Airlines flight. Fares from two digitls to four digits on the same plane.

Flying to Bangor and renting a car may be cheaper than flying to Halifax and renting a car, but I'm willing to bet that the extra car rental days and mileage from Bangor to your first lighthouse will be more than the additional fare to Halifax.

And look for flights to Moncton and St John , NB (with no apostrophe s) There are lighthouses in New Brunswick, too.

Depending on time availability; fly to Montral and take the overnight train to Halifax,

You do know the weater in late winter in Nova Scotia can be cold, grey, snowy, rainy, sleety, and even dangerous down on the rocks on the coast with the Atlantic pounding in, right?

Which is not to say you won't get good photos.

Thanks BAK. That's the type of info I'm looking for.
BS

Hello again BAK

I'm going to try for late March early April. I've tried to search for train schedules from Montreal to New Brunswick and seem to only be able to find vacation travel in Canada. Any idea what the railroads website might be?
BS

viarail.ca

The web site you want is www.viarail.ca

Thanks Gavin and ErickL
BS

I'm probably doing something wrong but the train fares seem awfully expensive. Of course I haven't traveled by train in over 40 years. BS

Bob we can't tell you if you are doing anything wrong if you don't tell us what fare you found, your city pairs, class of service and date(s).

I think that the train fares are expensive when compared to flying if you can find the right flght and I dont think you would want to spend that much time on the train-rather get to those lighthouses.

I am really ticked off w/ Air Canada right now. In August I booked fares Toronto/Halifax/Sydney "return" for Christmas. In August, I was told by the Air Canada Sales Agent that "the price was definitely going to go up" so to "grab the seats" which I did. Last week, the fare went down by $200 per ticket!!! There are 2 of us travelling so that's $400. And, to make matters worse Air Canada had cancelled our original flight Halifax/Sydney & now wanted to leave us in the Hfx airport for over 4 hours to connect to Sydney!! So, the one that I had paid $200 more for does not even exist anymore. Should I get a credit? Not according to Air Canada. So, my advice is to book not more than 3 months in advance. And, watch for "seat sales". I have benn doing this run for over 25 yeasr so you think that I wld have figured it out by now. But, no.....dumb, dumb, dumb

Speaking of DUMB. When it was recommended that I take the night train from Montreal to Halifax I invisioned a 4 - 6 hour train trip. It turns out that it's 20 plus hours (but it looks so close on the map). And the cost is between $ 250.00 and $ 650.00. I guess the airfare doesn't look so bad after all. BS

It's not close at all. It's a two day trip by car. The train is not too bad considering you'd mostly be traveling when it's dark. By train, I'd consider getting in NB... Bathurst or Moncton (don't how many lighthouses there are in NB). The cheapest price is 120$ for MTL > Moncton. It's a lot cheaper when you buy the ticket in advance.

And remember, if you take the train, the basic fare has you sitting in a rclining chair all night. Sleeper accomodations are additional.

There's no easy way to predict air fares and train specials months in advance.

You really should decide whether or not you want to go, and decide where your destination is. Decide if you want to arrive in one place and leave in another. Confirm that you plan to rent a car. Figure out dropoff charges if you arrive one place and leave from another.

Be aware that cross border drop off charges are a lot more than within the same country.

The only two airports to consider are Moncton and Halifax.

BAK

BobSwanson, yes flying in Canada is VERY expensive relative to the the States (one of my major peeves!). For example, going Boston to Portland in the states, I can get a fare anytime for $389, try doing it from Halifax and its $780!

To wow: I feel your pain! My MO has been to determine what is a "good fare" from one place to another and watch for it. Soon as it gets there, buy it!

However, the wrinkle is when you're watching it and then it starts to jump, jump, jump! Most recently when I tried to book to Portland fares were $605 and then took off to close to $800. Boy, was I kicking myself...LOL!

As for your AC plight, I have experienced the same. You might want to consider just calling in again and trying to get a better flight/refund. With $200 price diff, even with a change fee it should be worth it.

I've had similar experiences where the flights you book in advance are cancelled when the new season's schedule comes out, and you get bumped to something else.

I looked up all the flight combos I wanted in advance and when I called it was easy for the agent to change it for me since I had all the info ready for her. My original flight was a direct flight and the new flight they informed me by e-mail had connections/stopovers to Vancouver. I had it changed to a direct flight that got me into Vancouver even earlier (a good thing).

So just a try a different agent. I find their contact centre staff to be highly variable in the level of service they provide, and their technical expertise with their systems. Some that can't figure out how to do things in their multiple systems - I have found those ones tend to just say no. Good luck!

Enjoy-la!

thanks again, Erick & BAK
BS

Bob, I still don't know what numbers you're dealing with airfare-wise.

All I can say is that IF I were traveling to Halifax from what I perceive to be your area, I would first look into the direct flights from DC to Halifax OR fly to Portland, Maine and rent a car and drive the rest of the way.

One assumes that you would be renting a car in Halifax in order to tour around the province, right?

So it is all a math equation weighing the airfare costs added to car rental costs plus the cost of gas to drive from Portland and back.

If the round-trip fares from DC to Halifax are just too much, then fly to Portland and rent a car there. At the very least, this would cause a couple of the must-sees to be more "convenient". Hopewell Cape, NB could be visited on the way in or out, and you'd likely have a couple of different paths of travel for sightseeing along the way.

If airfares OR car rental costs aren't optimum using Portland then consider other larger cities in adjoining states.

The internet lets you learn these costs down to the penny on your own without having to trust some travel agent to get you the best deal.

Your efforts in this matter will pay off.

Thanks NorthWestMale and Klam chowder. I'm leaving from Norfolk, Va. and seem to be leaning towards Portland and driving the remaining distance. BS