Flights - LA to Niagara Falls plus a few other questions.
 

Hi everyone, we are planning a trip next May, departing Sydney. We would like to fly Sydney - LA - Niagara Falls. I couldn't see any direct flights from LA - Niagara Falls, they all seem to have a stop on the way??

Originally we had thought that we would fly LA - NY and then stay overnight to recover and then head to Niagara Falls, but now we think that seems a bit unnecessary and we would rather book an extra day at Niagara Falls so that we can recover from the trip there. We do expect to be hideously jet lagged!! I would love it if someone who has done this flight can help.

After Niagara Falls we will head to either Washington DC or Boston, this is undecided yet and needs more discussion. Then we will have a week in NYC before heading home via Hawaii. We only have two weeks so we are very aware that this won't be an indepth trip.

And would also be happy to hear about anyone else's experiences flying from LA - Niagara Falls. And also would love any tips about flying from Niagara Falls to either Boston or Washington, DC.

Thanks in advance, Cathie

You might prefer to fly from LA to Buffalo or Toronto - which might be a possible direct flight from LA. The airport in Niagara Falls is very small - the reason it has few long distance flights.

I just checked on kayak.com and was surprised to find no non-stop flights between LAX and BUF (non-stop is the term you want to use; direct flights mean you stay on the same plane from Point A to Point B but it can land at some city between). No non-stops on Southwest either, which does not show up on some airline search engines.

There are non-stops from LAX to Toronto (a couple of hours away) for about $100 more than one-stop flights LAX-BUF. Those 2 airports are really your only reasonable options. Toronto is about 2 hours away from Niagara Falls - and a nice city if you want to add that to your itinerary.

Thanks nytraveller and gail.

gail thank you for clarifying the terms. I think we will be very jetlagged by that stage and would probably prefer to fly to Buffalo which I understand is only a 30 minute trip to Niagara Falls. Did you happen to see how long the plane stops for on the stop between LAX and BUF?? And do you have to disembark and get back on again? If not, don't worry, I can check on that.

There are several flights from LAX to Buffalo each day... you could choose from multiple stopping points and short or longer plane changes... we like to break up the trip in Chicago with a chance to stretch our legs and potty for about 60 to 90 minutes... if you make the stop under 60 minutes, you risk missing the connection... there are also continuation flights depending on the day and time...

Niagara Falls for at least two days is better as the time difference is 14 hours... you will be flipping your day/night upside down and that could slow you down... Niagara can be a simple look or lots of walking depending on your choices... there is an amazing wine region, trails, biking, and attractions in addition to the Falls...

Happy planning!

One other point: not sure how visas work for you - but you would be entering the US twice-once in LA and again coming back from Niagara Falls(all the good stuff is on the Canadian side)). So you might need a multi-enry visa.

Are you planning on flying or driving between Niagara Falls and your other destinations? Driving would bring with it a large drop-off fee for the one-way rental, as well as high daily charges for parking (and some highway tolls).

If flying, you can go direct from Buffalo (BUF) to either Boston (BOS) or Washington (3 area airports). Tickets to Boston probably will be cheaper than tickets to Washington.

US Airways and JetBlue fly direct BUF-BOS. Note that JetBlue allows you to check one bag for free, while US Airways does not, so if you plan to check luggage you need to add $25 to the US Airways ticket price to make an accurate comparison with JetBlue.

You can ride the T (subway) from Logan Airport into Boston - it's just a few miles from downtown.


The three Washington-area airports are

Reagan National (DCA), just across the Potomac River from Washington - you can ride the Metro into DC from DCA

Dulles International (IAD) - about 30 miles from downtown Washington, with no good options for public transit as far as I know

Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) - also around 30 miles from downtown Washington, but with shuttle service available (about 1.5 hours)

You really don't need a car in Boston, Washington, or NYC.

From Niagara Falls you should fly to either DC or Boston. One in either one you can esily take Amtrak (or super ceahp bus if you prefer) to NYC and the final stop. (The NE corridor between Boston ad DC is the ony place in the country that long-distance - vs commuter - trains really work.)

And a car is a huge PIA in any of the 3 cities - expensive to rent and no place to park.

You might like to have a car in buffalo/Niagara, but it would be a hassle in Boston or DC. Also, there are car services that will transport you from Bflo airport to Niagara Falls. It is much easier to fly in and out of buffalo than Toronto. Many Canadiens fly out of Buffalo because of ease and general lower costs. And you can stop and have our world famous chicken wings! There's even a great place for them close to the airport (Duffs)

Everyone is answering you specific question - but I do have to ask: You want to fly from OZ to LA to Buffalo and transfer to Niagara Falls in one straight shot??

That would be one (well two actually) hellacious travel day. How long will you be at Niagara Falls - and will you have a multi-entry visa?

Niagara Falls is certainly worth seeing - but not w/ these logistics IMO. Is there another way to arrange your itinerary? Is Niagara Falls a 'must'?

I checked Southwest and Jetblue - they have a stop with plane change.

Wow thanks everyone. Janisj you have hit the nail on the head!! We have decided to reorganise as follows:

Sydney - LAX - Washington or Boston - NYC - Niagara Falls - Honolulu (prob via LAX).

I think this flows much better and doesn't have the back tracking that the original itinerary had. We know we will be jetlagged for the first couple of days, but that really be avoided unless we spend time on the west coast which we don't want to do on this trip. We Aussies are tough travellers - we are used to 24 hour flights to Europe too. :)

We don't really want to drive as none of us want the responsibility of figuring out driving on the other side of the road etc. nytraveler thanks for the tip re the multi-entry visa, I'll make sure we don't forget that.

If you take the bus from Boston or Washington to New York, you will want one like BoltBus or Megabus - not one of the Chinatown buses (like Fung Wah) and not Greyhound.

Amtrak (train) price depends on train type - Northeast Regional is slower but significantly cheaper than Acela Express (which is also a nicer train than NE Regional).

Flying is no faster than bus or train, by the time you add in getting to the airport early for security and then getting from one of the NYC airports into the city. Plus flying usually costs more, too.

Phew (!) -- That is a MUCH better plan :)

The cheap bus(NOT China town) is fine - but is subject totrafic and road conditons. Amtrak is usually on time unlesss there is some major event (fire on the tracks, blizzard etc). And i fyou buy tickets in advance (you can do it online) it's less than $100 per person.

Amtrak has tickets for $49 per person right now for May 2011.

I think i'd prefer a train as I loathe bus trips. Does the Amtrak train compare to the trains in Italy where there is a little tray table etc? Cranachin, thanks for the tip about the train tickets.

We have another planning session (with champagne of course!) this afternoon, so hopefully we can lock in some dates and then I'll look into booking the train tickets.

Now I'm going to try to find hotels in Hawaii, but I'll start a separate thread for that.

Thanks again!

Yes, the Amtrak trains for your routes have roomy seats with tray tables, 2 seats to each side of the aisle, and good leg room.

Thanks ellenem, that sounds much better than being stuck in a seat on a bus!

Hi cathies, your post is raising some interesting points for us as well, especially the multi entry visa. We hope to fly into Boston, travelling around New England, the Maritime Provinces, Quebec City and then Niagara Falls before returning to either NYC or Boston. I hadn't even considered that entailing re-entering the US. Not sure what we do?