My husband, my mother-in-law and I are travelling to Boston in approx 6 weeks. We are planning to travel to Niagara Falls as a surprise for my mom in law as a birthday treat. I found this website by accident but wanted to say "Thanks" to everyone on the above subject, we have found out so much information and have saved ourselves quite a bit of money in the process!!

We now plan to fly Jet Blue from Boston to Buffalo and rent a car from there - one recommendation is Priceline (I think it was called) but can anyone recommend any more?

A hearty "Thanks" once again!!!

annied

"one recommendation is Priceline (I think it was called) but can anyone recommend any more?"

For what, annied? For a hotel in Boston? Niagara Falls? A car rental? Do you know about the hotel reviews on tripadvisor.com? Quikbook.com is good for hotels in Boston. Kayak.com is a good site for almost everything.

Don't consider using Priceline for anything unless you've carefully read biddingfortravel.com and/or betterbidding.com --both websites that explain the bidding process and can help you construct a bid.

Note that if you bid on Priceline, the rooms are for two people. With Hotwire, you can shop for a room for three.

Highly, highly, recommend staying on the Canadian side of the falls. There's much more to see and do on the Canadian side and the parks commission does a magnificent job of landscaping and keeping the "touristy" places out of sight. Due to the configuration of The Falls, views are far superior from that side.

There are several websites for the Canadian side offering all sorts of hotel specials. One is http://www.niagarafallslive.com/
We got a fantastic deal at the Hilton for a falls view room on a high floor. But, it really pays to shop like the dickens!

Note also, if you bid on Priceline or select lodging on Hotwire, you will be offered a car rental afterward. You have to be careful to specify picking up the car at the Buffalo airport.

However you rent a car, make sure you let them know that you will be driving into Canada and back and that the agreement includes permission to do this.

Highly recommend hotwire.com for car rental -- you will get a better price than directly from any car rental company and they only work with a handful of the largest companies (Hertz, etc.)

You need a passport to re-enter the US from Canada. I also reccommend the Canadian side. We LOVE to eat dinner at sunset at the Skylon. It is pricey but the revolving restaurant is 538 feet above the falls and the nighttime lights on the falls is gorgeous from that view. reservations aren't required but very helpful.

Doh!! After going onto Priceline website realise what it actually is! Silly me thought it was a car hire company which I saw mentioned in another post - oops! Anyway it is cheap car hire we are after for the 2-3 days we are there for.

FYI to anyone who is planning to do a similar trip - regarding our flight plans I also found US Airways to be slightly cheaper than Jet Blue and with better departure times.

Just to correct arkansasnurse, you do not need a passport YET to cross a land border into the USA. This law will not change until (perhaps) January 1, 2008. Original birth certificate and driver's license suffice before that date.

I found whizzcarrental.com a while ago for foreign travelers (they include all insurance in their costs) and I'm told that they're often cheaper than going direct to National or Alamo, the 2 cos. they use in the US. Get a quote and compare it to hotwire.com

OOPPPS I thought the passport law went into effect July 1, 2007. I guess we skipped going to Mexico for nothing.