Burlington Airport Looking Better and Better

Used to be that only cheapskate Quebeckers would cross the border to use the airport in Burlington Vermont.

Given the reality of the new security situation at Montreal's Trudeau Airport and the long lineups and endless delays, a leisurely drive and hassle free border crossing might be the right recipe to avoid the uncertainty that travelling to the States through Trudeau airport's new U.S terminal can be.

The hour and three quarter drive from Montreal is definitely worth it when flying to a destination that is served directly by the airport or if travelling in a group. On a trip to Orlando a family of four can easily save over a thousand dollars.

Direct non-stop flights are available to New York City (La Guardia & JFK), Washington D.C., Orlando, Detroit, Atlanta, Newark, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

I fooled around with the fare calculators at both Air Canada and Jet Blue and created a mythical vacation trip to Orlando (Dysneyland,) for 2 adults and 2 children.
The trip left on February 24th and returned one week later. I picked the date at random, so it may or may not be typical. Although the departure and return date were fixed, time of departure was based on the lowest fare or best travel deal.

Both airlines had non-stop flights, each taking about three and a half hours. Air Canada wanted a whopping $4,500 for the trip while JetBlue wanted only $1,200 (after currency conversion,) for a difference of about $3,300. WOW!

Air Canada did have a much cheaper alternative at $2,115, but you had to fly to Toronto first, which tacked on another 2 hours of travel time, each way. Even with all the extra travel time, Jet Blue was still over $900 cheaper!

Check out the Burlington Airport web site.