Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Canadians looking for cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages for destinations in the U.S. are finding that often it pays to drive to U.S. airports to save on airfare.

Travelers living in Montreal can save up to $300 when flying to Chicago or Washington, D.C. by driving 90 minutes to the Burlington, Vt. Airport. The number of passengers coming from Canada has grown dramatically at the Burlington airport to the point where 40% of all passengers at this airport are now Canadians.

More Canadians are driving across the border to catch a flight for a variety of reasons:

• Fares are often lower for destinations in the U.S. when the flight departs from the U.S.

• Passengers face fewer problems going through airport security when flying domestically inside the U.S. vs. flying in from oversees.

• Smaller U.S. airports are often easier to pass through than airports in Canada’s larger cities.

Experts estimate that over 2.5 million Canadian citizens use U.S. airports. Travelers in eastern Canada can drive to Bangor, Me., while Quebec travelers often drive to Burlington or Plattsburgh, N.Y. Canadians living in Windsor often cross a bridge to Detroit, and people in Toronto drive to airports in Buffalo or Syracuse, N.Y.

18 percent of Canadians plan to drive to the U.S. to then catch a plane in 2010, according to a survey taken by the Hotel Association of Canada.