Driving to Syracuse to fly to Orlando...nervous!

[Sailormoon2]

Hey all,

We have always flown from Ottawa to Orlando, but this year we are driving first to Syracuse and then taking a Frontier (I really don't want to know how bad) flight from there.
What I would love to hear are your experiences driving across the boarder (how much time to factor), use of long-term parking and anything else you may have experienced, that I don't even know to consider.
Cheers!

 

[Sue M]

We have done that a lot (on west coast) and what I do is drive down the day before and stay in a hotel that has park & fly rates. The hotel shuttles you to airport and picks you up on return. I’ve found many times it’s close to the same price to book a hotel that allows you to leave your car, as the cost of airport parking, depending on length of your trip.
It’s less stress not having to worry about border line ups, traffic, accidents on freeway etc.

 

[Micharlotte]

We have always done the same as pp. We fly out of Buffalo and cross the night before so we don’t encounter huge border lines or any delays. I would rather be in the states then worry about getting to the states. Border guards have always been fairly easy crossing for Disney as I suspect it’s an every day occurrence for them.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

We also fly out of Buffalo to MCO, but we like to go to Syracuse to shop. When we are there, we stay at a fantastic hotel called Embassy Suites on Old Collamer Road. They have park and fly (we've used their shuttle for a variety of things such as the mall, ball park to see Syracuse Chiefs play, or to get a ride to Dinosaur BBQ and back so we can have a few drinks there). They have great CAA rates and it's such a great hotel! Also, they have a 2 hour happy hour (all free) at night, including munchies ride near the pool area. In the morning, they have an awesome breakfast- omelettes made to order, sausage, bacon, pastry, fruit, Starbucks Coffee ... This is all included with the price of the hotel. Rooms are huge (suites, so 2 queen beds and tv in bedroom and another separate room with double sofa bed with tv). So, you could go down the night before and relax and not have to worry about crossing the border at all. A great way to start your vacation stress free. But, I acree with @Micharlotte regarding the every day occurrence for Canadians flying out of the US.



ETA- we are big fans of the Buffalo airport and have heard good things about the Syracuse airport.
Good luck

 

[alohamom]

I have never flown out of syracuse but I did do an overnight with my daughter to see a concert. Syracuse is great. It is fairly easy to navigate and I felt extremely comfortable during my entire time there.

I have also flown Frontier out of Detroit and I gotta tell you, they were actually really good.
the plane we flew on was brand new, the attendants were efficient and courteous and the flight itself was excellent.
I knew ahead of time about the extra charges for things other airlines include and I was able to plan around it. I can see how someone might get upset if they didnt know.

 

[ottawamom]

We've flown out of Syracuse a few times. Depending what time your flight is you may want to go down and stay overnight the night before. There are a number of hotels in the airport area that will allow you to leave your car and will shuttle you over to the airport if that is the route you want to go. Otherwise long term parking is either covered or open lot. Not very expensive when compared to what you pay in Ottawa to do the same. The airport itself is easy to navigate and the signs to the airport off the interstate are well marked. The airport website has lots of good info.

If you were going to go direct from Ottawa to the airport its 3 hrs driving time to Syracuse. I would allow an extra hour (going down) in case the border is backed up. Add onto that your 90 minutes pre flight, I think you're looking at 5 hours +. Definitely more enjoyable to go the night before. Shop at Destiny Mall, go to Dinosaur BBQ etc.

 

[barb969]

I crossed the border in the 1000 Islands many times in the summer. It depends on the day. A Saturday in the summer could easily take an hour or more. During the week at most 15 or 20 minutes. If you could use the Odgenburg crossing it is quicker, but the roads on the US side are not as good. You could also use the Wolfe Isand ferry (free)and the small ferry(not free) to Cape Vincent. Once you get to I-81 it’s about 100 miles to Syracuse. If you are looking for food, the second Watertown exit (east) has McDonalds and various other restaurants.

When you are approaching customs at the 1000 Is. stay left. Trucks have to keep right and you sometimes they get backed up

Have a good trip.

 

[bankr63]

The only thing I would add is to check the border crossing wait time site just as you leave.

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/border-times-us

If Thousand Islands is backed up, do take Prescott-Ogdensburg. We cross at Prescott more often than TI because it is generally empty, and only adds about 5-10 minutes of drive time as you are on 2 lane highway for about 30 minutes. The time savings at the border can often easily make up for the extra time driving. Winter can be a little iffy, but in August, not a problem. This past March break we crossed Prescott on Sunday coming home from Orlando. There was 1 car ahead of us, clearing the booth just as we pulled up. Previous March break, we crossed back at the TI Bridge and waited almost an hour.

 

[Sailormoon2]

First THANK YOU ALL for the amazing feedback!!!

Border guards have always been fairly easy crossing for Disney as I suspect it’s an every day occurrence for them.

This is so reassuring! Thank you!

Frontier out of Detroit and I gotta tell you, they were actually really good.
the plane we flew on was brand new, the attendants were efficient and courteous and the flight itself was excellent.

Awesome!! We are fully aware of all the "extra cost" which are pretty much the same as any Canadian airline, regardless of ticket price, so it's fine. I am relieved to hear you had a positive experience. We have low expectations and are treating it as an adventure

If you were going to go direct from Ottawa to the airport its 3 hrs driving time to Syracuse. I would allow an extra hour (going down) in case the border is backed up. Add onto that your 90 minutes pre flight, I think you're looking at 5 hours +. Definitely more enjoyable to go the night before

Thank you for this time line. Our flight is at 1:30pm so I think we will just leave by 6:00am, which should account for sufficient time! (fingers crossed).

The only thing I would add is to check the border crossing wait time site just as you leave.

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/border-times-us

This is wonderful!! I didn't even know this was a thing.

 

[ottawamom]

Your 1:30pm flight is definitely doable leaving in the morning from Ottawa. Huge savings on not having to pay for a hotel. You'll arrive with time to get something to eat before your flight. have a great trip.

 

[michelb]

Just to add to the information provided: The drive from Ottawa to SYR is very easy, particularly if you cross at Thousand Islands which makes it all highway but we pretty much always cross at Prescott/Ogdensburg because we find it's faster for customs and like to get that out of the way.

There used to be a 3rd party company (Americar I think) that would be do remote long term parking / shuttle but they have stopped it recently and I don't think any others are doing it anymore so I think your only choice is parking at the airport or a hotel. Having said that, I think there are a few hotels around Syracuse that offer "Stay, Park and Fly" so that might be your best option (even if you don't care about staying overnight) as it might be cheaper than paying for parking at the airport depending on how long you are staying (We've done this at Plattsburgh and it was cheaper at the hotel and they start your car and remove the snow off of it if you call them the morning of).

Depending on where you are driving from in Ottawa, 5 hours might be plenty. Crossing into the US at Ogdensburg, it think it's quite rare that it takes more than 5-10 minutes (based on my experience, crossing from US into Canada is always significantly longer). Because you aren't going through customs at the airport (domestic flight), you don't have to arrive that early but you do still have to go through airport security.

BTW, thanks for the info on Frontier Air. I had no idea they were an option to fly to Florida from SYR.

 

[hdrolfe]

I've never done it, but thanks for mentioning the airline. I had no idea they were so cheap (even paying for seat choices and checked bags, and converting from USD). I wish I'd known sooner, perhaps we would be going away this summer!

 

[Sailormoon2]

@hdrolfe I'll definitely do a review once we're back, to give people a little bit more info for what to really expect when paying so little.

 

[TFC_UNTIL_I_DIE]

Having driven to Florida from Ottawa many times I would echo that crossing at 1000 Islands is preferable because its better to take the 401 West rather than the smaller road on the US side. Also, Ogdensburg area has lots of Mennonites and sometimes you can get behind their buggies on that highway which will slow you down to 25 km/h......this happened to us once. On the other hand, anyone travelling the 401 this year knows that Prescott to Brockville is a mess of construction which may eliminate any time gains....

Getting to the Syracuse airport is super easy. Just cross the border and continue south on I81 until you see the exit for the airport. You hit the airport before the city so its very rural. Its a small airport (smaller than Ottawa), easy to park, some hotels etc. On the way home you can still go to Cicero or Watertown or even Destiny USA which is a few exits south. Literally the easiest place to navigate.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We fly out of Buffalo or Detroit and always go the day before as pretty much everyone else suggested. Google park sleep fly and the airport to find what deals are available. We recently booked a hotel in Buffalo for August at $113. For just the hotel it was $106 anyways but now includes parking, breakfast and shuttle.

 

[bankr63]

We fly out of Buffalo or Detroit and always go the day before as pretty much everyone else suggested. Google park sleep fly and the airport to find what deals are available. We recently booked a hotel in Buffalo for August at $113. For just the hotel it was $106 anyways but now includes parking, breakfast and shuttle.

Maybe, but with a 1:30 pm flight, you would be sitting around in Syracuse for most of the day. You don't really need to when the trip is only going to take about 3 hours. Parking right at the airport is $10(open)-$12(covered)/day.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Parking right at the airport is $10(open)-$12(covered)/day.

This is fantastic to know, I was struggling to find this information, so thanks for that. Given that we're going in August open is fine by me!

 

[bankr63]

This is fantastic to know, I was struggling to find this information, so thanks for that. Given that we're going in August open is fine by me!

http://www.syrairport.org/parking-transportation/parking/ should have all you need to know.

 

[joanjett1976]

To save money we usually opt to fly out of Albany, NY instead of Montreal. It's a few hours drive but even factoring the gas and the parking we've saved over 50% off the standard Air Canada rate.

 

[tinkerone]

This is fantastic to know, I was struggling to find this information, so thanks for that. Given that we're going in August open is fine by me!

We just flew in and out of the Syracuse airport a few weeks ago. I will tell you there is LOTS of construction going on at the airport right now, its a bit of a mess so if this is the first time you have flown from this airport be prepared. Its still so much easier than flying out of a Canadian airport but the construction has put a bump in the road. They are working on the inside as well as the outside. We stayed at a Best Western that is a two minute walk from hotel to airport however since we arrived from our return flight late at night we wanted to call the hotel for a pick up. The phone bank for calling the area hotels has been taken out and will not be put back for a while. One of the staff members at the airport called the hotel for us on his personal phone.
I know you have said you are flying out in the afternoon however what time will your flight return? If its late you may want to consider a park and fly room as its not much more of a cost than paying for just parking.
Have a great trip, enjoy!