Flying out of Alternate Airports to Save Money

One of the best ways to maximize your travel dollar (especially as a Canadian) is to be flexible in the airports you fly from.

Airports such as Toronto Pearson (YYZ) or Vancouver International (YVR) have very high taxes and fees. The flight prices are significantly more than other airports which are within driving distance of them. Please see the detailed article series for Buffalo and Seattle, which include the best transportation options, parking and analysis of when it makes sense.

Finding an alternate airport is great, especially if you want to take advantage of the “Double-Down” that I have outlined on Milenomics here.

Please see the writeups on how to use these alternate airports from your area.

Canada

Region City Airport(s) Notes
Toronto Toronto YYZ, YTZ
Buffalo BUF Buffalo Airport Series
Niagara Falls IAG Niagara Falls / IAG Writeup
Kitchener YKF
Hamilton YHM
London YXU RobertQ Airbus runs bus service between DTW, YXU and YYZ airports
Detroit DTW
Vancouver Vancouver YVR
Seattle SEA Seattle Airport Series
Bellingham BLI Bellingham / BLI Writeup
Victoria YYJ
Nanaimo YCD
Montreal Montreal YUL
Ottawa YOW
Plattsburgh PBG Plattsburgh / PBG Writeup
Burlington BTV Burlington / BTV Writeup
Syracuse SYR Syracuse / SYR Writeup
Alberta Calgary YYC
Edmonton YEG
Red Deer YQF
Windsor / London / Sarnia London YXU RobertQ Airbus
runs bus service between DTW, YXU and YYZ airports
Detroit DTW

 

Northeast USA

Region City Airport(s) Notes
Boston Boston BOS
Manchester MHT Flight Line and Greyhound provide buses between Boston to MHT airport
Providence PVD MBTA trains run between Boston South Station to PVD Airport
New York New York EWR, LGA, JFK
Philadelphia PHL
Westchester HPN
Islip ISP
Philadelphia / Mid-Atlantic Philadelphia PHL
New York EWR NJ Transit and Amtrak trains run straight from Phila 30th St Station to EWR airport
Baltimore BWI
Washington Washington IAD, DCA
Baltimore BWI MARC trains and Amtrak trains run from BWI to Washington Union Station
Philadelphia PHL

 

Southeast USA

Region City Airport(s) Notes
Miami Miami MIA Florida Tri Rail has stops for each of these 3 airports
Fort Lauderdale FLL
West Palm Beach PBI
Charlotte Charlotte CLT
Greenville Spartanburg GSP
Nashville Nashville BNA
Chattanooga CHA
New Orleans New Orleans MSY
Baton Rouge BTR
Tampa / Central Florida Tampa TPA
Sarasota SRQ
Orlando MCO
Orlando Orlando MCO
Tampa TPA
Daytona DAB
Melbourne MLB

 

Midwest USA

Region City Airport(s) Notes
Chicago Chicago ORD, MDW
Milwaukee MKE Amtrak trains run from MKE airport to Chicago
Detroit / Windsor Detroit DTW
Windsor YQG
Cleveland CLE
Cleveland Cleveland CLE
Pittsburgh PIT
Detroit DTW
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh PIT
Cleveland CLE
Indianapolis / Cincinatti Indianapolis IND
Cincinatti CVG
Dayton DAY
Columbus CMH
Lousiville SDF

 

Southern USA

Region Airport City Airport(s) Notes
Austin / San Antonio Austin AUS
San Antionia SAT
New Mexico Albequerque ABQ
Santa Fe SAF

 

Western USA

Region Airport City Airport(s) Notes
San Francisco / Bay area San Francisco SFO
San Jose SJC Caltrain trains run from SJC (Santa Clara Stn) to the Bay area
Oakland OAK BART trains run from OAK to the Bay area
Monterey MRY
Sacramento SMF
Los Angeles / Southern California Los Angeles LAX
Burbank BUR Metrolink and Amtrak trains connect BUR Airport and Southern California
Ontario ONT
Santa Barbara SBA
Long Beach LGB
Santa Ana SNA
San Diego SAN
Carlsbad CLD
Denver Denver DEN
Vail EGE
Seattle Seattle SEA
Vancouver YVR See this article for best ways between SEA and Vancouver
Victoria YYJ

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