How to travel from Sarnia
Hello My name is Katie, and I’m a travel addict.
Living in Sarnia, and wanting to travel comes with a few challenges. We don't live near an airport, or at least a good airport (sorry Chris Hadfield), so sometimes it's hard to know where and how we should fly! Luckily for you, my addiction has given me all the trips and tricks!
Step 1 - Figure out where you want to go.
Already know? great - move to step 2. If you are open to travel destinations - I have a few suggestions on places to look for flight deals:
www.yyzdeals.com - this website shows awesome deals coming out of the Toronto Airport. You will sometimes see deals out of Hamilton as well. I have flown to Halifax for $100, British Columbia for $200 and Dublin for $250 (several times) on deals shown on this website. Beware, you have to act fast, the deals don't often last more than a day or two.
YYZ deals is a completely free website, just hop on and check out what they have going on that day.
www.scottscheapflights.com - Scotts Cheap flights is the same premise as YYZdeals, but they focus on American airports (ie. Detroit). You can see some deals with the free version, but for a small fee, you can get a yearly subscription to see all of the deals they find. I've personally never bought a flight from this site, but I also have not paid for the upgraded version.
Step 2: If you know where you want to travel, let's talk about which airport you should fly out of
Toronto Airport - YYZ
When flying internationally, the Toronto airport is going to be your best bet. As the largest airport in Canada, and one of the largest in North America, they are going to have a lot more flight times and locations, and therefore have more reasonable prices and flight paths.
Flying from Toronto can be a pain in the ass because... well we are 3 hours away. If you've ever gotten off a 13 hour flight, jet legged and tired, the last thing you want to do is drive three hours home.
How to get to and from the Toronto Airport:
Robert Q - A shuttle service. You don't have to drive yourself, but it can be pricey, and sometimes you have to wait a while before they pick you up.
Drive yourself and park in a lot - The parking attached to the airport is extremely pricey, but is obviously close by and is covered if you're concerned about your car. There are many other parking lots to choose from that are off the airport property. I always use ParkNFly. You can download a coupon that gives you a great discount (must do it before you leave!), and their shuttle buses come every 15 minutes, so you hardly ever have to wait.
Hotel with Parking - Some hotels offer parking for you car, if you stay with them the night before your flight. This could be a great option, depending on what time you fly out.
Fly from Sarnia - This can be a very quick option to get home. Last time I flew from Toronto to Sarnia, I paid $350 one way, so it can be pricey. Make sure you take into account the layover time between your other flight - you might be able to get home in the time you would be waiting. There is also a good chance you will have to switch terminals after you first flight.
Detroit Airport - DTW
If you are flying to anywhere in the US, flights out of the Detroit airport are likely your best option. 1.5 hours away, and a terminal specifically for Delta airlines (that flies mostly in the US) you will likely find your cheapest flights here. The Detroit airport also offers Spirit Airline flights if you're looking for something cheap.
DTW is not a major airport, so you will not see a lot of international flight options. Keep in mind the time it may take to cross the border when planning your drive, and depending on what site you use, check to make sure it is in Canadian dollars instead of USD.
My biggest complaint about the Detroit airport is the lack of places to fill up your water bottle.
Hamilton - YHM, London - YXU
I would suggest flying out of Hamilton or London if you are flying within Canada. Both of these airports have SWOOP airlines. SWOOP is Canada's "budget airline". Beyond incredibly cheap flights, London and Hamilton are closer than other airports, and quite small so easy to navigate.
You can show up to the airport closer to your flight time, because lines practically don't exist, and after your flight lands, you get out of the airport and home much quicker. On my way home from Dublin, the time it took to get off the plane, go through customs, and get to my car, was 15 minutes. I was seat 1A, which in my opinion is the best seat on the plane (window seat, but so much room you don’t have to ask your seat mates to get up when you want out!), so I got off very quickly.
The downside of these airports are that they don't often fly into a major city/airport. For example if you are going to BC, you will fly to Abbotsford airport instead of Vancouver. Depending on traffic Abbotsford is 40mins - 1 hour into Vancouver.
Step 3 - Find you flight
If you are flexible with dates, you can use Google Flights to find the best deal. Just type in where you want to go and where you are flying out of, and it will show you the prices on each day of the month. Below is a screenshot of the prices of a flight from Detroit to Nashville in January.
That’s it folks! Have a gander at the websites, get dreaming, and hopefully we can get travelling again sooner rather than later!