Hi thomsieb-ga ?
I checked weekday schedules and fares by air, bus and train. I ruled
out air by virtue of expense and one busline, Greyhound, for the same
reason (although I show it below). However, air is reputedly the
fastest?and some people consider that time is money; thus, I included
it in my roster.
For the rest, bus is the cheapest; train is marginally faster but more
expensive; I also included a combination of bus and train to see if
that would serve your purposes.
=====================
BUS
=====================
COACH CANADA
http://www.coachcanada.com/coachcanada/
Montreal to Buffalo
Travel time: 9 - 10.5 hrs
Schedule: Departures three trips daily (four on Fridays and Sundays)
12:15am, 7:30am, 11:30am, 1:30pm( fri & sun) returning 4:45am and
11:15am
http://www.coachcanada.com/coachcanada/ss.details.asp?action=Lookup&c1=Montreal&s1=PQ&c2=Buffalo&s2=NY&resultId=12825&order=&dayFilter=&scheduleChoice=749&sitePageName=%2Fcoachcanada%2Fss%2Elisting%2Easp&cbid=841107939247
Fares (round trip):
Montreal to Toronto
Adult $150
Senior 112.50 (Club 60)
Student 100.00
Toronto to Buffalo
Adult Return $46.75
Senior & Student Return 42.10
TOTAL Adult round trip $196.75
Student/senior rt 142.10
http://www.coachcanada.com/info/coachcanada/ss.toolkit.mtbfares.asp
-----------------
GREYHOUND
http://www.greyhound.ca
Montreal to Buffalo
Travel Time: 11hrs 20min ? 14hrs 20min
Schedule: departures at 6am 11am 1pm 4:15pm 9pm 11:59pm, returning
3:15am, 6:45am, 10:30am, 2:30pm, 7:15, 10:30
http://www.greyhound.ca/scripts/en/TicketCenter/Step3.asp
Fare: $274.80 round trip
===================================================================
RAIL: Rail Canada, Montreal to Toronto; Amtrak, Toronto to Buffalo
===================================================================
RAIL CANADA
https://reservia.viarail.ca/search/tripresult.aspx?t=D
There are two legs to the Montreal-Buffalo trip (with separate fares,
schedules and rail companies)
Montreal-Toronto
Travel time: 4hrs 33min to 5hrs 19min
Schedule:
Two trips daily, discounted fare: departures 6:55am to arr 11:28am and
9:40am to 3:20pm returning 6:55am, 3:10pm, 5:00pm
regular fare: departures 11:40am to arr 16:17pm and 5:00pm to
9:16pm returning 9:30pm, 11:30pm
supersaver fare departures 3:40pm to arr 8:30pm and 6:15pm to 11:34pm
returning 6:35pm
------------------------------
explanation of Rail Canada fares:
"Comfort Regular Fare:
Complete flexibility! Regular fare allows you to make changes to your
itinerary or to cancel your trip with no service charge. No advance
purchase is required!
Comfort Discounted Fare:
Discounted fare gives you a discount with flexibility to make changes
to your itinerary or to cancel your trip, for a small $10 service
charge per direction of the trip1. (No service charge on tickets for
Children 2-11). A minimum of 5 days advance purchase2 is required and
the number of seats offered on the discounted are is limited.
Comfort Supersaver Fare:
Super value! A low one-way fare with limited flexibility. Supersaver
fare is non-refundable but can be exchanged for future travel should
you need to cancel your trip. You can make changes to your itinerary
for a $15 service charge per direction1 (No service charge on tickets
for children 2-11). For a limited time, VIA is waiving the
"non-refundable" restriction on supersaver fare. A minimum of 5 days
advance purchase2 is required and the number of supersaver seats is
limited. Book early!
1 In addition to the service charge, you will be required to pay the
difference in fares, if any.
2 5 days advance purchase not including day of travel. For example, to
travel on a Friday, your ticket must be purchased no later than the
Sunday prior to departure.
----------------------------------------------
Fares $194.48 to $271.46 (depending on special fares or combinations) round trip
AMTRAK
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/Page/Schedules_Index_Page&c=Page&cid=1080072922206&ssid=3
Toronto-Buffalo
Travel time: 1hr 43min ? 2hr 38min
Schedule: http://www.amtrak.com/timetable/apr06/W08.pdf or
http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/FareFinder?_tripType=OneWay&_origin=toronto&_depmonthyear=2006-05&_depday=27&_dephourmin=&_destination=buffalo&_retmonthyear=&_retday=&_rethourmin=&_adults=1&_children=0&_infants=0&_searchBy=schedule&x=24&y=8
Fare $31 one way (discounts available)
======================================
COMBINATION BUS RAIL
======================================
Bus: COACH CANADA, Montreal to Toronto (schedules and fares above)
Time: 7hr 43min to 9hr 38min to Bus Terminal (or University&Queen Subway Sta)
Fare: $60-88 (one way) $100-150 (round trip)
plus
Rail: AMTRAK, Toronto to Buffalo (schedules and fares above)
Time 1hr 43min- 2hr 38min
Fare: $31 (one way) $62 (round trip)
TOTAL riding time: 9hr 23 min ? 12hr 16min
TOTAL fare: $91- $119 (one way) $162 - $212 (round trip)
=================================================================
AIR
===========
US AIRWAYS (via Travelocity)
http://travel.travelocity.com/flights/AirSearch.do?SEQ=11487690478134272006
Montreal to Buffalo (via Philadelphia)
Info for cheapest trip only:
Travel time: 5'16"
Sample Schedule:
Flight: Northwest Airlines flight 3543 operated by:
Mesaba Airlines on a British Aerospace RJ7 Jet - non-stop
Depart: Montreal, Canada (YUL) - Tue, Jun 20 at 6:00am
Arrive: Detroit, MI (DTW) - Tue, Jun 20 at 7:57am
Connecting To
Airline Logo
Flight: Northwest Airlines flight 1120 on a Airbus Jet - non-stop
Depart: Detroit, MI (DTW) - Tue, Jun 20 at 10:13am
Arrive: Buffalo, NY (BUF) - Tue, Jun 20 at 11:16am
Fare: $365.00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, robielee, the cheaper, the slower. I think your best
bet may be the Coach Canada/Amtrak combination. Here the time is very
good: one way is 6 hours 13 minutes to 7 hours 57 minutes. You must
add in the time it takes to get from bus to train station in Toronto
(they are less than a mile from each other), plus any layover time.
The cost runs from $91 to $119 (one way) depending on the discounts
you are able to get.
Coming in second would be the Coach Canada bus all the way. The total
fare is a little under $200 and the stated time of 9 to 10 1/2 hours,
while not the very fastest, is not bad when you consider layovers,
changing stations, etc. in the bus/train combo above.
Regarding air travel: certainly the few minutes you'd save?entirely
hypothetical given security waits and other delays?by air is
definitely not worth the extra cost of the cheapest air ticket I was
able to find: $365.
I would advise you to go to the website of your carrier of choice, not
only to check that the schedules have not changed, but also to check
last minute adjustments in prices and to select the times of travel.
Bon voyage,
Alanna-ga |
