My mother was in Canada for her annual visit from Budapest so I decided to take her for a short trip to the Big Apple.
I considered numerous different airlines and routes. Flying from BUF with WN would have been the cheapest, flying from YYZ with AC or WS would have been to most expensive and finally, flying out of YTZ with Porter would be the most convenient and second most affordable. Given the fantastic reviews I've read and heard about Porter I booked with them. I paid $600CDN for 2 tickets (YTZ-EWR-YTZ), I was also somewhat lucky as Porter had a 30% sale on its entire network. I say somewhat lucky because 2 days after I booked, Porter raised their discount to 50%!!
Great video of Porter's service, some nice shots of the Q400.
I live in midtown Toronto, going to YYZ would cost me $55 for a cab or $3 for a 90+ minute transit ride. Going to YTZ took about 30 minutes, a 20 minute subway ride to Union station, then a 10 minute ride on Porter's complimentary shuttle bus service to YTZ.
The only annoying part of flying from YTZ is the pointless ferry ride. The ferry travels 400ft between the lakeshore and the island that the airport is located on. There have been several proposals about building a small bridge and even a underground pedestrian tunnel and finally it looks like the underground tunnel will be built in the near future.
There are about 12 check-in counters at YTZ, about 10 are for porter and 2 are for AC. Check-in was easy, we passed through security and entered Porter's complimentary lounge. The lounge was clean, spacious with free snacks, drinks and access to the internet.
What struck me most about EWR was how clean and new it looked but mostly how quite and empty the airport seemed, granted we arrived on a Monday morning. US Customs has 60 counters at EWR, 2 were staffed so we ended up waiting close to 30 minutes. The Porter flight and cabin crew from our flight also had clear US customs before returning to the aircraft and flying back to YTZ which I found pretty odd.
I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures at EWR. The aircraft that caught my eye were a FedEx B77F, ELAL B772 and a couple of CO B739s.
Transportation from EWR to Penn Station NY was a breeze and very well organized. The free Airtran connects the 3 terminals to the EWR train station. The ticket on NJ transit from the airport to Penn Station was $25 and took about 40 minutes.
New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum DSCN0419 by KrisYYZ001, on Flickr
Hotel Pennsylvania is in the middle of Manhattan, Time Sq., The empire state building and numerous other attractions are in walking distance from the hotel. The hotel itself is very old and not well maintained however the staff was very polite and helpful.
The first attraction that I insisted we visit was USS Intrepid. One of our friendliest memories was our first experience with NY transit. We boarded the 42M bus but we only had a $5 bill, the driver told me that only exact change or a metro card are acceptable forms of payment. My mom and I got off the bus and started to walk. The bus driver honked his horn and motioned for us to get on. I tried to give the driver the $5 bill but he wouldn't take it and insisted we get on the bus and enjoy the ride. I can tell you with all certainty, that wouldn't have happened in Toronto.
In short, NYC was everything that I expected it to be and more. The people were friendly, the transportation very well organized and the city is just, well, one of a kind. I will definitely travel to NYC more often as I only say a very small portion of it.
My mom has some mobility issues so we paid $50 each for the hop-on-hop-off bus tour. The cost is well worth it if you take advantage of all 3 bus routes. However the tour guide makes or breaks the experience for sure.
There was bad weather expected in the NY area on Wednesday so I decided to go to EWR a lot earlier in hopes of catching an earlier flight back home. The ride from Penn Station to Terminal B at EWR was as easy and hassle free as the way into town. EWR was very quite again. The Porter check-in was the busiest by far. I asked if taking an earlier flight was an option, the agent replied “normally there is a cost for that, but we are accommodating passengers today due to the weather”. So we got onto the 12:00pm flight instead of the 2pm flight.
Security checks went quickly and we arrived at the gate just has the previous Porter flight was departing. There was one gentleman who drove me nuts, he kept making loud remarks about how he will never fly Porter again because they wouldn't put him on the flight he wanted to be on, he wanted to fly at 11am flight instead of the 12pm. His ticket was for the 3pm flight.
The Q400 arrived a bit late but the crew at EWR turned around the flight very quickly. After push-back we taxied towards the runway but we suddenly stopped. After about 5 minutes the Captain told us that there are thunderstorms all along our flight plan so ATC was trying to reroute us. After about 10 minutes we continued the taxi towards runway 4L.
We took off and turned north. The flight was very quick but quite turbulent. The 2 FA's did an awesome job distributing meals and drinks and collecting everything within 20 minutes.
The landing at YTZ was well a “carrier landing”. The plane made a quite steep descent which is quite usual for YTZ and made a very firm touch-down followed by hard breaking action. The breaking was so intense passengers were bracing themselves on the seats in front of them. I quite enjoyed it but some passengers were visibly caught off guard by the intense breaking action.
We cleared customs, our bags were already waiting for us and we took the ferry back to the shuttle bus.
I was extremely pleased by Porter. Their service was impeccable, especially given the short flight.
Widebodyroga From United States of America, joined Sep 2008, 471 posts, RR: 4 Reply 2, posted (1 year 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 8301 times:
Great and concise TR. I love YTZ and Porter. Such a unique airport and airline.
I flew there in March of 2010 and absolutely loved it. Just FYI here's that TR:
LGWflyer From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2011, 2348 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (1 year 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 8264 times:
Hey there krisyyz! Cheers for your TR. I loved all the pics! Went to NYC this year, what a fantastic place. The pics bring back great memories. Also your pics of Toronto are brilliant, looks a nice place to visit. Anyway cheers again.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): I was also somewhat lucky as Porter had a 30% sale on its entire network. I say somewhat lucky because 2 days after I booked, Porter raised their discount to 50%!!
Did you pay $600 each or was that $600 for 2 tickets. I'm assuming this is because of 30% discount. Looks like you missed out on the 50% by a few days. I travelled at the last minute to New York in August, and went by Via/Amtrak which cost $250CDN or so, so if you got your ticket for $300CDN each it was a fabulous price!! Compare 45 minutes to EWR to +12 hours on the train. Never the train again...never, comfortable ride, but just too long!! AC was around $650+ each around the time hence the train.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The lounge was clean, spacious with free snacks, drinks and access to the internet.
I wonder if stingy AC offers anything on their new YTZ-YUL route. That was quite a generous amount for a 45 minute flight. I don't think I will hesitate to fly Porter anytime soon.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The ticket on NJ transit from the airport to Penn Station was $25 and took about 40 minutes.
NJ Transit is different from the New York Transit, is it? I thought the latter went to New Jersey too. Used the New York Transit subway, not the buses and found it very easy! But do they have so many different lines compared to the TTC here lol.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The empire state building and numerous other attractions are in walking distance from the hotel.
Isn't it amazing how you can see so much in such a short span of time, both by walking and transit!!
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The first attraction that I insisted we visit was USS Intrepid.
Totally missed out on this!!
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The Porter check-in was the busiest by far. I asked if taking an earlier flight was an option, the agent replied “normally there is a cost for that, but we are accommodating passengers today due to the weather”. So we got onto the 12:00pm flight instead of the 2pm flight.
Security checks went quickly and we arrived at the gate just has the previous Porter flight was departing. There was one gentleman who drove me nuts, he kept making loud remarks about how he will never fly Porter again because they wouldn't put him on the flight he wanted to be on, he wanted to fly at 11am flight instead of the 12pm. His ticket was for the 3pm flight.
lychemsa From United States of America, joined Oct 2009, 904 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (1 year 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 7786 times:
I nor anyone I know travels to Montreal or to Toronto from New York.
The reason is that the air fares are a rip off.
Usually over $300 just for a short 45 minute flight; the same fare as to Denver, Phoenix and even the West Coast and more than Florida. Train / bus to YUL takes at least 10 hours so that is not an option.
However to YUL one can fly on JETBLUE to Burlington and take a 2 1/2 hour bus trip.
Next time look at TRIPADVISOR. Very helpful to find a hotel. However your hotel was in a great location to visit the ship and take the train to EWR.
ROGERBCN From Andorra, joined Sep 2006, 1127 posts, RR: 19 Reply 7, posted (1 year 6 months 4 weeks 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 7527 times:
Hola Krisyyz!
Thanks for this TR. Interesting to see a report on Porter again, which seems a very business oriented company; the idea of having a lounge for all at YTZ is great and the service they provide on board for a short hop like that is great... simply a rarity these days.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): I was also somewhat lucky as Porter had a 30% sale on its entire network. I say somewhat lucky because 2 days after I booked, Porter raised their discount to 50%!!
I promised to myself never to look back at prices once booked because you come up with surprises like yours, or even bigger that make you wonder if they do it on purpose.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): he kept making loud remarks about how he will never fly Porter again because they wouldn't put him on the flight he wanted to be on, he wanted to fly at 11am flight instead of the 12pm. His ticket was for the 3pm flight.
Some people are never happy, he should be stuck to his original scheduled time.
Salut!
Roger
"At reise er at leve" H.C. Andersen (Travelling is Living)
Quoting flightsimboy (Reply 4): Did you pay $600 each or was that $600 for 2 tickets
$600 for 2 tickets. Each flight was $150.
Quoting flightsimboy (Reply 4): NJ Transit is different from the New York Transit, is it? I thought the latter went to New Jersey too. Used the New York Transit subway, not the buses and found it very easy! But do they have so many different lines compared to the TTC here lol.
Amtrak and NJ transit service EWR. The subway in NYC is just amazing, I don't know how they can operate so many trains and lines with such great service. The TTC has a hard time keeping our 3 lines running sometimes.
Quoting flightsimboy (Reply 4): At least they put him on an earlier flight!!!
Thanks for the advice. Flying from Toronto to anywhere in North America is ridiculously expensive. You can fly to Europe from YYZ for about the same price has flying to YVR or LAX sometimes!
Quoting ROGERBCN (Reply 7):
I promised to myself never to look back at prices once booked because you come up with surprises like yours, or even bigger that make you wonder if they do it on purpose
I definitely learned my lesson. Porter has had a 20% discount for a while now. Both of my flights were full so I'm sure a lot of people took advantage of the seat sale.
767747 From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 1748 posts, RR: 26 Reply 10, posted (1 year 6 months 4 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 7113 times:
Thanks, Kris for a good report on Porter!
I just finished reading an article in the current issue of Airways about them; looks like a great little airline! My dad flew them back in July and also had a really nice flight with them from EWR-YTZ-EWR.
Awesome view, as expected from an airport so close to downtown.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): Hotel Pennsylvania is in the middle of Manhattan, Time Sq.
Hey, I stayed in this one as well on my first visit to New York, more than 15 years ago. It was run-down back then as well, but the location was great.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The bus driver honked his horn and motioned for us to get on. I tried to give the driver the $5 bill but he wouldn't take it and insisted we get on the bus and enjoy the ride. I can tell you with all certainty, that wouldn't have happened in Toronto.
Wow, nice gesture, certainly wouldn't have happened in Germany either.
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): I asked if taking an earlier flight was an option, the agent replied “normally there is a cost for that, but we are accommodating passengers today due to the weather”.
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 14 Reply 12, posted (1 year 6 months 4 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 6719 times:
Quoting krisyyz (Thread starter): The only annoying part of flying from YTZ is the pointless ferry ride. The ferry travels 400ft between the lakeshore and the island that the airport is located on. There have been several proposals about building a small bridge and even a underground pedestrian tunnel and finally it looks like the underground tunnel will be built in the near future.
YTZ reminds me of how LCY used to be. The rail connection was only built a frw years ago, so the only public transport was a crappy bus. Once the bridge/tunnel is built to YTZ, the airport will probably change for the worse.
niagaraflyer From Canada, joined May 2006, 49 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (1 year 6 months 4 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 6467 times:
Quoting krisyyz (Reply 8): Quoting uluru (Reply 1):
Interesting to see a GL plane at YTO!
Caught my eye too, it had Canadian registration so it must have been purchased recently. Thanks.
It was the latest Trans Capital purchase this summer. They've got quite the parts shop @ YTZ for those Dash-7's, a really impressive operation! And quite a contrast to the PD Q4's!
Yukon880 From United States of America, joined Sep 2011, 113 posts, RR: 3 Reply 15, posted (1 year 6 months 3 weeks 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 5402 times:
EL-AL From Israel, joined Oct 2001, 1119 posts, RR: 5 Reply 16, posted (1 year 6 months 3 weeks 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 5193 times:
Hey krisyyz,
Very interesting report, thank you for shearing. Good for Porter making it's way in Canada, usually Air Canada is very aggressive competitor.
Like you, I do not understand why local authorities do not build bridge connecting the airport and the city. Strangely, locals I talked with are also against the bridge.
Did you notice the ex-arkia DHC 7 on the airport?
Jonathan
"In our country, those who do not believe in miracles are irrational" - David Ben Gurion.
ghifty From United States of America, joined Jul 2010, 751 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (1 year 6 months 3 weeks 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 4774 times:
Nice trip report, loved it. Porter seems to have a very JetBlue feel to it, no?
The pictures you took were a treat.. the CN tower.. and the new WTC..
AA767LOVER From Hong Kong, joined Aug 2007, 549 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (1 year 6 months 2 weeks 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 3827 times:
I think you have really covered this well. I've done Porter on YTZ-YOW, YUL-YTZ and EWR-YTZ on a few occasions. So the collective experience on all three drive me to the same conclusion - worthy of the Skytrax awards they deserve. No need to be a First Class passenger to be treated FC. The departure lounge is even better than some of the lounges I've seen in other countries. If Westjet set up a lounge like this, how awesome it would be!
J.I. Tsui, American Advantage Member, United Mileage Plus (Premier)
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