Keebler/Blog

This past (long) weekend, I went up to Ottawa from Toronto to see my (beautiful) girlfriend. Instead of using my usual mode of transportation, the train, I thought I’d try out a flight on the new Porter Airlines which flies right out of Toronto island. Wow! Flying is amazing! I think I might be spoiled forever

First, let me describe the experience. I work in downtown Toronto, so I got out of work a little early to catch an evening flight. Here’s my approximate timeline (with some photos I took):

• 2:40pm: Check-in to my flight online
• 2:45pm: Leave the office, grab a taxi to the ferry terminal at the bottom of Bathurst St.
• 3:00pm: At the ferry terminal. I just missed the (free) ferry so I have to wait.
• 3:08pm: Get on the ferry
• 3:10pm: On Toronto Island
• 3:15pm: Through airport security
• 3:20pm: Sitting in the lounge, enjoying the free wifi
• 3:50pm: Called to board the plane (Leather seats and leg room!)
• 4:00pm: Taxi out to runway
• 4:10pm: Takeoff
• 4:20pm: Free drinks (including beer) and a sandwich and a pastry-thing
• 4:35pm: Announce we are starting our descent
• 4:50pm: Taxing into terminal
• 5:00pm: Step off the plane
• 5:05pm: Standing in front of the terminal in Ottawa

Just over two hours after I left my office, I was standing in Ottawa. To give that some context, I left work a little early and got to Ottawa before I normally get out of the office. Compare that with a train trip that takes over 4 hours for the trip alone! That two hours even includes 30 mins I had to kill in a nice lounge with free drinks and wifi. In Union Station (taking the train), I’ve never stood in a line for less than 30 minutes (and often, much longer).

So, assuming that the plane beats the train in service, speed, and convenience, what’s the price? Would you believe, based on when I booked a couple weeks in advance, it was only $20 more for that weekend? Don’t believe me? I went through the motions of booking a round-trip for upcoming Canada Day Weekend, assuming I would leave Friday morning and get back late on Sunday. On VIA Rail (train), I booked “Comfort Supersaver” tickets which are the cheapest tickets you can get based on booking way in advance. On Porter Airlines (plane), I booked “Firm” tickets, a regular fare class. Both ticket fares will charge you for changes to your itinerary.

Here’s how the two stacked up:

Train (VIA Rail):

Plane (Porter Airlines):

If you’re too lazy to do the math yourself, the plane is just $41.70 more for a round-trip than the train. That’s less than $7 for every hour you save.

So taking the plane from Toronto to Ottawa cost more? Well, of course it does But if you want to save over 6 hours of your life — and I guarantee you’ll pay $7 when you’re entering your forth hour on a train — I highly recommend it!

UPDATE: I’m psyched this entry got picked up by The Torontoist (thanks!). They wrote some good arguments in regards to the cost of plane travel when the environmental impact is taken into account, but I would still like to see a comparison of the propellor aircraft I went on versus a train or a bus which takes longer.

Let the record show, the carbon footprint of my flight (and all my other flights and car co-op) will be offset by Terrapass this year. Mock me if you will, but I do try to be aware of my carbon footprint on the planet and try to make choices that reflect that. When convenience wins out, like in this case, I try to offset it as much as possible

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 8:09 pm and is filed under On-the-Road. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.