US Relaunching BUF-ALB...$1200 Round-Trip!

[Matt Molnar]

With $1100 and a few weeks advanced purchase, one can fly to and from nearly all of the great (and even not so great) cities on this planet. Paris, Beijing, Brussels, Dubai and many more are all within reach on that size budget. If you want to take a 65 minute hop between New York's second and sixth largest cities, however, $1100 won't cut it. That's because US Airways' new service linking Buffalo and Albany, beginning May 5th, rings up to $1,170.50 including taxes and fees.

Continental discontinued the route in July due to lack of interest, even at the relatively bargain fare of $390. US previously flew the route but cut it in 2005. Alternatives: Greyhound, $126 (6 1/2 hours each way); Amtrak, $86 (5 1/2 hours each way); US Airways BUF-PHL-ALB, $300 (3 1/2 hours each way).

[LGA777]

Just looked it up, 1 RT a day Mon-Fri on a Saab 340. Sched would no allow a same day rt for BUF customers unless they could conduct their buisness in less than 2 hours. Brilliant !

LGA777

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

That $1000+ turned me away...I'll take Amtrak.

[Mateo]

Obviously looking for State business. Out of curiosity, how much would it be to charter something like a King Air for the trip? It's routes like this that new VLJ entrants like Dayjet are trying to capitalize on. It's probably just as reasonable for something like SATSAir, but the Cirruses can't do known icing, so it's a total crapshoot if you'll be able to go any any specific day.

[Matt Molnar]

Update: They've cut the fare to $256. No explanation from US or Colgan (the operator) on the initial fare.