My crazy idea for how I’m going to Montréal this summer

If you can’t tell, I am absolutely infatuated with Montréal. However, the annoyance of clearing customs and immigration at the airport, combined with Canada’s high aviation taxes, make another alternative idea a lot more enticing. Just like I did in my 2022 trip to Toronto, I can simply fly to the closest U.S. airport near Montréal.

Where might that city be?

Burlington, Vermont

But of course, I’ll only fly to Burlington if the price is right.

Fortunately, for flying between New York City and Burlington, the prices look very good for July and August.

Even more fortunately for me, I have $200 of Amex credit ready to be used on Delta. That brings my price down to a cool $99 plus the fee of upgrading from basic economy to regular economy (as I never fly basic economy).

This looks pretty good to me!

What’s the plan?

First, I’ll use the Alaska $425 flight credit I got from the 737 MAX 9 fiasco to book my flight from Seattle to New York City. The flight price should be over $425 but probably no more than $600, so I’ll be able to use all of my credit without wasting any of it, while also not spending too much out of pocket.

Then, I’ll book a flight on Delta using the strategy above.

Out of pocket, I don’t expect to spend any more than $300 in cash on these fares.

So I’ll spend a few days in New York City, then hop on over to Burlington.

The plan is to arrive in Burlington at midnight and go straight to a hotel with an airport shuttle. In the morning, I’ll head back to the airport and pick up a rental car from Avis. I’ll drive the rental car across the border to a hotel in Brossard, and then for the remainder of my time in Québec, I’ll simply take the REM between Brossard and Montréal Island, or I can drive all the way to Québec City from Brossard.

Also, the timings of these were chosen very deliberately. This should maximize my ability to enjoy the lounges, both on departure (Chase Sapphire and Amex Platinum) and on arrival (Delta Sky Club) at JFK. Hehe.