Porter Airlines: Great rates + an awesome waiting lounge

Photo credit: Porter Airlines

I recently returned from a trip between Toronto and New York City (via Newark International Airport). At the time of booking, Porter Airlines was offering a 40% discount on any ticket booked prior to June 1, 2011. It appears they have another sale on at the moment:

Use the promo code SPLASH and you will receive 30% off the price of your ticket. Woo hoo!

To use this promo code, visit the Porter Airline website on or before June 29th to book your travel (any time between now and December 15th, 2011!!!)

Porter serves many Canadian and U.S. airports on the eastern seaboard. To see if your hometown or destination are serviced by Porter, see their destinations map. The number of locations might surprise you!

To get to New York City, we flew out of Toronto City Airport and landed in nearby Newark, New Jersey. We were first-time Porter passengers. Here are some of the reasons why we loved flying Porter:

1. Shorter drive to Toronto City Airport than Lester B. Pearson (note: we were intentional about avoiding rush hour peak periods)
2. If you are staying in downtown Toronto, there is a free airport shuttle that picks up/drops off passengers at the Royal York Hotel (across from Union Station). Super handy!
3. Check-in was extremely quick
4. The waiting lounge is fabulous! Access to internet as well as a business centre with several Apple iMacs ready to use
5. Free snacks and beverages before you even get on the plane! The airline provides Starbucks blend coffees and teas as well as snacks, pop and bottled water free of charge to all passengers while they are waiting. Thanks Porter: a great way to start off our morning!
6. Everything about the planes met our expectations
7. The crew was very friendly
8. When we arrived early in Newark for our return flight, they offered to put us on an earlier flight home which we appreciated
9. Porter provides in-flight snacks in these cute little boxes that you can hold in the palm of your hand. On the way there, they served banana bread. On the way home, it was yogurt and a Sara Lee cheese bread (which we didn't like as much since it was greasy)
10. The entire flying experience was well-presented and felt very retro-chic. I can't help but wonder if this is what flying might have felt like back in the day when it was less commonplace

Overall, we would definitely recommend Porter Airlines and would fly with them again. The only downsides we experienced were specific to Toronto City Airport:

• you have to wait for a ferry to take you to the island airport (only takes a few minutes though... non-issue from our perspective)
• on the mainland, there is little parking space for family/friends who might be picking you up. 
• Suggestion: take the free shuttle to the Royal York and get picked up there if you don't want to deal with parking lot congestion