Burlington to Montreal: taxi vs Uber vs black car, real costs compared

Burlington, Vermont to downtown Montreal is about 149 km (92 mi) by road, roughly two hours on a clear day plus the time it takes to cross the border at Highgate Springs and St-Armand/Philipsburg. There is no published flat taxi fare for the trip, no direct passenger train from Burlington, and no guarantee that a rideshare driver will take an international run. That leaves three realistic options: a metered or negotiated taxi, a rideshare request, or a pre-booked car at a fixed price agreed before you travel.

This guide works through each with numbers from official sources, for both directions: Vermonters and visitors heading north to Montreal, and Montrealers using Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport (BTV) for US flights. Montreal is the Elly8.net city at the far end of the trip, so the Montreal price list is the reference throughout.

How much is a taxi from Burlington to Montreal?

The rates come from the airport's rental cars and taxis page, which also lists a minimum fare of US$11.00, US$1.00 per additional passenger and a US$4.00 night extra from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The meter is designed for local trips around Chittenden County, so for a 92-mile cross-border run the practical step is to call one of the licensed companies the airport lists, ask for a flat price in writing and confirm that the driver will cross the border with you.

See Montreal prices and reserve

The trip itself: distance, roads and the border

Distances are routed road distances; times are for empty roads. Most drivers take Interstate 89 north through St. Albans to the Highgate Springs crossing, which the Canada Border Services Agency lists as St-Armand/Philipsburg (Saint-Armand, Quebec and Highgate, Vermont). The CBSA border wait times page shows current delays for each crossing, and US Customs and Border Protection publishes the southbound waits on its border wait times site.

One note for drivers coming via New York instead: the CBSA flags that the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle crossing on Highway 15 is under redevelopment, with border delays expected until winter 2027. From Burlington, Interstate 89 is the natural route anyway.

Everyone in the vehicle needs the travel documents both countries require. Check the CBSA and CBP rules for your citizenship before the trip, and keep passports out of the trunk, because border officers may ask to see every passenger's documents.

Option one: taxi

What it costs. On the BTV meter, the distance part of the trip is US$4.00 plus 93 miles at US$3.50, about US$330, plus the US$4.00 airport surcharge, so roughly US$335 before the time rate, the extra-passenger charge, the night extra and a tip. That figure is arithmetic on published rates, not a quote. From downtown Burlington the distance part is about US$327.

In the other direction. Montreal taxis leaving YUL run on the Quebec meter that Aeroports de Montreal publishes: C$4.10 to start and C$2.05 per kilometre by day. YUL to downtown Burlington is about 164 km, so the distance part alone is about C$340 before time charges and tip. Our Montreal taxi fare estimator explains how those rates work.

Where it falls short. A taxi is a fair choice if the company agrees a flat price and the driver is ready for the border. The risks are a meter running through a border queue, a driver who cannot or will not cross, and a vehicle with room for four people but not four suitcases.

Option two: Uber or Lyft

Rideshare prices for this route are not published, and the cross-border part is the real question. A rideshare trip is matched to whichever driver accepts it, and that driver decides whether to take a two-hour international run with a return leg they may not be paid for. A long one-way international request can take time to match, and there is no way to confirm it days ahead at a set price.

If you try it, request well before you need to leave, check the driver is comfortable crossing, and expect the fare to move with demand. Arriving at YUL from the other direction, most Uber and Lyft pickups are at the Leigh-Capreol area via door 28 on the arrivals level, according to the YUL rideshare page. For a premium app ride, our guide to Uber Black in Montreal sets out the published averages.

Option three: the train

There is no direct passenger train from Burlington to Montreal. Amtrak's Adirondack runs between New York and Montreal's Gare Centrale along the New York side of Lake Champlain, with stops including Westport, Port Kent, Plattsburgh and Rouses Point. For a traveller already on the New York side, it is a scenic and inexpensive way into Montreal. For someone starting in Burlington, getting to a station on the far side of the lake is a journey of its own.

Option four: a pre-booked car at a fixed price

Elly8.net prices the Burlington run in the web booker for your exact addresses, date and vehicle, and shows the all-in figure before you pay: chauffeur, vehicle, taxes and standard gratuity included, with tolls and parking billed at cost. There is no fixed price list for Burlington because it is not one of our 141 cities, so the quote is built for the trip, and the desk confirms the chauffeur and vehicle for the border crossing before the booking is final.

As a reference point for a drive of similar length, the fixed YUL to Mont-Tremblant transfer, 134 km (83 mi), is US$350 in a business sedan, US$455 in a business SUV and US$910 in an Executive Sprinter. The Burlington run is a little longer and includes a border, so the booker prices it on its own rather than on that table.

Rides in Montreal are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk.

Who should choose which

Choose a taxi if you are one or two people, you have called ahead for a flat price, and the company confirms the driver will cross.

Choose rideshare if you are flexible on time, travelling light, and comfortable with a fallback plan if the request is declined.

Choose a pre-booked car if any of these apply:

• You are catching a flight at BTV or YUL and the border wait is the variable you cannot control.
• You are four or more people with luggage, or travelling with children who need car seats, which are fitted on request.
• The trip is for work and needs a receipt or an invoice: a corporate account adds monthly invoicing.
• You land late. A chauffeur tracking the flight waits inside arrivals with a name board, with complimentary waiting after a tracked landing.

A worked example: four skiers on a February Saturday

Four friends land at BTV at 6 p.m. with skis, boots and four suitcases, heading to a hotel in Old Montreal. A standard taxi seats four but cannot take the skis, so the realistic taxi plan is two cars. At the BTV meter that is two fares of roughly US$335 each on distance alone, before time at the border, the extra-passenger charge, and the tip, and both drivers have to agree to cross.

A rideshare XL might take six people, but the group would be relying on one driver accepting the international trip on a winter evening, at a price set by demand at that moment.

A business SUV seats six with room for six bags, and an Executive Sprinter carries up to twelve with twelve bags, so one vehicle carries everyone and everything. The web booker shows the fixed price for that one vehicle before the group pays, and the chauffeur tracks the flight. Elly8.net prices are per vehicle, so the group can set that one figure directly against the two-taxi estimate of around US$670 before extras, knowing it covers one booking, one border stop and the gratuity.

Montrealers flying from BTV

Some Montreal travellers fly from Burlington for US domestic routes. The car leaves Montreal, crosses at St-Armand/Philipsburg and drops at BTV departures. Allow for the border, the security queue and a margin for weather on Interstate 89 in winter, and book the return pickup at the same time with the flight number so the chauffeur can track the landing. Departures and arrivals are the same fixed quote in either direction once it is booked.

If you would rather fly from YUL, the fixed YUL airport transfer from downtown Montreal starts at US$120 in a business sedan. YUL has US preclearance, so you complete US formalities in Montreal before boarding.

Going further than Montreal

The same logic applies to other cross-border and long runs. From Montreal, the closest Elly8.net cities are Mont-Tremblant, Ottawa, Quebec City, Kingston, Hartford and Boston. Long one-way trips are explained on our city to city car service page, and every price list is on all prices and packages.

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How to book

1. Enter the pickup in Burlington or at BTV and the drop-off in Montreal, or the reverse. Add the flight number for an airport pickup.
2. Choose the vehicle by passengers and bags; the fleet page lists seats and luggage space.
3. Reserve in the web booker. Confirmation arrives by email, with the chauffeur's details before pickup.

Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup, 10% at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less, and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show, refunded to the original card. Elly8.net is a member of LWD, LAI, HWD and VWD: LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory.