Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Nufy

My wife and son are heading there in September.

My sons want's to drive a tank and there is a place by USK that offers a half day thing.

Wondering if they should fly to Bristol or Cardiff and then how to get around once they get there. Taxis seem to be pretty expensive.

Here's the website for the tank school.

Location is between Bristol and Cardiff per their website:

Where is Tank School?
We are between Bristol and Cardiff, in the pleasant Usk Valley.

Bristol to Usk Valley is 35 minutes/23 miles.

Cardiff to Usk Valley is 58 minutes/32 miles.

Not much of a difference, really, so maybe check to see which will give you your preferred flight options.

If the other fellas aren't able to help you figure out how to get around there, maybe the Tank Driving School could help you. This is the link to their contact us page: https://www.tankdriving.co.uk/packages/tank-geek-/28

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Interesting... the Canadian Transport Agency just announced that each quarter they are going to release stats on the number of air travel complaints per 100 flights (flights operated by Canadian airlines and foreign airlines).

Here are the current stats: https://otc-cta.gc.ca/air-travel-com...lights-airline

[Canadian Airlines:] To no one's surprise, Flair and Swoop lead the way with the most complaints per 100 flights. Between July and September Air Canada and WestJet complaint rates were about the same (WestJet was significantly higher between April and June).

-

What a surprise, the two cost airlines that offer reduced levels of service and schedules to begin with also have higher complaints than the full service airlines. You would think people would understand that sometimes you get what you pay for.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Here's the website for the tank school.

Location is between Bristol and Cardiff per their website:


Bristol to Usk Valley is 35 minutes/23 miles.

Cardiff to Usk Valley is 58 minutes/32 miles.

Not much of a difference, really, so maybe check to see which will give you your preferred flight options.

If the other fellas aren't able to help you figure out how to get around there, maybe the Tank Driving School could help you. This is the link to their contact us page: https://www.tankdriving.co.uk/packages/tank-geek-/28

Surely the tank school can just drop them off at the airport after class. There's a tank only zone at door 7.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Yeah this has to be due to the mess that Jazz is in, using the term suspend makes me believe that even more.

They're also "suspending" Victoria and Nanaimo.

Jazz issues are probably a factor, but I think it's at least plausible that pulling down Calgary is a quid-pro-quo for Westjet basically abandoning Toronto long haul flying.

Both airlines will be more profitable if they divided up the country...

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

They're also "suspending" Victoria and Nanaimo.

Jazz issues are probably a factor, but I think it's at least plausible that pulling down Calgary is a quid-pro-quo for Westjet basically abandoning Toronto long haul flying.

Both airlines will be more profitable if they divided up the country...

Imagine if they operated like Shaw and Rogers (zero overlap). They'd both rake it in because the Canadian government doesn't allow foreign airlines to do Canadian domestic routes.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

What a surprise, the two cost airlines that offer reduced levels of service and schedules to begin with also have higher complaints than the full service airlines. You would think people would understand that sometimes you get what you pay for.

Except you'd think you'd actually get the service you pay for, but you still don't get even that. Don't blame the consumer for picking the low price, it's still on the airline to supply what they agreed to. Paying less doesn't mean I get to be bent over without the use of vaseline.

You get what you pay for in that you get less features, like checked bags etc. But you still expect them to be on time etc. Just check the stats for Flair YYC to Kelowna. Abysmal.



Doesn't help the CTA is basically on side with the airlines. All these regs are useless if the government doesn't step in and start with penalties. I'm glad they are starting to release some stats, because our airlines deserved to be shamed with how they are handling things.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Very last minute Sweetgrass Nexus interview appointment available for tomorrow..

Thank you for posting this! I really want to take it, but 8am means leaving around 4:30...which sounds terrible tomorrow! It's almost like they're trolling us at this point.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

What a surprise, the two cost airlines that offer reduced levels of service and schedules to begin with also have higher complaints than the full service airlines. You would think people would understand that sometimes you get what you pay for.

On the flip side though, the top two complaint rates for Foreign airlines were Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines - Two of the pricier airlines to fly overseas.

I do wonder about their methodology and possibly the data itself. Qatar and Turkish are generally considered 2 of the better quality airlines out there. Royal Air Maroc and Air India are a little more understandable.

The results do seem to favour airlines with a lot more flights scheduled. Really, for most airlines, you're looking at the majority of flights being fine on a daily basis. So if things happen, like a weather event that affects all airlines and the complaints pour in, I think these stats are going to heavily favour the airlines with a lot more flights scheduled throughout the month.

[Wormius]

Yeah, I’d have to wonder what the complaints were about and whether because the level of service has some effect on whether you’d be upset enough at some inconveniences to register a complaint.

[getbak]

It's most-likely just a lack of volume for those airlines that amplifies the impact of any single complaint.

For example, it looks like Turkish Airlines has 6 flights per week to Toronto, 3 per week to Vancouver, and 3 per week seasonally to Montreal. That's less than 100 total flights per month. They're also likely flying planes that hold 300+ people.


On the other hand, WestJet has 132 scheduled departures and 136 scheduled arrivals just from YYC just today and the majority are much smaller capacity planes.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Today Porter becomes the 6th, yes *6th*, airline to offer nonstop flights between Calgary and Toronto.



Not that many years ago the question always being asked was: "Does Canada have the population density to support more than 2 airlines?"



Porter has operated in Eastern Canada for 16 years and are now starting to expand to Western Canada with some of their 50 new Embraer E195-E2 passenger jets.



A few things that differentiate Porter from the rest:



- free beer, wine & snacks in economy

- no middle seats

- free Wifi



Flights are into YYZ (Pearson), not YTZ (Billy Bishop).



Calgary-Toronto in Porter's 'standard' economy is currently priced at $299 CAD with a piece of carry-on, which makes them priced higher than Air Canada & WestJet for travel between February and May (AC & WestJet are currently $245 CAD roundtrip)



Porter's prices are more interesting for July & August travel. At $299 CAD roundtrip Porter is 60% cheaper than Air Canada & WestJet (currently priced at $747 roundtrip).



Dates are wide open with every date available for the same price.

Ahh nice, that's why I hadn't heard of it. Literally just booked a flight to Toronto this August through them yesterday. I had to google it first to make sure it was legit as I had never heard of it before...with the name and deal, almost sounded like I'd have to be out on the tarmac helping them load luggage onto the plane or something lol. Sounds awesome!

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Ahh nice, that's why I hadn't heard of it. Literally just booked a flight to Toronto this August through them yesterday. I had to google it first to make sure it was legit as I had never heard of it before...with the name and deal, almost sounded like I'd have to be out on the tarmac helping them load luggage onto the plane or something lol. Sounds awesome!

Porter is pretty well regarded by those who fly them out east. They usually price themselves a bit higher than Air Canada. It will be interesting to see if they can keep that same love with the expansion.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Porter is pretty well regarded by those who fly them out east. They usually price themselves a bit higher than Air Canada. It will be interesting to see if they can keep that same love with the expansion.

Yeah after reading about it, it sounded legit, just something you may not hear of unless you're going to Toronto. I didn't realize it was that new here, I'll be interested this summer to check it out on that flight

[Johnny199r]

Seeing tons of Westjet Flights being canceled around the country today.

http://https://globalnews.ca/news/93...rport-alberta/

http://https://www.cbc.ca/news/canad...ions-1.6691272

You couldn't pay me to fly at Christmas. Flights are expensive, the weather is always a potential factor, airline staff are more likely to call in sick, and there are never any available seats on other flights should your flight be canceled because every flight is sold out. You're stuck.

I understand people want to see their family over Xmas but the stress of it all seems like torture to me.

[Wormius]

Flights are only expensive if you don’t plan at all. We found tickets on WJ to Palm Springs for about $300.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Interesting... the Canadian Transport Agency just announced that each quarter they are going to release stats on the number of air travel complaints per 100 flights (flights operated by Canadian airlines and foreign airlines).

Here are the current stats: https://otc-cta.gc.ca/air-travel-com...lights-airline

[Canadian Airlines:] To no one's surprise, Flair and Swoop lead the way with the most complaints per 100 flights. Between July and September Air Canada and WestJet complaint rates were about the same (WestJet was significantly higher between April and June).

[Foreign Airlines:] Top 5 highest complaint rates (July to September)

Qatar Airways - 29.9
Turkish Airlines - 16.0
Royal Air Maroc - 14.2
Etihad - 15.6
Air India - 15.2

United Airlines is one of the noticeably missing airlines.

-

Could the omissions be due to the domestic airlines international partnerships, and the complaint befalling the domestic carrier?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Could the omissions be due to the domestic airlines international partnerships, and the complaint befalling the domestic carrier?

Perhaps, and could explain why Delta is missing as well (WestJet partner).

There are also others missing that don't have a domestic partner (such as Icelandair). Porter is also missing.

[butterfly]

Kind of wonder what Porter is doing. Are they still getting the 220s? Last I heard they conditionally ordered a bunch of them, now they're operating these E175s from Pearson which is kind of useless unless you're actually going there.

The Vancouver/Calgary pax cannot take advantage of their connections to:

Fredericton
Halifax
Moncton
Quebec City
Sudbury
Windsor
Timmins
Sault Ste. Marie
Thunder Bay
Boston
Chicago (MDW)
Washington (IAD)
Newark

...which all operate out of Billy Bishop. And vice versa; people in those places can't use Porter to get to western Canada.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Kind of wonder what Porter is doing. Are they still getting the 220s? Last I heard they conditionally ordered a bunch of them, now they're operating these E175s from Pearson which is kind of useless unless you're actually going there.

The Vancouver/Calgary pax cannot take advantage of their connections to:

Fredericton
Halifax
Moncton
Quebec City
Sudbury
Windsor
Timmins
Sault Ste. Marie
Thunder Bay
Boston
Chicago (MDW)
Washington (IAD)
Newark

...which all operate out of Billy Bishop. And vice versa; people in those places can't use Porter to get to western Canada.

They did not order the A220's, went with the E-195 E2's.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I figured if anyone would know it's the fine folks here.

I have an ok amount of Aeroplan points. I'm in desperate need of a vacation and I'm not overly fussy as to where I go with them but would like to know options.

Other than trial and error (is Las Vegas good on these dates?) is there a website that would let me search points redemption for a calendar similar to ITA Matrix? Or give me lowest fairs for a time period similar to Google Flights?