Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[lucky1]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

What is the best way to fly to amsterdam? Fly direct or go to london and drive? or fly to Germany?

Got any good advice on this one? Seen any good deals lately?

Are you coming from Calgary? if so, dont fly the charter route...there is competition on this route now so you can sometimes get some great deals.
KLM flys direct (again) from calgary to AMS, or you can fly AC to FRA (late afternoon flight) and connect to AMS, or you can fly LH to FRA (early afternoon flight) and connect to AMS.

AC puts out a really really good product on international now, especially the flight to FRA from YYC...they just put the newly XM'd (refurbed) Airbus 333 (sometimes an XM'd 767), so all new seats with video on demand, decent food etc etc. If you can get into business on the AC flight, its the full pods...great seats...

[cmyden]

$190 USD flights (all in) from Seattle to Newark for all those that wanted to be alerted about west coast deals. They're on AirTran, pretty much whenever you want from the middle of September to end of October.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by lucky1

or you can fly AC to FRA (late afternoon flight) and connect to AMS, or you can fly LH to FRA (early afternoon flight) and connect to AMS.

JMO (and experience) if you want to go cheap from London then Heathrow is to be avoided at all costs. I've never .. ever heard of a cheap flight from Heathrow.

So if you're taking AC be aware that you're going to be landing there and to get to the hub of cheapie flights by EasyJet and Ryanair (Stansted) will hit you about another ~$25-35 by coach (and probable a good 3-4 hours, all things considered) around the M25.

[lucky1]

Originally Posted by Bagor

JMO (and experience) if you want to go cheap from London then Heathrow is to be avoided at all costs. I've never .. ever heard of a cheap flight from Heathrow.

So if you're taking AC be aware that you're going to be landing there and to get to the hub of cheapie flights by EasyJet and Ryanair (Stansted) will hit you about another ~$25-35 by coach (and probable a good 3-4 hours, all things considered) around the M25.

I would never tell someone to transit thru heathrow, that place is the cesspool of humanity and to be avoided at all costs.....

Perhaps you were confused by LH=Lufthansa while LHR=London Heathrow. Frankfurt is a much better hub in Europe, second only to AMS which is about as perfect an airport as they get (imo)

[worth]

Has anyone done any traveling in North Africa? After my Japan trip, (thanks again cM!) i've definitely got the travel bug. I've always wanted to go to north africa, but my plan is to get to Morocco and travel all the way across by bus/car/buggy/horse/whatever to Egypt.

I want to go Morocco > Tunisia > Libya > Egypt.

I don't know whether I can do this solo, or if I need a tour group or something to set things up. I know border crossings will probably be a huge pain. All the tours I can find usually only go to one of those countries, like Egypt or Morocco, not across the continent.

And I don't think I can even get into Tunisia from Morocco since the border is closed. So i'd probably have to go to Italy, then into Tunisia.

Anyway, anyone have advice? Is this something I can do myself? Too much pain/trouble? Maybe there is a travel agency in Calgary I can talk to about this type of thing? I don't mind paying someone to help me figure things out, especially on a trip like this.

Edit:

I found this:

http://www.trekescapes.com/trip-details.cfm?TripID=8438

Anyone have any thoughts on that? That's pretty much exactly what i'm looking for, but it does cost a pretty penny. Plus flights and a ton of other stuff. I don't have a problem going solo by myself, and I think it would be cheaper that way, but I'm just not sure that would be the smart thing to do through north africa.

[Arsenal14]

I see Intrepid offers a Cairo->Casablanca trip. I've never traveled with them but they have a good reputation.

Libya will probably be the hardest part of the trip as I'm not sure you can visit without being part of a tour group. Trek Escapes is one travel agency in Calgary (Kensington) that I believe specializes in adventure travel like this. Their website shows a few more tour options like this.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by worth

Has anyone done any traveling in North Africa?

Spent a month in Egypt. Definitely something you can do yourself although it's a bit hassly (word?). Hassly but safe, although there are a few parts of the middle Nile that are no-go areas. The lower Nile (Aswan) is great as the Nubians are a lot more chilled and the Red Sea has spectacular (although polluted) reefs.

You need to be prepared to argue and stand your ground as more often than not taxi drivers will quote you a price at the start and try another at the end. You'll run into other travellers to team up with and if you're planning on taking buses in Cairo learn your Arabic numbers. Fire away with any questions although it was >10 years ago.

[worth]

Awesome Arsenal. I didn't realize Trek was in Calgary. I think I will have to pay them a visit.

Before I do this trip, I was thinking it was a good idea to brush up on my french and learn a bit of arabic.

When I was in Japan there was a disconnect because I couldn't understand any of it. I don't want that again, so i'm determined to learn the local languages.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

What is the best way to fly to amsterdam? Fly direct or go to london and drive? or fly to Germany?

Got any good advice on this one? Seen any good deals lately?

I would say go to www.canadianaffair.ca

On this site you will be able to book a return, Calgary to London flight (direct) for about $900-950 (taxes in) if your dates are a bit flexible and you arent going during the holidays. Then, as others have said, get an Easy Jet flight from London to Amsterdam, again depends on your dates but you should be able to get a return for about $150 (taxes in).

So there you go, $1100ish return to amsterdam, 2 flights each way - you'd have a hard time beating that deal.

[cmyden]

I would say go to www.canadianaffair.ca

On this site you will be able to book a return, Calgary to London flight (direct) for about $900-950 (taxes in) if your dates are a bit flexible and you arent going during the holidays. Then, as others have said, get an Easy Jet flight from London to Amsterdam, again depends on your dates but you should be able to get a return for about $150 (taxes in).

So there you go, $1100ish return to amsterdam, 2 flights each way - you'd have a hard time beating that deal.

It's good advice, but there are charters that fly non-stop to AMS as well (ie Air Transat)

Aug 21 - 29 $1029 USD non stop
Sep 4 - 12 $891 USD non stop

Sep 10-21 for a 10 day trip - $995 USD on Air Canada - one stop each way

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by cmyden

It's good advice, but there are charters that fly non-stop to AMS as well (ie Air Transat)

Aug 21 - 29 $1029 USD non stop
Sep 4 - 12 $891 USD non stop

Sep 10-21 for a 10 day trip - $995 USD on Air Canada - one stop each way

Those prices arent bad, but there is a few things to mention. First of all, the reason your getting decent deals is your looking very short term, I can get the prices I mentioned for a trip in Nov-Dec this year, the return flight getting back to Calgary on December 21st!

Second of all, in order to take advantage of your prices one would have to intend to travel during the specific dates the airlines have provided, each trip also appears to be about one week long each, which is way to short for anywhere in Europe IMO.

So yeah, you can, maybe get a direct flight for $50 cheaper, but you will have to jump through some major hoops or get very lucky in that what is being offered is exactly what you want.

[cmyden]

So yeah, you can, maybe get a direct flight for $50 cheaper, but you will have to jump through some major hoops or get very lucky in that what is being offered is exactly what you want.

All very true, but the OP didn't seem to have a specific date (or even date range) in mind. All we can do is give the guy his options and let him decide

Just as a note, Aug/Sep were example dates. Dec 14-24 for $925 is another (Air Canada, one stop both ways).

These are just the cheapest 10 day itineraries. A quick glance suggests that you can pretty much have your choice of any 10 days (same flight) for a max of $980 USD.

So $980 USD ($1068 CDN) for a one-stop hop to AMS
or
$1100 CDN for a two-stop using charter / easy jet ryan air

I'm not suggesting that the method you suggested is a bad one, it's one that I often give to people all the time as a suggestion for flying to somewhere in Europe.

I think to make the charter + easy jet combo worthwhile, you'd need to get the charter flight for $700 CDN (all in) or less. The London/AMS EasyJet return will likely run you a $100, not to mention the hassle, and hoping that the connection times work for you. Also, you're SOL if you miss your connection (try explaining to an EasyJet employee why they should care that your charter flight was delayed).

It's all certainly doable, but likely restricted to certain 'luck' that works well for you as you mentioned.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by cmyden

All very true, but the OP didn't seem to have a specific date (or even date range) in mind. All we can do is give the guy his options and let him decide

Just as a note, Aug/Sep were example dates. Dec 14-24 for $925 is another (Air Canada, one stop both ways).

Fair enough - seems there are a couple of good options for OP to consider, depending on his needs.

[Cactus Jack]

Has anyone seen anything good to New York for the end of September or October?

[worth]

So what's the cheapest way to get from Calgary to Cairo one way, and then Rabat/ anywhere in Morocco back to Calgary? Cause those two flights might be more than the entire cost of the trip. Like upwards of $3,000 or more each.

[cmyden]

So what's the cheapest way to get from Calgary to Cairo one way, and then Rabat/ anywhere in Morocco back to Calgary? Cause those two flights might be more than the entire cost of the trip. Like upwards of $3,000 or more each.

Nah, you can get YYC -> Cairo for $1050 USD or so, and RBA to YYC on Air France for about $1100.

Just took a look, and one of the cheaper roundtrips between Egypt and Morocco is Cairo to Casablanca. ~$450 USD round trip. One way it is about $350.

Conceivably, you could catch one of the round trip Delta or KLM flights from YYC to Cairo (range from $1048 to $1200 USD, all in).

And then fly back from Casablanca to Cairo for $350-$400.

So about $1500-$1700 USD total trip cost if the flight details work out.

[ResAlien]

Damn, why is it 500 bucks for round trip from Denver to Calgary? It doesn't matter if it's one way or multiple layovers. I'm no great rate finder, but that's what the major fare finding websites are quoting me, lame

[cmyden]

Been a while since I posted any deals (being summer and all), but I notice that Thomas Cook just dropped some prices on their charter flights to Europe for August/September.

Here's the cheapest dates:

Outbound:

Calgary to Manchester - August 09
Calgary to Glasgow - August 12
Calgary to London Gatwick - August 13, 14, 15

Coming back:

London Gatwick - August 27, 28, 29 September 16 October 08
Manchester - August 30 September 13
Glasgow - September 09, 16 October 14


Any combination of these cities/dates should give you a reasonably priced ticket ($570 CDN to $650ish)

Can book @ http://www.canadianaffair.ca

cM

[Cactus Jack]

I found a flight with Delta for the end of September 24-27 to Newark and back for $397CDN with all taxes included.

[FlamesKickAss]

thats a good deal. thats what I had for westjet but waited an extra day and had to pay 457CDN taxes in. Still not to bad, and its a direct flight!! for aug 27-sep 10

just looked now and the same one way flight there is 414 before taxes. Do people actually pay that??