Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Buzzard]

^Can we get that pic enlarged...just a bit?

[Redliner]

Hoping to go to France with the wife at the end of April (easter break) and wondering if I should try and book ahead or leave it until later to try and get a better deal? Seems like the cheap Europe flights are usally into London or Germany too - am I better off to just look for one of those and then try and get a cheap connecting flight to Paris or just take the train?

[billybob123]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Last minute: Flight + Hotel to Jamaica - $430/person after tax

Also available directly from Air Canada vacations (their own website). Does one get bonus Aeroplan miles for booking through them?

The tickets book into "G" or Tango Plus class and get 100% status and revenue miles in Air Canada for those who care about such things.

Great deal! I wish I had the time off to take advantage of it.

One could book this trip and then find their own hotel if this one doesn't suit.

[Kavvy]

cmydn, thank you for such a great thread! I was wondering if you know of any travel deals/packages for the mexico (east or west cost) or the Caribbean area for the following dates:


o Sunday March 20th to Sunday March 27th
or
o Monday March 21st to Monday March 28th


Thanks for any tips at all!

Kavy

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by billybob123

Also available directly from Air Canada vacations (their own website). Does one get bonus Aeroplan miles for booking through them?

The tickets book into "G" or Tango Plus class and get 100% status and revenue miles in Air Canada for those who care about such things.

Great deal! I wish I had the time off to take advantage of it.

One could book this trip and then find their own hotel if this one doesn't suit.

Good idea, you should be able to, according to their site:

http://www.aircanadavacations.com/en...rogram#anchor2

And the box for the Aeroplan number shows up when you go to book it.

cM

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Redliner

Hoping to go to France with the wife at the end of April (easter break) and wondering if I should try and book ahead or leave it until later to try and get a better deal? Seems like the cheap Europe flights are usally into London or Germany too - am I better off to just look for one of those and then try and get a cheap connecting flight to Paris or just take the train?

That's always the gamble. I agree that London is your most likely bet for a cheap flight to Europe, and then you can just take the Chunnel over.

I wouldn't have too much faith in a flight to Paris being cheap, there hasn't been any from Calgary in a long time. Looks like they're around $1200 roundtrip after tax in April at the moment.

Air Transat to London can definitely dip down to $700 or below, especially for a non-peak month like April, although Easter break could lessen the odds of that happening.

At the moment though, Air Transat's cheap flights are just creeping into February now, haven't seen anything for March/April.

cM

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Kavy

cmydn, thank you for such a great thread! I was wondering if you know of any travel deals/packages for the mexico (east or west cost) or the Caribbean area for the following dates:


o Sunday March 20th to Sunday March 27th
or
o Monday March 21st to Monday March 28th


Thanks for any tips at all!

Kavy

Hi Kavy,

Were you looking from Edmonton or Calgary?

There hasn't been much price movement past January. All the good deals seem to be focused on January right now.

What's the best deal you've seen so far? From Edmonton, the Hola Grand Faro Los Cabos is $1195/person after tax leaving on the 21st. That seems to be about the cheapest for something nice.

cM

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Buzzard

^Can we get that pic enlarged...just a bit?

Surely there must be better material than that available on the Interweb!

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Hi Kavy,

Were you looking from Edmonton or Calgary?

There hasn't been much price movement past January. All the good deals seem to be focused on January right now.

What's the best deal you've seen so far? From Edmonton, the Hola Grand Faro Los Cabos is $1195/person after tax leaving on the 21st. That seems to be about the cheapest for something nice.

cM

cmyden,

Thanks for the reply and info! Sorry, I probably should of stated we are looking to leave from Calgary.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Kavy

cmyden,

Thanks for the reply and info! Sorry, I probably should of stated we are looking to leave from Calgary.

No worries, looks like Temptation Resort in Los Cabos is $1151 leaving on the 21st.
Riu Santa Fe is $1201.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda over on the Mayan side is $1227.

That seems to be about the range for anything decent.

I find about 4-5 weeks ahead usually has the best all inclusive prices overall. And then with a week or so to go, you'll see a few select resorts offer crazy prices.

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by cmyden

No worries, looks like Temptation Resort in Los Cabos is $1151 leaving on the 21st.
Riu Santa Fe is $1201.

Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda over on the Mayan side is $1227.

That seems to be about the range for anything decent.

I find about 4-5 weeks ahead usually has the best all inclusive prices overall. And then with a week or so to go, you'll see a few select resorts offer crazy prices.

Thank you for the advice. Just for comparison, did the prices above include flights?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Kavy

Thank you for the advice. Just for comparison, did the prices above include flights?

No problemo. Yep, flights, hotel, food, drinks, all taxes/fees, and those prices were per/person based on 2 people in a room.

If you see anything better, feel free to share!

cM

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by cmyden

No problemo. Yep, flights, hotel, food, drinks, all taxes/fees, and those prices were per/person based on 2 people in a room.

If you see anything better, feel free to share!

cM

Will do

[getbak]

Here's something I just discovered today, and hadn't considered in my previous question about Air Canada vs Lufthansa: If you're planning on using Aeroplan miles to purchase tickets, your miles only account for the air fare portion of the price, and you still have to pay taxes and fees on top of the Aeroplan miles.

I was checking today, and was planning on booking the Air Canada flights to Frankfurt, but when I went through the process, it was going to cost over $450 for just the taxes and fees (mostly fuel surcharge); so then I checked the Lufthansa flights for the same dates, and the taxes and fees were just over $150 (no fuel surcharge).

So, just in case anyone else is in the same boat, and looking to cash in some Aeroplan miles for a trip, keep in mind that you might save quite a bit of money using someone other than Air Canada based on what the airlines charge for additional fees.

[cmyden]

Calgary to Montego Bay, Jamaica - $246 roundtrip after tax

Looks like Air Canada Vacations just dropped the price of their January 24-31 flight to Montego Bay, Jamaica down to $246 roundtrip after tax.



How to book:

1. Go to http://www.AirCanadaVacations.com

2. Click 'Flights' under Vacation Search

3. Search for Calgary to Montego Bay, January 24 to 31

Here's the screenshot:



Direct each way too, which is nice.

But where to stay for cheap? There's always something. Do a little research on TripAdvisor. Check out the Caribic House for example:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...y_Jamaica.html

Gets decent reviews on TripAdvisor. It's a hostel basically, but has private rooms for $32/night.

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...ntego-Bay/7412

UPDATE: Not sure why I didn't check this before, but the week before is showing at $246 as well! And it's not sold out...yet. Try Jan 17-24.

cM

[anyonebutedmonton]

Looking for some advice on a trip for my wife and I. We will be able to go Feb ~19 - 27th and want somewhere warm and cheap.

Our hopes are to keep it under $1000 per person if at all possible, but we have a bit of flexibility. We can also leave a day early or come home a day late.

Would it be best to wait a bit and see what comes up last minute?

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

Looking for some advice on a trip for my wife and I. We will be able to go Feb ~19 - 27th and want somewhere warm and cheap.

Our hopes are to keep it under $1000 per person if at all possible, but we have a bit of flexibility. We can also leave a day early or come home a day late.

Would it be best to wait a bit and see what comes up last minute?

You and about a million others are looking for the same thing. That's reading week.

If you find anything, let me know.

Last year (a couple weeks in advance) I booked the Barcelo Costa in Cancun with some crazy runaround flights over reading week for $1,070. That was the cheapest by a lot.

[cmyden]

Interesting thing about the Jamaica deal above, the same price is showing from Lethbridge and Fort McMurray. Extremely rare to see a deal of any kind out of those two places.

If you know anyone living in the 'bridge or Fort Mac, pass it on.

[anyonebutedmonton]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

You and about a million others are looking for the same thing. That's reading week.

If you find anything, let me know.

Last year (a couple weeks in advance) I booked the Barcelo Costa in Cancun with some crazy runaround flights over reading week for $1,070. That was the cheapest by a lot.

Yikes!

So we had to go and book off that particular week did we, oh well. Maybe something will come up that leaves the Friday, or comes back the Monday, and will be in low demand.

Right now most of the decent packages look to be around 1500. I will let you know if I can find anything cheaper.

[TimSJ]

From Twitter a little while ago

ACwebSaver 3:01pm via TweetDeck
Sweet deals to Belgium till Jan 13: http://tinyurl.com/4cq87ta

Decent from here (YSJ) $650 plus taxes round trip. I paid more than that ot go to Montreal from Saint John Last Week.