Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[JonDuke]

My WJ flight today was delayed by just over 6 hours due to "unscheduled aircraft maintenance"

We were emailed late last night about the delay.

Does anyone know if that's a compensation worthy delay or will they just blanket it under "safety" and not pay out?

From appr.ca:

"Airlines must provide compensation for the inconvenience of flight cancellations and flight delays of 3 hours or more and if the disruption is within their control and not related to safety, and if the airline notified you of the disruption 14 days or less in advance"

[chedder]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

Anyone have any suggestions or advice on Seattle? My buddy and I are planning on going for a weekend in December for a Kraken and Seahawks game. Any places we should or shouldn't stay? Flight advice?

Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square was great when we stayed there for the Jays game. Right beside the football stadium. Had a full breakfast with omelette chef and a happy hour in the afternoon.

[MoneyGuy]

Best place to buy Disneyland tickets?

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

Anyone have any suggestions or advice on Seattle? My buddy and I are planning on going for a weekend in December for a Kraken and Seahawks game. Any places we should or shouldn't stay? Flight advice?

depending on time and interests, but a few hours at the Boeing factory in Bellingham(?) might be good.

[MoneyGuy]

Second the Boeing plant. It’s our favourite thing to do in the Seattle area.

[agulati]

I don’t know if they have restarted the Boeing factory again yet though. Check on that. I know that it had been temporarily closed (which ended up being for a few years, I think)

If it isn’t, that is well worth the few hours it takes.

[spetch]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Best place to buy Disneyland tickets?

We are trying Attractiontickets.com on our upcoming disneyworld trip. Had been reading some tips on a Disney message board and this was one of the common tricks for cheaper Disney tickets.

Go to the site, change it to the Ireland version and then buy your tickets you want. You change it to Ireland just do to the better exchange rate.

They email you the tickets and you just add them to your app. When I read the thread on disboards about then everyone said they had basically no issues using them.

I don’t know what kind of savings is on there for Disneyland but we got 14 day park hopper plus tickets for a cheaper price than a 4 day park hopper plus.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by spetch

We are trying Attractiontickets.com on our upcoming disneyworld trip. Had been reading some tips on a Disney message board and this was one of the common tricks for cheaper Disney tickets.

Go to the site, change it to the Ireland version and then buy your tickets you want. You change it to Ireland just do to the better exchange rate.

They email you the tickets and you just add them to your app. When I read the thread on disboards about then everyone said they had basically no issues using them.

I don’t know what kind of savings is on there for Disneyland but we got 14 day park hopper plus tickets for a cheaper price than a 4 day park hopper plus.

I've never been to Disney World. Is there enough there to keep you interested for 14 days?

[spetch]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

I've never been to Disney World. Is there enough there to keep you interested for 14 days?

Probably not 14 days, but the 7 days we go for yes easily. Disneyworld is a lot busier than Disneyland so it takes a lot more time to do things in the parks. We usually do 4-5 days of the actual parks with a pool day and a water park day as well. We cannot do everything in the parks with a 5 day ticket without hammering a full open-close day.

The price of that 14 day ticket made it a no brainer to get. We can now make a short stop at magic kingdom on the day we arrive (we get to the resort around 6pm) and just watch the fireworks, hit up a ride or grab a dole whip/supper without having to sacrifice a day (we would of had to if we got our normal 5 day park ticket).

[MoneyGuy]

We have to fly to Miami and because of potential airline problems (cancelled flights, delays) we need to fly a couple of days early to ensure we make it in time. If we have to cancel a night’s hotel stay because we can’t get there in time, I’m told we can’t get a refund for that night’s stay. We can only get a credit for a hotel we’ll never stay at again.

So frustrating. Any advice?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

We have to fly to Miami and because of potential airline problems (cancelled flights, delays) we need to fly a couple of days early to ensure we make it in time. If we have to cancel a night’s hotel stay because we can’t get there in time, I’m told we can’t get a refund for that night’s stay. We can only get a credit for a hotel we’ll never stay at again.

So frustrating. Any advice?

LOL, happened to me in Miami and I had to eat the missed night. Future advice, don't book non-cancel-able rates. I didn't even get a credit.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

Anyone have any suggestions or advice on Seattle? My buddy and I are planning on going for a weekend in December for a Kraken and Seahawks game. Any places we should or shouldn't stay? Flight advice?

The underground tour is pretty neat. The history around raising the entire town up one story because of flooding issues was fascinating.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

We have to fly to Miami and because of potential airline problems (cancelled flights, delays) we need to fly a couple of days early to ensure we make it in time. If we have to cancel a night’s hotel stay because we can’t get there in time, I’m told we can’t get a refund for that night’s stay. We can only get a credit for a hotel we’ll never stay at again.

So frustrating. Any advice?

Can you obtain credit and then use it at a restaurant, spa, parking, wifi, room service etc. associated with the hotel?

It might not be the way you wanted to spend that money, but at least you won't lose it for nothing and get something for the credits.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

We have to fly to Miami and because of potential airline problems (cancelled flights, delays) we need to fly a couple of days early to ensure we make it in time. If we have to cancel a night’s hotel stay because we can’t get there in time, I’m told we can’t get a refund for that night’s stay. We can only get a credit for a hotel we’ll never stay at again.

So frustrating. Any advice?

Don't book the hotel until your flight lands.

[MoneyGuy]

That’s a good idea but my wife hates uncertainty. I could sell that idea if I knew there would be vacancies. It’d booked but cancellable up to 30 days prior.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

That’s a good idea but my wife hates uncertainty. I could sell that idea if I knew there would be vacancies. It’d booked but cancellable up to 30 days prior.

It's Miami, there will be rooms available unless you are narrowed onto a certain hotel

[Knut]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

That’s a good idea but my wife hates uncertainty. I could sell that idea if I knew there would be vacancies. It’d booked but cancellable up to 30 days prior.

Do you collect Air Miles at all ? They can be redeemed for Disney Tickets.

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

We have to fly to Miami and because of potential airline problems (cancelled flights, delays) we need to fly a couple of days early to ensure we make it in time. If we have to cancel a night’s hotel stay because we can’t get there in time, I’m told we can’t get a refund for that night’s stay. We can only get a credit for a hotel we’ll never stay at again.

So frustrating. Any advice?

Have you already booked? Most places you can book a rate where you can cancel up until check-in time, or earlier that day. It's a bit more, but I consider the difference my "cancellation insurance" without having to deal with actual insurance.

[billybob123]

Even with 6 pm cancelation, you can get hooped. We misconnected in Atlanta only after Westjet inexplicably closed our flight door only to have us sit for 90 minutes at the gate in Calgary. Our connection was cancelled as we rushed between gates in Atlanta - which of course was now after 7 pm so we "lost" on the hotel in our destination.

Not much you can do, but travel insurance did pay for the hotel loss. Luckily my Amex has insurance - I've now used it three trips in a row, which is extraordinary and totally worth it.

Also FYI Westjet caps hotel expenses at $200 cad if you book yourself on misconnects. Super helpful for last minute rates at night in major US airports. Such a stupid policy.

ETA - we had a misconnect in Montreal this summer where the flight got canceled after 9:00 pm, and we were stuck in Montreal for two nights. Not only was that well past regular cancellation deadline, it was 2 days past the actual hotel's deadline. It's always worth calling the hotel, because the hotel in New York was fantastic and just rebooked us for the actual time we were at the hotel. Never hurts to try.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

That’s a good idea but my wife hates uncertainty. I could sell that idea if I knew there would be vacancies. It’d booked but cancellable up to 30 days prior.

I'm not a huge fan of uncertainty either, but I prefer it to losing money on a hotel. You can't even get mad at them as they did nothing wrong. I learned this the hard way, so I have started booking when I land pretty much everywhere except remote islands.

Most hotels have 48-hour cancellation policies now.