Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[brocoli]

Hi CP brain trust. Need some help here. I booked a WJ flight leaving from Calgary. It connects through Vancouver before going down to the US. My layover time is 1:40. Will WJ help me with the connection as I'm assuming i'll need to clear customers in Vancouver or did I choose a bad flight?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by brocoli

Hi CP brain trust. Need some help here. I booked a WJ flight leaving from Calgary. It connects through Vancouver before going down to the US. My layover time is 1:40. Will WJ help me with the connection as I'm assuming i'll need to clear customers in Vancouver or did I choose a bad flight?

If you get messed up because of delays out of Calgary they will find another flight for you but if everything is normal your 1:40 connection time should be more than enough. We've done the connection through Vancouver to the US recently and it probably took less than 30 minutes.

[cmyden]

WestJet just opened up reservations for their nonstop flights from Calgary to Seoul, South Korea on their website (fares are slowly starting to appear on Google Flights).

Starting on May 17th...

Calgary to Seoul: Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday flights

Seoul to Calgary: Thursday, Saturday, and Monday flights.

Initial prices are not exciting (~$2200 CAD roundtrip).

Air Canada still has $999 CAD roundtrip flights (1 stop through Vancouver) in most months of 2024. https://yycdeals.com/calgary-to-seou...-999-roundtrip

-

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by cmyden

WestJet just opened up reservations for their nonstop flights from Calgary to Seoul, South Korea on their website (fares are slowly starting to appear on Google Flights).

Starting on May 17th...

Calgary to Seoul: Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday flights

Seoul to Calgary: Thursday, Saturday, and Monday flights.

Initial prices are not exciting (~$2200 CAD roundtrip).

Air Canada still has $999 CAD roundtrip flights (1 stop through Vancouver) in most months of 2024. https://yycdeals.com/calgary-to-seou...-999-roundtrip

-

Update: WestJet has dropped the price of some of their dates down to $998 CAD roundtrip to match AC.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Flair Airlines; tell me about your experience.

I'm looking at a flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas for a work conference and considering flying Flair just because the timing is good for me.
Is it ok or absolutely horrible?
Would just be me and it's a pretty short, direct flight so not needing much.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Flair Airlines; tell me about your experience.

I'm looking at a flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas for a work conference and considering flying Flair just because the timing is good for me.
Is it ok or absolutely horrible?
Would just be me and it's a pretty short, direct flight so not needing much.

I love 'em, they actually enforce bag size limits and the few times I flew them, the crew actually acted like they wanted to be there unlike AC or WJ. Plus the price is right

Good beer selection too, which mattered to me. Shove your Molson up your arse, Westjet

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Flair Airlines; tell me about your experience.

I'm looking at a flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas for a work conference and considering flying Flair just because the timing is good for me.
Is it ok or absolutely horrible?
Would just be me and it's a pretty short, direct flight so not needing much.

How important is it that you make it to Vegas?

[ah123]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Flair Airlines; tell me about your experience.

I'm looking at a flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas for a work conference and considering flying Flair just because the timing is good for me.
Is it ok or absolutely horrible?
Would just be me and it's a pretty short, direct flight so not needing much.

We had a flight booked last year to Vancouver (during the ice storms) and it was not a fun experience (very funny in hindsight though). Flight kept on getting delayed (7pm to 9pm to 11pm to midnight). At one point, we got a text message that we should head to the gate, because boarding was about to start…one minor issue, no plane at the gate (plane apparently hadn’t left Vancouver yet).

At one point, the flight showed as cancelled on the YYC website, but the only YYC agent there (and not a Flair agent) could not confirm. They finally found a Flair rep who confirmed the flight had been cancelled (it was close to 2am by this time). And getting refunds was another challenge.

TLDR: Won’t be flying Flair anytime soon

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by D as in David

How important is it that you make it to Vegas?

How important is to return to the right city?

I am sure it was just cause Flair was in their early days and their computer system was in its infancy. I booked a return flight YYC to YLW, and when it was time to check in for my return to Calgary, my boarding pass was to Kamloops and at a different time. They managed to resolve it though, no lasting damage.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Oh boy, glad I asked.
Thanks for the replies; Westjet it is.

[btimbit]

Their on-time #'s (at least the ones published) are no worse than WestJets. Last time I flew WJ in October in Vancouver I had a big gate screwup as well. It's really just pick your poison it seems

Has anyone tried Lynx? Wonder how they compare, but I'm guessing it's about the same. Was supposed to fly them last weekend but I cancelled the trip

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Good beer selection too, which mattered to me. Shove your Molson up your arse, Westjet

Westjet definitely has the worst beer selection. I mean, aside from Lynx which has nothing.

[TSXCman]

Looking to get away March 7th or so for a much needed break in the sun. Any recommendations for Mexico and similar all inclusion week packages? Adult only preferred. Got a buddy with me that would be down for golf or adventure tours. I need some sun and down time too. haven't been on a relaxing vacation in almost a decade.

Once my job is over, the next plan is a month + trip somewhere more distant!

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I'm looking at a trip to Toronto this summer.

While Lynx would be at the bottom of my list of airlines to pay, it's literally more than 1/3 the price. Luke 1/6 before factoring in luggage.

Which leads me to my question. I can't find how much it is to add luggage to your ticket after the fact. I don't know if I'd need 1, 2 or 3 bags.

I'm really hoping that costs in general come down, but Lynx is making is hard to pass up the 2 hour flight for less than $1000 for four including 2 bags.

Air Canada is $3200 out of Halifax and $3600 out of Sydney.

[Wormius]

It’s on their website were you looking for something else?

https://www.flylynx.com/en/baggage

[craigwd]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Their on-time #'s (at least the ones published) are no worse than WestJets. Last time I flew WJ in October in Vancouver I had a big gate screwup as well. It's really just pick your poison it seems

Has anyone tried Lynx? Wonder how they compare, but I'm guessing it's about the same. Was supposed to fly them last weekend but I cancelled the trip

Flown with Lynx multiple times and had a great experience each time.
It's no frills and I don't need frills. I can go without the can of pop if it saves me $200.

The only difficult thing is the schedule - you get what you get, one flight in on certain days. I had a trip to Vegas booked and the only flight in was at 10am so that's what I got. Oh well.

Just got to remember to not try to pass off a carry on as a free personal item. Always pay for your luggage before because it's pricey at the gate.

[cral12]

Bahamas latest travel advisory - we're heading there soon and will obviously maintain caution, but our plans should hopefully minimize risk.

How does everyone else view advisories at this level?

"Bahamas
Risks: High rates of crime, especially in Freeport and Nassau.

Reasons: Armed robberies, burglaries, purse snatchings, theft, fraud and sexual assaults are the most common crimes committed against travellers in Freeport and Nassau. Incidents of robbery also take place in cruise ship terminals and in and around popular resort areas, even in daylight hours. Crime increases during the holidays.

The advisory suggests travellers avoid the “over the hill” (south of Shirley Street) and Fish Fry (Arawak Cay) areas, especially at night. People should not walk alone, particularly at night, and stay alert at all times. If you are threatened by robbers, stay calm and don’t resist, the advisory suggests."

https://www.insauga.com/canada-issue...hamas-jamaica/

[Fuzz]

Those are pretty common sounding, and I'm not sure that's new, probably just re-issuing that has been like that for years. Here's the full list, you can see many countries say that.

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories


Hell, the UK has a terrorist warning.

[itcrossedtheline]

Travelling to the UK in a couple months. Does anyone have experience with UK sim cards or pre paid phones?

Been doing some research but if someone has first hand experience and can share that would be great

Roaming costs with Rogers is ridiculous

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by cral12

Bahamas latest travel advisory - we're heading there soon and will obviously maintain caution, but our plans should hopefully minimize risk.

How does everyone else view advisories at this level?

"Bahamas
Risks: High rates of crime, especially in Freeport and Nassau.

Reasons: Armed robberies, burglaries, purse snatchings, theft, fraud and sexual assaults are the most common crimes committed against travellers in Freeport and Nassau. Incidents of robbery also take place in cruise ship terminals and in and around popular resort areas, even in daylight hours. Crime increases during the holidays.

The advisory suggests travellers avoid the “over the hill” (south of Shirley Street) and Fish Fry (Arawak Cay) areas, especially at night. People should not walk alone, particularly at night, and stay alert at all times. If you are threatened by robbers, stay calm and don’t resist, the advisory suggests."

https://www.insauga.com/canada-issue...hamas-jamaica/

I've personally never liked Nassau. We have been a handful of times as a cruise stop and it always feels really sketchy although I've never really felt it was dangerous. But you definitely need to be on high alert if you are in the main public areas or shopping or down in Potters Cay for some conch or whatever.