Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Wait you need to go to the states for your Nexus card?

I thought it could be done from YYC

I can't remember exactly what the situation was and if these things were related but the Canadian government said the US border guys couldn't carry guns so they changed the Nexus approval process in retaliation.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Can you drive to a boarder crossing, or have to fly?
If you can drive, might be easiest to fly to Vancouver or Abbotsford and just drive to the boarder.

Tons of flights to chose from and could do it all in one day or stay overnight in Vancouver, at least in CDN $.

You can drive, I think just certain border crossings so it though definitely not all of them

But if you've already started the process at an airport I think you have to finish it that way as well.

Man, still so many cool places in the US I want to check out. Won't be setting foot in that country for quite a while at this rate though

[Derek Sutton]

Looking at a flight home from Houston connecting through YVR. Would I have to claim my baggage in order to clear customs? Would have about an hour and a 1/2, AND it’s the last flight back to Calgary for the night departing Vancouver at 10:00 pm. So if things get held up, would be spending the night in the airport. For whatever reason, WEstjet does not offer their direct flight on Saturdays. And the AC one leaves too early for us that day.

[jwslam]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Looking at a flight home from Houston connecting through YVR. Would I have to claim my baggage in order to clear customs?

Yes. You're entering Canada at YVR, therefore you have to move your bag from the international fight to the domestic.

[btimbit]

Shouldn't have too if it's booked as one ticket. They'll handle all that for you

[undercoverbrother]

People still check bags

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by jwslam

Yes. You're entering Canada at YVR, therefore you have to move your bag from the international fight to the domestic.

Not sure about YVR, but in Calgary with WestJet, any EU or US (plus several others places) inbound passengers connecting onto Domestic destinations does not need to pick up their baggage (Exception: If you travel with a pet or a weapon, you need to pick up your baggage regardless of where you started)

[peter12]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

People still check bags

God help me if you are one of those absolute strugglers who brings a hard-shell, almost over-sized carry-on cases.

[jwslam]

Originally Posted by peter12

God help me if you are one of those absolute strugglers who brings a hard-shell, almost over-sized carry-on cases.

Nah, He just carries an oversized backpack, a guitar, a 20L fanny pack, and puts all of them in the overhead.

[brocoli]

I can say that I did myself and my gf did our NEXUS interviews at Coutts. Ended up being a 4 month wait for an appointment by the time we could select one, however it was really easy.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by jwslam

Nah, He just carries an oversized backpack, a guitar, a 20L fanny pack, and puts all of them in the overhead.

Don't forget the jacket loosely spread the full length of the bin.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by peter12

God help me if you are one of those absolute strugglers who brings a hard-shell, almost over-sized carry-on cases.

yeah, id rather pay for the privilege of waiting 30-45 min to get my bag after the flight...

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by peter12

God help me if you are one of those absolute strugglers who brings a hard-shell, almost over-sized carry-on cases.

I bring a hard shell carrier on case that fits into the sizing bins.

I can pack for a week long business trip, including after work clothes and workout gear.

Who can't do that?

[Barnet Flame]

Fat ####s?

[Johnny199r]

I hate rolling suitcases with a passion. Even on the newer planes, they often can’t be turned on their sides in the overhead bins, taking up 2x the space of my backpack that can fit sideways above.

Nevermind how slow people are to pull them, how they’re too heavy for some passengers to lift in the overhead bin and for some reason why some flight attendants feel they should get priority over larger backpacks in the overhead bin. The fun doesn’t end when the person you’re with is trying to wheel their bag through the street. Awful.

[photon]

Starting to think about planning a trip for next year. Would like to go to Spain around the time to see the solar eclipse as well as visit some family (so in Spain around August 12).

However we're thinking of adding in some time in London on the way back.

I've never tried to book a flight like that, is that something that you'd book all together (i.e. get to Spain, then flight from Spain to London, then flight from London home)?

Or do you book the overseas flight and then book a separate one way flight?

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by photon

Starting to think about planning a trip for next year. Would like to go to Spain around the time to see the solar eclipse as well as visit some family (so in Spain around August 12).

However we're thinking of adding in some time in London on the way back.

I've never tried to book a flight like that, is that something that you'd book all together (i.e. get to Spain, then flight from Spain to London, then flight from London home)?

Or do you book the overseas flight and then book a separate one way flight?

You could book it all together, but I have a feeling that would probably be the most expensive option.

Europe is also interesting because for some reason, most airlines will make the round trip fare cheaper than a one way. There's a few exceptions to this, including TAP Portugal, Icelandic Air and Norse among others. If you can find a good one-way to and from your destinations, that could be a cost saver. The one-way from Spain to London will almost for sure be super cheap on something like Ryanair.

[photon]

Yeah I guess a flight with different cities for the initial destination and return origin are called "open jaw" flights so looks like that's easy to search.

Then just get a cheaper one way flight from Spain to London.

[Fuzz]

Just book your outbound and return together, if you can. Codeshares should help, I flew Condor to Frankfurt, and Westjet from Paris on one ticket. That saved the Condor almost the same price for outbound as return price. This way, if something happens with the airline, you are still their responsibility to get home.


The only issue booking inter-Europe flights separately is if there is a delay and you miss your separately booked flight, that's your problem. But if you are just flying to London, you have loads of time to figure out how to get there. Plus, tickets tend to be cheap so a loss on one of those is less of a big deal.

[photon]

Yeah the one way would be in the middle of things so if it got delayed at worst I'd miss a day of a booked hotel or something.

I did see there's also an eclipse viewable from Egypt in 2027, that would be pretty cool.