Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[WideReceiver]

Originally Posted by Locke

1. Drink.
2. Drink.
3. I forget...

Those are great for filling space between sightseeing.

[getbak]

1. Guinness Brewery tour
2. Jameson Distillery tour
3. Find a pub and drink a lot of both

[Locke]

Originally Posted by getbak

1. Guinness Brewery tour
2. Jameson Distillery tour
3. Find a pub and drink a lot of both

Yes. And do try the first rate Cuisine!

[woob]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

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?

I fly for work a few times a year and foolishly packed a full sized suitcase and checked it my first time. Boy was that a huge mistake. The place I fly into has 3 flights that arrive all at the same time and the slowest customs process in the world. So massive lineups for customs and then massive lineups for luggage. Ever since then I pack carry on only and speed walk to customs off the plane.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yes. And do try the first rate Cuisine!

Not sure if you're being serious, but I love the food in Dublin. Ireland might be my favourite place in the world for seafood--the oysters are amazing, and there are a couple great spots for chilled seafood platters which I can basically eat all by myself with a few pints of Guinness.

Howth, a fishing peninsula on the outskirts of Dublin, is nice to walk around and eat some great seafood.

Dublin itself is not the most exciting city but the people are friendly, both the locals and the young Europeans who come from across the EU to work and have fun. So, meet some folks while you're having your pints and you might have an unexpectedly fun night out.

Try a walking tour or organised pub crawl to facilitate meeting others and learning a lot of the hidden history of the city. It used to be a Viking port, which a lot of people don't realise and there's still some vestiges of that time hidden around.

[calgarygeologist]

I don't like or fully know what WestJet is doing with their cabin configurations. When they took on the Swoop fleet those planes were supposed to undergo cabin transformations. We've had a few flights where we were "swooped" before they started the notification on their booking platform but it especially sucked when we had booked premium seats and ended up on a Swoop plane. We recently flew on a reconfigured Swoop plane that was painted in WestJet colours but they didn't fully bring that plane into line with their other planes. There is no premium, they indicate at booking that it is an economy only flight, and also they don't have seat power or WestJet connect on these reconfigured planes. What's worse is they are using these planes on 5+ hour leisure routes. These cabins are garbage for long flights like that especially because WestJet advertises free WiFi onboard now.

Also, I didn't know that some Max-8 planes didn't come with the new big overhead bins that could store carry-on suitcases on their side instead of paying flat. Those big bins are awesome because they have enough capacity for a carry-on for each passenger. The reconfigured economy only planes have the lower capacity overhead bins.

All in all, I don't like these all economy aircraft that WestJet has. They did a great job 5 or 6 years ago with establishing consistency across their planes and now it seems to be all over the place again.

[Ryan Coke]

Agreed…..they are actively reconfiguring all the aircraft to the typical westjet standard, but it does take some time. Not to excuse it, it probably should have been a more urgent priority, but there is a continuous stream of non standard aircraft going in for reconfiguration.

The Max’s with the smaller bins are ex-sunwing I believe, might have been the ex Lynx planes as well.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Agreed…..they are actively reconfiguring all the aircraft to the typical westjet standard, but it does take some time. Not to excuse it, it probably should have been a more urgent priority, but there is a continuous stream of non standard aircraft going in for reconfiguration.

The Max’s with the smaller bins are ex-sunwing I believe, might have been the ex Lynx planes as well.

Are they actually putting in premium, power ports and WestJet connect in these aircraft? This plane looked like it had finished it's transformation and it didn't have the seat back cards anymore indicating the cabin transformation ongoing.

[btimbit]

Remember what tail number/registration? Might be able to look it up.

Maybe the paint and interior reconfiguration are going to happen separately. May e in the winter when their fleet isn't being used as much as possible

Would be a joke if they just weren't going to do it

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Are they actually putting in premium, power ports and WestJet connect in these aircraft? This plane looked like it had finished it's transformation and it didn't have the seat back cards anymore indicating the cabin transformation ongoing.

As far as I know, yes. Although connect is done, it’s free satellite based internet now (fast enough to stream movies, works well when I’ve used it).

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Remember what tail number/registration? Might be able to look it up.

Maybe the paint and interior reconfiguration are going to happen separately. May e in the winter when their fleet isn't being used as much as possible

Would be a joke if they just weren't going to do it

Didn't get the tail number but the registration should be C-GULN based on a quick flight search.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Didn't get the tail number but the registration should be C-GULN based on a quick flight search.

Former Lynx plane, should still get the interior fully redone by the end of the year with Premium seats and power.

I do wonder if they'll convert it to the Boeing Sky interior or whatever it's called. With the bigger bins and fancier lighting

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Former Lynx plane, should still get the interior fully redone by the end of the year with Premium seats and power.

I do wonder if they'll convert it to the Boeing Sky interior or whatever it's called. With the bigger bins and fancier lighting

It did have the fancy, adjustable LED cabin lighting but with the smaller bins.

[socktape]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Three best things to do in Dublin, Ireland? We have a list but need to narrow it down. In May.

We just returned from Ireland and spent the last few days of our trip in Dublin.

Howth with the cliff walk and the seafood restaurants around the marina were really good. The Summit Inn pub is supposed to be good(local mentioned it) too but it is only open on the weekend. Easy to get to on transit. You can just google map your route and it will tell you what bus/trains to take. You can get a Tourist day pass or multi day pass (TFI Leap card). You can get these before your trip or they sell them at a few SPAR convenience stores close to O'Connell Street. Worth it for sure as they work on the bus, tram and Dart.

The Ghostbus tour was a little cheesy but it was fun. The tour guide was engaging and the few spots they showed us definitely have a different vibe at night vs during the day. In conjunction the hop on hop off bus is good for a quick lay of the land. Full route is about 2.5 hours. We found a Sunday street/flea market this way which was kind of neat.

The Guinness tour is like walking through a museum, great gift shop, but the icing is the free pint at the top in the 360 degree bar. Great views and book ahead of time. Jameson's is supposed to be just like this as they don't actually make the whiskey in Dublin anymore.

There is a Dublin Wall walking app that can you can use to self guide along the various points.

Kilmainham Goal was booking several days in advance so you might want to check into that if you want to see that. We went to the one in Cork and it was pretty interesting.

Temple Bar area and Trinity College (Book of Kells, Library) is really great area. You have to take the guided tour to see more of the old Dublin Castle vs just the state rooms if you do the self guided tour.

[Locke]

All tours can be self-guided if you're brave enough.

[flamesfan1297]

Wife and I are planning on going to Cancun in December for 6 or 7 nights. Ive been to Puerto Vallarta a couple years ago but other than that neither of us have much Mexico experience. Anyone have any suggestions on best sites to book through or where the cheapest prices are? So far I've just been casually looking on Expedia

[billybob123]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

Wife and I are planning on going to Cancun in December for 6 or 7 nights. Ive been to Puerto Vallarta a couple years ago but other than that neither of us have much Mexico experience. Anyone have any suggestions on best sites to book through or where the cheapest prices are? So far I've just been casually looking on Expedia

Directly through the hotel. It's almost impossible to beat the price you'll get through their site - this of course is assuming its a chain hotel/resort. They usually have a club that's free to join ("my barcelo", "my Bahia principe", etc) that will give discount and often other extras (eg free group transfer from airport, special check in areas you can skip the huge line when your bus drops off).

Some hotels also have an app you can access before your stay so you can book the a-la-carte restaurants before you get there.

Enjoy the trip!

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

Wife and I are planning on going to Cancun in December for 6 or 7 nights. Ive been to Puerto Vallarta a couple years ago but other than that neither of us have much Mexico experience. Anyone have any suggestions on best sites to book through or where the cheapest prices are? So far I've just been casually looking on Expedia

In general I book things directly. I've also WestJet Vacations or Air Canada Vacations, which typically include airport transfers. Last winter, I booked with Expedia, because the discount for hotel and flight basically was the same thing as the flight alone if I booked it on its own.

Price isn't my only consideration though. I don't want to book with some online business that is hard to get ahold of and/or deal with if a problem occurs.

Included airport transfer is a nice thing to have. I've flown into Cancun, but never stayer there (I've stayed in Playa del Carmen).

Viator (associated with Trip Advisor) is an easy way to book day trips, but you can also book airport transfers with them, so you're not stuck grabbing a random cab at the airport.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

Three best things to do in Dublin, Ireland? We have a list but need to narrow it down. In May.

Guinness tour is iconic but quite silly, worth it either way
Kilmainham Gaol is probably one of the more interesting picks
National Museum of Ireland is also quite good

Things like Trinity College, Temple Bar, or just pubs can kind of be fit in around other stuff. Though if you can, finding your way out of Dublin for a day even is quite worth it as Ireland has a ton to offer well beyond Dublin, whether you’re looking for a natural wonder, a deeply historical experience, or just an authentic pub experience.

I’ve been many times and absolutely love it.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by billybob123

Directly through the hotel. It's almost impossible to beat the price you'll get through their site - this of course is assuming its a chain hotel/resort. They usually have a club that's free to join ("my barcelo", "my Bahia principe", etc) that will give discount and often other extras (eg free group transfer from airport, special check in areas you can skip the huge line when your bus drops off).

Some hotels also have an app you can access before your stay so you can book the a-la-carte restaurants before you get there.

Enjoy the trip!

This isn’t really accurate.

WestJet vacations can package things cheaper to certain places that booking through them as an example is cheaper. I just booked an 8 night trip that was cheaper through WestJet vacations then booking direct and booking flights. But another resort we were deciding between would have been the opposite. Just have to look at it all.

As for where to start Flamesfan1297:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...drivesdk&pli=1

Check out this spreadsheet. It will have all the info you need. Just click make a copy and work through it.