Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[rd_aaron]

Hey Chris. We're looking to fly into Europe in the last few days of July. It doesn't matter where in Europe, just want to get there cheaply as we're there for about a month and I know getting around Europe is relatively inexpensive. My questions are:

1) What price point should I be shooting for? If I see something for ~$600 one way, should I just book it? It looks like I could book a Condor flight right now and go direct to Frankfurt for $567. I'm tempted to just book that.
2) Will prices for these international flights behave the same as domestic flights? In other words, prices will be kind of high since we're 7 months out but will drop and will hit a low, probably 2-4 months out before going up again?
3) Would I be better off holding out for charter carrier's prices to drop?

Anyone have any experiences with Condor? I see they're doing a cabin refurb on all their 767-300 aircraft so every seat will have in-flight entertainment, at least.

[Hi-Psi]

Hey Chris,

I've noticed you haven't really been posting much in the form of deals over the last 6 months or so, is it because the deals aren't there or because you have been busy or?

The reason I ask is because we used to see flight deals almost every few weeks whether it be for just a flight or maybe an all-inclusive.

Just curious as I have almost planned all my vacations over the last couple years to your flight deals and haven't seen anything come up for the new year till May yet which is almost always booked by now through one of your deals haha

[brocoli]

Hey Chris,

Not sure how good of a deal this is, but right now Air Transat has a deal for Panama where it's $906 for an all-inclusive vacation all taxes in. How good of a deal is that?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by rd_aaron

Hey Chris. We're looking to fly into Europe in the last few days of July. It doesn't matter where in Europe, just want to get there cheaply as we're there for about a month and I know getting around Europe is relatively inexpensive. My questions are:

1) What price point should I be shooting for? If I see something for ~$600 one way, should I just book it? It looks like I could book a Condor flight right now and go direct to Frankfurt for $567. I'm tempted to just book that.
2) Will prices for these international flights behave the same as domestic flights? In other words, prices will be kind of high since we're 7 months out but will drop and will hit a low, probably 2-4 months out before going up again?
3) Would I be better off holding out for charter carrier's prices to drop?

Anyone have any experiences with Condor? I see they're doing a cabin refurb on all their 767-300 aircraft so every seat will have in-flight entertainment, at least.

For summer travel to Europe, if one can get near $1000 roundtrip including taxes, they're doing well. $600 one way is about right for the typical bottom, barring a highly unusual event.

For one way flights to Europe, it's really just Air Transat or Condor that will have a reasonable price as they are the only two charter airlines flying between YYC and Europe. By reasonable I mean around 50-60% of the cost of a roundtrip flight.

All of the other airlines that fly to Europe, those being the major airlines, charge as much (and sometimes more!) for a one way flight as they do for a roundtrip flight.

July & August are the 2 months where all airlines, charter or otherwise, are most reluctant to drop their prices to Europe. There is usually enough demand to keep the higher prices propped up. Air Canada does have their 'Rouge' flights to Europe this year, but so far it doesn't seem to have affected pricing.

Probably the biggest news from Western Canada as far as flying to Europe this year is concerned is the fact that Icelandair is now flying out of Edmonton and Vancouver. It has greatly affected the pricing to many European destinations from YEG and YVR, via Iceland. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will fly out of YYC at some point.

It's impossible to predict, but I don't recall there being anything too out of the ordinary to Europe last summer from YYC.

[undercoverbrother]

Our family are considering a last minute hot get away, the kids have a week off during Feb.

Do you have any links/suggestions on how/where to book or where to go?

My kids are Boy 8, Girl 10, both love the water.

Cheers

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Hi-Psi

Hey Chris,

I've noticed you haven't really been posting much in the form of deals over the last 6 months or so, is it because the deals aren't there or because you have been busy or?

The reason I ask is because we used to see flight deals almost every few weeks whether it be for just a flight or maybe an all-inclusive.

Just curious as I have almost planned all my vacations over the last couple years to your flight deals and haven't seen anything come up for the new year till May yet which is almost always booked by now through one of your deals haha

Hey Hi-Psi, how goes it?

There has definitely been a lack of great travel deals lately. Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal have had a few interesting ones, but Calgary/Edmonton have certainly been in a drought. Other than that Delta glitch that didn't last long enough for many to take advantage, everything has been pretty ordinary lately in terms of pricing.

There's a pretty good sized community keeping an eye on things from YYC, and I myself am certainly always keeping tabs on it, so I don't think there's really anything that's made it past the radar.

One thing I've noticed this year is that the charter companies, such as Air Transat or Sunwing, seem to be far more reluctant to have last minute sell-offs, particularly of their last minute airfares, which also affects their package prices.

Also, on the U.S. airlines, even in the U.S., there seems to be far less unusual price drops, which affects us here in Canada, because unusually good price drops here in Canada are often the result of an airline dropping fares between U.S. cities. We certainly can't depend on WestJet or Air Canada for those drops!

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by brocoli

Hey Chris,

Not sure how good of a deal this is, but right now Air Transat has a deal for Panama where it's $906 for an all-inclusive vacation all taxes in. How good of a deal is that?

I remember last year Air Transat had trouble selling those packages to Panama and had to drop them into the $600s/$700s to try and sell them off. They don't seem to be as eager to drop them this year.

Overall, I'd say $900/person isn't too bad, if you consider that flight alone to PTY will run you $650-$700 roundtrip from YYC. Doing the math for 2 people, You're basically paying $400 for 7 nights of hotel accommodation with all drinks and meals included.

In general, I'd say your all-inclusive dollar (what you're getting for the money) doesn't go as far in Panama, where there aren't many all-inclusive hotels, as it would in Mexico, where there are thousands. You might be able to find a better resort on a last minute deal for $900/person in Mexico. But on the other hand Panama is, well, not Mexico.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Our family are considering a last minute hot get away, the kids have a week off during Feb.

Do you have any links/suggestions on how/where to book or where to go?

My kids are Boy 8, Girl 10, both love the water.

Cheers

Hi Undercoverbrother,

Unfortunately, that might be the same week that everyone in February seems to have off (reading week at University, Family Day, etc), which keeps prices really propped up during that time frame.

You may want to check out this article I recently posted which may give some insight into all-inclusive vacations (if that's what you're looking for) and where prices come from in Canada, which can help make sense of where to look and efficiently search. At the end of the day, there really aren't that many sources of unique prices. There are just a lot of sites trying to convince you that they are unique!

Where all inclusive prices come from, and why Canadians waste a lot of time searching
http://www.yycdeals.com/where-all-in...time-searching

--

[getbak]

I thought this was interesting: https://twitter.com/BRinYEG/status/421348623377383424


With the bad weather and a lot of cancelled flights out of Toronto this week, WestJet has chartered a 747-400 for one of their YYZ-YYC flights today. For those who are interested in that sort of thing, it's a rare chance to see a 747 passenger plane landing in Calgary.

[Royle9]

Any idea what a good deal is on a flight to Phoenix (sky harbor) for the week of March 22nd-29th?
Thinking of taking a winter break.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by fotze

Since its spring break and airlines are aware of this I doubt you get any sort of deal. I have been looking and there is next to nothing.

Hmm I thought this was after spring break, tho it varies by school/country/city but 600+ dollars to Phoenix is absurd. I'm debating waiting until Feb to book or if its worthwhile to grab now...

I see flights mid February/early March for 240-300

[cmyden]

AirBNB has a 'get one night free' promo worth up to $300 for members who have never completed a booking on their site. Booking must be made by Jan 17, your stay must begin by March 31. Full details: http://onenightairbnb.com/

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Hmm I thought this was after spring break, tho it varies by school/country/city but 600+ dollars to Phoenix is absurd. I'm debating waiting until Feb to book or if its worthwhile to grab now...

I see flights mid February/early March for 240-300

'Have you looked at flights out of Great Falls?

We got a great deal last april, approx $1200 return, 4 tickets and a full size rental all in.

[Wormius]

So do you think we're pretty much screwed over if we're hoping to score a deal on a flight for spring break? The best I have seen is about $400 return from YYC to SFO. Has Air Canada or Westjet historically had any deals leading up to this that might yield lower prices?

Also, just wondering in general how good is flights.google at scouring the airlines for prices? I have been using this to try to find flights, and it seems pretty good. Maybe there is a better system out there though.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

'Have you looked at flights out of Great Falls?

We got a great deal last april, approx $1200 return, 4 tickets and a full size rental all in.

Yea I did, 460-520 from Greatfalls but would then need to drive/spend the night which would cost me more then 100 bucks so not worth it this time around.

God damn price gouging

[GreenLantern]

cmyden, any tips or advice on times to book flights into the LA/Anaheim area for October?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

cmyden, any tips or advice on times to book flights into the LA/Anaheim area for October?

Prices to LAX and Anaheim seem to be pretty efficiently priced, and they seem to consistently bottom out around $350 roundtrip including taxes these days. I'd say you can almost always find a well priced 1 stop flight to LAX or SNA on either Delta or United.

The trickier one is getting a better deal on one of the non-stop flights with Air Canada or WestJet. Those tend to be $100-$150 more, and if you see one drop into the $350 range I'd probably snag it. Could keep an eye on WestJet's Blue Tag Deals and hope LAX or SNA comes up. But typically Air Canada and WestJet are reluctant to really drop their prices until about a season ahead on most of their routes. That's not to say they will for sure, but when they do, this is typically when it happens.

Good time to watch for October fares can be around late summer and just after Labour Day.

[GreenLantern]

Thanks a lot for the info, one more question.

We are probably looking to fly into SNA and out from LAX.. any down side to booking two one way flights, one now and one later? (There is a flight in that I really like right now so I may move on it, 600ish for two, and wait on the flight going out and see if something better pops up).

[NewVegasRanger]

If you buy the tickets together two-way they are usually cheaper.

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Yea I did, 460-520 from Greatfalls but would then need to drive/spend the night which would cost me more then 100 bucks so not worth it this time around.

God damn price gouging

Your expectations seem to be out of place with reality here. Spring Break would have to be one of the busiest times of year for airlines. You can't expect them to have cheap prices when demand is that high.

Rather than waiting for lower prices, it would probably be a better idea to avoid flying at that time and go at a time when kids are in school. That being said, if it were possible for you to do so, I doubt you'd be posting about the prices at Spring Break.