Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie - Page 26 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

r00t · 11-04-2009, 11:22 AM

Not a Calgary deal ... but Westjet currently has November fares for 7.99 from Toronto to Atlantic City. It works out to $122.29 round-trip. You can thank the AIF and US taxes for it being over $100.

This fare is not a mistake ...

worth · 11-04-2009, 11:49 AM

Chris,

I have decided that I will for sure be going to Africa next year. The plan is to fly from YYC to Cairo, Egypt and then from Rabat, Morocco back to YYC.

Is there a best time of year to do those type of flights cost wise? If that isn't any influence then I will probably plan to leave Mid september or beginning october 2010. My trip is to last for a month. I'm sure i'll be asking for advice on flights when the dates get closer.

fundmark19 · 11-05-2009, 08:14 PM

Looking to go on vacation on dec 26th till jan 3rd looking for a cruise or all inclusive somewhere hot. Anyone found any good deals at all?

ricosuave · 11-05-2009, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Looking to go on vacation on dec 26th till jan 3rd looking for a cruise or all inclusive somewhere hot. Anyone found any good deals at all?

x2

cmyden · 11-05-2009, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Not a Calgary deal ... but Westjet currently has November fares for 7.99 from Toronto to Atlantic City. It works out to $122.29 round-trip. You can thank the AIF and US taxes for it being over $100.

This fare is not a mistake ...

Nice one, I see if you do the trip in reverse (Atlantic City to Toronto) it's only $75.

Quote:

I have decided that I will for sure be going to Africa next year. The plan is to fly from YYC to Cairo, Egypt and then from Rabat, Morocco back to YYC.

Is there a best time of year to do those type of flights cost wise? If that isn't any influence then I will probably plan to leave Mid september or beginning october 2010. My trip is to last for a month. I'm sure i'll be asking for advice on flights when the dates get closer.

According to...

http://www.ask-aladdin.com/offseason.htm

"Peak travel season in Egypt runs from mid October to May, and this is the best time to visit. As you will notice, the tourist season is during winter and spring, but this is also the high season, and prices go up at this time of year. Some hotels can be really expensive, and because of this, I would advise prior reservations for all hotels before you come, even the budget hotels."

cmyden · 11-05-2009, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Looking to go on vacation on dec 26th till jan 3rd looking for a cruise or all inclusive somewhere hot. Anyone found any good deals at all?

If you do a search on WestJetVacations.com for an all inclusive *anywhere* you won't find anything for $1500 or less, in fact the cheapest is over 2 grand.

Basically, take any decent price you might have in your head for a flight/cruise/hotel room/whatever and multiply it by 2.5 to get your 'Christmas price' for any dates between Dec 20 - Jan 6.

cmyden · 11-10-2009, 09:51 AM

This one stings a bit...

Edmonton to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - $248 CDN

Nov 16 - 23
Nov 23 - Dec 7
Nov 30 - Dec 7
Dec 7 - 14

http://www.westjet.ca

Return price, all taxes included, as always.

cM

GreenLantern · 11-10-2009, 10:48 AM

First off, thanks for the thread great job lots of effort.

I really want to go to New York in Feb. sometime..

What is the cheapest (or average) New York flight you usually come across?

cmyden · 11-10-2009, 10:54 AM

Quote:

First off, thanks for the thread great job lots of effort.

I really want to go to New York in Feb. sometime..

What is the cheapest (or average) New York flight you usually come across?

Hi Green Lantern,

Thanks! To me, a great price to New York would be in the $300-$350 range. I've seen it a fair number of times, although usually to Newark. Anything below $400 would be pretty decent.

anyonebutedmonton · 11-10-2009, 11:05 AM

I paid $378 at the beginning of October but again that is flying into Newark.

GreenLantern · 11-10-2009, 11:08 AM

So from Newark did you just rent a car? Or how did you get into the actual city?

And I am guessing that you had to depart from Newark as well? Was that price including hotels and for how many days?

If you don't mind me asking

cmyden · 11-10-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

So from Newark did you just rent a car? Or how did you get into the actual city?

And I am guessing that you had to depart from Newark as well? Was that price including hotels and for how many days?

If you don't mind me asking

No, definitely don't rent a car for a trip to NYC

If you really want to save a lot of $$$, you might want to look into hotels outside of Manhattan (hotels in Manhattan are $150-$200/night for anything remotely half decent)

I've heard that a good place to stay is in Cranford, NJ (15 min drive from Newark). Apparently they have a lot of quick buses into the city, or you can take the train. And your hotel will be a lot cheaper. Of course, then you don't get the experience of 'staying in Manhattan', so it depends how much that's worth to you.

anyonebutedmonton · 11-10-2009, 11:48 AM

Heres some details about my trip:

I booked the flight using orbitz for 378 (stopover in Minneapolis).

We flew into Newark and took the train to Penn Station. This can be kind of confusing but there are people there who can give you the information. The cost of this was about $15 per person, compared to cabs which would run about $65. I must warn you DO NOT RENT A CAR FOR MANHATTAN. The parking there makes Calgary look dirt cheap and the roads can be frantic. We used the subway or cab anytime we went anywhere.

The hotel I booked using Pricelines "name your price feature" which was perfect for New York because you can be very specific about what area of New York you want to stay in. We ended up at the Wyndham Garden in Chelsea for like $145 per night which is a steal in Manhattan. Honestly hotels in New York are stupid expensive and very small.

Hope this helps! Honestly New York is somewhere everyone should visit atleast once. We were there for 5 days and if I had the chance I could literally spend months exploring.

I want to comment on the staying in New Jersey part... If you have to due to budget then by all means do it but remember that getting into Manhattan isn't an easy task. I really doubt its worth it to spend atleast 45 minutes each way unless you are there for an extended period of time. Your vacation time is valuable, don't waste it on a gross train to Jersey.

worth · 11-10-2009, 02:03 PM

I agree with ABE.

Stay in Manhattan if you can. Getting into and off the island by car is a definite PITA. Subway is probably the best way if you have to.

Don't rent a car. Cab/Subway it.

Everyone needs to go there at least once. The greatest city in the world.

rubecube · 11-10-2009, 02:11 PM

I stayed at a Holiday Inn in Soho for around $120/night when I was there, but that was about 8 years ago.

FlamesKickAss · 11-10-2009, 02:13 PM

i am lucky, my dad lives about 30 minutes outside of new york in jersey so I can go in, enjoy the city and then go back to his house. I really like it there, another city I enjoyed was Philly

flamesflames444 · 11-10-2009, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmyden

This one stings a bit...

Edmonton to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico - $248 CDN

Nov 16 - 23
Nov 23 - Dec 7
Nov 30 - Dec 7
Dec 7 - 14

http://www.westjet.ca

Return price, all taxes included, as always.

cM

That is one crazy sale, but when i did a search, I could only get one week with the low fairs. Westjet has some crazy low fares right now...too bad they aren't from Calg... $8 each way from TO to Atlantic City... I guess the next question is.. who would want to go to Atlantic City. Ottawa to Montego Bay for $49 each way + fees... that's unreal

cmyden · 11-10-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

That is one crazy sale, but when i did a search, I could only get one week with the low fairs. Westjet has some crazy low fares right now...too bad they aren't from Calg... $8 each way from TO to Atlantic City... I guess the next question is.. who would want to go to Atlantic City. Ottawa to Montego Bay for $49 each way + fees... that's unreal

Yeah you're right, I think all of them are gone now. There were only about 4 seats on each flight at that price (when I saw it this morning)

WestJet Profits Drops 46%
http://www.vancouversun.com/business...171/story.html

Sean Durfy, chief executive of WestJet Airlines Ltd., was frank Wednesday about why he wouldn’t call a steady improvement in passenger traffic and ticket prices in recent weeks a trend: “We’re just scared,” he said.

valo403 · 11-10-2009, 03:23 PM

As a former, and soon to be once again, NYC resident I would strongly advise against staying outside of Manhattan for a leisure visit. Half of the fun of visiting NYC is the ability to walk to the bar on the corner, the restaurant down the block, or the newstand for your morning coffee. Staying in NJ or on Long Island will save you some money, but is it really worth it when it means you'll have to spend 45 minutes and $10+ to get back to your hotel at night?

As for Manhattan hotels, prices have dropped significantly over the last year or so. You can get a lot of great deals. If you're going for a week or more you might also want to consider looking for a short term apartment lease on craigslist or sublet.com. I know it's a little less reliable than a hotel (and potentially sketchy), but lots of people rent out their places when they go on their own vacation. If you're willing to take a chance you might wind up getting a lot more bang for your buck.

cmyden · 11-11-2009, 12:39 PM

Thanks to Kaput for this find ...

Christmas in Costa Rica is on sale: December 13/14 to 27/28 (possibly other dates, but these are the only ones I checked) from Calgary to Liberia for $850 CAD including taxes on Continental. Just last week it was hovering around $1250 which is normal for the time of year (I paid about $1250 for the same trip two years ago).