Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Waiting for the WJ price match Plus, the AC flights are a US codeshare, meaning you'll be dinged for bag fees as well.

I'm surprised it's taking so long, WJ and AC are usually lock and step with each other. Good point about the bag fees, need to travel light these days.

Does AC charge for golf bags? I wonder if you can get away with stuffing a golf bag full of clothes.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Waiting for the WJ price match Plus, the AC flights are a US codeshare, meaning you'll be dinged for bag fees as well.

Not all YYC-SFO flights are codeshares. It looks like Air Canada has 1 flight a day on their own hardware and 3 on United's junk.

I would advise against taking the United flights (horrible, tiny plane with no on board entertainment system), but the AC flights are good. The ones with AC flight numbers of 4000+ are the code shares, the ones with small numbers are actually on AC.

[Cactus Jack]

And people rip on Canadian airlines. The US airlines are by far the worst, I would take Air Canada over Westjet any day of the week, all things being equal.

[cmyden]

KLM is having a sale from Calgary to East Africa - $1165 after tax return

For the next 3 days, KLM Airlines is selling seats to....

Nairobi, Kenya
Entebbe, Uganda
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

for a pretty great price at $1165 after tax roundtrip.

Apparently it's for travel between September 10 and December 10. I did a quick search and found some in October. October 6-20 for example is $1165 after tax to Nairobi or Entebbe and back.

Details: http://www.klm.com/travel/ca_en/plan...fers/index.htm

[wegotBeers]

Anyone know of any great deals for this upcoming Long weekend?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by wegotBeers

Anyone know of any great deals for this upcoming Long weekend?

If you're referring to flying somewhere, the fact that it's the long weekend coupled with the fact that airfares are almost always ridiculously pricey this close to departure date means sky high prices.

A Wed-Sunday flight might ease the pain a bit, vs coming back on the Monday, but not a whole lot.

[cmyden]

Calgary to Sydney, Australia $880 after tax return

United just released a code which they claim gives you 40% off flights to Sydney, Australia. Well, it's a bit of an exaggeration, but it does give a sizable discount.

First, go to http://www.United.com (you need to use the U.S. version of the site, not United.ca)

Step 1: Enter your origin city in the "From" field and "SYD" in the "To" field.

Step 2. Select travel dates. Travel must occur between now and June 30, 2010.

Step 3. Enter TWRAU in the promotional code field.

Step 4. Submit your search and look for the word "Tware" highlighted in blue to book this special offer.

June 2-15 for example, works out to $830 USD after tax, roundtrip. Based on today's exchange rate, that should be around $880 CDN.

Full details at: http://www.united.com/page/article/1,,50062,00.html

cM

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Looks like it works for Edmonton and Winnipeg too.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

Looks like it works for Edmonton and Winnipeg too.

Yep, from anywhere in North America that United flys.

[red sky]

Hey Chris,

I remember a while back that there was a friends and family deal with the Sheraton chain. I am trying to track it down however it has most likely expired. Anyways, is it possible that you could let me know something that isn't too crazy of a price to stay in Times Square in NYC for June 18 & 19th?

I know it is hard to find anythin sub $300 a night but I figured I would ask.

TIA

RS

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by red sky

Hey Chris,

I remember a while back that there was a friends and family deal with the Sheraton chain. I am trying to track it down however it has most likely expired. Anyways, is it possible that you could let me know something that isn't too crazy of a price to stay in Times Square in NYC for June 18 & 19th?

I know it is hard to find anythin sub $300 a night but I figured I would ask.

TIA

RS

Do you mean the Fairmont deal? Yes, unfortunately it ended last month.

The Holiday Inn Midtown is $180ish USD on those dates (EasyClickTravel.com)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

Edison looks to be about the same, maybe cheaper...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

Hotel Carter for $80/night if you want to slum it....

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html


I've always felt that picking a less touristy area than Times square with good access to the subway is the way to go. You can get anywhere quickly and easily in New York as long as you're near a subway station. Hotel17 and Hotel31 seem to be well liked budget hotels, around $120ish/night...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

Or you could give Priceline a shot!

[red sky]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Do you mean the Fairmont deal? Yes, unfortunately it ended last month.

The Holiday Inn Midtown is $180ish USD on those dates (EasyClickTravel.com)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

Edison looks to be about the same, maybe cheaper...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html

Hotel Carter for $80/night if you want to slum it....

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._New_York.html


I've always felt that picking a less touristy area than Times square with good access to the subway is the way to go. You can get anywhere quickly and easily in New York as long as you're near a subway station.

Oh yes, I meant Fairmont... that is probably why I couldn't find it with the search button. Those prices seem reasonable, thanks for that. I will take into consideration other areas as well.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by red sky

Oh yes, I meant Fairmont... that is probably why I couldn't find it with the search button. Those prices seem reasonable, thanks for that. I will take into consideration other areas as well.

Added a few other options to my post above.

[jjbouma]

Originally Posted by red sky

Oh yes, I meant Fairmont... that is probably why I couldn't find it with the search button. Those prices seem reasonable, thanks for that. I will take into consideration other areas as well.

Last time I was in NYC I stayed in Queens. Hotel was $80/night and it was a 5 minute walk to the subway and a 7 minute subway ride to Times Square.

[IGGYFORMVP]

Hey Chris, My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon for Egypt for Nov 10 - Dec 10. We would like to perhaps stop in London on the way to visit some family. I was wondering what kind of deals might be out there. We can fly in to Sharm el Sheik or Cairo. Also can fly out of Edmonton or Calgary.

Thanks alot!

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by IGGYFORMVP

Hey Chris, My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon for Egypt for Nov 10 - Dec 10. We would like to perhaps stop in London on the way to visit some family. I was wondering what kind of deals might be out there. We can fly in to Sharm el Sheik or Cairo. Also can fly out of Edmonton or Calgary.

Thanks alot!

To Cairo and back it looks like Lufthansa is the cheapest right now at around $1290ish after tax roundtrip. Sounds about right for Cairo from YYC. Can maybe get it for around $1100-$1200ish on occasion.

Sharm el Sheikh is around $1460 using multiple airlines. Generally Cairo is the cheapest and then you can just use Egypt Air between the two.

The other way to do it would be to hope for a cheap roundtrip flight between Calgary and London and then just London to Cairo and back for around $450ish (Alitalia). Although you would have to get a pretty good deal on the London flight to make that worthwhile and from what we've
seen this year, European airfares haven't been too pretty.

You can play around with the multi-city searching over at Kayak

http://www.kayak.com/flights?mc

Can try Calgary to London (use LON) and then CAI to YYC. Comes to about $1200 after tax using Air Canada direct to Heathrow and Cairo to Calgary with just one stop in Frankfurt, a pretty good flight really.

And then you would just need the London to CAI one way flight, which can be done for around $320ish on BMI.

So all told it seems like YYC to London to Cairo and then back to YYC can be done for around $1520ish.

[worth]

Where would you book the Lufthansa flight to Cairo and back? I'm looking for CGY to CAI in October. Probably 3 weeks and what I see on Lufthansa site is $2,200.

If I could get in the $1,200 range now, I would book now.

[Cactus Jack]

Dearest Cmyden, anything to Sao Paulo in the next month? If you find a good 1 way price in either direction, please let me know. Dates are flexible but probably mid to late June.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by worth

Where would you book the Lufthansa flight to Cairo and back? I'm looking for CGY to CAI in October. Probably 3 weeks and what I see on Lufthansa site is $2,200.

If I could get in the $1,200 range now, I would book now.

It seems cheaper flights to Cairo may not start until around the 3rd week of October. Oct 17 to Nov 8 is $1284 after tax but that's using Air Canada and Egypt Air. Lufthansa is around $1390 from Oct 17 to Nov 10.

For the cheaper Lufthansa flights, let's see...

Oct 31 to Dec 1 is $1290 on Lufthansa
Oct 27 to Nov 26 is $1240 on Air France. Lufthansa is $1500.
Oct 17 to Nov 17 is $1290 on Lufthansa
Oct 13 to Nov 14 is $1421 using Air France. $1677 on Lufthansa.

So it could just be the mid October/November/December flights on Lufthansa that are cheap.

Oct 18 to Nov 7 is $1240 on Air France if you were looking for a 3 weeker.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Cactus Jack

Dearest Cmyden, anything to Sao Paulo in the next month? If you find a good 1 way price in either direction, please let me know. Dates are flexible but probably mid to late June.

One way to Sao Paulo eh? Mexicana has a flight June 18 for $690ish after tax to GRU. 10 hour layover in Mexico City though. Otherwise Air Canada is around $770. Those seem like the two best options.

In the reverse direction, prices seem a lot higher. Ridiculous even. Around $1100 on United. Must be a cheaper way to do it, can't really think of what it would be though...maybe one way to Miami...nope, $700 on TACA, same for LAX.

By the way, roundtrip can be done for around $1000 in June, using United. June 15-22 for example. But I don't really see a way to get a one way for less than $700-$770ish. Even to LAX is around $770 for the cheapest one ways from Sao Paulo, so I guess it's not that bad for YYC.