Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I always prefer to book directly with the hotel. You get better customer service, and if they're overbooked you're more likely to get an upgrade (had it happen several times, once was just a regular room to the slightly larger regular room with a desk but still, twice it was to a full suite, one of which was a 4 night stay in Vegas, $300 for the 4 days as opposed to $400 per night).

That said, when I do book through an app (like I'm using points) I usually get their cruddiest room. Stratosphere in Vegas put us by the elevators with paper thin walls. Was in Halifax a few weeks ago for John Mulaney and the room on points was one of the smallest in the hotel. Time in Halifax before that, room was very dated with the worst view. I'm not complaining, I get their reasoning and the price was free. Just a heads up through.

Also if you book directly with the hotel, some chains the points programs are good. Additionally, they can leave notes such as the reason for your stay and the possibility of changing the reservation due to weather.

[Calgary14]

I never use third party sites like Expedia and always book directly with the hotel. They prefer it, better service, and then if something happens and the reservation needs to change I dont have to deal with Expedia which is horrible for customer service

[Torture]

Originally Posted by cmyden

People in the Facebook Group seemed to find this info useful, so I'll post it here:

List of nonstop (aka 'direct') flights available from Calgary (YYC) to places with a beach, sorted by length of flight, and including the days of the week that they are available

spreadsheet: https://tinyurl.com/c64cnnr3

-

Thanks for posting this. Never really would have worried about whether the destination was a direct flight or not but now that we're trying to figure out travelling with a little one this will be handy!

[Nufy]

Best option for a flight to Barcelona next August for 4 ?

As well recommendations for a hotel / Air BNB for a few days as well.

Aug 30 to Sep 3 ish...

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

I never use third party sites like Expedia and always book directly with the hotel. They prefer it, better service, and then if something happens and the reservation needs to change I dont have to deal with Expedia which is horrible for customer service

Yeah, it sounds like it may be a better way to go.

I have been considering just winging it on the trip and hopefully not getting screwed on day-of prices or not getting a room. Though I did some comparisons of prices if I wanted to book for tonight versus a few weeks away and the price didn’t change much.

[brocoli]

Has anyone had any luck with NEXUS interviews lately or know when they open up the slots? I'm conditionally approved, but no slots available anywhere

[InglewoodFan]

Originally Posted by brocoli

Has anyone had any luck with NEXUS interviews lately or know when they open up the slots? I'm conditionally approved, but no slots available anywhere

I got lucky and booked a slot a few months ago. I believe Chris Myden posted about them being open. My interview is next month in Sweetgrass, should be a fun winter drive there and back.

The government needs to figure this out, the backlog is apparently in the thousands.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

I got lucky and booked a slot a few months ago. I believe Chris Myden posted about them being open. My interview is next month in Sweetgrass, should be a fun winter drive there and back.

The government needs to figure this out, the backlog is apparently in the thousands.

2-3 weeks ago there were some slots available briefly for for Sweetgrass in November and May. Haven't seen any since then. They go really fast since Sweetgrass apparently only takes appointments for Tuesdays, making them rare to begin with.

Blaine, WA - where everyone from Vancouver goes, tends to have a lot more appointment availability open up, as they are available every day of the month. They still go pretty fast though.

The government allegedly did make a change recently to try and speed things up. They are apparently re-evaluating all the Nexus applications that are sitting in “conditionally approved status”. If the conditionally approved status was a result of randomization - they are approving many of those if there is nothing of note. If there was a “flag” on the file - you still require the interview.

[RW99]

My renewal came in about four weeks ago, which was a surprise. My wife had hers in for like a year before mine and was still waiting. She did a name change after we got married, so we were surprised when she got hers last week. They are definitely pushing through some paperwork!

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Yeah, it sounds like it may be a better way to go.

I have been considering just winging it on the trip and hopefully not getting screwed on day-of prices or not getting a room. Though I did some comparisons of prices if I wanted to book for tonight versus a few weeks away and the price didn’t change much.

I usually use a combination of booking.com and the hotel directly. Booking allows you to cancel reservations up to 48 hours/24 hours before so you can always pre-book a room to ensure you arent going to get left in the cold

I recently just went to Europe and basically monitored hotel availability in the cities i was looking at going to - to ensure i wasn't going to be left holding the bag with limited availability.

If you are willing to make last minute bookings, i would suggest two things:

- Monitor booking sites in the week leading up to the dates you intend to stay there. What happens is someone may have booked the hotel and then cancelled (for whatever reason). Booking or another partner will still have the hotel room (if the booking was non-refundable i believe) and will offer the room up at a large discount - they are usually listed as "Partner Offers". Booking also offers "late escape deals" in some circumstances as well.

- If you arrive to the place you are planning to stay the day of, check Booking/expedia etc. for the rates and availabity of the hotels. Find the one you want and go to the hotel and book directly. If Booking is cheaper than the hotel is offering, show them that and they will usually match the Booking price or offer you an upgrade etc.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by cmyden

2-3 weeks ago there were some slots available briefly for for Sweetgrass in November and May. Haven't seen any since then. They go really fast since Sweetgrass apparently only takes appointments for Tuesdays, making them rare to begin with.

Blaine, WA - where everyone from Vancouver goes, tends to have a lot more appointment availability open up, as they are available every day of the month. They still go pretty fast though.

The government allegedly did make a change recently to try and speed things up. They are apparently re-evaluating all the Nexus applications that are sitting in “conditionally approved status”. If the conditionally approved status was a result of randomization - they are approving many of those if there is nothing of note. If there was a “flag” on the file - you still require the interview.

My renewal was conditionally approved pending interview in September - likely because i had visited some "interesting" countries since my last renewal. But a week ago, my renewal was approved without interview

[Fuzz]

Anyone know how long the current wait is for a mail in passport? Wife needs to renew for a possible February trip, just wondering the best option.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Nufy

Best option for a flight to Barcelona next August for 4 ?

As well recommendations for a hotel / Air BNB for a few days as well.

Aug 30 to Sep 3 ish...

Maybe call a travel agent if you don't have anything but a destination and dates and don't want to do any research? Not sure how badly people will want to plan your trip for you for free lol.

Or pull a few flights up and get input on if the prices seem reasonable. I just think you need to give a little to get a little.

[puckedoff]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Anyone know how long the current wait is for a mail in passport? Wife needs to renew for a possible February trip, just wondering the best option.

Timing seems to be all over the map based on the responses above. We had an appointment in July to renew our kids' passports, and just received them at the end of November. To be fair I don't know if the process is longer for kids for some reason.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Maybe call a travel agent if you don't have anything but a destination and dates and don't want to do any research? Not sure how badly people will want to plan your trip for you for free lol.

Or pull a few flights up and get input on if the prices seem reasonable. I just think you need to give a little to get a little.

At some point someone is going to figure out how to put all that travel agent stuff on the internet and we'll be able to plan and book our trips on our own.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

At some point someone is going to figure out how to put all that travel agent stuff on the internet and we'll be able to plan and book our trips on our own.

I wasn't even going to suggest that as it may be above his paygrade. Dude treats CP like it's AskJeeves.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Anyone know how long the current wait is for a mail in passport? Wife needs to renew for a possible February trip, just wondering the best option.

Submitted by mail for my oldest in September. It arrived in Gatineau on Monday the 26th. Still waiting, 9 weeks was on Monday.

[topfiverecords]

There's going to be a huge market for AI generated trip planning in the future.

Open your travel app. Enter the day/time you want your Uber to pick you up and drop you back home, how much you want to spend, and roughly where you want to go. The AI will select the best flights, choose your hotels, arrange your transportation at all points, choose your restaurants to eat at, and list what you need to pack. Probably will be an option for prepacked luggage brought in your Uber or waiting in your hotel room.

[Wormius]

Flying to Barcelona for only 4 days? You’d be in the airport and airplanes for 1/4 of that time.

[cmyden]

Canadian Transport Agency approves request from WestJet to operate flights between Canada and Japan.