Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[core_upt]

Originally Posted by sameg

Couple quick questions for everyone that frequents this thread

I'm heading over to Europe for the first time next month and am confused about to best way to exchange my money.

i) When is the best time to exchange cash? Here before I leave? Or should I just use an ATM over there.
ii) I've read MasterCard can have some pretty big fees for using it over there and should be avoided. Is this correct?
iii) Anything else I should consider?

I'm with BMO if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance

I used my CC for most things, but cash defintely comes in handy. The biggest question would be where in Europe are you going? Do you just need Euros or multiple currencies?

I imagine you'll get a better return for your Canadian dollar here than abroad, but I could be wrong.

If you think you'll be getting money out of ATMs fairly often, I would consider opening a Scotiabank account. You can then use DeutscheBank, BNP, BoA and Barclay's ATMs without any extra fees:
http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,316,00.html

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by Maccalus

When I was in Europe, personally I just hit up ATM's to withdraw cash every few days. I found this to be the easiest with the best exchange rate/fees. I only had issues using my card at a couple of american bank branded machines in switzerland.

I've done the same thing on all of my Euro trips, never had an issue (except for once, drunk in Isreal and none of the bank machines I found would take my card!). Personally I don't like bringing a credit card on long trips overseas, I keep the # and expiry with me just in case I am in a jam and need to book a new flight or hotel but find if I don't carry the card itself my stupid/needless purchases tend to go way down as I tend to be more responsible with cash.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

I've done the same thing on all of my Euro trips, never had an issue (except for once, drunk in Isreal and none of the bank machines I found would take my card!). Personally I don't like bringing a credit card on long trips overseas, I keep the # and expiry with me just in case I am in a jam and need to book a new flight or hotel but find if I don't carry the card itself my stupid/needless purchases tend to go way down as I tend to be more responsible with cash.

Only comment I have is this might be fine for hostels, but many hotels require you to present a credit card as a guarantee for charges against the room.

[Lentulus Batiatus]

When's the best time to be looking for flight deals to Orlando in late Sept? Got a cruise booked but right now return air is either ridiculously expensive direct or have 2-3 stops each way. Thanks!

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Lentulus Batiatus

When's the best time to be looking for flight deals to Orlando in late Sept? Got a cruise booked but right now return air is either ridiculously expensive direct or have 2-3 stops each way. Thanks!

Usually Orlando is cheaper than Tampa but keep an eye open for TPA as well it is only a couple hour drive to the cruise terminal from Tampa

[Lentulus Batiatus]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Usually Orlando is cheaper than Tampa but keep an eye open for TPA as well it is only a couple hour drive to the cruise terminal from Tampa

Well I have specific travel dates, hotels and car rentals booked. I know which flights I'd like to be on and which are workable depending on the price difference. Last time I fly to Orlando in mid-Sept we booked much later in the year so possibly missed the deal periods (though our airfare was still reasonable) so just curious when approx prices might be pushed to garner business.

[fundmark19]

What price are you looking at right now? I am seeing around 530/550 mark which isn't cheap. Prices have been quite a bit more to florida the last couple years. You should be able to find something sub 500 though

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Only comment I have is this might be fine for hostels, but many hotels require you to present a credit card as a guarantee for charges against the room.

You're probably right - I've stayed in Europe over 150 nights and never taken a hotel so I really wouldn't know. IMO, hotels (when travelling abroad) are for the rich, old, married and/or the socially inept amongst us. Thankfully (married, old, inept) and unfortunatley (rich) none of those describe me.

[Ahuch]

Originally Posted by kipperfan

You're probably right - I've stayed in Europe over 150 nights and never taken a hotel so I really wouldn't know. IMO, hotels (when travelling abroad) are for the rich, old, married and/or the socially inept amongst us. Thankfully (married, old, inept) and unfortunatley (rich) none of those describe me.

You don't have to be rich... but most people don't stick around Europe for 150 days. If you head there for a just few weeks it's not hard to afford a hotel.

[BigNumbers]

So I am looking to fly pretty much anywhere this weekend for 5/7 days. What site can I put in travel period, leaving YYC and see all the available flights by price? Just looking to go somewhere relatively close ( this continent) for next week, not picky about where that is)

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

So I am looking to fly pretty much anywhere this weekend for 5/7 days. What site can I put in travel period, leaving YYC and see all the available flights by price? Just looking to go somewhere relatively close ( this continent) for next week, not picky about where that is)

https://www.google.com/flights/explore/

Use North America as your destination. Has good coverage of the flights on all the major airlines. Where it falters a bit is on charter flights.

If you look at the bar graphs, you'll notice that they spike dramatically higher for the close departure dates to virtually all destinations. Last minute flights on the major airlines are rarely a good deal. The major airlines feel these seats become more valuable as you get close to the departure date. The upcoming March break for schools doesn't help either.

If I see anything interesting on a charter flight (more likely to have a last minute deal) I'll be sure to post it up!

[cmyden]

Calgary to New York City | $354 roundtrip after taxes

http://www.yycdeals.com/calgary-to-n...ip-after-taxes

United looks to have just dropped many of their airfares throughout the year from Calgary to New York City down to $354 roundtrip after taxes.

Cheap dates are available in every month between April 2013 and February 2014!

Philadelphia has also dropped to a similar price level on United, throughout the year.

Direct flights to Chicago have also dropped to a pretty decent price of around $360, on Air Canada and WestJet, between now and June.

The easiest way to find the cheap date combinations is using Google Flights Explorer.

Use 'United States' as your destination.

As is usually the case with these unadvertised drops on United, it's hard to say when they'll put the price back up.

[bizaro86]

Damn. I booked a trip to NYC for 650 last week on Delta, with a 300 bump voucher. Looks like I should have saved the voucher...

[Knalus]

So, are the days of cheap flights to London over? Can't seem to find cheaper than $1000 round trip to London in May. Should I choose a different date?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Knalus

So, are the days of cheap flights to London over? Can't seem to find cheaper than $1000 round trip to London in May. Should I choose a different date?

Air Transat's price cuts usually focus on dates about a month ahead. March and April seem to have some date combos at $860 from YYC to London.

I'd say there's definitely been less crazy price cuts to Europe down into the $500s-$600s this year from Air Transat. One reason for this might be the fact that Air Transat has cut capacity to Europe this year by about 18 percent....

http://www.thestar.com/business/2013...s_in_half.html

Although looking at significant price drops to London in year's past...

http://yycdeals.com/search?criteria=london

It appears that most of them have happened in April/May.

[cmyden]

United's prices from Calgary to New York and Philly have dropped even a little further today. Now down to $330 roundtrip after taxes.

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by fotze

I think San Francisco was $296. Now I have to figure out where the hell I want to go. Probably another year of vacation paralysis and go nowhere.

You're part of the CP 100k club, go to all of them.

[J pold]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Calgary to New York City | $354 roundtrip after taxes

http://www.yycdeals.com/calgary-to-n...ip-after-taxes

United looks to have just dropped many of their airfares throughout the year from Calgary to New York City down to $354 roundtrip after taxes.

Cheap dates are available in every month between April 2013 and February 2014!

Philadelphia has also dropped to a similar price level on United, throughout the year.

Direct flights to Chicago have also dropped to a pretty decent price of around $360, on Air Canada and WestJet, between now and June.

The easiest way to find the cheap date combinations is using Google Flights Explorer.

Use 'United States' as your destination.

As is usually the case with these unadvertised drops on United, it's hard to say when they'll put the price back up.

Hey Chris thanks for bringing this to my attention as I'm planning a trip to NYC in June. I used Google Flights Explorer to find the flights I wanted in the image below but when I phoned United this morning to book they quoted me a higher price. Am I missing something?

[FFR]

Originally Posted by J pold

Hey Chris thanks for bringing this to my attention as I'm planning a trip to NYC in June. I used Google Flights Explorer to find the flights I wanted in the image below but when I phoned United this morning to book they quoted me a higher price. Am I missing something?

We booked this deal and we found that some flights only had 1 ticket left at rhe cheap price so our group of 4 couldn't book. We booked online but we had to link through Kayak - when we went to the United website to search it was a higher price. Maybe try looking online and link through Kayak or Google directly.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by J pold

Hey Chris thanks for bringing this to my attention as I'm planning a trip to NYC in June. I used Google Flights Explorer to find the flights I wanted in the image below but when I phoned United this morning to book they quoted me a higher price. Am I missing something?

How much did they quote you over the phone? On United.ca, I can see that flight for $417 CAD.

There can certainly be occasions where the price displayed by Google Flights Explorer isn't entirely accurate. It's using data from ITA, and there's no set of airfare data that's as complete or accurate as ITA, but there's often discrepancies as the price data isn't 100% real-time from the airlines.