Flight travel during Covid

[bizaro86]

I've been reading a number of places that if you need your bag back ever you probably want to put air tags in it.

[Meelapo]

For those that are looking for passport timelines:

- Went to Brooks on May 13th (Friday) to apply for passports for my kids - two years old and four months old
- Had proof of travel for travel on June 28th
- They sent my application to Calgary for processing on May 16th (Monday)
- Passport Canada called the listed references on June 8th
- Received my passports (delivered to the door via Canada Post Express) on June 15th

All in all, maybe about a month total to get everything sorted out.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Meelapo

For those that are looking for passport timelines:

- Went to Brooks on May 13th (Friday) to apply for passports for my kids - two years old and four months old
- Had proof of travel for travel on June 28th
- They sent my application to Calgary for processing on May 16th (Monday)
- Passport Canada called the listed references on June 8th
- Received my passports (delivered to the door via Canada Post Express) on June 15th

All in all, maybe about a month total to get everything sorted out.

Thanks for sharing, this sounds like how it is supposed to work. All you ever read about are horror stories, so this gives me hope that my kids passports will be processed soon.

[activeStick]

More bad press for air travel, this time specifically Air Canada.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...rted-1.6496539

A couple from Victoria, B.C. say they've yet to receive an explanation about why they were escorted off a plane from Montreal Trudeau Airport overnight Tuesday.

Josh Slatkoff and his wife, Tara Sharpe, were left stranded in Montreal, banned from boarding another Air Canada flight for the next 24 hours after the captain of the plane made the order, he said.

They had been on their way to the U.K. for a memorial service, Slatkoff said.

"Her grandmother just passed away so we were going there to be with family. Our flight had a connection in Montreal," he said.

He says they had been seated and were waiting for the flight to London to get off the ground when a group of police officers boarded around 12:30 a.m. and began escorting two people off the plane.

"The next row in front of us was also removed, and that included a couple that was in their 70s. At that point I was completely shocked. We had no idea what to make of what was happening," Slatkoff said.

"Then the Air Canada attendant pointed at our row, and he told us we needed to leave as well."

It wasn't until the two reached the airport that an Air Canada agent told them the captain of the plane had asked for some people to be removed because they were drinking and not wearing masks.

But Slatkoff says he doesn't recall seeing any rowdy people on the plane, and that includes him and his wife.

Air Canada says it's now investigating the incident. They confirmed a total of 25 people were "deplaned" from the flight.

"We understand that there are allegations that, in the course of removing these passengers, certain unrelated individuals were deplaned as well," the airline said in an email statement.

[IamNotKenKing]

Just for a different view point:

I flew last week for the first time since October, 2019, and it was quite uneventful.

Calgary to Southern California.
No one in line at check in.
11 people in line at security.
Wore masks in airport, but allowed to remove as soon as we boarded the plane.

Return was the opposite: Long line at check in and security.
No masks in airport, but had to put on once we boarded the plane.
Everything was smooth and completely uneventful.
United on the way down, and WestJet on the way back.

9/10. Would do again...

[Flambé]

Quick question for anyone that may know. We are driving to California and the wife and I have passports, and two of our three children have passports (side eyeing Service Canada over here), so we will be using my youngest's Birth Certificate. The government website states you can bring the original Birth Certificate or a copy. It doesn't stipulate if it needs to be a certified true copy, or if it can be a photo copy sans certified true stamp.

Anyone here know what the requirement is?

Cheers!

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Flambé

Quick question for anyone that may know. We are driving to California and the wife and I have passports, and two of our three children have passports (side eyeing Service Canada over here), so we will be using my youngest's Birth Certificate. The government website states you can bring the original Birth Certificate or a copy. It doesn't stipulate if it needs to be a certified true copy, or if it can be a photo copy sans certified true stamp.

Anyone here know what the requirement is?

Cheers!

While I don’t know the actual requirement, I would bring the original out of an abundance of caution.
Better to have more than the minimum required as opposed to less…

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by activeStick

So it looks like WestJet is going to change their business a bit and re-focus on western Canada to manage costs which will make Air Canada the only carrier again to provide national flights. This might move some of the US destined flights back to fly out of YYC and YVR though via WestJet.

Good to know, thanks. Literally this week just began the process to apply for a new credit card and want one with travel-based rewards. I narrowed it down to Visa Avion or WestJet mastercard. Was ultimately going to do the westjet one, but after reading that, I'm not sure that's the best call anymore.

Makes sense why they're doing that though, given what's happened in the world the last couple years.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Good to know, thanks. Literally this week just began the process to apply for a new credit card and want one with travel-based rewards. I narrowed it down to Visa Avion or WestJet mastercard. Was ultimately going to do the westjet one, but after reading that, I'm not sure that's the best call anymore.

Makes sense why they're doing that though, given what's happened in the world the last couple years.

If you don’t mind the question, why Visa Avion? We’re looking at doing the same thing to replace our Capital One Aspire World Elite as they’re reduced their benefits.

[Johnny199r]

I switched from the WestJet Mastercard last year (WestJet went down the toilet ever since the pandemic) and switched to the TD Aeroplan infinite. I’ve been happy with Air Canada.

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Good to know, thanks. Literally this week just began the process to apply for a new credit card and want one with travel-based rewards. I narrowed it down to Visa Avion or WestJet mastercard. Was ultimately going to do the westjet one, but after reading that, I'm not sure that's the best call anymore.

Makes sense why they're doing that though, given what's happened in the world the last couple years.

Just an FYI, but it isn’t that westjet won’t be doing national flights, it is that they won’t be doing as much inter-east flying (like the YYZ-YOW-YUL) triangle. It isn’t about abandoning the east as much as re-focusing on the west.

[Amethyst]

What I want is the non-stop Calgary-Belize flight back.

[activeStick]

Here's an article with a lot of detail.

https://simpleflying.com/westjet-ceo...tern-canada%2F

[billybob123]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

What I want is the non-stop Calgary-Belize flight back.

It's back on Fridays Nov 18-Apr 28.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

If you don’t mind the question, why Visa Avion? We’re looking at doing the same thing to replace our Capital One Aspire World Elite as they’re reduced their benefits.

Lack of imagination I suppose...I've never had a travel-focused credit card before, I've just heard good things about it. WestJet as well, I've been humming and hawing about which one to choose.

And RE: one of the other responses, good to know about not scaling back on international destinations. I'm still not sure which way I'll go with it. I like how Avion seems to have better coverage on cancellation & delay issues anyway.

[Ironhorse]

So my sons passport was applied and processed on May 24th, with proof of travel. Guy at the counter said everything looked good, he did all the things and it was supposed to be here on the 21st of June. Crickets in the mailbox. My wife called the passport line on our application (we also have a reference number on the application) for a status but the phones are all busy and they won’t put you on hold. They just hang up on you. Now she filled in the web form, where we might hear back in 3 days. His flight leaves in under two weeks.

Our civil “service” at work…

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

So my sons passport was applied and processed on May 24th, with proof of travel. Guy at the counter said everything looked good, he did all the things and it was supposed to be here on the 21st of June. Crickets in the mailbox. My wife called the passport line on our application (we also have a reference number on the application) for a status but the phones are all busy and they won’t put you on hold. They just hang up on you. Now she filled in the web form, where we might hear back in 3 days. His flight leaves in under two weeks.

Our civil “service” at work…

With the lifting of vaccine requirements for Federal workers was the WFH order/mandate also lifted? I haven't been able to find a reference to that and think that plays a large role in the slowness of processing applications.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

So my sons passport was applied and processed on May 24th, with proof of travel. Guy at the counter said everything looked good, he did all the things and it was supposed to be here on the 21st of June. Crickets in the mailbox. My wife called the passport line on our application (we also have a reference number on the application) for a status but the phones are all busy and they won’t put you on hold. They just hang up on you. Now she filled in the web form, where we might hear back in 3 days. His flight leaves in under two weeks.

Our civil “service” at work…

I hope you hear back, but the 3 days is almost meaningless at this point. Based on the experience of others, they will only respond if they have started processing the application and actually have a update to provide.

Did you apply at the Sundance office? Or another Service Canada office?

My tip for anyone applying now is to go to Sundance with proof of travel within the next 45 business days, and to pay the extra $20 to pick up at Harry Hays. That way the application stays in Calgary to get processed (versus getting sent to another office only to never be seen again).

Unfortunately, if you've already applied (in person at another office, or via mail), you get screwed because you apparently cannot cancel your previous application and submit a new one unless you are travelling in 2 business days. At that point, you can submit an urgent application that they will process asap; you don't have to pay for the extra fees but do have to provide a new application and new photos. That is what I'm planning to do unless a miracle occurs and they process my original application sooner (I already asked for them to transfer my file to Calgary but I'm not holding my breath).

[Ironhorse]

We applied in Red Deer because there were no appointments to be had in the Calgary area, and security was turning people away at the Sundance office.

[cmyden]

Finally, Portugal has officially dropped the requirement for a negative test result. "Travellers on flights to or from mainland Portugal no longer need to present proof of a negative test, an EU Covid-19 certificate or a vaccination recovery certificate."

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news...el-rules/68365

At long last, 100% of countries in Europe no longer require a test result for a Canadian tourist to visit (assuming you meet the country's definition of full vaccination, when applicable).
(It's been 99% for a few months, while waiting on Portugal. They were still randomly asking for a test result 25% of the time, leading to a lot of confusion).

Globally 74% of the world's countries no longer require a test result for a Canadian tourist to visit, assuming they meet the country's definition of full vaccination, when applicable.
This number was around 50% 2 months ago.