Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

My current job has unlimited paid time off. There are two catches: you can't do more than 2 weeks at a time (which is a shame when you want to go somewhere far off like Asia or Europe and hit a bunch of places). The other is, it seems whenever you take any time off there's a guilt trip of "so and so never takes any time off, you're sure taking a lot of vacation this year."

I guess the third catch is if you leave, you don't get paid out anything which I'm sure is why they have the policy in the first place.

My previous place of work, I had 7 weeks by the time I was done and it was great, particularly because they also had a policy where you HAD to use it by the end of the calendar year (no rollover) so there were never any guilt trips for taking the time you were owed.

[Sainters7]

Some really good deals on Paris right now. I just booked a solid deal for Paris in April just yesterday, now today its $175 less than I even booked it for ha-ha, ah well!

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Some really good deals on Paris right now. I just booked a solid deal for Paris in April just yesterday, now today its $175 less than I even booked it for ha-ha, ah well!

Many/most airlines have free cancellation within 24 hours. You can probably cancel/rebook.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Many/most airlines have free cancellation within 24 hours. You can probably cancel/rebook.

Thanks, sadly I did it through a 3rd party site so not sure I'll be able to. But $775 after taxes for a round trip direct flight to Paris & back is still solid so I'm not sweating it. But yeah, it's $600 now for the same day. Wild!

UPDATE: Checked today and same flight is $950 now (which is still reasonably cheap for a direct flight to Europe & back). So didn't get the $600, but my $750ish ticket seems like a steal again. So many deals lately!

[Flabbibulin]

Want to get my Hep A vaccine before going to Mexico, but is there anywhere that will just give me the damn shot without a consulting fee and spiel to get every other vaccine known to man?

[sleepingmoose]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Want to get my Hep A vaccine before going to Mexico, but is there anywhere that will just give me the damn shot without a consulting fee and spiel to get every other vaccine known to man?

I went to the pharmacy in Save-On-Foods in Walden - I had a really good experience. But I'm sure it may vary by location, or even by who's at work that day.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by sleepingmoose

I went to the pharmacy in Save-On-Foods in Walden - I had a really good experience. But I'm sure it may vary by location, or even by who's at work that day.

If we went with the full recommendation of vaccines, most clinics would easily be $1000+ for family of 4. One clinic I saw was $250 just for the consult for the family. This is Cancun resort though, not inland street food, and Im certain we wont be eating off the resort. Im pretty confident that Hep A is sufficient.

Gone are the days of my youth when I didn’t even consider these things when travelling.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

If we went with the full recommendation of vaccines, most clinics would easily be $1000+ for family of 4. One clinic I saw was $250 just for the consult for the family. This is Cancun resort though, not inland street food, and Im certain we wont be eating off the resort. Im pretty confident that Hep A is sufficient.

Gone are the days of my youth when I didn’t even consider these things when travelling.

I think you’re in the minority already if you are considering these things for a cancun resort vacation…

[calgarygeologist]

I hope that no one had travel plans with Lynx Air as they are shutting down operations after this weekend.

[btimbit]

Guess the rumoured talks to get folded into Flair fell apart.

Shame, I like competition and will always root for a company based here as a bonus

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I hope that no one had travel plans with Lynx Air as they are shutting down operations after this weekend.

I had plans in August. Very annoyed. Hopefully my credit card company doesn't give me any hassles when I try to get that money back.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Guess the rumoured talks to get folded into Flair fell apart.

Shame, I like competition and will always root for a company based here as a bonus

Only flew with them once. You could tell they were new and learning, but felt like they would make it.

Hopefully this helps Flair succeed.

[RichieRich]

Yep got the Lynx email:
Lynx Air has made the decision to cease operations effective 12:01 a.m. MT on Monday, February 26, 2024, with flights continuing to operate until that time.

[Sainters7]

Just a question for anyone who's been to Paris recently: I know Notre Dame isn't open to the public again until December of this year, but are you still able to explore the exterior of it?

Just curious as I'm going in April, the only other time I've been there was Sept 2019 shortly after the fire. Back then, they had a high construction wall around the outside, so you couldn't really get close to it or even see the base of it beyond the wall. Is that construction wall still there? Thanks if you know! Just hoping I can explore the exterior at least.

[chedder]

Flew Porter to Toronto last week. What a wonderful experience. Roomy seats, nice plane, on time. Great lunch, free beer and WiFi. If they're even close to the big guys prices I'm choosing them all day long.

[alexle]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Just a question for anyone who's been to Paris recently: I know Notre Dame isn't open to the public again until December of this year, but are you still able to explore the exterior of it?

Just curious as I'm going in April, the only other time I've been there was Sept 2019 shortly after the fire. Back then, they had a high construction wall around the outside, so you couldn't really get close to it or even see the base of it beyond the wall. Is that construction wall still there? Thanks if you know! Just hoping I can explore the exterior at least.

I was there last Friday. Here are a couple of pics of what you can see from the exterior

Spoiler!

[Sainters7]

Thank you! Bummed to see the high retaining wall still there 5 years later, but at least they've dressed it up a bit. Still pumped to go, nice pics.

Good to see the new spire fully installed, last I saw on a video it was still encased in wiring.

[Ironhorse]

What do you guys like to use for carrying your passports, travel cash, any paper boarding passes etc? When we go on vacation I seem to be in charge of all the paper work for the three of us, and am always worried I’m going to lose something important. I was considering one of those sling bags, or are those reserved for old wankers (which I am not, yet)

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

What do you guys like to use for carrying your passports, travel cash, any paper boarding passes etc? When we go on vacation I seem to be in charge of all the paper work for the three of us, and am always worried I’m going to lose something important. I was considering one of those sling bags, or are those reserved for old wankers (which I am not, yet)

Boarding passes in the passports as bookmarks and then use a hairband around all of the passports to keep them together. That goes in a pocket. Money can go in a wallet like normal.

[InglewoodFan]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

What do you guys like to use for carrying your passports, travel cash, any paper boarding passes etc? When we go on vacation I seem to be in charge of all the paper work for the three of us, and am always worried I’m going to lose something important. I was considering one of those sling bags, or are those reserved for old wankers (which I am not, yet)

I have a family passport wallet (can search that on Amazon for many options) that holds 4 passports etc. and it always goes in the same pocket in my backpack when we are on the move or in the safe wherever we are staying. I also have a clear plastic file folder that closes with a zipper for paperwork if necessary, but that is mostly for work trips for visa stuff.