Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[drewboy12]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Thanks. What were your thoughts on your experience with a mainland China carrier? Kinda shirk away from that for some reason. Irrational?

I agree with FFR. I flew China Eastern and China Southern. I would never fly southern again. Just uncomfortable and not much room food wasn't great, service was pretty good though. Cheap.

China Eastern is my go to airline for getting to Asia now. Cheap, and the new planes are amazing. Incredible seats and large entertainment systems with about 90 movies. I believe each seat back TV is 12 inches. Good service, good food, lots of room. Also good non-stop wine which is always nice.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by FFR

I flew China Eastern from Vancouver to Shanghai and return. It wasn't half bad - the plane out had decent leg room but no individual entertainment systems - movies ran on the shared tv screens (english with chinese subtitles). 2 meals served - food was ok, not the best and not the worst. Flight attendants spoke English and service was good - they came through with water all the time and you could request something else.

The flight back was awesome - brand new plane with individual seat back entertainment - tons of movies in English (with chinese subtitles), tv shows and games. Again two meals with ok food. They were generally on time - a few minutes late going there and back (less than 15 each time).

I'd fly with them again for sure.

I had a similar experience. The flight from Vancovuer to Shanghai was quite good, lots of entertainment options and the inflight meals weren't half bad. The flight back had only the "common" tv screen for a couple of rows showing English subtitled movies. The USB chargers didn't work, which was a bit bummer, since I had preloaded my phone with a lots of tv shows and movies to watch just in case.

One thing that I didn't like, and I don't know if that is just the airplanes in general, but the arm rests don't recline to the same angle as the seats.. so if you have an entire row with your family, it would be nice to be able to all stretch out with the arm rest stowed out of the way, especially when you are traveling with kids who don't need the entire seating area that is bounded by the arm rests.

[cmyden]

Calgary to Phoenix | $251 roundtrip after taxes

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

Summer through October travel.

They were $284, but United just dropped them a little more.

[GoJetsGo]

Thinking about talking the Mrs. to Hong Kong towards the end of the year. Am not attached to these dates but this is the area we were thinking of. I have no idea if these flights / travel times are decent... what does this price look like as far as flying to Hong Kong goes? Should I hold out and try to look for something closer to or less than $1000 or is this pretty standard?

Any recommendations for Air Canada vs. another airline? Will be flying from Calgary...

(Large screen-shot of flights / price):

NSFW!

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Calgary to Phoenix | $251 roundtrip after taxes

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

Summer through October travel.

They were $284, but United just dropped them a little more.

I would love to hear from an airline executive as to the purpose behind doing these unadvertised fares. I really wonder as it happens several times per year where they drop the fare. Sometimes it even goes as far as a year in advance. They must have some logical reason for doing it.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

I would love to hear from an airline executive as to the purpose behind doing these unadvertised fares. I really wonder as it happens several times per year where they drop the fare. Sometimes it even goes as far as a year in advance. They must have some logical reason for doing it.

Often they're the result of one airline attacking their competitor's airfares out of a competitor's hub airport.

Pretty good explanation here:

http://airfareiq.com/home/whyItWorks

Airlines are continually challenging their competitors in different cities large and small all over the country. If United says "We think we can get enough new business out of Columbus that we can justify adding an additional daily flight, if only we lower are fares to make us more attractive than the competition", then they lower their fares. Of course, as soon as they do this, the other airlines all match United's fares (within days...sometimes within hours!).

Sometimes the airlines simply "fare bomb" the competition in a particular market by drastically dropping their fares for only a day or so. They hope to get as much business as possible during a short period, then return their fares to "normal" before their competition catches up with them.

Another opportunity for hidden city fares comes from a childish airline game I call "hub poaching". At this moment (mid-December 2012), Delta has drastically reduced fares for flights to and from USAirway's Charlotte hub. US retaliated by dumping their fares to and from one of Delta's hubs. Or maybe US started it and Delta is the retaliator...I'm not sure, but it's fairly obvious what's going on, and it's a silly net-zero game that every airline plays all the time. This hub poaching can produce some amazingly cheap hidden city fares, but they generally only last a short time...maybe a week or so, and sometimes just a few days.

Airlines will also make a pre-emptive attack against a perceived present or future threat of another airline entering a new market. If 'Airline A" finds out that "Airline B" has been inquiring about beginning service to a market dominated by Airline A, then Airline A may suddenly start offering service in a market dominated by Airline B.

Because federal anti-trust regulations prohibit airlines from actually talking to each other about fares and service, this is Airline A's way of telling Airline B "Stick to your own markets". Again, very childish, but airline execs apparently aren't above acting like petulant kids. And in doing so, they open up yet another avenue for finding hidden city fare bargains.

And any time an airline actually does start new service (either as their first time in the market, or with an expanded flight schedule, or to a different city), you can be sure they will want to make a lot of noise in that city or market with low "sale" fares. When they do, all the other airlines typically match those low fares, presenting even more hidden city opportunities.

[rd_aaron]

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet:

$529.53 to San Francisco return, July 25th to July 28th. Not as popular as the Kelowna one, but still a month out.

http://www.gojumpon.com/

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by rd_aaron

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet:

$529.53 to San Francisco return, July 25th to July 28th. Not as popular as the Kelowna one, but still a month out.

http://www.gojumpon.com/

That isn't really a great fare. I find that you can usually find fares in the summertime to California cities in the $300 to $400 range around this time of year. You can usually find fares to New York in the $400 to $500 range also (it is right now).

[tvp2003]

My sister forwarded this to me... for all the CP'ers who cashed in on cmyden's free (well, nearly free) trip to Menorca, Spain -- those ubiquitous sandals have now crossed the Atlantic and are now being worn by hipsters in Vancouver and beyond:

http://vitamindaily.com/content/spanish-steps

http://riudavetsusa.com/

[Muta]

cmyden - any deals you know of that pop up for trips to Nashville? I'm interested in taking my gf for our two-year in the beginning of December. She loves country anything... I would go just to catch the Predators.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Muta

cmyden - any deals you know of that pop up for trips to Nashville? I'm interested in taking my gf for our two-year in the beginning of December. She loves country anything... I would go just to catch the Predators.

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

^^ In the history of YYC Deals I've never once written anything about Nashville, so unfortunately I think the odds are fairly slim of a great price popping up. It's one of those U.S. cities where prices from YYC tend to bottom out at a pretty stagnant $500 something to $600 something roundtrip after taxes.

[brocoli]

cmyden,

my friends and I are trying to plan a 10 day adventure to Costa Rica in January. Is there any good way of doing an all inclusive from Calgary? All the flights seem to be horrible with a layover in Houston. We would like to avoid the states if at all possible. Are we just grasping at straws trying to do 10 days All Inclusive? Thanks

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by brocoli

cmyden,

my friends and I are trying to plan a 10 day adventure to Costa Rica in January. Is there any good way of doing an all inclusive from Calgary? All the flights seem to be horrible with a layover in Houston. We would like to avoid the states if at all possible. Are we just grasping at straws trying to do 10 days All Inclusive? Thanks

To avoid the U.S., you need to either connect in Toronto, or hope for a charter flight from Calgary that is nonstop (Air Transat). The problem with hoping for a nonstop charter flight from YYC to become available in January is that they are pretty rare to begin with, and they are typically bundled with 1 week packages, as opposed to 10 nights.

You might want to try looking for 10 night all inclusive packages out of Toronto, and see if you can combine it with a connecting flight from Calgary where the times work out well. That could be a challenge though, since the flights leave around 9 AM. Toronto has a lot more package options to Costa Rica, ever since WestJet started flying nonstop from YYZ to Costa Rica's LIR airport.

If you did want to try flying through the U.S. from Calgary though, don't forget to try both of Costa Rica's international airports (SJO and LIR). Typically the fastest it can be done is with about an hour stopover in Houston each way. Only having an hour of breathing room can be a little scary though, especially coming home, as Houston airport can be a zoo.

If you play with the stopover length filter on Kayak you can find flights with slightly longer layovers, and if you find yourself getting through the airport quickly, you can sometimes ask to be put on the earlier flight if they have room.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Muta

cmyden - any deals you know of that pop up for trips to Nashville? I'm interested in taking my gf for our two-year in the beginning of December. She loves country anything... I would go just to catch the Predators.

I go to Tennessee about once or twice a year. A good price to Nashville is anything under $600. That being said, it's one of my favourite cities in the U.S.

[cmyden]

Calgary to Belize | $491 roundtrip after taxes | August to mid December

http://yycdeals.com/calgary-to-beliz...aug-to-mid-dec

United Airlines is currently undergoing an unadvertised fare drop on their flights from Calgary to Belize City (BZE). Prices look to have dropped in the months of August, September, October, November, and up to mid-December.

[rubecube]

^^ $491 from YYJ as well. I'm assuming YVR, too.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by rubecube

^^ $491 from YYJ as well. I'm assuming YVR, too.

Yep, but so far I haven't seen any flights from Victoria or Vancouver that don't have ridiculous connection times (12 hour stopovers, etc). If you see any date combos that are decent, please share! (Same goes for Saskatoon and Regina)

[brocoli]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Calgary to Belize | $491 roundtrip after taxes | August to mid December

http://yycdeals.com/calgary-to-beliz...aug-to-mid-dec

United Airlines is currently undergoing an unadvertised fare drop on their flights from Calgary to Belize City (BZE). Prices look to have dropped in the months of August, September, October, November, and up to mid-December.

Thanks cmyden,

I've booked the flight for October 14-21. Now hopefully no storms or rainy stuff (at least too much). Any recomendations on places to stay that aren't horribly overpriced? Just something nice but within reason as this will be a honeymoon. Thanks!

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by brocoli

Thanks cmyden,

I've booked the flight for October 14-21. Now hopefully no storms or rainy stuff (at least too much). Any recomendations on places to stay that aren't horribly overpriced? Just something nice but within reason as this will be a honeymoon. Thanks!

Nice! Have fun! Here's a Google Map of the places we checked out, and where we stayed, when we went...

http://tinyurl.com/7yjl3ys

Click on the little bed icons for the names of the accommodations.

One that's missing from the map was the place we stayed in Hopkins...

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

It was fine, but everyone has different expectations for accommodations, so definitely read up on reviews and look at pics of places before you decide.

[brocoli]

How was it getting to your resort for the Belize airport? I'm assuming that you just water taxied it. And it's too bad that the Seaside Cabanas aren't open during the time that we are there. They look nice. I'll just keep searching. Oh, and did you find the mosquitos bad?