Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

My friends in Tokyo has an extra Taylor Swift ticket for me so I might go back in February. It's only $936 return with Air Canada.

How does AC compare to WJ when it comes to flights to Tokyo? I know WJ has direct flights on their Dreamliner, is AC typically cheaper with a stopover in Vancouver?

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

How does AC compare to WJ when it comes to flights to Tokyo? I know WJ has direct flights on their Dreamliner, is AC typically cheaper with a stopover in Vancouver?

About equal, but where AC is better is if something goes wrong. WJ won't have a backup plane, capacity or partner readily available.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by cmyden

If your phone supports e-sims, Airalo is generally the way to go for U.S. travel. As long as you are ok with 'data only'. (No traditional voice calls or texts).

T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T offer free trials of their networks for 30 days using e-sims. But these free trial options can be trickier to setup from Canada and sometimes only work on certain devices. For example with T-Mobile you may need a US App Store ID and US VPN to install it. And maybe a GPS spoofer. A person would likely want to stick with Airalo unless they're really comfortable with tech workarounds.

Physical sim cards in the U.S. aren't quite as cheap as in say, Europe, so there's a price advantage to using e-SIMs in the U.S. T-Mobile and AT&T are popular physical sim card options.

Airalo raised $60 million this month in a Series B round. Prior to that they had raised $5 million. They are the most recognizable name in this space by quite a margin, and have always seemed to have the best reviews overall.

Other options like Holafly and Nomad are probably the second and third most well known. They all pretty much work the same way and seem to piggy-back off the same providers. You could try comparing those 3 and see if there's much of a difference. There seems to be a new Airalo-esque clone site every week.

Thank you. I took your advice and used Airalo for my trip to Canada. So far it is working just fine.

[Barnet Flame]

Wow, you guys get bent over bad.

When I go abroad, including to Canada, when I switch roaming on, its a flat cost of £10 ($17) per month and I get my usual allowance wherever I am.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

Wow, you guys get bent over bad.

When I go abroad, including to Canada, when I switch roaming on, its a flat cost of £10 ($17) per month and I get my usual allowance wherever I am.

Bent over indeed. Roaming for me I think is $14 a day, dollar or two less in the US I think

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

Wow, you guys get bent over bad.

When I go abroad, including to Canada, when I switch roaming on, its a flat cost of £10 ($17) per month and I get my usual allowance wherever I am.

I spent $18 for 5 GB on Airalo so it seems about the same.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Thank you. I took your advice and used Airalo for my trip to Canada. So far it is working just fine.

No problem. In theory, Airalo should work great in Canada. In a lot of countries Airalo is using providers that are not always the ones with the best coverage in the country. But in Canada, Airalo uses Rogers, Bell, and Telus.

[Weitz]

What happens if you get a new passport between the time you book a trip and when you travel? Basically all trips require you to put in your passport information. But your passport number and expiry will change if you get a new one. Can you still go?

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Weitz

What happens if you get a new passport between the time you book a trip and when you travel? Basically all trips require you to put in your passport information. But your passport number and expiry will change if you get a new one. Can you still go?

When booking a ticket, it doesn't matter at that point if you have a passport that will be expiring, or even if you have a passport at all. If the booking site asks for passport info (many don't) you could enter 123456789 as your passport number at that point and you would be fine.

What *does* matter is that:

a) When it comes time to check in for your flight, you have a valid passport.

b) The name on the ticket you booked matches what is shown on the valid passport.

-

[Lubicon]

I'm sure this happens frequently so would think it is a non issue. It's mainly the airlines collecting this info (I believe), not sure this is passed on to governments. Is there a way to go to your booking and update the info? Otherwise who is even going to know it has changed.

[fundmark19]

Has anyone flown porter out of yyc yet? I see they have some good times for flights to Toronto. I have used them from toronto to the US before but first I have seen them here.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Has anyone flown porter out of yyc yet? I see they have some good times for flights to Toronto. I have used them from toronto to the US before but first I have seen them here.

Just took them last week to Toronto from YYC and wrote about my experience in this thread. They were awesome. Complimentary everything including beer/wine. And if it's a red-eye, I like how instead of just dim white interior lights, they use a more soothing version of blacklights. I'll definitely use Porter again whenever I can.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Just took them last week to Toronto from YYC and wrote about my experience in this thread. They were awesome. Complimentary everything including beer/wine. And if it's a red-eye, I like how instead of just dim white interior lights, they use a more soothing version of blacklights. I'll definitely use Porter again whenever I can.

I only went back a couple of pages so must have missed it! Great to hear I might give it a go!

Did you just book the basic ticket or the full?

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

I only went back a couple of pages so must have missed it! Great to hear I might give it a go!



Did you just book the basic ticket or the full?

I booked it a few months ago so a little hard to remember, but I'm pretty sure it was just the basic. It was a crazy good deal, think it was like $199 round trip (before bags, etc) so I'd imagine just basic.

Yeah I see if you're V.I.Porter, you get extra benefits which seemed like a constant supply of nice foods being brought to you, plus free Wi-Fi. But with just basic you still get free drinks including alcohol, and a free snack. Plus free Wi-Fi as long as you watch a 15 second commercial every 30 minutes. Lots of leg room too and leather seats, my return flight interior more resembled a trans-Atlantic flight: spacious and cushy leather seats. Would use again.

[fotze2]

I've booked a few flights on Flair for weekend trips, I pack light. You have to pay for carry on. The "personal item" dimensions are basically a box of trivial pursuit cards, so I assumed you really need to pay for the carry on. Is this true or could I wing it without paying for carry on.

[chemgear]

Posted in the tech folder but Shoppers has a sale on Airtags. Couldn't imagine travelling with luggage without them these days.

They give you $42 back in points on the $130 price for 4. Works online and in store.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Has anyone flown porter out of yyc yet? I see they have some good times for flights to Toronto. I have used them from toronto to the US before but first I have seen them here.

I would try them with the new E195s they have servicing Calgary. Sainters7 loved it. Those Dash 8s they have from Billy Bishop are horribly loud though.

[chemgear]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadi...ling-1.6537878

The new Canadian passports are sensitive to heat and humidity due to the way they've been manufactured, which could result in the curling of the covers, a spokesperson from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told CTVNews.ca in an email.

Although IRCC said a curled passport is still valid, Lapensee, who works at the European Space Agency representing Canada, said he feels it is not acceptable for an official document.

“I find it a bit shameful that I have to present this type of passport to officials or if I go to companies and so on,” he said.

While some may wonder whether the issue with the passport cover could lead to those documents being recalled, in Canada at least, "as there are no defects, there are no plans to recall the new passports," IRCC said.

[tvp2003]

It’s okay. People from Canada usually don’t have to worry about things like heat and humidity. Only when they travel…

[bigrangy]

Originally Posted by fotze2

I've booked a few flights on Flair for weekend trips, I pack light. You have to pay for carry on. The "personal item" dimensions are basically a box of trivial pursuit cards, so I assumed you really need to pay for the carry on. Is this true or could I wing it without paying for carry on.

Smallish backpack, usually ok. Duffel bag or actual carry on suitcase, no go, will definitely need to pay for that.