Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

Always interesting to hear different perspectives; I had such a poor experience with United a few years back (I know I posted it somewhere, if not in this exact thread) that I am fairly confident I will never spend another dollar of my money with them.

Me too, though I did end up flying with them again for business a few weeks ago and they lost my luggage again.

[drewboy12]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

Always interesting to hear different perspectives; I had such a poor experience with United a few years back (I know I posted it somewhere, if not in this exact thread) that I am fairly confident I will never spend another dollar of my money with them.

Ive had great experience with United flying to Chicago. Also to Mexico. I think ive flown with them 3 times, and each time was fine. They even waited for my friend and I to get to gate in Chicago, as we were watching a hockey game, and didnt know the gate was changed to a different terminal in Ohare.... had someone call the gate and they kept the door open until we got there.

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

Me too, though I did end up flying with them again for business a few weeks ago and they lost my luggage again.

Man, what do they have against your luggage? Did you get it back?

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by drewboy12

Ive had great experience with United flying to Chicago. Also to Mexico. I think ive flown with them 3 times, and each time was fine. They even waited for my friend and I to get to gate in Chicago, as we were watching a hockey game, and didnt know the gate was changed to a different terminal in Ohare.... had someone call the gate and they kept the door open until we got there.

Oh, I have no problem acknowledging that they must be doing something right for the majority of people who fly with them; glad to hear it worked out for you. In the meantime, I will use one of the many non-United options available to me.

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by drewboy12

I fly almost every week, and price is what matters for me. I got all the entertainment i need on my laptop and ipod. Food packs quite easily into my backpack, and 40 minutes in customs is not worth paying more for myself. Ya I don't like crammed seats, but im a small person, and willing to not be in pure comfort for the duration of a day to save a few hundred dollars.

To each there own, but a days comfort for me is not worth hundreds of dollars, I like having money to fly every week. haha, but thanks for the info, we have much different ideas of travelling.

what a ######y statement

haha I guess most of grew up to be full size men so there are things that matter to us, but thanks for the info

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

Man, what do they have against your luggage? Did you get it back?

Yes, thankfully it only took a day this time. It was NHL All-Star Weekend though and I had to cover the Skills Competition in jeans. Plus, the only collared shirt I could find for purchase in downtown Raleigh near my hotel was at a consignment store (and was ridiculously expensive).

[drewboy12]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

what a ######y statement

haha I guess most of grew up to be full size men so there are things that matter to us, but thanks for the info

How is this a bad statement? I flew 61 times in the last ten months... How many times did you fly? I enjoy taking a vacation every month, and I do not like spending more money then i have to on pure comfort. I'm in a metal tube, sitting in a chair 40,000 feet in the air going 500 miles an hour. I'm happy and amazed regardless.

[cmyden]

[PROMO CODE] Air Canada: 15% off for one traveller, 20% off for two travellers - [expires: Feb 14]

EXCLUSIVE PROMO CODES:
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20% OFF FOR TWO TRAVELLERS:
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Book by February 14 by midnight from your city of departure on AirCanada.com
Travel completed by April 15, 2011.
The following blackouts apply:
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Valid only on Air Canada operated flights (codeshare flights are excluded).
Separate bookings required for more than 2 travellers.

With the 20% off you can get April flights to Maui down to $483 roundtrip after tax, good price.

You can also get those Mexico City flights down to $313.


cM

[cmyden]

Westjet just matched it...

http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/deal...PC-GE-20110214

Promo code
Book your WestJet flight and save.

Save an extra 20% off new online bookings when you travel up to April 15, 2011.

To redeem this offer, bookings must be made on westjet.com. Both the Promo code LUV14 and Coupon code NTXIOG7 are required at time of booking on the first page of the booking process. Bookings must be made by February 14, 2011 (9:59pm MST) and travel must occur before April 15, 2011. Blackout dates apply between March 11 and March 13, 2011 from Canada to Caribbean/Mexico and March 18 and March 20 from Caribbean/Mexico to Canada. Discount between Montréal, Toronto and Ottawa does not apply to sale fares.

[cmyden]

Great Falls To Places In Europe - low as $479 roundtrip after tax!

Delta just dropped an unannounced bombshell on prices to Europe out of the U.S.

It looks to be mostly March and early April dates.

Try some of the following cities on Delta.com

Barcelona, Spain - $479 roundtrip after tax. March 8 to 16 for example:



Copenhagen, Denmark - $534 - March 6 to 14 for example

Warsaw, Poland - $549

Oslo, Norway - $647

Stockholm, Sweden - $565

Athens, Greece - $648

Zagreb, Croatia - $641

Istanbul, Turkey - $684

In other words, pick a city in Europe!

cM

[Captain_Obvious]

Hey Cmyden,

I found a roundtrip flight I like on a site you recommended a while back:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

It says I need to find a site or travel agent to book it. What is my best bet for that?

Also, it's a lengthy and pricey over seas flight... what is the best way to get cancellation insurance for it?

I found the same flights on expedia.ca but I hate them with a passion, and they have an $80 cancellation insurance add on that (in the fine print) looks really sketchy.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Captain_Obvious

Hey Cmyden,

I found a roundtrip flight I like on a site you recommended a while back:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

It says I need to find a site or travel agent to book it. What is my best bet for that?

Also, it's a lengthy and pricey over seas flight... what is the best way to get cancellation insurance for it?

I found the same flights on expedia.ca but I hate them with a passion, and they have an $80 cancellation insurance add on that (in the fine print) looks really sketchy.

Any advice would be appreciated.

It says that, but in most cases, if you can find it on ITA, you can find it on any U.S. based travel booking site, such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. In fact, that's where their data comes from

Just curious, why do you hate Expedia so much?

Maybe try Orbitz or Travelocity and see what sort of cancellation insurance they have. Or you could always ask an actual travel agent to book it for you and I'm sure they'd be happy to upsell some insurance! That's where most of their profits come from these days.

Maybe try locating an agent through RBC...

http://www.rbcinsurance.com/travelinsurance/index.html

I never buy trip cancellation insurance, but I've always used RBC for general travel insurance and find their rates to be good. I usually buy the multi-trip insurance that covers you for a year, since it's about the same price as one trip.

[Captain_Obvious]

Thanks for the info.

I've just had problems with Expedia a few times where I needed to call in after booking and found their agents to be useless and rude. The worst instance was where they called to tell me a flight I booked was canceled and they basically told me to take it up with the airline because it wasn't their problem. I asked why I even booked with them if that was the case and they couldn't give me an answer.

Anyway the reason I'd want cancellation insurance is because there are a few factors relating to the people I'm traveling with and the event on the other end that could potentially fall through.

A glance at Expedia's "Cancellation Insurance" (which is an 80 dollar add on) essentially says someone needs to be in an accident on the way to the airport, fired from their job, or summoned to court to be eligible for a refund.

It's a $1500 round trip flight, so I was hoping to buy some cancellation insurance that was basically no questions asked.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Captain_Obvious

Thanks for the info.

A glance at Expedia's "Cancellation Insurance" (which is an 80 dollar add on) essentially says someone needs to be in an accident on the way to the airport, fired from their job, or summoned to court to be eligible for a refund.

It's a $1500 round trip flight, so I was hoping to buy some cancellation insurance that was basically no questions asked.

Just taking a look at RBC's trip insurance, it might be similar.

http://www.rbcinsurance.com/travelin...gle-trip-e.pdf

Check out pages 9 to 11 which covers the 46 situations in which you're covered.

[bizaro86]

I've had the best luck booking complicated itineraries I found on ITA using Orbitz, I find they do the best job at piecing travel with multiple airlines/alliances together. I don't think their customer service is any better than expedia's (so pretty bad on average) and I haven't bought insurance from them, so I can't comment on that either. But I think some cancellation insurance policies can be bought as long as its within 24 hours of initial ticket purchase from a source other than where you get your ticket. Best to check that out before you buy though.

[Red]

cmyden, is 1600 a good deal for a return YYC - SNA trip during the summer holidays?
Can it get cheaper, does West Jet have specials during summer?
Just wonder if I should book now or wait and potentially miss out.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Red

cmyden, is 1600 a good deal for a return YYC - SNA trip during the summer holidays?
Can it get cheaper, does West Jet have specials during summer?
Just wonder if I should book now or wait and potentially miss out.

Umm...is that for 4 people?

Not sure if you saw my post recently about flights to SNA (Anaheim). Flights were down to around $310 roundtrip after tax in the summer when Westjet announced their new direct flights.

[Red]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Umm...is that for 4 people?

Not sure if you saw my post recently about flights to SNA (Anaheim). Flights were down to around $310 roundtrip after tax in the summer when Westjet announced their new direct flights.

Haha, didn't you know this was for me, wify and the kids?

Yes, 4 of us. I did see that, but I don't see any of these on their site. The best I got was 1600-ish for the flights thru Vancouver.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Red

Haha, didn't you know this was for me, wify and the kids?

Yes, 4 of us. I did see that, but I don't see any of these on their site. The best I got was 1600-ish for the flights thru Vancouver.

Ah, makes more sense. Yeah, that was back in January when I posted it. $310 for summer was a decent offering from Westjet, direct each way.

Air Canada has some for around $329 roundtrip after tax. July 6-13 for example. But that's with a layover in San Francisco.

But around $400/person to SNA in the summer sounds about right this year. Westjet's direct flights to SNA look to be around $440 at the moment.

[rohara66]

Looking at booking a one way return flight from Vegas to Calgary on May long weekend (either May 22 or 23) and when we started looking two weeks ago direct return flight through WestJet (6pm or 9pm departure) was only $250 with tax per person. We didn't book cause we were still getting organized but they then jumped to $320, then to $380, then to $440. Now they're back around $375 today and I'm completely confused as to when we should book.

Since it's so far out are we still ok to wait it out? Or since it's a long weekend are we going to get screwed and prices will just keep going up?

Thanks!!!