Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[FireInTheHole]

Originally Posted by red sky

Never mind, I was able to find the rates on their website:

**$39.95 weekly rate is valid for economy lot. Weekly is defined as maximum charge for up to a seven-day stay. The daily rate is applied until weekly rate is reached. If you stay longer, the daily rate applies for each day after seven days.

Each additional day after one week is $9.95

http://www.calgaryairport.com/default.aspx?cid=300

Has anyone used this economy lot? It looks a lot cheaper than the other guys (Park n Jet, Park n Fly, Park 2 Go). What's the catch? Is there a shuttle that takes you and your luggage from your car to the terminal, or do you have to hoof it 15 minutes to the terminal?

[flamesflames444]

Originally Posted by FireInTheHole

Has anyone used this economy lot? It looks a lot cheaper than the other guys (Park n Jet, Park n Fly, Park 2 Go). What's the catch? Is there a shuttle that takes you and your luggage from your car to the terminal, or do you have to hoof it 15 minutes to the terminal?

There's no shuttle, so it can be a bit of a hike as it seems all of the spots closest to the terminal whenever I have parked there have been taken. That being said, it's only in winter conditions that it really sucks... especially if you are flying back from somewhere warm and have to not only figure out where u parked your car, but also clear it off and warm it up. If going for a full week, I think the covered parking (I think it's P2) closer to the airport is the best value at $60/week - at least I think that is the price.

[Incogneto]

hey cmyden,

I'm looking for a flight for my GF to get to montreal. It can be out of either YYJ or YVR.

dates are somewhat flexible but for a week around March 24 - 31st.
(cannot be earlier than the 24th, but there is 2 or 3 days after that will work)

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

hey cmyden,

I'm looking for a flight for my GF to get to montreal. It can be out of either YYJ or YVR.

dates are somewhat flexible but for a week around March 24 - 31st.
(cannot be earlier than the 24th, but there is 2 or 3 days after that will work)

Hi InCoGnEtO,

Here's my all encompassing advice for anyone looking for a flight from Calgary to somewhere in Canada.

How to find the cheapest flight prices from Calgary to somewhere in Canada

When it comes to flights from Calgary to anywhere within Canada, you only have two options, WestJet and Air Canada.

The flight prices they have on their own websites are the cheapest you'll find *anywhere*. Period.

No website, or travel agency, or travel agent, or *anyone*, can get you better prices than what you'll find on their sites.
^^^ Important enough to be read twice.

WestJet - You can find their current flight prices at http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/home.shtml

Air Canada - You can find their current flight prices at http://www.aircanada.com/en/home.html

If you've checked them both, well, that's all you, or anyone else, can do to find the cheapest price.

Occasionally one of the two will come out with a promo code, and then the other airline will match it a few hours later.

There's no guarantee that using a promo code means you're getting a good price. It could be that the flights are priced higher than usual before applying the discount.

The only way to to know if you're getting a good deal is to educate yourself on what a good after tax price is, so you'll know a good price when you see it.

[cmyden]

Calgary to Jamaica - $228 roundtrip after tax

Yup, there's another one of those really cheap flights to Montego Bay, Jamaica. In fact, this is the cheapest flight to Jamaica from Calgary that I've ever seen (the one in early January was $20 more).

Try March 14-21 on http://www.AirCanadaVacations.com (not AirCanada.com - they're affiliated, but separate).

Direct each way too. Here's the screenshot:



Also available from Fort McMurray and Lethbridge for those that don't an overnight stopover in Calgary on the way back.

[cmyden]

Last minute flight from Calgary to Chicago - $336 roundtrip after tax - direct each way

If you've ever tried to fly to Chicago from Calgary, you know it's an expensive city to get to. You're usually lucky if you can find something for around $550-$650 roundtrip after tax. And around $700ish for anything direct.



But for some reason, American Airlines has dropped the price of their last minute flight from March 12-15 down to $336, and it's direct each way.

Try it on http://www.AA.com - here's the screenshot:



I can highly recommend Pizzeria Uno (the original location in Chicago, not the lower quality franchises) for the authentic Chicago deep dish experience!



Mmmmmm....

[billybob123]

Originally Posted by flamesflames444

There's no shuttle, so it can be a bit of a hike as it seems all of the spots closest to the terminal whenever I have parked there have been taken. That being said, it's only in winter conditions that it really sucks... especially if you are flying back from somewhere warm and have to not only figure out where u parked your car, but also clear it off and warm it up. If going for a full week, I think the covered parking (I think it's P2) closer to the airport is the best value at $60/week - at least I think that is the price.

If you drive around enough you can find a spot "close" to the terminal in the outdoor economy lot. They usually have tons of luggage carts fairly handy to make the run, but it's long, especially if you're flying Air Canada. Westjet/KLM is the closest end of the airport.

P2 is a great deal in the winter - no worry about frost on the windows or snow covering the car... and it's close to the Air Canada end, but if you're flying Westjet it's about the same distance walking as the economy lot. I parked there on my way to Hawaii, and it was a fairly long walk to the US departures area, but do-able. Two curbs to go over until you're inside the terminal; the walk from the economy lot seems to have a lot more bounces! (noticeable when your luggage cart is overloaded with your kid's luggage and his car seat plus all yours)

[malcolmk14]

I would love to take advantage of that Chicago deal, it's an awesome city. Unfortunately the dates don't work for me.

The deals you post here are truly appreciated cmyden. Please keep up the good work.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

I would love to take advantage of that Chicago deal, it's an awesome city. Unfortunately the dates don't work for me.

The deals you post here are truly appreciated cmyden. Please keep up the good work.

Thanks Malcolm, I definitely agree about Chicago. I had always heard such great things about the windy city but never really knew why until having the chance to check it out in October.










How could you not love a city where the T-1000 is planning it's next move?

[worth]

Hey cmyden,

Can you check for me a return flight to Vegas for June 23 - June 26, 2011?

Thanks

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by worth

Hey cmyden,

Can you check for me a return flight to Vegas for June 23 - June 26, 2011?

Thanks

Looks like Westjet is running at $550 roundtrip after tax and has the cheapest flights right now.

If you go 22-25 on Alaska Airlines they have flights for $345.

[Freeway]

Question for anyone who's been in Chicago: where's the best area of town to stay?
Generally, the plan would be museums and touristy stuff, although we'd check out a baseball game or two.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Question for anyone who's been in Chicago: where's the best area of town to stay?
Generally, the plan would be museums and touristy stuff, although we'd check out a baseball game or two.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Here's a Google Map of everything we wanted to do/see and where I wanted to eat when visiting Chicago...

http://tinyurl.com/4b48qj4

(a lot of the blue icons are architecture highlights of Chicago)

The camera icons are good spots for taking pics.I'd say the closer you can get to the cluster of the blue icons, the better. But just make sure you have good access to the metro (the 'M' icons)

Just south of the blue dot cluster, you'll see the 3 camera icons that are right near the water. That's where the Field Museum and Adler Planetarium are.

If you scroll further down south, you'll see another small cluster of blue icons and two more camera icons. (See where it says Jackson Park) This is where the Museum of Science & Technology is (I forgot to add it on the map). Definitely check out that museum if you're into museums. The underground mine tour is pretty cool.

Downtown Chicago hotels aren't cheap though. We ended up staying about 5 quick stops away from the blue dot cluster, just north of downtown right beside Belmont Station.

Quick and simple access to downtown on the L train, which runs 24 hours a day.

Definitely go for a drink one night in the lounge at the top of the John Hancock observatory. Awesome view of the city.

[malcolmk14]

Question - is there a site where I can enter a departure city (YYC) and dates, and find a list of all destinations and prices, and sort by price?

I think that would be a very handy tool.

For example I'd love to go somewhere from April 28th to May 8th, it would be nice to find prices for various destinations for those dates.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Question for anyone who's been in Chicago: where's the best area of town to stay?
Generally, the plan would be museums and touristy stuff, although we'd check out a baseball game or two.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I've always stayed in the Loop or within a couple of blocks of the Loop. For me it's worth the money, everything is within walking distance except for Wrigley.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Question - is there a site where I can enter a departure city (YYC) and dates, and find a list of all destinations and prices, and sort by price?

I think that would be a very handy tool.

For example I'd love to go somewhere from April 28th to May 8th, it would be nice to find prices for various destinations for those dates.

That would definitely be handy

Unfortunately the world of airfares is huge and complex, prices are constantly changing, and there's always issues like certain airlines don't want to be in someone else's database, etc.

It usually comes down to trade-offs between completeness of data, accuracy, and how specific you can get.

For example, on Kayak's 'Explore' tool...


http://www.kayak.com/explore

You can narrow it down by month. And they're just using completed search results from Kayak users, so the data is not all that complete.


On my own YYC Deals Map, I would say the data is quite complete and accurate, with the exception of some charter flights, but it's using one week intervals to determine flight prices. It would be impossible to have every date combination to every city.

Clicking on 'April' for example, gives a pretty good indication of what you can expect for the cheapest flight to Bangkok in April, but not specifically from April 28th to May 8th. For the most part though, unless you're looking to fly over an unusually high demand period of travel (ie: holidays), the prices over the entire month will be pretty uniform.

Farecompare has their Getaway Maps, which have wildly inaccurate data:

http://www.farecompare.com/maps/

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Question for anyone who's been in Chicago: where's the best area of town to stay?
Generally, the plan would be museums and touristy stuff, although we'd check out a baseball game or two.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I used priceline when I went there a few years back for playoffs. Stayed at the Drake for $80 a night. It's right in the shopping area, and close to all the bars and pubs. We even ran into Mike Ditka at his restaurant, on his way to drop the puck for the opening faceoff.

Chicago's awesome, you can run down the pathway by the lake, go on a river cruise, go to the pier, or just go to a pub and get your drink on. Loads of stuff to do.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by cmyden

Unfortunately the world of airfares is huge and complex, prices are constantly changing, and there's always issues like certain airlines don't want to be in someone else's database, etc.

Just want to add a shout out for cmyden's map. It's easily the best tool available for casting a wide net to find great deals. I use it every time I'm deciding where to go, and it's led me to great deals on flights to Australia and China. I've spent a significant amount of time looking at other options, but they're either crap (ie some of farecompare's stuff) or too specific for a general "good deal" search (itasoftware)

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Just want to add a shout out for cmyden's map. It's easily the best tool available for casting a wide net to find great deals. I use it every time I'm deciding where to go, and it's led me to great deals on flights to Australia and China. I've spent a significant amount of time looking at other options, but they're either crap (ie some of farecompare's stuff) or too specific for a general "good deal" search (itasoftware)

Thanks man! There's many ways it could be improved, but I think it's pretty awesome considering I'm just one guy with a server and a dream and not a company with a multi-million dollar budget like Kayak and FareCompare and a couple hundred programmers.

I'm always amazed that companies like this don't have more interesting and innovative tools considering the resources at their disposal.

If anyone else out there has some interesting travel tools that they've tried, please share.

For that matter, if there's anything that frustrates you about trying to plan a trip somewhere, or a 'I wish there was a way...' thought I'd love to hear it.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by cmyden

For that matter, if there's anything that frustrates you about trying to plan a trip somewhere, or a 'I wish there was a way...' thought I'd love to hear it.

I wish I could always look at prices after taxes and air improvement fees and everything...it's fun to play the guessing game when you see the "sale" prices, but I just want to see the all-in roundtrip price from the get go. Just a gripe, there's not much you can do about that unless you're a lawmaker.