Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Ironhorse]

I'm considering Belize for our 25th next year (probably fall/winter) Any insights? Would love to do some diving / snorkeling.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

I'm considering Belize for our 25th next year (probably fall/winter) Any insights? Would love to do some diving / snorkeling.

Belize has an outstanding barrier reef. I dive but snorkelled that one.

[Amethyst]

Is there some way to easily find nonstop flights? I'm considering a trip to Seattle this summer and don't really care which airline and my dates are flexible but I want a nonstop flight from Calgary.

[chedder]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Hawaii

I know nothing about it, but it has moved to the top of my list to take my wife for our 25th.

She has always wanted to go.

If I could only go to one place it would be Hawaii. The big island is so cool. It has 8 climate zones and the Kohala Coast is always a perfect 26-30 degrees.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

Is there some way to easily find nonstop flights? I'm considering a trip to Seattle this summer and don't really care which airline and my dates are flexible but I want a nonstop flight from Calgary.

Westjet and Alaska fly direct to Seattle.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

Is there some way to easily find nonstop flights? I'm considering a trip to Seattle this summer and don't really care which airline and my dates are flexible but I want a nonstop flight from Calgary.

This website is really good if your dates are flexible:

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

You can choose, say, a specific 30-day range and say you want to fly a nonstop round trip from 4-7 days. You can also choose nearby airports up to a certain km range so you could add Abbotsford, Vancouver, etc. if you really want to see what deals are out there.

[calgarygeologist]

Looks like WestJet has started adding some sort of dynamic surcharge on some flights. It doesn't appear to be a fuel surcharge as it is not marketed that way. I noticed it the other day when I was pricing flights to Fort Lauderdale and it had $100 per person as a surcharge. I checked a bunch of other destinations and there was $50 to Atlanta, $0 to the west and international. I decided to book a trip to LA this morning and now that flight had a $25 surcharge per passenger in economy and $50 for my tickets in premium. I also checked Vegas and there is no surcharge for Vegas.

Has anyone seen this before and have any idea what this dynamic surcharge is all about?

[MoneyGuy]

So we’re visiting the Amazon in February-March. Brazil apparently just delayed their stupid visa requirement for 90 days so now we don’t need it. We just paid $162 U.S. and submitted a whack of documents and they pull this crap. They require bank and credit card statements. The online group I’m in will be PO’d.

[Flacker]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

So we’re visiting the Amazon in February-March. Brazil apparently just delayed their stupid visa requirement for 90 days so now we don’t need it. We just paid $162 U.S. and submitted a whack of documents and they pull this crap. They require bank and credit card statements. The online group I’m in will be PO’d.

Reciprocity. You can thank the Canadian government for this. The only reason they required a visa is because we make them jump through the same hoops.

That being said, enjoy Brazil, I thought it was well worth the expense and visa hassle.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Looks like WestJet has started adding some sort of dynamic surcharge on some flights. It doesn't appear to be a fuel surcharge as it is not marketed that way. I noticed it the other day when I was pricing flights to Fort Lauderdale and it had $100 per person as a surcharge. I checked a bunch of other destinations and there was $50 to Atlanta, $0 to the west and international. I decided to book a trip to LA this morning and now that flight had a $25 surcharge per passenger in economy and $50 for my tickets in premium. I also checked Vegas and there is no surcharge for Vegas.

Has anyone seen this before and have any idea what this dynamic surcharge is all about?

They're using it to devalue the benefits they give for customer loyalty.

Only base fare earns westjet dollars/status, so by converting base fare to surcharge they give out less of that.

And you can only use westjet dollars on base fare not surcharges, so by converting base fare to surcharges they collect more cash.

And the companion vouchers from a credit card/loyalty only cover base fare, so by converting base fare to surcharges they make those less valuable.

[morgin]

Anyone done a Costa Rica trip with kids recently? Where did you stay, how easy was it to get around, and when do direct flights start?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

They're using it to devalue the benefits they give for customer loyalty.

Only base fare earns westjet dollars/status, so by converting base fare to surcharge they give out less of that.

And you can only use westjet dollars on base fare not surcharges, so by converting base fare to surcharges they collect more cash.

And the companion vouchers from a credit card/loyalty only cover base fare, so by converting base fare to surcharges they make those less valuable.

I don't know if this is the actual reason for the surcharge but at the same time I can't dismiss it as false because it could be plausible. But they don't have a surcharge on the international flights and I would have thought they would do it across the board if that was the case. Unless the international flights are significantly higher margin and less competitive or something?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I don't know if this is the actual reason for the surcharge but at the same time I can't dismiss it as false because it could be plausible. But they don't have a surcharge on the international flights and I would have thought they would do it across the board if that was the case. Unless the international flights are significantly higher margin and less competitive or something?

I definitely paid surcharges on a flight to Rome for next summer.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Pro Tip: Costco Travel

I just booked Hawaii and in sharing with friends I was shocked how many didn't know about Costco Travel.

Through them, our booking gave us free breakfast daily, no resort fee, free valet, a car for the week, an $800 USD resort credit and upgraded room from standard to a suite.
The price was also still about 20% less than looking at the hotel directly.
I always check their offerings, particularly for Hawaii.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Pro Tip: Costco Travel

I just booked Hawaii and in sharing with friends I was shocked how many didn't know about Costco Travel.

Through them, our booking gave us free breakfast daily, no resort fee, free valet, a car for the week, an $800 USD resort credit and upgraded room from standard to a suite.
The price was also still about 20% less than looking at the hotel directly.
I always check their offerings, particularly for Hawaii.

Usually it also includes a Costco gift card that coud be worth hundreds of dollars.

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by morgin

Anyone done a Costa Rica trip with kids recently? Where did you stay, how easy was it to get around, and when do direct flights start?

We did it with 13 year old and 15 year old this summer. We went to three different places, Monteverde, arenal and Tamarindo. So cloud forest, volcano and then beach. We did what we almost never do and used a local travel company who helped us with hotel, tours and transfers. Did a couple of nice hikes, sloth tour, zip lining, fishing and scuba. Getting around is fine but travel can be long, everything seems to be 3-4 hours between sites on pretty windy roads, we had private transfers which were nice.

We loved it, felt very safe, you can drink the water and eat the food. Was beautiful.

Pm me if you are interested in the details on our travel company.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by morgin

Anyone done a Costa Rica trip with kids recently? Where did you stay, how easy was it to get around, and when do direct flights start?

If you are in YYC the non stops are back for the winter.

[Jimmy Stang]

Does anyone have any experience claiming trip cancellation/interruption insurance through a credit card for a basic fare? I know that these fares exist so that airlines can advertise a lower price, but you lose it all if you need to cancel or make changes.

When booking work flights, we always get Econo Flex because, well, the company is paying it and recommends that option for the flexibility. Plus the checked bag is sometimes needed. No checked bag needed for this flight.

For this personal trip (3 people, west coast, one week in the summer), however, I am trying to balance insuring it through an increased fare (for $130 more per person - or about $400 in total), or using insurance that I already pay for on my credit card.

Cancellation is unlikely, and would probably only be if an aging parent fell ill or something in the lead-up. I could absorb the full loss on the airfares if it came down to it, but it would be nice if I could recover/claim that through credit card insurance. I have a pretty decent credit card, I have read the documentation, but I am wondering if anyone here has any personal experience about making a claim.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Pro Tip: Costco Travel

I just booked Hawaii and in sharing with friends I was shocked how many didn't know about Costco Travel.

Through them, our booking gave us free breakfast daily, no resort fee, free valet, a car for the week, an $800 USD resort credit and upgraded room from standard to a suite.
The price was also still about 20% less than looking at the hotel directly.
I always check their offerings, particularly for Hawaii.

I assume this is online?

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Anyone know of a booking site that allows you to get alerts for deals on hotels without entering a date range?

What I want is to be able to put in a city (e.g. Banff) or list of cities (e.g. Banff, Golden, Revelstoke) and select certain parameters (e.g. only hotels with X review score or only 3 stars and up), and have it e-mail me when there's a deal of, say, more than 50% off for any room for a night.

I know you can select specific dates and get alerts when prices change for those dates, but that is absolutely useless to me.

Would also love something like this for flights but same problem - all the "watch flights" tools I am aware of require you to select a date range. I don't want that, I want deals for someone flexible enough to be able to say "sure I can jump on a plane to Maui this Friday for a week if it's THAT cheap".

Anyone know how this can be accomplished? Maybe it's really easy and I've just missed it.