New Round of Canadian Flight Sales

Today only Air Canada is offering 40% off on some international flights from Jan. 5 - Apr. 30th. So if you are flying internationally around the new year, this would be a good chance to get your tickets. The website is here: http://www.aircanada.com/en/offers/air/int_fall08/int_fall08.html

If you are flying later in the spring, as I have said before, wait, because fuel surcharges are going to come down. Also, westjet has 3 sales going on today, so head over there to see if there is anything that interests you.

Holiday Flights Across Canada Just Got Cheaper

So today when I was checking some flights on Air Canada, I discovered that they've lowered all their fares during the holiday season! Previously, flights on January 5th and 12th that were to/from Calgary and Fredericton cost over 750 bucks. Now, they are down to 540 dollars! And flights from Fredericton to Toronto on December 20th and January 1st cost 380 bucks back in October during sales, but now they have gone down to $330. So yea, if you are planning on travelling at all during the holidays, run over to the Air Canada website and book your tickets now, as I am not sure how long these new prices are going to last!

Airline Review #2 - Jet Blue

So today I am reviewing Jet Blue. I have to say from the outset that this is my favourite airline to fly with. Here are the reasons why:

1) Comfortable leather seats and lots of legroom - generally they have more legroom than any other economy airline. One tip is to get a seat in the exit row or near the front of the plane, as they have more legroom than the seats at the back.

2) Free seat-back tv - lots of channels for free right in front of you, making long flights a lot less boring

3) Free snacks and drinks - one carrier that still gives out free drinks like coffee, tea, pop and a free snack. The snack isn't as good as Southwest though.

4) No fee for the first checked bag, and only $20 for the second

Also, the flight attendants have always been friendly on all my flights. I also have had few problems flying with them in terms of delays. I have only had 1 time where my luggage was not on the carousel when I came off a direct flight, but it got delivered to our hotel later that night. The customer service could have been a little better though. The only other con that I can think of is that generally they are more expensive than Southwest, though that appears to be changing since Southwest seems to be getting more expensive.

Overall score - 9/10

Flying to Europe next year? Hold off on buying tickets now!

So after searching around many different websites for air fares to go to Europe next spring, I have discovered a huge annoyance: all of the major airlines still have their fuel surcharges applied to trans-continental flights. These fuel surcharges are not small either - on a flight from Toronto to London, UK, the cheapest ticket I found was $366. However, the fuel surcharge on it was $320, and then there was even more fees, which resulted in the total price of the ticket being more than double the advertised price. The same thing happened when I tried flights out of New York to London. Fuel surcharges of around 300 bucks is pretty much the norm. While most companies have started to take their fuel surcharges off of their domestic and North American flights, as well as European carriers taking it off of inter-European flights, it still remains firmly stuck onto international flights. Most of the airlines are now saying that they are making up money that they lost when they didn't have the surcharges on and gas prices were so much higher. Is this fair? Of course not. But who is going to stop them from doing so? The answer to that question is consumers. Assuming the economy doesn't magically shake off the upcoming recession, it is likely that there will be more would-be travellers saying no thanks to Europe or other continents if the prices and surcharges stay high. If less people are travelling, there will be more empty seats that airlines will want to fill, and therefore they will have to start slashing prices if they want to make any money at all on flights. And if oil prices remain near current levels, the airlines will have a hard time next year justifying a "fuel surcharge" to consumers. There could be even more consumer pressure to eliminate the charges, and all it takes is one airline to crack. If one airline takes its fuel surcharges off of inter-continental flights, you can expect others to follow suit or risk being shunned by consumers. My best guess would be this would start sometime in the new year, possibly in February. It can't be too long before it happens, since there will likely be pressure on both European carriers from residents of Europe, and on North American carriers from residents here. So, in a nutshell, while it is sometimes better to book far in advance to get the best deals, this is a case where you should wait and hold off buying until the surcharges come off.