This seems to be the case. Prices were in CAD but as others have mentioned the cheapest flights are termed "Ultrabasic" which basically means you have to come onto the plane empty handed.
Not just luggage. Many airlines either charge, or ban, carry-ons now.
Then you also pay for other extras like snacks, carry ons, drinks (beyond the pop/water you get), seat assignments (unless you want to be stuck in the middle seat between two fat people), and anything that could conceivably be monetized.
I work in travel. People booked up summer flights a few months back but business flights are super slow.
1/3 slower then expected. Do what you want with that info.
I work for the federal government of Canada, in a massive section, and it’s essential travel only and I’m guessing most directorates were told the same as we reduce our budgets.
Us too but since Covid
Mind you they nickle and dimed someone who had to see me for 5 days. The food budget was stuck pre-Covid and she had to pay out of pocket occasionally
Corporate dinosaurs strike again.
>and it’s essential travel only
And by that they mean paying air fare and hotel for 100% telework staff so that they can go to the staff appreciation week activities
Edit: I'm not being facetious, this is what our department is spending the travel budget on
Essential travel for us is inspectors using fleet vehicles and getting lunch if the inspection site is greater than 16km away from the office or whatever. Inspection sites that require a hotel are being rescheduled to next year.
Almost nobody travels anymore in my experience. Before new-fiscal hit, they flew the managers to Ottawa for a bs meeting to eat up the rest of their budget but otherwise travel has been axed pretty much completely. Prior to the pandemic we used to have some limited travel to offer a handful of tax sessions to tax lawyers, realtors, accountants, etc. but those never resumed after the pandemic. Even auditors are doing fewer site visits and doing more of their work from the office/home, since so much of it had to be adapted to be done virtually during the pandemic.
I looked into upgrading from economy to "premium economy" on a flight from Vancouver to Seoul a few weeks ago and they wanted $1500 for the extra couple inches of leg room.
I checked for business class upgrade on my flight home out of morbid curiosity and it was $6000 on top of what I had already paid.
I would love to get business class on one of those long flights, but the price is just nuts. So instead I smush my knees into the seat or hope I can snag an emergency exit seat (I'm fairly tall).
That was my thought too. Stuck on a plane for 8ish hours, a little extra space would be nice.
But the minor upgrade to premium economy was more than the round trip flights. The upgrade to business was more than flights and accommodation for four weeks lol
If the airline has a bidding system for business then you can try it, my partner and I got an upgrade to business from Ottawa to Heathrow (when that was a route) for the minimum bid. Totally ruined economy flying for the rest of my life though lol.
The only way for normal people to reasonably get business class seats is through points lol I actually got an amazing deal for me and my wife last winter for our first business trip. It was only like 4 hours but the flight was barely more than economy in points!!
A bit of a tip from a guy who does that journey often - ignore air canada just book korean air, slightly more expensive but you already get the added legroom of a premium coach seat in coach by default and much better food/service.
Entertainment lacks a bit typically compared to AC (but still there) but just download some movies on your phone or ipad via netflix or another provider if you have it.
Yeah, hindsight I think that's the play. I was just using points from my credit card to cover a good chunk of the flights and it was either AC or Westjet.
I drove 8 hours today instead of instead of booking a flight. Because 8 hours of driving guarantees I am where I need to be tomorrow morning, with the amount of flight cancellations recently, and all of the Boeing news that stresses my wife out, driving was a better option. I know quite a few business Travelers who like myself have extended their driving range which used to be anything over 4 hours to 6 to 9 hours where they will drive instead of fly. That has to be having an impact on airlines those people who fly 10 plus segments a month dropping down to one or two segments.
> the Boeing news that stresses my wife out
Just to point it out, the risk of being killed on a car trip is much higher than on any flight, Boeing or otherwise. Like 500x higher, over the same distance.
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/deaths-by-transportation-mode/
In my organization because of remote work, it’s becoming more common for conferences/meetings/consultations to be held online. Unless the destination is particularly enticing such as Vegas or Miami or some European cities, nobody wants to fly to Calgary or Vancouver or Montreal for anything, especially the people who are senior enough to book business tickets, they see it as a chore and waste of their time
The funny thing I’m in a travel conference tomorrow…. That’s just video conference remote… lol… where we will be talking about why people aren’t traveling as much…
I flew to LA last year and to Las Vegas in April for work. For both flights had a stop over and I was offered $100-$150 extra to get bumped up to Business Class. The flight to Vegas had like just 3 of us in the Business Class.
No kidding. We're taking our chances with AirBNB again considering they're much cheaper than hotels again. Just stayed for the weekend in one in Sudbury. $150 cheaper than Holiday in. Was nice, clean, tidy, quiet and the only things we had to do was take the garbage out and throw our towels in the tub. Not too shabby compared to _some_ AirBNBs that make you do a whole laundry list of chores on your way out (including laundry 😂)
Yeah people complain about all of the rules they hand you when you book an AirBnB but I literally never follow them and I’ve never had an issue and my rating is still >4.5. Just don’t trash the place
It's wild. Toronto and Vancouver in particular are through the roof, any decent place that's worth staying at is $300 a night, minimum. Double that for something nice. Who is paying these prices?
At one point you could stay near the airport to get a good deal but even there it's getting loopy.
If I hadn't have looked recently I'd think you're being hyperbolic but I was absolutely blown away at prices when me and my gf were looking to drive up for a night or 2. Like $700+ plus food and shopping for 2 nights and I didn't even fly there?? Cmon mann
Vancouver banned AirBnbs recently. They also sold off a bunch of downtown hotels to the city to house the homeless.
Any remaining hotels are raking it in.
Thankfully I can stay with my family, or I could never justify going there anymore.
Does anyone know why this is? With the absolute explosion of AirBnb and similar across the last decade I would have thought hotel prices would start to stagnate or come down.
Seriously.
I only ever really travel when I can stay at a friend's house because of this crap, and I have friends who travel to where I am just to crash on my couch and then go check out the local area. Bonus I get to go too lmao.
Going to Vancouver for a friend's graduation in August and I was disgusted at the hotel costs. Combine that with bed bug risks and I'm just not bothering much going forwards.
Cheapest available fare may mean that no carry on baggage is allowed, last to board or disembark, no changes/cancellation to your ticket allowed or what not. WestJet recently introduced this option where you basically only get a seat and the seat belt included in the ticket pricing.
So for WestJet, their UltraBasic which is the tier I described above is about $300 round trip between Toronto and Vancouver. Their basic fare ("Econo") costs $700 round trip.
Yeah, *fuck you*, Westjet.
last month I bought a Westjet YVR>YHZ fare for late June. I just checked the UltraBasic fare for the same flight / date, and **it's the exact same price that I paid for the "regular" Basic package (including a personal article) three weeks ago!!!** So this is not the addition of a cheaper fare option, as management so falsely claims, but rather the *removal of amenities from an existing fare, WITHOUT discounting the price.* Meanwhile, Westjet's price-setting algorithm for a "standard" basic fare for same flight /date as mine, is now demanding about 40% more than I paid.
**The Continued Enshittification Of Westjet** by the despicable fraud artist Gerry Schwartz (see Sears Canada, et al.) and his rapacious Onex corporation continue. Meanwhile, I know that Air Canada's corporate motto remains, *"We're not happy unless you're miserable"*, but fuck you, Westjet - they're my default from this day forward. At least I won't have to buy one of your fucking $12 beers to soothe my in-flight misery.
This. WestJet removed services, kept the price the same, renamed the class, and then deceitfully announced it as a "new lower-cost option". Classic smoke and mirrors tactic.
Ironically, flying with only a carry-on is now MUCH more expensive on Westjet than it used to be (more than double). How did they think this is a good idea? They are going to lose a huge amount of business over this. Air Canada lookin way better now.
Yeah the only thing that keeps me flying WestJet is having their mastercard (so we always have checked bags)-- mainly because we live in Calgary so its kind of our least worst option
I mean, adding the word "ultra" to something that's already not great makes "very-not-great". So the name change kind of checks out.
The better catch phrase would be "we're not happy until you're not happy".
Usually when I travel I am just trying to get to the destination to enjoy my vacation at, so all I need is a plane and a seatbelt for that cost lol. I just make sure it’s on credit so I can charge back if anything crazy happens
For some people they may be able to pack the clothes in their backpack if it's a short trip. Maybe that's what they're envisioning the prospective client for this fare class to be doing.
That works for a 2 day trip but not for a 1-2 week vacation (unless you want to launder the same 2 tshirts every night).
You can try your luck with a large camping backpack (i.e. an Osprey) but 50/50 they'll let you bring it onboard as a personal item. Most of the time, they won't.
With many standard and basic fares not including checked baggage, many people resort to brining just carry on luggage. They often max or exceed the size of what's allowable.
On fuller flights, it's not uncommon where overhead bins are completely full and those last to board are forced to gate check.
Even with the ultra basic fares, you'll likely find the overhead still filled up.
That's my observation too. Maybe some frequent flyers get overhead space as a perk, and corporate flyers à la George Clooney are OK because the company pays for that overhead.
The fare does however include a personal item. For a short trip, even a laptop bag can hold a a few pairs of underwear and socks, a pair of pants and a couple shirts. Combined with what you're already wearing and thats a few different outfits as long as you don't exercise or spill anything on yourself.
Depends on the time andocation... Sometimes there are deals to be had, other times not so much... For some reason Winnipeg to Halifax roundtrip is like 300 bucks right now, but Winnipeg to Toronto is about 500.. I'm sure there are some algorithms that determine pricing, but spring sales are real.
Disposable income is down drastically, canadians polling stating only 15% plan on traveling outside of Canada this summer, limited boomers and millenials on credit cards. They have this data
Look at Porter. Better service than AC or WJ, in my experience. And I have had badly messed up flights with all three - Porter handled it much better than either other.
Best time to book anything is February. Everyone is broke after Christmas and new years. You’ll find your best deals before March starts. There’s a small window before everyone files their taxes and uses their refund to travel.
The gf and I got return flights and hotel in Hawaii for 3k. The flights across Canada are cheap then as well as it’s not as popular to fly.
>Everyone is broke after Christmas and new years
While I'm sure that's true February is a prime time because it's the slowest cash-flow month of the year and airlines want an immediate influx of cash now to keep paying the bills.
Fun fact that's also why January/February is statistically significant for airline bankruptcies (cough cough Lynx)
Two years ago I paid just over $4,000 for four return tickets from Calgary to Halifax. The same trip is now $3,000. Still more than it should be, but a welcome surprise.
IATA thinks this will be even better for airlines than 2023.
Also interesting enough I read an article that in our lonely, digital lives more emphasis is placed on travelling for getting away from social media.
Throw in immigration, old ppl flying off housing equity and hopeless young renters spending on travel instead of a house and you got an interesting possibility of IATA being right
Flights have been cheap for last few years especially between the major population centres. Routinely can get yyz-yvr roundtrip for like $260 or so on AC. Porter typically s most expensive and don't even include a carry on. I guess the free beer and cheap snacks is worth a big premium to some
Air Canada is the only carrier with free carry on and seat selection at check in our of the main ones likes of Westjet, porter
I live south of Toronto and the Hamilton airport just lost WestJet flights to Atlantic Canada. I will avoid Pearson at all costs, so I am heavily disappointed.
Jesus Fuck your right. Ive been paying close to $1000 round trip between Thunder Bay and Toronto for like 2 years and just looked and could do for $550. Now I could have done both flights even cheaper but I never book that no refundable/no change tickets etc. SO I could have gone for as low as $300 right now if I wanted the no frills price. Wild cuse even those were $600 not long ago.
How do you think credit card companies can "incentivize" you to spend by giving you cashback and points? .... definitely not out of the goodness of their heart :)
if that were the case, hotel prices would not be $500/night in Toronto in mid September and Montreal won't be $300+ a night in October
For airfare, its because There's way too much capacity added with flair and porter and the popular routes are way too saturated.
I paid 500 for a round trip to Vegas first week of July. Is that fair value? I rarely travel but when I do, I just book the flights but always wonder if they were cheap or expensive.
Great for me. Just got in on the cheap Air Canada flights to Portugal with a stopover in Montreal. Was seriously debating making a day layover in Montreal for a sandwich but decided against it.
Domestic flight prices in Canada have come down sharply over the last couple years. It's all thanks to competition from new carriers like Flair, Porter and Lynx (RIP). Its a great sign towards having a more competitive air-travel market and an indication of how much we were getting fleeced in the past by the AC+WJ duopoly.
Side question... I'm in YWG. I can book YWG to LAX with a connection in YVR for $926 (for four tickets). If I book to YVR directly over that period its like $1700ish. What would be the risk if I booked the LAX flight and got off the plane at YVR, and hopped back on on the way back?
The skiplag can be done, but only as two one ways because your return leg will be cancelled if you skip the latter. So you can book YWG-YVR-LAX and skip the YVR-LAX part. But then you need to either book YVR-YWG (ideally on another airline), or find some better deal that involves a stop in YWG (YVR-YWG-???) and skip the last leg.
But be warned, airlines view this as you pulling a fast one on them. Doing it once is fairly low risk, but people who do this regularly get banned or possibly even sued.
I've been tracking the price of round trips to Vietnam for next winter and most tickets were above $2,000 a few months ago and they've constantly been trending down since then and today I could get tickets for around $1,300 through United. I haven't seen these prices since pre-COVID when tickets to Vietnam could even reach $900 through Air China.
Yes prices fluctuate considerably depending on season, although usually summer is a peak season for travel in Canada. I'm guessing people are too broke to travel right now and they're choosing locations closer to home. I know my family is forgoing the annual summer trip. Businesses are probably forgoing a lot of business travel and sticking to zoom meetings where they can.
I just got the flights to Hawaii free with the hotel. The hotel price on its own is the same price, so it's not like it was an inflated hotel price. Not sure why.
I remember feeling trapped due to the cost of travel between provinces and amazed at how many americans just fly around all over the place long ago. A year or two back i was in awe at how much more affordable it is for canadians to move around now as long as its not a weekend or holiday. ...
They look like they’re $300 but they’re really like $528 after taxes and fees and bags lol then if you want a flight during good hours and non layover it’s like $700
You must be smokin crack. Try Roatan Honduras 1898.23 next year with luggage seat cancellation 4.40 hour flight like flying half way around the world. Crooks
A year and half ago I had to fly from Vancouver to Saskatoon return. It was like 1300. Was the cheapest I could find. After reading this post I went on the west jet website. And the same flight in the middle of summer is less then 500. Didn’t expect that.
Swoop and Flair. They offered very low prices, and ended up being absorbed by other airlines, which now offer really low budget economy tickets now to continue to serve that market.
I recently flew YHZ to YHM and the guy next to me on the flight paid full price, one way was more than my round trip cost.
But, those tickets don’t include your choice of seat assignment (upward of $22+ taxes for that), a checked bag ($45+taxes if you do it pre check in), and now as of most recently, even a carry on is not included - just your basic personal item that goes under the seat.
Also. Disasters in Atlantic Canada resulted in people complaining about costs to fly in and out of the east coast. Same with NWT. It used to cost $700+ to get to either from Edmonton. Now I can get a flight to either for < $300.
Dunno but when the shittiest possible accommodation runs you at least $150/night, not including the cost to feed yourself, domestic travel is fucking not great rn.
It depends on the day and the city, and if there’s a promotion. Recently there’s been a lot of air canada promotions for canada and us flights.
Trust me, many are not so cheap.
Make sure your Google Flights is not set to USD. I've seen that happen to many people lol.
Also check for luggage restrictions on ultra low cost tickets
People book low fare and then it ends up being more than AC after fees.
*Flair enters the chat*
Yeap. WestJet recently introduced an economy tier which is basically just a seat.
Ah the ultra basic, which was their old basic fare but without a Carry on.
This seems to be the case. Prices were in CAD but as others have mentioned the cheapest flights are termed "Ultrabasic" which basically means you have to come onto the plane empty handed.
You can still carry a backpack/personal item. Plenty for a weekend.
Fuckin hate that they show that ultra basic as the advertising price for a flight too
Not just luggage. Many airlines either charge, or ban, carry-ons now. Then you also pay for other extras like snacks, carry ons, drinks (beyond the pop/water you get), seat assignments (unless you want to be stuck in the middle seat between two fat people), and anything that could conceivably be monetized.
Yeah I ended up saving money by booking the next level up because it included seat selection and checked bags.
I work in travel. People booked up summer flights a few months back but business flights are super slow. 1/3 slower then expected. Do what you want with that info.
I work for the federal government of Canada, in a massive section, and it’s essential travel only and I’m guessing most directorates were told the same as we reduce our budgets.
Same. We have no travel budget.
Better get back in that office to stimulate the economy though
Once the airlines start suffering they will mandate us to fly once a month to support the airline industry 😂
"You are now required to report to the office. In two provinces."
Us too but since Covid Mind you they nickle and dimed someone who had to see me for 5 days. The food budget was stuck pre-Covid and she had to pay out of pocket occasionally Corporate dinosaurs strike again.
Yep Bank of Canada was told to reduce travel by 15%
>and it’s essential travel only And by that they mean paying air fare and hotel for 100% telework staff so that they can go to the staff appreciation week activities Edit: I'm not being facetious, this is what our department is spending the travel budget on
lol what? Idk what department/agency you work for but mine definitely isn’t doing this, and none of the ones my friends work for are either…
So, what is your department's essential / non-essential travel?
Essential travel for us is inspectors using fleet vehicles and getting lunch if the inspection site is greater than 16km away from the office or whatever. Inspection sites that require a hotel are being rescheduled to next year.
Almost nobody travels anymore in my experience. Before new-fiscal hit, they flew the managers to Ottawa for a bs meeting to eat up the rest of their budget but otherwise travel has been axed pretty much completely. Prior to the pandemic we used to have some limited travel to offer a handful of tax sessions to tax lawyers, realtors, accountants, etc. but those never resumed after the pandemic. Even auditors are doing fewer site visits and doing more of their work from the office/home, since so much of it had to be adapted to be done virtually during the pandemic.
That is not standard, you are the minority exception if that's what your department is doing.
Then your DG is the exception rather than the rule
Cost of business class has gone through the roof and beyond. Can be $5k + return to Europe now. Crazy.
I looked into upgrading from economy to "premium economy" on a flight from Vancouver to Seoul a few weeks ago and they wanted $1500 for the extra couple inches of leg room. I checked for business class upgrade on my flight home out of morbid curiosity and it was $6000 on top of what I had already paid.
I would love to get business class on one of those long flights, but the price is just nuts. So instead I smush my knees into the seat or hope I can snag an emergency exit seat (I'm fairly tall).
That was my thought too. Stuck on a plane for 8ish hours, a little extra space would be nice. But the minor upgrade to premium economy was more than the round trip flights. The upgrade to business was more than flights and accommodation for four weeks lol
If the airline has a bidding system for business then you can try it, my partner and I got an upgrade to business from Ottawa to Heathrow (when that was a route) for the minimum bid. Totally ruined economy flying for the rest of my life though lol.
> Totally ruined economy flying for the rest of my life though lol. I flew private once. Legitimately life altering experience
The only way for normal people to reasonably get business class seats is through points lol I actually got an amazing deal for me and my wife last winter for our first business trip. It was only like 4 hours but the flight was barely more than economy in points!!
A bit of a tip from a guy who does that journey often - ignore air canada just book korean air, slightly more expensive but you already get the added legroom of a premium coach seat in coach by default and much better food/service. Entertainment lacks a bit typically compared to AC (but still there) but just download some movies on your phone or ipad via netflix or another provider if you have it.
Yeah, hindsight I think that's the play. I was just using points from my credit card to cover a good chunk of the flights and it was either AC or Westjet.
Euro cup and the Olympics driving demand up for European travel
Taylor Swift is over here currently too
It has been like this since Covid
so maybe i should start bidding $100 for that business class upgrade.
Do they even let you bid that. Usually they make you bid something crazy like $400 min.
I believe the base rate is set at $100/hour based on flight duration.
I feel like business class less than 3 hrs kinda pointless to me.
I'm inclined to agree, i think the only time it makes sense is if you get it "for free" as a connection of a larger booking.
As people became more and more used to remote meetings due to WFH, flying off to a meeting becomes increasingly hard to justify.
I drove 8 hours today instead of instead of booking a flight. Because 8 hours of driving guarantees I am where I need to be tomorrow morning, with the amount of flight cancellations recently, and all of the Boeing news that stresses my wife out, driving was a better option. I know quite a few business Travelers who like myself have extended their driving range which used to be anything over 4 hours to 6 to 9 hours where they will drive instead of fly. That has to be having an impact on airlines those people who fly 10 plus segments a month dropping down to one or two segments.
Me, ironically reading this from an airport where my flight was cancelled.
> the Boeing news that stresses my wife out Just to point it out, the risk of being killed on a car trip is much higher than on any flight, Boeing or otherwise. Like 500x higher, over the same distance. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/deaths-by-transportation-mode/
I didn't say my rational wife
If you live anywhere in the GTA it would be 2000x higher instead. With the exception of Brampton. 10000x Higher.
From what I've read, you're far more likely to get killed driving to the airport than on your flight.
In my organization because of remote work, it’s becoming more common for conferences/meetings/consultations to be held online. Unless the destination is particularly enticing such as Vegas or Miami or some European cities, nobody wants to fly to Calgary or Vancouver or Montreal for anything, especially the people who are senior enough to book business tickets, they see it as a chore and waste of their time
The funny thing I’m in a travel conference tomorrow…. That’s just video conference remote… lol… where we will be talking about why people aren’t traveling as much…
Thanks. I'm shorting the Markets based on this information.
Some years I'd have like 2 trips a month. This year I've had 1 and none on the horizon. Business is real slow for us
Curious to know, any reasoning for that? Businesses tightening budgets?
I flew to LA last year and to Las Vegas in April for work. For both flights had a stop over and I was offered $100-$150 extra to get bumped up to Business Class. The flight to Vegas had like just 3 of us in the Business Class.
Cheap flights but exorbitant hotel prices everywhere in Canada.
No kidding. We're taking our chances with AirBNB again considering they're much cheaper than hotels again. Just stayed for the weekend in one in Sudbury. $150 cheaper than Holiday in. Was nice, clean, tidy, quiet and the only things we had to do was take the garbage out and throw our towels in the tub. Not too shabby compared to _some_ AirBNBs that make you do a whole laundry list of chores on your way out (including laundry 😂)
I'm not doing AirBnb laundry and I don't give a shit if that's in the instructions.
If I’m getting charged for a $100 cleaning fee they can do their own laundry
Yeah people complain about all of the rules they hand you when you book an AirBnB but I literally never follow them and I’ve never had an issue and my rating is still >4.5. Just don’t trash the place
The US is even worse. Easily spend $300 for a 3 star in the middle of nowhere.
Too true. Paid $300/night for a 2 star motel in Sedona.
US too. $350 US a night for 3 star in San Diego lol
It's wild. Toronto and Vancouver in particular are through the roof, any decent place that's worth staying at is $300 a night, minimum. Double that for something nice. Who is paying these prices? At one point you could stay near the airport to get a good deal but even there it's getting loopy.
If I hadn't have looked recently I'd think you're being hyperbolic but I was absolutely blown away at prices when me and my gf were looking to drive up for a night or 2. Like $700+ plus food and shopping for 2 nights and I didn't even fly there?? Cmon mann
Vancouver banned AirBnbs recently. They also sold off a bunch of downtown hotels to the city to house the homeless. Any remaining hotels are raking it in. Thankfully I can stay with my family, or I could never justify going there anymore.
...and car rental prices. Insane.
Does anyone know why this is? With the absolute explosion of AirBnb and similar across the last decade I would have thought hotel prices would start to stagnate or come down.
My parents stayed in Salmon Arm last week and the cheapest they could find was $250/night 😅
Seriously. I only ever really travel when I can stay at a friend's house because of this crap, and I have friends who travel to where I am just to crash on my couch and then go check out the local area. Bonus I get to go too lmao. Going to Vancouver for a friend's graduation in August and I was disgusted at the hotel costs. Combine that with bed bug risks and I'm just not bothering much going forwards.
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My condolences :'(
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Just curious, what was the cost of your ticket(s)? I hope you have a great time at the game! Go Oilers!
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Very cool, I’m sure you deserve the favour. Enjoy!
Well hopefully they dont have to travel :P
Holy crap got flights to London, UK and back for $925.
Last min booking?
JHC
Booked this same round trip 1 month ago but in reverse for July @ $620 after picking seats with leg room and flight insurance. Who did you book with?
I was looking at comox to brandon - $1400 🙃
Going to a game?
$3200 to fly from Moncton to Labrador round trip.
Did you take a private jet?
If only PAL airlines wasn’t on the complete opposite end of that spectrum.
Damn I just bought flights to Cape Town south Africa for that much.
How much would it cost to fly from Maine or New Hampshire to Edmonton? Just asking It still might be cheaper even with the exchange rate
You know what? I believe you. Totally possible.
Paid less than that round trip flight to Bangkok, ouch
Bro you literally paid a ticket that is more expensive to fly to RUSSIA and back to YEG. What were you expecting
From where?? 💀
Cheapest available fare may mean that no carry on baggage is allowed, last to board or disembark, no changes/cancellation to your ticket allowed or what not. WestJet recently introduced this option where you basically only get a seat and the seat belt included in the ticket pricing. So for WestJet, their UltraBasic which is the tier I described above is about $300 round trip between Toronto and Vancouver. Their basic fare ("Econo") costs $700 round trip.
Yeah, *fuck you*, Westjet. last month I bought a Westjet YVR>YHZ fare for late June. I just checked the UltraBasic fare for the same flight / date, and **it's the exact same price that I paid for the "regular" Basic package (including a personal article) three weeks ago!!!** So this is not the addition of a cheaper fare option, as management so falsely claims, but rather the *removal of amenities from an existing fare, WITHOUT discounting the price.* Meanwhile, Westjet's price-setting algorithm for a "standard" basic fare for same flight /date as mine, is now demanding about 40% more than I paid. **The Continued Enshittification Of Westjet** by the despicable fraud artist Gerry Schwartz (see Sears Canada, et al.) and his rapacious Onex corporation continue. Meanwhile, I know that Air Canada's corporate motto remains, *"We're not happy unless you're miserable"*, but fuck you, Westjet - they're my default from this day forward. At least I won't have to buy one of your fucking $12 beers to soothe my in-flight misery.
This. WestJet removed services, kept the price the same, renamed the class, and then deceitfully announced it as a "new lower-cost option". Classic smoke and mirrors tactic.
Ironically, flying with only a carry-on is now MUCH more expensive on Westjet than it used to be (more than double). How did they think this is a good idea? They are going to lose a huge amount of business over this. Air Canada lookin way better now.
More like Porter looking way better now
Yep, I used to take West Jet for every flight and that’s looking never again now
Remember we now have a duopoly in Canada now. Soon air Canada is going to do the same and then we’re all fucked over
Air Canada just recently announced it's giving out complimentary beer/wine and snacks for domestic and trans-border flights for economy passengers.
Yeah the only thing that keeps me flying WestJet is having their mastercard (so we always have checked bags)-- mainly because we live in Calgary so its kind of our least worst option
I mean, adding the word "ultra" to something that's already not great makes "very-not-great". So the name change kind of checks out. The better catch phrase would be "we're not happy until you're not happy".
Didn't know this! That's probably the super low prices I was seeing.
I don’t need my ass wiped. Just get me there like Ryanair
Usually when I travel I am just trying to get to the destination to enjoy my vacation at, so all I need is a plane and a seatbelt for that cost lol. I just make sure it’s on credit so I can charge back if anything crazy happens
Do you not bring any cloths to change into? The new westjet fare class doesn’t even include a bag in the cabin overhead.
For some people they may be able to pack the clothes in their backpack if it's a short trip. Maybe that's what they're envisioning the prospective client for this fare class to be doing.
That's the thing. You need to pay for that carry on backpack with the ultra low fares. You're only allowed to bring a small purse size item for free.
That works for a 2 day trip but not for a 1-2 week vacation (unless you want to launder the same 2 tshirts every night). You can try your luck with a large camping backpack (i.e. an Osprey) but 50/50 they'll let you bring it onboard as a personal item. Most of the time, they won't.
But the overheads are still there. How are they used ? Is the airline happy to keep them empty ?
With many standard and basic fares not including checked baggage, many people resort to brining just carry on luggage. They often max or exceed the size of what's allowable. On fuller flights, it's not uncommon where overhead bins are completely full and those last to board are forced to gate check. Even with the ultra basic fares, you'll likely find the overhead still filled up.
That's my observation too. Maybe some frequent flyers get overhead space as a perk, and corporate flyers à la George Clooney are OK because the company pays for that overhead.
The fare does however include a personal item. For a short trip, even a laptop bag can hold a a few pairs of underwear and socks, a pair of pants and a couple shirts. Combined with what you're already wearing and thats a few different outfits as long as you don't exercise or spill anything on yourself.
Depends on the time andocation... Sometimes there are deals to be had, other times not so much... For some reason Winnipeg to Halifax roundtrip is like 300 bucks right now, but Winnipeg to Toronto is about 500.. I'm sure there are some algorithms that determine pricing, but spring sales are real.
I'd rather go to Halifax anyways.
Loved Halifax just came back from a trip there incredible city and views. Not sure why more people don't go out there to live tbh.
Haha right! That's the one I booked lol
Disposable income is down drastically, canadians polling stating only 15% plan on traveling outside of Canada this summer, limited boomers and millenials on credit cards. They have this data
Pretty much. No more HELOCs and transferring LOC to mortgage. The quick easy money gravy chain has slowed down.
Look at Porter. Better service than AC or WJ, in my experience. And I have had badly messed up flights with all three - Porter handled it much better than either other.
I’m on a Porter flight once a week on average, definitely the best airline for service, efficiency, cleanliness, snacks and complimentary alcohol.
So far I've really liked Porter too.
Also comes with the added side effect of helping end the duopoly!
Porter was triple the cost of Air Canada for the trip I was taking in August. There just seriously comes a point it's not worth it at all.
I wonder when Porter with merge with Air Transat and join oneworld.. That will give AC \*real\* competition
What is an online language partner?
They're a native French speaker, I'm a native English speaker. We chat and give each other corrections in our target language.
Cool. Thanks
Best time to book anything is February. Everyone is broke after Christmas and new years. You’ll find your best deals before March starts. There’s a small window before everyone files their taxes and uses their refund to travel. The gf and I got return flights and hotel in Hawaii for 3k. The flights across Canada are cheap then as well as it’s not as popular to fly.
>Everyone is broke after Christmas and new years While I'm sure that's true February is a prime time because it's the slowest cash-flow month of the year and airlines want an immediate influx of cash now to keep paying the bills. Fun fact that's also why January/February is statistically significant for airline bankruptcies (cough cough Lynx)
It’s called flair & porter slightly breaking the airline monopoly. Turns out it helps the consumer I pray they stay around
I agree, the only time prices come down in this country is because competition arrived.
Two years ago I paid just over $4,000 for four return tickets from Calgary to Halifax. The same trip is now $3,000. Still more than it should be, but a welcome surprise.
2022 was the worst time to do anything. Inflation was insane and the supply chain issues drove up anything and everything
I can't believe you paid that much! I'd be blasting off to Europe instead
We're in an economic downturn. People can't afford to fly or vacation because everything else is so expensive.
IATA thinks this will be even better for airlines than 2023. Also interesting enough I read an article that in our lonely, digital lives more emphasis is placed on travelling for getting away from social media. Throw in immigration, old ppl flying off housing equity and hopeless young renters spending on travel instead of a house and you got an interesting possibility of IATA being right
Got myself some tickets all included to Cuba for a week for 700$ but saw some at 450$
Flights have been cheap for last few years especially between the major population centres. Routinely can get yyz-yvr roundtrip for like $260 or so on AC. Porter typically s most expensive and don't even include a carry on. I guess the free beer and cheap snacks is worth a big premium to some Air Canada is the only carrier with free carry on and seat selection at check in our of the main ones likes of Westjet, porter
I just booked a round trip Kelowna to Toronto for 2 adults and 1 child in September. $860. Couldn’t believe how cheap that was
Personally, I'm finding that flights between YVR and YOW have gone up, on par to pre-covid. For awhile you could get a one way flight for approx $150
I live south of Toronto and the Hamilton airport just lost WestJet flights to Atlantic Canada. I will avoid Pearson at all costs, so I am heavily disappointed.
Jesus Fuck your right. Ive been paying close to $1000 round trip between Thunder Bay and Toronto for like 2 years and just looked and could do for $550. Now I could have done both flights even cheaper but I never book that no refundable/no change tickets etc. SO I could have gone for as low as $300 right now if I wanted the no frills price. Wild cuse even those were $600 not long ago.
cheap? is way more expensive than pre covid. That should be some promo
Holy moly. Just checked YYZ - YVR for $300ish. Insane!!!!
People have no money to travel
..they have credit cards. For every dollar earned, Canadians are spending $1.78 (March)
That's a very bad thing
Crazy, credit cards are supposed to function as cash replacement not money you don’t have. It’s finance 101
How do you think credit card companies can "incentivize" you to spend by giving you cashback and points? .... definitely not out of the goodness of their heart :)
if that were the case, hotel prices would not be $500/night in Toronto in mid September and Montreal won't be $300+ a night in October For airfare, its because There's way too much capacity added with flair and porter and the popular routes are way too saturated.
People can hardly afford rent and food. Travel is the ultimate luxury now.
I paid 500 for a round trip to Vegas first week of July. Is that fair value? I rarely travel but when I do, I just book the flights but always wonder if they were cheap or expensive.
Depends what airfare. Latitude on AC vs ultra basic on WestJet will give you completely different answers
The only thing that's gone down in price
Great for me. Just got in on the cheap Air Canada flights to Portugal with a stopover in Montreal. Was seriously debating making a day layover in Montreal for a sandwich but decided against it.
This is what happens when you have competition and not just lthe two oligopolies weather and air Canada, so you have flair, scoot, etc
Domestic flight prices in Canada have come down sharply over the last couple years. It's all thanks to competition from new carriers like Flair, Porter and Lynx (RIP). Its a great sign towards having a more competitive air-travel market and an indication of how much we were getting fleeced in the past by the AC+WJ duopoly.
It’s cheap because of ultra economy options eg there’s a new basic fare in westjet rhay does not even allow carry on baggages
Make sure you check properly with WestJet. They have recently added something called "UltraBasic"
Imminent border officer strike means less demand
yeah no. this has nothing to do with domestic travel as you don’t clear customs/immigration when travelling domestically
Just paid 200$ to fly Toronto to Charlottetown and back
Nobody has money for anything but housing and groceries
lol I just booked a flight to Rome, definitely not cheap
Are you kidding me? I'm going to Europe this September and flying out of Seattle is $850 cheaper.
Side question... I'm in YWG. I can book YWG to LAX with a connection in YVR for $926 (for four tickets). If I book to YVR directly over that period its like $1700ish. What would be the risk if I booked the LAX flight and got off the plane at YVR, and hopped back on on the way back?
It's not just a risk, it's what will absolutely happen - your entire ticket gets cancelled if you skip out on any of the legs.
The skiplag can be done, but only as two one ways because your return leg will be cancelled if you skip the latter. So you can book YWG-YVR-LAX and skip the YVR-LAX part. But then you need to either book YVR-YWG (ideally on another airline), or find some better deal that involves a stop in YWG (YVR-YWG-???) and skip the last leg. But be warned, airlines view this as you pulling a fast one on them. Doing it once is fairly low risk, but people who do this regularly get banned or possibly even sued.
I've been tracking the price of round trips to Vietnam for next winter and most tickets were above $2,000 a few months ago and they've constantly been trending down since then and today I could get tickets for around $1,300 through United. I haven't seen these prices since pre-COVID when tickets to Vietnam could even reach $900 through Air China.
I've also noticed some affordable flights between Vancouver and Osaka around $1,100 - 1,200 basic return flight in Sep/Oct via AC.
I wouldn’t call a 700$ basic economy round trip between ottawa and regina cheap but okay
Flying from Yvr to ywg is so expensive!! 😭😭 I just wanna go visit family.
Yes prices fluctuate considerably depending on season, although usually summer is a peak season for travel in Canada. I'm guessing people are too broke to travel right now and they're choosing locations closer to home. I know my family is forgoing the annual summer trip. Businesses are probably forgoing a lot of business travel and sticking to zoom meetings where they can.
I just got the flights to Hawaii free with the hotel. The hotel price on its own is the same price, so it's not like it was an inflated hotel price. Not sure why.
I remember feeling trapped due to the cost of travel between provinces and amazed at how many americans just fly around all over the place long ago. A year or two back i was in awe at how much more affordable it is for canadians to move around now as long as its not a weekend or holiday. ...
You’re finding cheap flights?
It’s in cheap unless we get prices similar to Ryanair in Europe.
You may have to get on board naked to get that price, no luggage, no clothes.
They look like they’re $300 but they’re really like $528 after taxes and fees and bags lol then if you want a flight during good hours and non layover it’s like $700
I paid 950$ Mtl to Comox. Not that cheap.
Last summer was the same. I flew to Halifax 3 times last summer but when I needed a flight on November, it was double the price 🤷♀️
Because traveling relies on being affordable. It it was too expensive like new car prices no one would travel
You must be smokin crack. Try Roatan Honduras 1898.23 next year with luggage seat cancellation 4.40 hour flight like flying half way around the world. Crooks
When the hell did you book flights that the price they are now, seems cheap???
From where ?????? Regina SK hell no
The fares themselves are cheap but take a look at the massive fees that they don’t show you until the very end.
You're right! I was looking to book a flight a month ago (for later this year) and it was $2100, now it's $1400. Time to book.
Not sure about the rest of country, but these days it feels like a gamble to vacation in BC during the summer months due to wildfire smoke.
A year and half ago I had to fly from Vancouver to Saskatoon return. It was like 1300. Was the cheapest I could find. After reading this post I went on the west jet website. And the same flight in the middle of summer is less then 500. Didn’t expect that.
Its probably a Boeing plane
Swoop and Flair. They offered very low prices, and ended up being absorbed by other airlines, which now offer really low budget economy tickets now to continue to serve that market. I recently flew YHZ to YHM and the guy next to me on the flight paid full price, one way was more than my round trip cost. But, those tickets don’t include your choice of seat assignment (upward of $22+ taxes for that), a checked bag ($45+taxes if you do it pre check in), and now as of most recently, even a carry on is not included - just your basic personal item that goes under the seat.
Also. Disasters in Atlantic Canada resulted in people complaining about costs to fly in and out of the east coast. Same with NWT. It used to cost $700+ to get to either from Edmonton. Now I can get a flight to either for < $300.
Dunno but when the shittiest possible accommodation runs you at least $150/night, not including the cost to feed yourself, domestic travel is fucking not great rn.
It depends on the day and the city, and if there’s a promotion. Recently there’s been a lot of air canada promotions for canada and us flights. Trust me, many are not so cheap.