In a recent post Fernand made a comment about advance booking. In particular, he mentioned the savings associated with booking rail travel in Europe. That’s a great tip where it makes sense to book your rail journey as soon as your dates are fixed or as soon as the advance purchase discount fares become available. Although these are typically non-refundable, the savings are so significant that it’s worth the risk. But the larger question on when is a good time to book a trip is not so simple. I’ll attempt to go through some of the factors involved.  [Read more…]

In the quest to find decent redemption options for expiring Dream miles, I did some digging around the Air Miles website to see what opportunities exist. As with the Canadian examples, these redemptions are intended for two travellers. The hotels I chose weren’t necessarily the cheapest but appeared to be a good value based on location and cash rate.  [Read more…]

If you’re looking to get some value for your Air Miles and you have some flexibility in your travel plans, there are a few options worth considering. The important thing to remember is that availability varies significantly depending on the dates. You may be lucky and find the right combination of flights and hotel quickly but it’s more likely to take some searching. These examples departing Maritime airports are based on two people travelling and include hotel and air options.  [Read more…]

My first trip to Europe was a whirlwind tour on a bus. It was pre-internet so we went to a travel agent, looked at the brochures and picked one we liked. Now, with a huge amount of information to peruse online, it’s easier to assess the many tour options. For someone who doesn’t enjoy trip planning or feels more comfortable travelling with a guide, a tour may be the right choice. If you feel like a tour best suits your travel needs, there are certainly many to choose from beyond the large well-known companies. Here’s a rundown of some of the different types of tours available.  [Read more…]

A great feature of Aeroplan is the ability to include a stopover in your trip using the “multi-city” search option. For flights in Canada and continental USA (25,000 long-haul and 15,000 short-haul “fixed mileage”) you can book either an open-jaw itinerary or one with a stopover. The stopover can be of any length. This is a great way to get some added value for your miles. It also makes for some interesting destination combinations.  [Read more…]

Before I get to the stuff about renting a timeshare, I’d like to mention a bit of important info. If you know someone who just recently bought a timeshare directly from a developer for a lot of money, please remind them to check the rescission period in the contract (for example, it’s 10 days in Florida) and examine the re-sale market for the one they purchased. I know there are exceptions, such as winter weeks at ski resorts, however many timeshares can be purchased resale for a tiny fraction of the retail price or for free. [Read more…]

With the great fares to London at the moment, some might be pondering a trip across the pond. I thought I would add up what a week in London might cost when you consider the rest of the expenses. Included are flights, accommodation, transportation and sightseeing. The cost of food was left out as that will vary depending on the travellers’ preferences. Here’s an example for 4 adults departing from Halifax.  [Read more…]

The impending expiry of Air Miles has been in the news a few times. If you’re a collector and you haven’t already, you should find out if you have any Air Miles set to expire at the end of the year. If so, you’ve got to decide how you want to redeem them. Here are a few travel-related redemption options for getting good value for your Air Miles.  [Read more…]

If you take a look at the Daily Currency Converter, you’ll see that one British pound will cost you $1.68 Canadian today. Back on June 23 it was $1.89. You’re probably aware of what happened on June 23. Who knows where it will go from here, but if you’re looking to go to London in the relative near future, your budget will stretch a wee bit further now. And here are couple of tips one might find useful. [Read more…]

If you live in the Maritimes, all Blue Jays games are away games. I’m not a big sports fan myself but I know how devoted some people are to their chosen teams. So, I thought I’d see what’s available (as of today) to Blue Jays games considering the cost of the flight, hotel and availability of baseball tickets.  [Read more…]