Flying to Canada Advice Please.

[Tony_S]

My son is going to Canada in September for a year as an exchange student at the University of Calgary. All of the financial, academic and residential stuff has been sorted out. Now all he needs to do is get there. Fortunately, unlike his trip to Hanoi last year there actually are flights from London to Calgary.

His friends (going to Vancouver not Calgary) have been looking at cheap flights. I am concerned that what appears cheap isn't necessarily so. He has found some flights but they are charter flights I believe and have very restricted luggage (including hand luggage) allowances. If luggage is an issue (I don't quite know what he will take for a years stay anyway yet!) have any RMwebbers had any recent experience of the best way to travel there?

Or should I tell him just to take a small amount of stuff with him and buy whatever he needs there?

 

All suggestions gratefully received!

Tony

[peach james]

Depends on carrier. I would expect that he would be as well to fly to Vancouver, then back to Calgary. I'd probably go with someone other than Air Canada, and go with one of the real air carriers rather than a charter. (unless he his buying a one way ticket at this time). The charter air companies have a disturbing habit of going out of business, and I would be reluctant to line their pocket for a year, and have the trip home disappear anyway...

 

(Westjet for the in Canada part...but that's my preference, I'd also check the price difference...)

 

I'd expect cost for UK-Vancouver to be $700, or about 350 ukp return flying on something kind of reputable, with a decent chance of it being there when he wants to come home. You are right to price out the total ticket cost rather than just the up front, there will be some airport improvement fees, and fuel surcharges too...

 

James

[Tony_S]

I think at the moment he is researching one way but I don't know definitely how good an idea that is. At the end of the course in the summer of 2013 he will have time to travel in North America. There are various relatives dotted about the US so he could finally return to the UK from California (just an example!). I have told him to go for reliable rather than cheap. His mother is now thinking about us all going on holiday starting and ending in Calgary so we can take some stuff but although she has many fine qualities I can't see her going on holiday without using her and most of my baggage allowance anyway!

[Tree]

Worth checking current regulations - I know a few years ago that Canada was awkward about letting people in, unless they already had a ticket to get home.

[Tony_S]

Worth checking current regulations - I know a few years ago that Canada was awkward about letting people in, unless they already had a ticket to get home.

I'll get him to check that. He has permission to enter on some sort of student visa or permit. He should be able to sort that kind of restriction through the liaison office at university. If he does have to buy a ticket a year in advance for his return I'd certainly be happier with an "established" carrier. He has to come home to do the final year of his degree!

[roundhouse]

Air Transat fly from Gatwick to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton but not every day of the week. They are a charter ###### scheduled inline using A330 airbus panes so are reasonably modern and can be had for £600 return but they do have a lower luggage allowance than people such as Air Canada or British Airways. You get what you pay for reallly but if he is travelling with a rucksack rather than cases then he may get away with a lower allowance. also bear in mind that many carriers share the same plane but with their own flight numbers.

 

There aren't that many other carriers flying direct to Vancouver from the UK. Another option is to take a fligh to an Eastern Canadian city or to Seattle USA nd change planes. Try Expedia for possible flight options as you can pay around with flights etc to see what suits you. Another good one is Trailfinders but you I'll have to email thm your itinerary or ring them.

 

Ian

[Tony_S]

Air Transat fly from Gatwick to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton but not every day of the week. They are a charter ###### scheduled inline using A330 airbus panes so are reasonably modern and can be had for £600 return but they do have a lower luggage allowance than people such as Air Canada or British Airways. You get what you pay for reallly but if he is travelling with a rucksack rather than cases then he may get away with a lower allowance. also bear in mind that many carriers share the same plane but with their own flight numbers.

 

There aren't that many other carriers flying direct to Vancouver from the UK. Another option is to take a fligh to an Eastern Canadian city or to Seattle USA nd change planes. Try Expedia for possible flight options as you can pay around with flights etc to see what suits you. Another good one is Trailfinders but you I'll have to email thm your itinerary or ring them.

 

Ian

 

Air Transat to Calgary was one he found but although he can go Club class and take more luggage, I thought he'd better have a look around. I think he should find someone at uni who went in previous years and see what it is worth taking/not taking, that could make the low luggage allowance irrelevant. I've not flown much and only for holidays so I'm not too sure about what sort of ticketing people on long stay trips even get!

[Guest Moria]

If you want to fly into Calgary, one of the trips I have used is klm. This is a 2 step flight. First to amsterdam from heathrow. Then amsterdam to calgary. That might be worth checking. I know lufthansa do a flight but its a rebadged air canada and frankly that may or may not happen depending on whether air canad pilots have another sick day or not. The other alternatives i would look at is british air to toronto then westjet to calgary or even if he is also a train person. British air to toronto, train to calgary through the rockies

 

Even though i live here now, i cannot, honestly, recommend air canada.

 

I also believe he mayi need a return ticket in order to get in. Be careful, right now, of a stopovert in usa as you will have to go through entry into usa to fly out again

 

Book the ticket through an abta travel agent using a visa card / mastercard NOT online ( they will match online price) and ensure you are protected through the travel industry and the credit card company in case of airline going under so you don't loose your ticket in case of disaster.

 

Regards

 

G

[trisonic]

Me too. I've heard nothing but badness with Air Canada (their internal airline is even worse...)

 

Best, Pete.

[roundhouse]

The Rocky Mountaneer train from Vancouver to Calgary isn't a scheduled service (that ceased in 1991) and is very expensive to travel on. It alo rus on a limited number of days. Much cheaper to fly between those cities unfortunately.

 

Ian

[Ozexpatriate]

british air to toronto then westjet to calgary or even if he is also a train person. British air to toronto, train to calgary through the rockies

Except that the Rockies are on the other side of Calgary. Calgary is the jumping off point to the magnificent Bow River valley in the Canadian Rockies including such wonders as Banff and Lake Louise. As a plus it is also home to the old CPR mainline coming down from British Columbia and the continental divide at Kicking Horse Pass.

[Guest Moria]

Sorry. Brain fart, i meant vancouver then train back.. Typing without thinking again

 

Regards

 

G

[trisonic]

Suggest he goes to Aspen, Colorado instead.....

 

Best, Pete.

[Tony_S]

He is definitely going to Calgary! Most of his friends are going to Vancouver but Matthew specifically wanted to study whatever it was he is doing at Calgary! He has had to work really hard this year to get the grades to be eligible for US or Canadian exchanges so I'm very pleased for him. Choices were open at Texas A&M, Miami Ohio, Vancouver or Calgary. The grades he gets in Calgary will count towards his final degree grade so he will have to continue to work hard there as well!

I've phoned him tonight. He has just received the letter of acceptance from Calgary and has started the student visa application. Other students seem to think they don't need a return ticket but he will check.

 

Tony

[Bernard Lamb]

I would suggest checking prices going via the US.

Some years ago I went to Vancouver and it was far cheaper with a change in Chicago.

Bernard

[Grovenor]

Me too. I've heard nothing but badness with Air Canada

I used Air Canada frequently from 1990 up to last year and never had any problem, and I've still enough airmiles left for two more trips.

Regards

Keith

[AndrewC]

As the resident former Calgarian on the list.

 

First, you'll find that 90% of all UK to Vancouver flights stop in Calgary anyway. Not a smart way to transfer even if its a direct flight as you are actually adding 2000km to your flight distance. Not to mention that Vancouver airport is a #### hole when it comes to baggage handling. You are likely to miss the connection waiting for your bags. (you have to collect in customs prior to transferring them to the internal flight)

 

Lufthansa & KLM no longer fly direct to Calgary. The flights are a code share with Air Canada. (its not as bad as some people make out, but not the world's best either)

 

Going via the US will be a pain as US customs aren't too fond of students hopping in just to transfer out. Know of enough people that have had nightmares in the US with customs and missed their connecting flights.

 

Direct flights, you are limited to BA, Air Canada, and charters. Most charters limit luggage to 20kg + 5kg carry on. Which you already know. AC has reduced their limits to 35kg IIRC.

 

Booking Air Transat through Canadian Affair with the club class upgrade gives you 40kg + 15kg carry on. Normally the upgrade is less than the excess baggage charge. Then again the excess baggage is often less than the ticket difference between the charter and Air Canada.

 

If you want to go indirect, the best way is to fly into Montreal or Toronto then go WestJet to Calgary. If you have to go via the US then Minneapolis or Chicago are the best routes.

 

Then again he could just travel light, and hit Wal Mart for his year's supplies. If he wants to keep them afterwards just ship home via an excess baggage company. (surface)

[Theakerr]

KLM via Amsterdam is very good. They do fly to Calgary - just had a look. As far as I know they are not part of the AC cabal, they are part of the Air France one. Prices for an extended return are very high but shorter stays are more reasonable (In the past it was sometimes cheaper to throw away the return and rebook). I have not used air transat but i know a lot of people who have and they have been happy unless they were 6' plus. Note, I beleiev in the UK transat is Peter Cook. As someone has said you might want to try combinations (say KLM to Ottawa and then on to Calgary) using Westjet - they are very good. Personally I am not a fan of AC but if it is a true Lufthansa flight I have been very happy.

[trisonic]

Taking just the choices that Matthew had I'd agree on Calgary; taking nothing else into account. Vancouver is not the ideal place at all for impressionable young students - unless it has changed very recently it has an appalling hard drug problem.

Air Canada is no means my least favourite airlline that belongs to Avianca and Alitalia.

 

Best, Pete.

[Ozexpatriate]

Round about September or so, make sure he has the funds to purchase winter clothing. It's probably best to purchase them there. Calgary is brutal in the winter - the January average HIGH is 27°F (-2.8°C) and the average low is 4.8°F (-15.1°C). But the nearby Rockies are amazing then.

 

Right now it is spring, and getting nice and there's the Stampede to look forward to in July. (Tonight's forecast is still below freezing!)

[AndrewC]

I'd forgotton that KLM still do an Amsterdam - YYC run. They used to have an LHR - YYC as well. That's what got terminated. The Lufthansa code share is on an AC plane. Normally a crappy Airbus thing.

 

Canadian Affair used to be a bucket shop for a bunch of charters. (Monarch, Thomas Cook, Transat, Canada3000, etc) They were bought out by Thomas Cook and all other carriers disappeared for a while. Now Its operated by Thomas Cook but they only use Transat for the flights so they can use their own planes on shorter runs. The LGW - YYC run is a 24 hour return which ties up the aircraft too long in their opinion.

 

Pete: Vancouver's drug problem is pretty much confined to the edge of downtown by China town. The Uni is miles away and its easy to enjoy the city without ever going near the scum.

 

Calgary weather..... Well its not what you think it is. To start with Calgary is around 3500' above sea level in the rain shadow of the Rockies. High 'n dry! Summer temps can range from 1 or 2c at night to 35c in the day. Often in the same day. It actually nice that it cools off after a hot day as you don't end up sleeping in a hot sweaty mess. Very low humidity makes for wide temp variations. Winters are a total crap shoot. I've had patio BBQs on Boxing Day with +18c. I've had -38c New Year's Eves as well. This is all caused by Chinooks. (note its pronounced shin uuk, with an ssss sound not chin ook. You will get laughed at and corrected) These winds cause rapid humidity, air pressure, and temperaure changes. Some people experience major migraines when a chinook is about to hit. That's one of the reasons we moved as SWMBO really suffered. Matthew may want to look at investing in a humidifier if he starts getting nose bleeds. Simple rule is to be ready for anything. Sun, snow, rain, etc all in the same day.

 

Stampede: well may the lord have mercy on your soul. This year is the 100th and basically its a 10 day party where nobody gets any work done. The basic schedule for a Stampede day is chuckwagon breakfast. Orange juice is usually spiked with champagne or vodka. Coffee is usually spiked with Bailey's or whisky. Then you go wander around trying to find another breakfast to kill time before going for drinks at lunch. Lunch usually lasts until 4pm. Followed by hitting a cow bar or the grounds in the evening. Yee haa.

 

More snippets of touristy info as I think of them.

[roundhouse]

We were in Vancouver last Summer albeit for one day but much just like any other major city these days. It certainly seemed as safe as it was on prvious visits in the main central areas, on the Skytrain and in osem of the more recntly redevloped old warehouse district.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Having done a trip to Calgary last year - part of a Rockies/Rocky Mountaineer/Vancouver/etc. trip I most certainly NOT fly Thomas Cook/Air Transat ever again. We paid extra (£152 return for both of us.) for legroom, only to find that the cross aisle was used as a thoroughfare by the cabin crew with the trolleys, as well as anyone wanting to get to the toilets, stretch thier legs, etc.

 

My sister, a resident of Vancouver, also has a very poor view of Air Transat. On the other hand we have found Air Canada very good when we have flown with them

 

There is definitely an anti attitude that exists towards national carriers. The Canadians slag off AC, the Brits don't like BA and so on. We will, in future, only fly long haul with a national airline or other well established major airline (e.g. Virgin).

 

Vancouver is a great city and as Andrew C has already said, the drugs problem is largely confined to the eastern edge of China Town. Having said that, it's a small city (compared to London) and you only need to go one or two blocks to get from tourist central into junkie town. We found the only real problem the downtown "panhandlers" who use quite sophisticated tales of woe to extract money from tourists. However, forewarned is forearmed and a simple but positive "no thanks" works the trick. Otherwise, a great place to be and usually voted the No. 1 city in the world to live in.

 

We have always found Canada a great place to visit, I hope that your son really enjoys it.

 

Jol

[John_Hughes]

Good old Cow Town - I've spent several days there, luckily never at the time of the Stampede!

 

Seconded the point about winter clothing; he'll need to get it there (nothing sold over here will do the job) and expect to spend quite a bit of cash on it. The mornings can be pretty nippy even in September - expect sharp frosts most nights - but in general the days are very pleasant until quite well on - I've actually been to an outdoor barbecue in Regina in November!

 

Calgary Transit (bus / tram) was always pretty good in my day - and any fairly high vantage point gives a wonderful view of the Rockies in the distance on a clear day.

 

I'd go for Air Canada myself; everyone hates them, but they're actually not a bad outfit, especially compared to some of the cheap-and-nasty carriers that are around today, and they never lost a single bag from our family.

 

And be prepared for possible hassles at Immigration; most of the folks there are pretty good in my experience, but there are certainly a few awkward characters, and it's no fun to run into those at the end of a tiring flight when your body's telling you it's 3 in the morning but the sun is still high in the sky!

[AndrewC]

Having done the flight around 20 times..... here be my flight experiences.

 

The good:

Best of all: Wardair. Sadly swallowed up by Canadian airlines. Owned by a former bush pilot Max Ward, a friend of my dad. Fantastic service etc. My first flight was on a 727 with a refuelling stop in Greenland. Flight was delayed as they had to chase a moose of the runway.

 

2: Canadian Airlines. A merger of PWA, CP, and Wardair. Another great airline and one of the few scheduled flights into LGW instead of LHR. Crushed by a price war with Air Canada. (subsidised by the Canadian taxpayer but that's bordering on getting me thrown off the forum for political ranting)

 

3: Thomas Cook / Canadian Affair. Miles better and more comfortable than Air Canada. Better in flight service too.

 

The bad.

 

Air Transat. Not as bad as Air Canada but not as good as the Thomas Cook operated flights.

Air Canada. Often late, very poor service in flight. Messed up reservations, messed up Aeroplan points. Planes often dirty with worn out interiors.

Monarch. Canadian Affair booked code share. Once and only once. After that flight we juggled our dates to avoid their planes.

 

The ugly.

 

Canada 3000. Long dead and with good reason. Made Ryan Air look like Emirates Business Class. 9 hour flight with only 1 working toilet. Broken seats, etc, etc.