Boxing Day / After Christmas airline sales in Canada

I wrote yesterday that it was a great day to book a flight. Then came news of more great travel deals this morning.

On top of what I mentioned yesterday (see below for details), I got a note this morning to say that SATA/Azores Airlines is offering 25% off all flights from Canada to Portugal as a Boxing Day special. The airlines’ web site says the deal is for any route between Canada and Portugal operated by Azores Airlines and SATA Air Açores but does not include interlines/codeshares with other carriers. The sale runs from now until Jan. 4, 2017, so there’s plenty of time to book.

Travel has to take place from Jan. 6 to March 25, 2017. The 25% discount applies to any published fare but doesn’t apply for taxes and surcharges and can’t be used on old reservations. Still, that’s a very solid savings on a truly wonderful country.

I’ve been to Portugal twice in the past three years, visiting the beautiful Azores, the Algarve coast in the south and twice taking in the sights of Lisbon, one of my favourite cities.

Viking River Cruises today also announced a sale on an eight-day Rhine cruise in 2017, travelling from Amsterdam to Basel in May of next year. Viking is offering free air from Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Edmonton. As well, you can choose from benefits that include a free beverage package, a $300 onboard credit or pre-paid gratuities. The offer expires Dec. 31.

I took a Viking Cruise on the Danube last April and had a great time, so this sounds like a very good deal.

WestJet is offering 26 % off select base fares between now and Dec. 27 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time. You have to fly between Jan. 9 and Feb. 9, but that’s a pretty wide window, and the sale is for a wide variety of nice destinations.

I found a WestJet flight from Toronto to beautiful Barbados on Jan. 16, returning the 23rd, for $393.49 Cdn. That’s a good deal for a flight to an island with almost guaranteed good weather, being that much further south than popular spots such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Upstart economy airline New Leaf Travel is offering a whopping 50 % off already cheap prices if you book by Dec. 28 at midnight Pacific time. Flights have to take place between Jan. 9 and March 1, which is nearly a two-month window.

I found New Leaf flights from Hamilton, Ontario to Abbotsford, B.C. on Jan. 16, with a return on the 23rd, for just $238.53 Cdn. dollars. That’s less than half what the big boys often charge for flights between Toronto and Vancouver.

Yeah, you have to pay $26 to $28 for a checked bag and $32 to $34 or so for one that goes in the overhead bin on the plane, but with that kind of base price you can probably handle it.

Air Canada‘s sale is a bit more modest at 15% off, but it also runs a lot longer than the other ones; from Jan.11 to June 15 if you book by Dec. 29 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. April would be a good time for Hawaii or Florida, as hotel prices should have dropped at a time when the weather in Canada will likely still have you pining for palm trees and mai tais, or a round of golf. (I just booked an SUV for 11 days on Maui in late April and early May for about $400 Cdn; not bad at all).

I found Air Canada flights from Toronto to New York La Guardia (leaving Jan. 16 and returning Jan. 20) for just $240.59 Cdn.

Air Transat
also has a Boxing Day/Week sale. I saw return flights from Toronto to Orlando for $258 and between Toronto and London, England for $593 in January. Sure it’s cool in London in January, but you’re not exactly going there to boost your suntan in June or July, either.

I haven’t seen too many massive North America hotel deals out there on the world wide web this morning. But I did see that Hilton has hotels in the Asia/Pacific reason for a very solid 35% off. I found a Hilton in sunny Brisbane, Australia for only $115 USD a night; $102 if you’re a Hilton Honors member (it’s free to join).

Expedia was offering Las Vegas packages with savings of up to $325, which is quite sizable.