As COVID–19 restrictions are lifted and more and more Canadians look to travel abroad, the government of Canada says it’s making it easier to renew your passport. The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, today announced the expansion of the simplified renewal application process for Canadian passports. Beginning today, March 31, Canadians in Canada and abroad can now use the simplified process to renew an expired passport as long as it was issued within the last 15 years. The Trudeau government said the simplified process Read more
March 2022
Consumers are optimistic about their 2022 cruise travel plans. That’s the overall sentiment from a recent survey conducted by arrivia, a leading travel loyalty and cruise booking technology platform that works with consumer-facing companies worldwide. The company surveyed 1,453 Americans between November 3, 2021, and January 10, 2022, all of whom are members of a travel club or travel benefits program, about their attitudes and preferences around cruise travel. Initial responses were collected just a few weeks before the emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, with responses also being recorded into January 2022 as it became the dominant strain worldwide. Read more
A new era has come for travel to Canada today (April 1, 2022). As of April 1, fully vaccinated residents and visitors coming into Canada no longer have to show a negative result from a COVID-19 test. That means Canadians can travel out of the country and not have to worry about finding an expensive COVID-19 test. They also don’t have to worry that they’ll be denied entry to the country because of a positive test result. It also means foreign visitors can avoid pricey tests and the worry of testing positive prior to their flight. Read more
With demand ramping up and COVID-19 travel restrictions dropping around the world, Air Canada will more than double its capacity this year. Canada’s largest airline said on Wednesday that capacity will jump 150% this year compared to 2021. That’s encouraging, but still represents about 75% of their 2019 levels. Officials said they expect capacity to reach 95% by 2024. “The overall recovery is indeed getting closer,” Air Canada’s chief commercial officer Lucie Guillemette said at the company’s annual investor day on Wednesday. Guillemette said new routes are being added out of Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and that officials are encouraged Read more
In a move that took some observers by surprise, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has dropped its notice of risk for cruise travel. After more than two years of warning would-be cruisers about how dangerous cruise travel could be during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Atlanta-based CDC today dropped its warning entirely. “CDC is removing the COVID-19 Cruise Ship Travel Health Notice,” spokesperson Dave Daigle, spokesperson for the health agency, told USA TODAY. The CDC issues travel health notices to let travellers know about current health issues that could impact their plans. The group had cruise at Read more
