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July 2022

A driving trip in Calgary, Banff and Lake Louise is a beautiful thing; an iconic Canadian trip like no other. When you take it in a new Mazda CX-50 it’s that much more special. The folks at Mazda Canada were kind enough to let me use one of their new CX-50 SUV’s for a week earlier this month. As a guy who normally drives a 2010 model SUV, I jumped at the chance. The Mazda folks met me at the Calgary Airport after I got off my plane with a lovely, steely blue model. Unfortunately, my flight was more than Read more

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Lynx Air’s first flight from Edmonton International Airport took to the skies today, marking the commencement of five return services a week from  Edmonton International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport and St John’s International Airport. On July 30, 2022, the Edmonton-Toronto service will increase to seven flights per week and Lynx will add Halifax Stanfield International Airport to its Edmonton network with two services a week. At that point Lynx will be flying 14 flights per week in and out of Edmonton, which equates to 2,646 seats per week. The St. John’s and Halifax services will operate as through-flights Read more

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Mandatory random testing of fully vaccinated travellers will resume next Tuesday, and Canadian tourism officials aren’t happy about it. Ottawa paused mandatory random testing for those entering Canada by air on June 11, 2022, as part of a broader strategy to transition testing for air travellers outside of the airports. Mandatory random testing will resume as of July 19, 2022, for travellers who qualify as fully vaccinated, arriving in Canada by air to the four major Canadian airports—Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto. To qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller to Canada, travellers must have been vaccinated with a primary series Read more

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So, you think those of us who live in Toronto have it bad with Pearson Airport? Well, yeah, it’s been tough, with long wait times, lost luggage and general messiness. I’m not excusing our airlines or airports, but Pearson isn’t the only airport suffering right now. Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport has had major problems, as has Montreal Trudeau. Perhaps the worst, however, is London Heathrow. LHR, one of the world’s busiest airports, has made the extraordinary move of asking airlines to stop selling tickets for outbound travel this summer. CNN reports that Heathrow will be limiting passenger traffic to just 100,000 departures per Read more

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Travel + Leisure this week came out with its annual list of top destinations and hotels around the world. Among the featured lists was a gathering of the top 20 resorts in Hawai’i, a place I love dearly. Here’s there list, along with a few suggestions of my own. Hotel Wailea, Maui Halepuna Waikiki by Halekulani, O’ahu Four Seasons Resort, Maui (great food, beautiful beach and a terrific spa) Prince Waikiki, Honolulu, O’ahu Montage Kapalua Bay, Maui (only walked past it, but a stunning hotel with wonderful views and one of the best beaches on the planet.) Mauna Lani, Auberge Read more

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