It’s that time of year in Canada, folks.
March Break is a time-honoured travel tradition in this country; a time when kids get a respite from school and families often take off for warmer, sunnier climes.
Air Canada says it will welcome more than 136,000 passengers today (Friday, March 13) as passengers head out for the annual break. The airline also says families flying through Toronto Pearson are in for a heartwarming surprise. Air Canada is hosting a Paws and Relax experience with St. John Ambulance Therapy Dogs who will be wandering the terminal with wagging tails both today and tomorrow (March 14).
A flight information board at Toronto Pearson Airport. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Air Canada is offering proactive tips and tricks to help passengers navigate the rush:
- Use the AC App as Your Co-Pilot: Use the app to track flights, get gate notifications, navigate airports, and manage your booking. (I use it a lot on my travels and find it extremely handy)
- Arrive on Time: Follow the app’s suggested arrival times to avoid the stress of longer lines. (I can’t stress this enough. GO EARLY. Bring a book. Listen to a podcast. It’s much better to arrive early and be relaxed than to start out your holidays as a stress case.)
- Pack Smart: Pack light to avoid overweight fees and ensure carry-on items fit the size limits for a smooth boarding process.
- Double-Check Your Documents: Before you leave home, ensure all travel documents are valid and that the name on your ticket matches the name on your ID. (I have run into problems with tickets that don’t use my official name. It can be a huge hassle, so don’t make this mistake).
- Enjoy In-Flight Comfort & Connectivity: Air Canada now offers free beer and wine, and great Canadian-made snacks, on all economy flights. Aeroplan members free, fast Wi-Fi on eligible routes and free inflight texting, which is a great way to stay in touch about arrival times and other topics. Air Canada also has terrific, free, in-flight entertainment that includes literally hundreds of movies and TV shows
Air Canada now has fast, free Wi-Fi on 88% of its flights. It’s a great way to work on board and stream great TV shows and movies, including Apple + shows like “Bad Monkey.”
I had a chance to speak about the challenges of March Break travel with Tina Flammia, Director of Concierge at Air Canada. She told me the Air Canada app is a great tool for navigating the airport and providing gate information, including when boarding is beginning.
“You can also track your bag on the app, and now you can even see the name of the person who handled your bag.”
With the weather in Toronto expected to take a turn for the worse on Friday afternoon, Flammia said Air Canada has its de-icing equipment at the ready and will be clearing runways to deal with potential snow and ice. They also have added larger aircraft on popular routes, and have even adjusted for extra-large luggage, such as skis and golf bags.
“We’re ready to make March Break travel as safe and seamless as possible,” she said. “We also have extra support in place for families and people with accessibility issues.”
WEATHER WARNING FOR MARCH BREAK
Update: A late winter snow storm is wreaking havoc at Pearson today, with more than 300 delayed flights and 71 cancellations as of 2 p.,m. ET. There are also wind delays at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, resulting in nearly 1,100 flights delays as of 1 p.m. local time on Friday. Good luck!
MARCH BREAK TRAVEL TRENDS
I had a nice conversation on Thursday night with Amra Durakovic, head of communications and public relations for Flight Centre Travel Group Canada. Speaking from San Diego, where she was addressing a Visit California event and talking about the lack of Canadian travellers heading to the States, Durakovic told me Canadians are looking at places such as Japan, Australia, Portugal, Mexico and Costa Rica for spring travel.
“We want to go where we’re welcome and where our dollar stretches a bit. Not necessarily to a place with a cheaper price point, but to places like Australia, where we know we’ll be welcome and we know our dollar is almost at par with the Australian dollar.”
With the Canadian dollar performing well against the yen, Flight Centre also is seeing considerable bookings for Canadians in Japan. Europe, generally seen as a summer destination for Canadians, is proving very popular for spring travel.
Lisbon, Portugal. JIM BYERS PHOTO
The company also is seeing more Canadian domestic bookings.
“That seems to suggest domestic bookings are taking the (lost) US share,” Durakovic said.
All that being said, Flight Centre says Mexico remains the number one spot for Canadians right now.
“We’re seeing more people shift towards Cancun, and the Dominican Republic has sort of replaced Cuba because of the price point.”
Portugal and Costa Rica also are very popular for Canadians looking to travel this spring, she said.
Cancun, Mexico. JIM BYERS PHOTO
“March break travel is showing a lot of strength with double-digit year-over-year growth for leisure destinations, especially in the Caribbean and Mexico,” Ar Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick told the Toronto Star. “Issues in Mexico seem to have decreased, and we have not heard any major concerns or booking pattern changes.”
In fact, Fitzpatrick said Air Canada boosted its March capacity to Mexico’s Cancun by more than 40,000 seats year-over-year, while its capacity to the Dominican Republic’s Punta Cana grew by 20,000. Brazil, Bangkok and Florida are also among the most popular spots this March break, he added.
MORE CANADA-USA TRAVEL WOES
Unsplash Photos
A new survey from Nanos Research for CTV News finds that 43%t of Canadians are less likely to travel to the United States in 2026, compared to the previous year.
Thirty-eight per cent said they don’t vacation in the United States in general, while just four per cent said they are likely to spend more leisure time south of the border.
For many Canadians, “the U.S. is not on the radar in terms of a travel destination,” said Nik Nanos.
Statistics Canada recently reported that Canadian-resident return trips from the States in February were down 14.5% from February of last year, and down a considerable 31.5% from Feb. 2024, before the start of U.S.-Canada trade tensions.
AIR CANADA ADDS LUXURY BUSES FROM NIAGARA, MUSKOKA and SARNIA
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TIME MAGAZINE TOP DESTINATIONS FOR 2026
Time Magazine (remember them?) has a wide-ranging list of cool places and hotels to check out this year.
The list includes a cool new museum in San Francisco, a small-city Ontario restaurant serving indigenous cuisine, and off-the-beaten-path spots in Slovenia, Tasmania and India.
At the top of their list was the reopening (just a few weeks ago) of Highway One through Big Sur in California. It’s a truly magical drive I’ve managed to do several times over the years. My wife and I drove part of the northern section in July of last year, taking our new convertible from Carmel/Monterey down to Nepenthe restaurant, just south of the village of Big Sur.
A drone view of Big Sur and the Bixby Bridge in California. GEORGE COX PHOTO/UNSPLASH
It’s a wonderful route that takes you past golden sand beaches, the impressive Point Sur Lighthouse and over the famous Bixby Bridge. If you’ve never been, a highly recommend a lunch or coffee at either Nepenthe or their outdoor Café Kevah, adjoining spaces with gob-smackingly beautiful views of the coast and the Pacific Ocean.
I was also happy to see a couple other mentions of California, including the historic Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego and the Counter Culture Museum in San Francisco, the unofficial counter culture capital of the world. I haven’t seen the museum but hope to visit later this year.
I quite like that Time stepped out of the “normal” destination list and highlighted a series of lesser-known spots. I live just a few hours away in Toronto, but I’d never heard of Nagaan restaurant in Owen Sound, Ontario until I read about it in the Time story. It’s a small place run by Ojibwa chef Zach Keeshig that focuses on indigenous cuisine and serves a 12-course meal. Wowza; not something you’d expect in little old Owen Sound.
I was also intrigued by mentions of Hotel Plesnik in the stunning Slovenian Alps and the Oberoi Rajgarh Palace Resort in Rājgarh, India, which looks spectacular. I was only in India once, and that was 15 years ago, but it made an indelible impression on me.
Other notable spots mentioned by Time include Flockhill, a boutique hotel/inn in the Craigieburn Valley of New Zealand, the Reefline underwater marine park in Miami, the Sea Sea Hotel in New South Wales, Australia, The Frick Collection art museum in New York City, and Nekajui, a posh Ritz-Carlton Reserve hotel in Costa Rica.
NO MORE PASSPORT STAMPS IN EUROPE?
It’s a sad day in my opinion. USA Today has an item that says travelers heading to the European Union for spring break or summer vacation this year should get ready for a new screening process at the border. The EU has done away with passport stamps and is now going all-biometric instead. Starting April 10, all EU border crossings in the Schengen Area will fully switch over to the new Entry/Exit System, which requires border officers to take a picture of a traveler’s face and/or scan their fingerprints.
It’s a much more efficient system, but I’ll miss going through my physical passport book and looking at the stamps from various countries around the world. At least we can still get stamps in countries outside Europe. For now, anyway.
