WestJet has a throwback sale listed on their website today. “Our birthday may be over, but the fun hasn’t stopped,” the site says. “Enjoy throwback pricing with our week-long sale. Plus, today only, we’re offering a limited number of Canadian flights for travel by June 24, 2022 with fares inspired by our birth year. “Fares so low, you would think you’re back in 1996. Booyah!” The site shows one-way flights from Calgary to Victoria from $56, from Vancouver to Kelowna from $46, and from Saskatoon to Edmonton for $56. The site says flights must be booked by March 7 at Read more

By Jim Byers Member, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Canadian medical and business leaders are asking the Trudeau government to remove pre-departure testing entirely for fully vaccinated travellers. Speaking at an event in Calgary today, members of the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable and other experts called on Ottawa to make the change on or before April 1, when the regulations will be updated. Continued testing targeted at solely the travel sector is both unnecessary and not rooted in science, they said. “While the federal government took a step in the right direction by altering the testing regime around Read more

One week after discontinuing its curfew, the Government of Barbados is announcing a series of updates to enhance travellers’ entry process into the country.   Effective Saturday, February 26, 2022, travellers to Barbados will have more options with the acceptance of Rapid Antigen tests for entry, once administered by a healthcare provider no more than one day prior to arrival in Barbados. Rapid Antigen Tests are widely available in Barbados’ primary source markets, including Canada, and results are typically returned within one hour.   Rapid Antigen Tests join the list of approved tests for entry in Barbados. Also accepted are Read more

Canada is set to ease its travel and testing rules in less than 48 hours, but the country’s chief public health officer is suggesting the government will throw things into reverse if needed. The Edmonton Journal and Canadian Press report that Dr. Theresa Tam on Friday (Feb. 25) said that nobody knows what the coronavirus will do next, and that Canada has to be ready to bring back some public health measures if case counts begin to rise sharply again. Noting that viruses often pick up steam when cool weather arrives, Tam said Canada needs be ready for the fall, Read more

With flights set to launch in Spring 2022, Ireland is welcoming the news that Air Canada announced this week – an expanded Summer 2022 international schedule with 34 routes relaunching across the Atlantic and Pacific, including Vancouver to Dublin (June 1st) and Montreal to Dublin (June 2nd). Air Canada already flies Toronto to Dublin. “In a clear sign that international travel is back, we are excited with the news of Air Canada’s resumption of direct routes from Montreal and Vancouver to Dublin. 2022 now sees five direct gateways across Canada and we look forward to welcoming Canadians from across the Read more

Starting today (Feb. 28), fully vaccinated travellers no longer have to take a PCR-style test to enter Canada. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos last week announced that travellers will still be required to take a pre-arrival test before entering Canada. But the Trudeau government now will allow fully vaccinated Canadians and foreign visitors to provide results from a rapid antigen test, which can be purchased more easily than PCR or molecular-style tests, and are a fraction of the cost. The government initially said rapid tests will have to be taken with 24 hours of a scheduled departure to Canada or Read more