Air Canada will begin non-stop flights from Vancouver to Singapore on April 3, with four flights a week. They will be the only direct flights between Canada and Singapore. Here’s a story from a visit I made to this fascinating nation in 2013. SINGAPORE – Funny thing about travel. Some places you build up and build up in your mind, and then when you go you feel like Norm walking into Cheers and finding the taps have run dry. Other times, you’re not quite sure what to expect and end up getting bowled over by a place. The latter was how Read more
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The annual Trip Advisor Best Beaches List is out again, and there’s plenty to like. For the world, Trip Advisor users named Baia de Sancho on the idyllic island of Fernando de Noronha in Brazil as the top beach, followed by Eagle Beach in Aruba and Cable Beach in Broome, Western Australia. I haven’t made it to Cable Beach, but I can tell you that beaches in Western Australia are some of the best – and least crowded – in the world. In world voting, Grace Bay in the Turks and Caicos was fifth, Varadero Beach in Cuba ninth and Read more
Kudos to Canada. And a nod to Hawai’i, as well. A study by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has anointed Canada as the safest country on the planet for 2024. Montreal came second in the world for safe cities, beaten only by Honolulu. Berkshire Hathaway nalyzed the responses of 1,702 travelers who were polled between August 24 and September 13, 2023, along with third-party data sources to evaluate concerns such as terrorism, weather emergencies, health measures, and the safety of underrepresented groups. The Berkshire Hathaway rankings also take into account data and information sourced from the U.S. State Department, The Economist, Read more
Folks in Southern Ontario have some great new options for sun vacations, and a new way to reach a cool part of Canada. Toronto Pearson Airport put out a note on social media the other day to point out several new routes to great destinations. Here’s a short list, along with the airlines that are flying there. Fort Myers, Florida — Lynx Air Montego Bay, Jamaica — Canada Jetlines Bonaire, Netherlands — WestJet Miami, Florida — Porter Airlines Fort-de-France, Martinique — Air Canada Kingston, Jamaica — Flair Airlines Lima, Peru — Air Transat Yellowknife, Northwest Territories — Air Canada Read more
Travel rewards programs are a great, no-cost way to save money and earn valuable points towards great trips. And Air Canada’s Aeroplan is one of the best for Canadians. With help from Aeroplan, you can turn your travel dreams into reality with endless redemption opportunities on flights to more than 1,300 destinations worldwide through the biggest network of airline partners. Better still, there are no restrictions or blackout dates to hold you back. I’ve been an Aeroplan member for a good 30-40 years now. I’ve used my points to book dozens of great trips around the world; Europe, Hawaii, Vancouver, Read more
