Airfare prices in Canada jumped 11.6 per cent year over year in May, according to Statistics Canada. Canadian Press says tickets are now above pre-pandemic levels. CP quotes Montreal-based Hopper Inc. as saying that prices are up 15 per cent from 2019 to $960 on average for international flights from Canada, with no sign of a dip in the coming months. It’s no surprise that prices have gone up, given that fuel prices have escalated and demand has exploded. Experts say booking an early morning or late-night flight is one way to save money. Mid-week flights (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) Read more
Australia/New Zealand/PAC
A new list of the world’s most liveable cities puts three Canadian places in the top ten. Calgary came tied with Zurich for third spot, while Vancouver was fifth and Toronto eighth. No other country had three cities in the top ten, although Switzerland did have two. No Canadian cities made the top ten in 2021, so this is pretty cool. The Global Liveability Index is an annual ranking from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that rates 172 cities around the world on over 30 factors, from healthcare, infrastructure, education and crime rates to access to cultural and sports pursuits Read more
Aotearoa (New Zealand) is in celebration mode with the arrival of Matariki, a significant time in the New Zealand cultural calendar marking the beginning of Māori New Year. Each year the Matariki cluster of stars – known to astronomers as Pleiades or the Seven Sisters – rises in New Zealand skies. Believed to have formed more than 100 million years ago the cluster plays a pivotal role in modern and ancient Māori mythology. The Matariki celebration is essentially based around 3 major principles: Remembrance: Honouring those we have lost since the last rising of Matariki Celebrating the present: Gathering together Read more
/ Air Canada announced today the expansion of its international network with the addition of Bangkok, Thailand, the carrier’s first non-stop service to South-East Asia. The airline will also be resuming flights to Mumbai, its second destination in the strategic India market. Air Canada’s seasonal service to Bangkok will operate from its trans-Pacific hub at Vancouver International Airport, while the carrier’s Mumbai flights will operate from Toronto via London-Heathrow. Both routes are subject to receiving final government approvals. Officials say they expect to operate at 81% of their 2019 international capacity this winter. “We are extremely pleased to Read more
With many now planning their summer road trips, Premier Inn has researched Pinterest and Google search data for various routes around the world to reveal which road trips are inspiring the most wanderlust this year. The number of Pinterest boards and Google searches were counted and compared for road trips in the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. When it comes to holiday research and inspiration, Pinterest is one of the places where travel dreams are shared, with Pinterest boards revealing plenty about people’s future travel plans. Similarly, many holidaymakers turn to Google when researching Read more
