Porter Airlines on Friday flew a group of media folks on a test flight out of Toronto Pearson to show off their new jets and premium service. I was invited to take the flight but I was flying home from New York City and couldn’t make it. I was, however, able to find a segment from reporter Richard Southern on CityNews. Speaking to Southern on camera, Porter CEO Michael Deluce said he enjoyed a salmon poke lunch on board the test flight. “The entire platform is about disrupting economy travel,” Deluce said. “There’s long been a lot of dissatisfaction about Read more

Lynx Air launched its inaugural flight to the United States today, departing from Toronto Pearson International Airport and arriving at Orlando International Airport. Canada’s new, ultra-affordable airline will operate four direct flights per week between Toronto and Orlando, flying brand-new Boeing 737 aircraft. To celebrate Lynx’s inaugural Orlando service, the airline is offering a chance to win a vacation package for four, including flights, accommodation, and passes to Orlando theme parks. Lynx is also launching a limited-time seat sale, offering up to 50% off base fares for flights from Toronto to Orlando, using the promo code: FLYUSA. Fares start from Read more

A lakefront that’s the envy of the world. Amazing architecture. Fabulous food. And Midwestern hospitality. Those are just some of the reasons that readers of Conde Nast Travel have voted Chicago the best big city in the U.S. six years in a row. “That means more than 240,000 readers of Conde Nast voted for us,” Lynn Osmond, President and CEO of Choose Chicago, told me in a recent interview. “No other city has been chosen number one three years in a row, but we’ve done it six times straight.” Osmond said the city’s Midwestern hospitality is another key factor in Read more

Following is a Sunwing statement on holiday travel disruptions for Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Agency Leaders Advisory Group To our valued travel advisors, At Sunwing, we have always remained steadfast in our purpose of making vacation dreams come true and travel advisors are integral to that process, helping our mutual customers choose from a wide variety of all inclusive resorts located in a number of popular vacation destinations. We know the past three years have been challenging and we have navigated through each obstacle together. Of course, this past month has been particularly difficult for travel advisors Read more

THIS IS A REPOST FROM A TRIP TO FLORIDA A FEW YEARS AGO. NOTE THAT SOME BUSINESSES MAY HAVE CLOSED IN THE MEANTIME, SO PLEASE CHECK BEFORE YOU MAKE PLANS DUNEDIN, FLORIDA – It was the spring of 1993. I don’t remember the weather in Toronto. I only remember that I was heading down to a town called Dunedin in Florida to cover the Blue Jays in their spring training games for the Toronto Star, where I was one of a trio of baseball beat writers. I’ve always had a strong liking to warm weather, palm trees and casual, walkable Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is asking Canada’s top bureaucrat to look into the controversial ArriveCAN app. Trudeau this week said it was “illogical and inefficient” for the public service to give millions of dollars in contracts to a two-person firm that subcontracted out its work on the app, which was used to keep track of Canadians and visitors coming over the border during the COVID-19 pandemic. Published reports say the app could end up costing taxpayers $54 million. Critics have said the app could’ve been developed for a tiny fraction of that amount. The CBC reports that “GCstrategies subcontracted out Read more