Today’s Future of Travel blog looks at everything from the impact of cancelled cruises to a series of new suspensions by cruise companies and airlines. It seems things are getting better, but it’s going to be a while until we travel in any significant manner. Cruise Cancellations Hit Canada Holland America on Wednesday announced it has cancelled all its cruises for Canada/New England, Europe and Alaska for this year because of the COVID-19 crisis. It’s a blow for consumers who had plans to travel, of course. But there’s also a huge impact on the destinations. Cities and countries around the Read more
Air Canada
This is another installment of my FUTURE OF TRAVEL series. Today I’m looking at a variety of topics, including closed borders. For all the talk of COVID-19 recoveries in some parts of the world, and it IS good news, it doesn’t mean we’ll be jetting off to Australia or Austria any time soon. In the words of The Eagles, “I’m stuck on the border.” The Canada-U.S. border, which is sometimes called the longest, undefended (for now, anyway) border in the world, has been closed since March 21. Only essential goods are allowed to cross, although people can go across if Read more
Air Canada is taking its service to a whole new level, and is giving other North American airlines something to seriously think about. Canada’s largest airline today announced its new “Signature Service,” including lie-flat seats on some flights. Available today for international customers and, starting June 1 on select flights within North America, the new service makes Air Canada the first North American airline to designate aircraft with lie-flat seats for premium customers on select non-stop, transcontinental flights within Canada and to the U.S., including overnight daily flights from Vancouver, Los Angeles and San Francisco to Toronto. I don’t know Read more
This a crushing blow for the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin, one of the favourite Caribbean retreats for Canadians every winter. Sunwing, a popular supplier of flights from Canada to the Dutch/French island, says they’re pulling out of all flights through the end of next April because of major damage caused by Hurricane Irma. The island’s airport was badly hurt by the storm, and many hotels also were badly damaged. That’s hard enough on folks who live there, but losing thousands of Canadian visitors will mean an even bigger loss for an island where folks rely on tourism to feed Read more
Nice to see some love coming Canada’s way as we get ready for our 150th birthday party on the weekend. Just in time for Canada Day (July 1 for those of you keeping score at home), a number of travel companies are offering special deals for travel to and from Canada. One of the best is a Canada 150 deal from Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which is rolling back prices on 20 voyages to the year 2012, when the Canadian dollar and the U.S. greenback were at par. That’s a huge savings versus today, when the Canadian dollar is trading Read more
