WestJet Encore began two years ago as a regional division of WestJet with two aircraft serving five cities. With today’s announcement that they’re adding a whack of new flights in the Maritimes and Newfoundland (as well as new options in Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa), WestJet’s Encore division is up to 16 planes serving more than 20 destinations, officials said. WestJet executives took to the tarmac at Stansfield International in Halifax today to unveil several new flights, including Halifax-Glasgow (May 29 on regular WestJet, not Encore), Halifax-Gander (July 15 on Encore), Halifax-Deer Lake/Corner Brook (July 15, Encore) and Halifax-Sydney (July 15, Read more
deals
It’s that time again. The Sochi Olympics have already begun, and the Opening Ceremony is Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern time. This is the first winter Olympics I’ve missed being at since Nagano. I was the Star’s Olympics assignment editor and on-site web person for all the Games from Sydney in 2000 up to Vancouver in 2010. Vancouver was a magical way to finish my Olympics career. I spent pretty much 15 to 16 hours a day at the Main Press Centre, organizing assignments and covering the odd press conference and writing sometimes eight or 10 stories a day for Read more
A brilliant, new way to earn free trips faster. A lot faster. The folks at Rocketmiles and Aeroplan are announcing a partnership today that will “help put people on vacation faster.” Rocketmiles is an incredibly smart program where you can earn thousands of points with Aeroplan or other airline reward programs while booking hotels in cities around the world at excellent prices. The Chicago-based company was founded in 2012 and is headed up by American Jay Hoffmann, who used to work with the United Mileage Plus program and at Groupon and other companies. “I’ve seen what works, “ he told Read more
Celebrities and travel, it seems, go together like popcorn and butter. Travelocity.ca has released the results of a new national survey which showcased the top 12 celebrity travel moments of 2013. Interestingly, Canadians appear to be evenly split on pop prince Justin Bieber, whose much publicized brawl in Britain earlier this year, tied for both the most and least memorable moment of 2013. “Bieber’s antics while travelling the world have been highly publicized and this was really the moment that started it all,” said Travelocity.ca resident travel expert, Brian Simpson. “So, it’s no surprise it’s the moment that resonates most Read more
WANDERING THE NAPA VALLEY IN CALIFORNIA – I often tell folks in Canada that I vastly prefer Sonoma Valley to Napa Valley when it comes to wine tasting and generally tooling around. But I think I have to them back on pretty even ground. I spent a lovely day in Sonoma a week or so ago. We then drove over to Napa for a night at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa, which doesn’t look like a chain hotel. There are lovely flowers and a really nice-looking, free-form pool in a courtyard surrounded by large trees. They had an Read more
