The Summer Travel Outlook released this week by Expedia finds that Canadian travellers are rediscovering the charm of their own country through coast-to-coast exploration. Trending spots include Tofino, St. John’s, Nanaimo, and Gaspésie. Beyond domestic travel, Canadians are also checking international destinations off their bucket list by visiting international capital cities and the world’s top beaches, with Cancun being the number one popular beach destination for Canadian travellers. “While we’ve been seeing recent fluctuations in U.S. search activities, Canadians are still eager to travel and have been rediscovering all the beauty Canada has to offer.” says Melanie Fish, head of Read more
Vancouver Airport
Your next trip out of Vancouver International Airport might be a pretty high-tech experience. Air Canada on Dec. 3 will bring in facial recognition as a boarding option for most domestic flights out of YVR. “The next evolution of Air Canada’s digital experience launches on December 3 with the expansion of the airline’s Digital Identification program as a boarding option for almost all of its domestic flights at Vancouver International Airport (YVR),” airline officials said. “Following a successful pilot project on select flights, Air Canada and YVR are the first in Canada to invest in the technology and equipment to Read more
J.D. Power’s latest study of U.S. and Canadian airports is pretty harsh when it comes to Canada. If you take this study at its word, we suck. We truly suck. But I don’t know if that’s quite true. The company’s annual airport review for 2024 ranks Toronto Pearson/YYZ as the second-worst mega airport in the two countries, ahead of only poor Newark-Liberty in New Jersey. J.D.Power ranked Vancouver International 15th out of 27 large airports, which is at least middle of the pack. But Calgary was 22nd and Montreal-Trudeau next-to-last at 26th. The 2024 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, the Read more
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
The Trudeau government says the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) will soon launch a new Verified Traveller program that will offer a faster and more efficient screening experience for eligible travellers at select airports across Canada. The news was quickly welcomed by a lobby group of Canadian business people, which called it a “forward-thinking” plan that will “improve the security screening experience for eligible travellers.” Ottawa said the new Verified Traveller program will replace the current Trusted Traveller program. By June 21, 2023, dedicated Verified Traveller screening lines will be available at select domestic and international checkpoints in the Read more
