AIR CANADA -sale ends today

[twinkboylover28]

Just in case anyone cares, Air Canada is having a sale today.

 

I got my flight from Detroit to Montreal for almost half price at $318 (plus $50 for checked bag/luggage).

 

The sale ends tonight at midnight.

 

Interestingly enough, none of my numerous "airfare alerts" which I'm signed-up for from FareCompare, TripAdvisor, KAYAK, etc... were triggered. I just randomly did a manual search on Air Canada's website. Lucky me!

 

This makes me wonder how many good deals I've missed over the years, since obviously I can't rely on "airfare alerts."

[bigvalboy]

Just in case anyone cares, Air Canada is having a sale today.

 

I got my flight from Detroit to Montreal for almost half price at $318 (plus $50 for checked bag/luggage).

 

The sale ends tonight at midnight.

 

Interestingly enough, none of my numerous "airfare alerts" which I'm signed-up for from FareCompare, TripAdvisor, KAYAK, etc... were triggered. I just randomly did a manual search on Air Canada's website. Lucky me!

 

This makes me wonder how many good deals I've missed over the years, since obviously I can't rely on "airfare alerts."

 

Used to love Air Canada. Flew them all the time "Non-stop" from LA to Montreal. It was wonderful. All my other friends flew American Carriers and always had a layover somewhere. Summers weren't bad, but having to stop in Chicago or Detroit in the winter can be a shaky proposition.

[twinkboylover28]

Used to love Air Canada. Flew them all the time "Non-stop" from LA to Montreal. It was wonderful. All my other friends flew American Carriers and always had a layover somewhere. Summers weren't bad, but having to stop in Chicago or Detroit in the winter can be a shaky proposition.

 

Good to hear. This will be my very first time flying on Air Canada. I do have a layover both ways in Toronto for a couple hours; however, it beats the $600 "nonstop" Delta price.

 

Layovers aren't bad in the winter if you're not leaving the airport terminal. Your connecting flight might get delayed, I suppose, because of the weather.

 

I'm kinda nervous because on each leg of my trip, one of the Air Canada planes is a propeller plane managed by Air Canada Georgian. it's not a jet plane. It only has 9 rows of seats, with one seat on each side, for a total of 18 people on the plane.

 

This will be the smallest plane I've ever flown on commercially.

[bigvalboy]

Layovers aren't bad in the winter if you're not leaving the airport terminal. Your connecting flight might get delayed, I suppose, because of the weather.

 

I was always afraid that I would get stuck at O'hare or in Detroit because of weather. The last shuttle into Monteal was at 10pm, if I missed that, then renting a car or calling friends to come fetch me was the only option. lol

I'm kinda nervous because on each leg of my trip, one of the Air Canada planes is a propeller plane managed by Air Canada Georgian. it's not a jet plane. It only has 9 rows of seats, with one seat on each side, for a total of 18 people on the plane.

 

This will be the smallest plane I've ever flown on commercially.

 

Really? A prop driven with 9 rows? OK that for me would be a little too nerve wracking. I did a little puddle jumper like that in the Caribbean once..God I hated that flight. I still have nightmares...lol

[EZEtoGRU]

Really? A prop driven with 9 rows? OK that for me would be a little too nerve wracking. I did a little puddle jumper like that in the Caribbean once..God I hated that flight. I still have nightmares...lol

I hate the props as well. One of my retirement vows was to never fly props again....and I have stuck to it so far. LOL.

 

If I were the OP, I would drive to Montreal or fly Delta nonstop at the premium price. For me, the prop flight plus the several hour layover in YYZ wouldn't be worth the savings. I bet door to door driving from Det to Mon is only 3-4 hours longer than his current plans. I do agree with you however that AC is a nice carrier....as long as its a jet.

[fedssocr1]

Connecting at YYZ is a bit of a pain. Once you pass through immigration it's a pretty long hike to the domestic terminal where you have to go back through security again. And all of those poor people who bought duty free booze before their flights to YYZ have to give it up because its not allowed through the security check for their onward flights. This also leads to some long lines and waits sometimes. So your two hour connection will feel a good bit shorter.

[twinkboylover28]

I hate the props as well. One of my retirement vows was to never fly props again....and I have stuck to it so far. LOL.

 

If I were the OP, I would drive to Montreal or fly Delta nonstop at the premium price. For me, the prop flight plus the several hour layover in YYZ wouldn't be worth the savings. I bet door to door driving from Det to Mon is only 3-4 hours longer than his current plans. I do agree with you however that AC is a nice carrier....as long as its a jet.

 

I drove once to Montreal in April of 2006 and I vowed never again to drive their by myself again. It's almost $4 per gallon, plus the wear-and-tear on my brand new charger, plus around $30 per night to park my car for 8 days in Montreal just would NOT be economical.

 

Sure the $185 savings from Delta my not seem like much to some people. Heck, I usually lose that much in less than 10-minutes playing Blackjack at the casino. But for me, $185 is still a large amount of money which can be better spent on dancers.

 

Delta is a 90-minutes flight non-stop, while Air Canada is 4-hours total with the layover. It's not bad at all.

 

Driving 11-hours each way to Montreal on the 401 on the most boring freeway in the world is grueling. I can understand driving there if you have a friend or two to help share the driving, but if it's just one persons eyes fixated on 11-hours of a straight stretch of boring pavement ....that can drive as person insane.

 

The train was $250 roundtrip, but I also vowed never to take VIA Rail again. 12-hours of pure hell sitting by yourself and wasting an entire day. Try standing up and taking a leak while the train is constantly swerving left-to-right. It's a nasty scene in those bathrooms.

 

Can you be a little more specific as to why prop flights are so undesirable? More turbulent perhaps? Less room?

[twinkboylover28]

Connecting at YYZ is a bit of a pain. Once you pass through immigration it's a pretty long hike to the domestic terminal where you have to go back through security again. And all of those poor people who bought duty free booze before their flights to YYZ have to give it up because its not allowed through the security check for their onward flights. This also leads to some long lines and waits sometimes. So your two hour connection will feel a good bit shorter.

 

 

How far is the Air Canada domestic terminal after clearing immigration? Like one mile? Is there a free shuttle or tram?

 

I thought I would be going through customs once I arrive at Montreal. Normally that's how I do it when I fly direct on Delta. Also, normally I clear customs in Montreal before flying back direct to Detroit on Delta.

 

I guess now all my dealings with Customs will be exclusively in Toronto?

 

Thanks for the duty-free tip and warning. That's a great heads-up!

[+ azdr0710]

one of the Air Canada planes is a propeller plane managed by Air Canada Georgian. it's not a jet plane. It only has 9 rows of seats, with one seat on each side, for a total of 18 people on the plane.

This will be the smallest plane I've ever flown on commercially.

 

 

wow, had to look that one up....it says no flight attendant service.....

 

http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/fleet/beh-1900d.html

[EZEtoGRU]

I drove once to Montreal in April of 2006 and I vowed never again to drive their by myself again. It's almost $4 per gallon, plus the wear-and-tear on my brand new charger, plus around $30 per night to park my car for 8 days in Montreal just would NOT be economical.

 

Sure the $185 savings from Delta my not seem like much to some people. Heck, I usually lose that much in less than 10-minutes playing Blackjack at the casino. But for me, $185 is still a large amount of money which can be better spent on dancers.

 

Delta is a 90-minutes flight non-stop, while Air Canada is 4-hours total with the layover. It's not bad at all.

 

Driving 11-hours each way to Montreal on the 401 on the most boring freeway in the world is grueling. I can understand driving there if you have a friend or two to help share the driving, but if it's just one persons eyes fixated on 11-hours of a straight stretch of boring pavement ....that can drive as person insane.

 

The train was $250 roundtrip, but I also vowed never to take VIA Rail again. 12-hours of pure hell sitting by yourself and wasting an entire day. Try standing up and taking a leak while the train is constantly swerving left-to-right. It's a nasty scene in those bathrooms.

 

Can you be a little more specific as to why prop flights are so undesirable? More turbulent perhaps? Less room?

 

From a time perspective, you're not comparing the proper numbers. You need to compare door to door time for both options (Time you lock the door to leave your house to the time you open up your hotel room door in Montreal). The AC option is much more than 4 hours.....likely closer to 6-7 hours......once you add in driving to DTW, parking car, checking in, waiting for flight, waiting for bags in Montreal, taxi to hotel, etc. One can drive from downtown Detroit to downtown Montreal in under 9 hours......add on the time it takes you to drive from your home to the tunnel or the bridge. Now if you are the sort that needs to stop every hour to pee or eat snacks or take 30 minute driving breaks every two hours then yes the time adds up and could reach 11 hours. However it is very doable in under 9 hours. My guess is that the door to door comparison is about 7 hours for your current plans (assuming no delays or missed connections) versus say 9.5 hours if you drove (I assume you don't live in downtown Detroit).

[twinkboylover28]

From a time perspective, you're not comparing the proper numbers. You need to compare door to door time for both options (Time you lock the door to leave your house to the time you open up your hotel room door in Montreal). The AC option is much more than 4 hours.....likely closer to 6-7 hours......once you add in driving to DTW, parking car, checking in, waiting for flight, waiting for bags in Montreal, taxi to hotel, etc. One can drive from downtown Detroit to downtown Montreal in under 9 hours......add on the time it takes you to drive from your home to the tunnel or the bridge. Now if you are the sort that needs to stop every hour to pee or eat snacks or take 30 minute driving breaks every two hours then yes the time adds up and could reach 11 hours. However it is very doable in under 9 hours. My guess is that the door to door comparison is about 7 hours for your current plans (assuming no delays or missed connections) versus say 9.5 hours if you drove (I assume you don't live in downtown Detroit).

 

Right, I live 45 minutes away from the Detroit/Windsor crossing and it's Customs delay

 

Plus, the one MAJOR difference that was left out was that after flying I'm well-rested, relaxed, and in a good mood, as opposed to when i have just driven 11-hours straight where my eyeballs are about to pop out of my head and all I want to do is sleep when I finally arrive exhausted in Montreal. To me, that's the equivalent of losing an entire night of hotel and vacation.... sleeping when i could have been enjoying Taboo.

 

But i agree with your door-to-door analogy. I just dont think the propeller plane is as bad as some make it out to be. Then again, I could be wrong.

[bigvalboy]

plus the wear-and-tear on my brand new charger

 

Hemi?

[twinkboylover28]

Hemi?

 

2011 Blackberry Pearlcoat Metallic in the base model

 

It only has 8600 miles on it.

 

I wish it was a HEMI with its expensive $80 synthetic oil changes.

[twinkboylover28]

The price just went down another $54. Thank God Air Canada has a 24hr lowest fare guarantee and lets you cancel within 24hours and get a full refund without penalty if you find a lower price, and then you can re-order the exact same itinerary. I'm starting to like this airline

 

That's $239 saved off Delta.

[+ azdr0710]

I'm starting to like this airline

 

 

I once read service is usually a bit better on the national airline of the country to which you're flying....(except, I suppose, when there isn't even a flight attendant - see my previous post!)

[bigvalboy]

2011 Blackberry Pearlcoat Metallic in the base model

 

It only has 8600 miles on it.

 

I wish it was a HEMI with its expensive $80 synthetic oil changes.

 

 

Sweet....

[ctc2001]

Good to hear. This will be my very first time flying on Air Canada. I do have a layover both ways in Toronto for a couple hours; however, it beats the $600 "nonstop" Delta price.

 

Layovers aren't bad in the winter if you're not leaving the airport terminal. Your connecting flight might get delayed, I suppose, because of the weather.

 

I'm kinda nervous because on each leg of my trip, one of the Air Canada planes is a propeller plane managed by Air Canada Georgian. it's not a jet plane. It only has 9 rows of seats, with one seat on each side, for a total of 18 people on the plane.

 

This will be the smallest plane I've ever flown on commercially.

 

I've flown on one of those Beech aircraft before, and in the future you'll probably try and avoid that type of aircraft. Usually you don't see those aircraft connecting two large cities, they're usually reserved for connecting small towns to larger regional centres. As someone else noted, there is no in-flight service at all, also there is no overhead baggage compartment and the space under the seat in front of you is minimal, so whatever carry-on you have will probably remain on your lap for the flight. I don't recall any lavatory services on my flight (would be very tight if there was one!), so make sure you go before you leave! My experience was in December and flying over the Rocky Mountains so it got a little chilly in the cabin. The only highlight of that flight was that I could lean over into the aisle and look out the front of the plane which made it interested when it came time to land - the fact that you could look ahead and see the plane ahead of you in the landing queue. That was back in 2000 or 2001 (I think December 2001) on a domestic flight, not sure how the rules have changed with respect to locked cockpit doors on planes that small.

 

Have you ever considered flying out of Windsor instead? Would that be an option for you? Not only is there Air Canada (AC Jazz or AC Express can't remember what they call it these days) but there is also Porter Airlines which flies though Toronto Island Airport (formally known as Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport).