Flying to Canada
- Thread starter Vanquish-Storm
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Soldato
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[TW]Fox;25583295 said:
I guess it depends on when you book. My girlfriend and I got from Seattle to Vancouver for $13 each. Bloody bargain! The train was only $30 each come to think of it as well, for a 4 hour journey I think that's a great price.
Soldato
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Is that Lynn Canyon above, or Capilano? (or neither!).
Looks like you had some good weather. It's been pretty crap this last week, but the sun is shining nicely today
Looks like you had some good weather. It's been pretty crap this last week, but the sun is shining nicely today
Yea the train was $30 each way but it stupidly only left first thing in the morning or in the evening, which was annoying and put it out of contention.
But thats $60 for two, so the same price as driving..
I don't recognise it and I did Lynn not Capilano so I'd imagine its Capilano
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;25594021 said:
Yeah fair enough, I think as we were just staying in the city the whole time it was easier for us to do it this way.
I don't recognise it and I did Lynn not Capilano so I'd imagine its Capilano
Ah ok, yeah it's probably Capilano. They're both great, although Lynn has the benefit of being free
Soldato
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Ah ok, yeah it's probably Capilano. They're both great, although Lynn has the benefit of being free
Bang on!
The photos in order were.. Tofino, Tofino, Whistler, Capilano. The weather was pretty good, which kind of made the skiing ok, but not as good as it could have been. When we went whale watching in Tofino, the chap on the Rib (Ocean Outfitters) said in the seven years of doing it, he had only seen the weather and sea like that a couple of times. It was dead calm and made it so easy to spot the greys. We saw loads of them, and a group of 3 of them that looked like they were getting it on!
Brilliant stuff.
Totally agree. I've flown YYZ-BRU on AC and it was perfectly fine. Lots of space (34" seat pitch) and punctual. Good service and really nothing to complain about. Not sure where the AC hate came from.
I also flew with them recently from Brussels via Toronto and Vancover to Hawaii in Business. Nothing to write home about really. Lie-flat seats are nice, food is actually surprisingly good but you get what's expected from a 4-star airline.
Only complaint was the stewardess not allowing me to wear the plugged-in headphones- over the head jobbies- citing the possibility of strangulation during an emergency escape(!!)
Oh, and the lack of toiletry bag on day flights.
But yeah, it's a good airline and I wouldn't hesitate to fly with them again in Economy.
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[TW]Fox;25593713 said:
I haven't booked yet
we talking about going to vancouver as it one of the places on my GF places to visit. so have found this thread a gold mine of info on flights. so rather than start a new thread (and i hope you don't mind a minor hijack ) a few questions.
we will be going late september / early october and was wondering if there any MUST see events/thing to do, at that time
also what the best part of vancouver to stay in with plenty of tourist things to do.
we will be going late september / early october and was wondering if there any MUST see events/thing to do, at that time
also what the best part of vancouver to stay in with plenty of tourist things to do.
Man of Honour
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Downtown Vancouver isn't all that huge, you can walk from one side to the other in probably half an hour (depends on your walking speed of course). The attractions can be a bit spread out depending on what you want to do e.g. Stanley Park Aquarium is more or less opposite Granville Island but as mentioned it won't take that long to walk or cycle and since it's built on a grid system it's fairly easy to navigate.
I was there in October last year with my girlfriend and stayed in a couple of different hotels, one near(ish) the water airport (seaplane tours go from there) which was nicely fitted out but a touch expensive and I just didn't feel as comfortable there as the other hotel we stayed in. We spent several nights in The Burrard which is on Burrard Street but nearer the bottom end leading to Granville Island sort of way - a bit cheaper and more basic but had everything you needed and was also a whole lot more comfortable and relaxed for my money plus they have rental bikes included in the price. The basic point being that there's no one location that will be perfect for all you want to do so my suggestion is make up a shortlist of what you like the look of and see what offers there are on hotels in that area.
There's a fair bit of nightlife on Granville Street with quite a few bars/clubs along there but be aware that once you're on the stretch between say Nelson Street and Davie Street it starts to look a lot more run down and sketchy. There's a few places like that where it can change quite rapidly from looking perfectly well kept and then descend into being a bit dodgy looking. Gastown has lots of nice pubs and restaurants to go to as well as dozens of shops selling touristy tat so that's probably worth a look. We did a walking tour of old Vancouver which was really good at giving you a bit of an idea about the history of the place. Stanley Park Aquarium is definitely worth checking out, I'd suggest hiring a bike though as it takes a while to navigate round the park itself. The Tap & Barrel down at Coal Harbour has a great selection of beers and real ales from microbreweries and the food was pretty reasonable too. Granville Island has a great market for fresh food and lots of shops selling curios and gifts so again something I'd recommend.
Our holiday wasn't particularly planned, we spent quite a bit of time just wandering around and seeing where it took us but there was so many things you could do it was difficult to find yourself getting bored. Hopefully that gives you a few ideas to start though.
I stayed in Richmond (Chinatown, basically) which is very close to the airport. The reason I picked here was because:
a) It was 20 minutes from Downtown Vancouver via the metro
b) I was able to stay in quality hotels for less money than budget hotels in downtown.
a) It was 20 minutes from Downtown Vancouver via the metro
b) I was able to stay in quality hotels for less money than budget hotels in downtown.
Soldato
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When we went, we stayed in the Metropolitan in Downtown. It was a good base as it was easy to walk anywhere. We booked all our hotels via Expedia and used Quidco with it. It basically meant we were paying almost half price for our hotels.
I would recommend hiring a bike for half a day to cycle round stanley park. It allows you to cover loads of miles in quick time, but watch out for the one way system! Opps.
If you are looking for an apartment style place, I would recommend Timesquare suites. The apartment was brilliant, and close the the park and the westend.
I would recommend hiring a bike for half a day to cycle round stanley park. It allows you to cover loads of miles in quick time, but watch out for the one way system! Opps.
If you are looking for an apartment style place, I would recommend Timesquare suites. The apartment was brilliant, and close the the park and the westend.
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Feel free to jump in and ask away, I am sure you will have questions I have forgot about!
This^
Apart from a slightly late departure on my return flight, I found Air Canada to be very good. I think I prefered them to BA/Virgin. Better quality seats, good leg room, very good IFE inc. USB and mains power and very friendly staff.
Have been to Vancouver several times, it's my favourite city. Last time was 2011, and we're possibly going back this year. We fly with BA (from Heathrow) and always book Premium Economy as a minimum. Both of us are almost 6' and it makes a big difference to get the extra leg room. Service is always very good as well as the inflight entertainment.
Either side of our trip to the beautiful Vancouver island, we stayed in the Wedgewood Hotel & Spa, and the Shangri-La. Both are centrally located in Downtown Vancouver, and are very comfortable with great service.
Cafe Artigiano on Hornby street is well worth a visit for great coffee!
Either side of our trip to the beautiful Vancouver island, we stayed in the Wedgewood Hotel & Spa, and the Shangri-La. Both are centrally located in Downtown Vancouver, and are very comfortable with great service.
Cafe Artigiano on Hornby street is well worth a visit for great coffee!
isn't there the option to ask for the seats which have more leg room, around the fire exit doors? Or I guess does it depend on the type of plane? I'm looking to go to Toronto and Vancouver as I have family there! Have looked into Virgin for flights as I've never flown with them before.
Yes, these seats with Virgin are £50 each. You can have extra legroom seats (34" pitch rather than 32" for £30.
wow didn't think the government was ripping off travelers as much. ive started looking at flights just to get a ballpark sum of what the trip will cost us,
i have the choice of 2 airports, Belfast and Dublin. pricing the same trip (both flying to heathrow and taking the same BA flight to Vancouver ) belfast is just short of £900, dublin is just over £500. indeed i can fly premium economy from dublin cheaper than i can fly economy from belfast.
it also looks like a can get a very good deal with air canada by stopping over in toronto for around £500
i have the choice of 2 airports, Belfast and Dublin. pricing the same trip (both flying to heathrow and taking the same BA flight to Vancouver ) belfast is just short of £900, dublin is just over £500. indeed i can fly premium economy from dublin cheaper than i can fly economy from belfast.
it also looks like a can get a very good deal with air canada by stopping over in toronto for around £500
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Yup. More stops = less money.
Try and force it so you get a whole day or something - Toronto is lovely.
I consider IFE to be old hat, great in the 90's before personal entertainment devices, but obsolete now.