Deep discounts on airfare enticing Canadian travellers
Canadian airlines are offering deep discounts this summer, likely with the hope of reigniting interest in travel.
With much of the population now vaccinated with their first shot, many are ready to climb aboard and head abroad.
Elaine Schacter will be Vancouver-bound in mere-months. By mid-September, she, along with her 96-year-old father, will visit family on the west coast.
“My brother hasn’t seen his granddaughter yet,” says Schacter. “It’s been way too long for us to see family and close friends.”
To fly from Toronto to Vancouver, return, will cost Schacter $231 with Air Canada and for $93, Flair Air will take her from Ottawa to Toronto, return.
“The prices are rock bottom,” says Schacter. “It’s rock bottom.”
The low cost to travel, has more Canadians thinking it’s time to fly once again.
“It’s been crazy the past two months,” says John Ostris, manager at Centrum Travel. “People are booking fall and winter. People have credits from last year, prices are great, seats are going, and we’ve now got an uptick in people travelling this summer in Canada, especially Alberta and B.C. and even business travel overseas to Europe.”
Ostris says the travel agency has rehired staff and has added two more members to maintain demand. He does not expect the business to slow down anytime soon.
Airlines continue to require masks on the plane as well as pre-boarding questionnaires and temperature checks. Anyone arriving internationally is required to stay at a hotel, be tested and quarantine for two weeks.
Federally, there are no restrictions when flying within Canada; however, each province has its own rules.
On Tuesday, Manitoba premier Brian Pallister announced a vaccine passport. Residents can apply for the card two weeks after receiving their second shot and with it, they will not be required to isolate for 14 days when returning from interprovincial travel.
“You will exempt from the self-isolating requirements if you are deemed a close contact by public health,” says Pallister. “If you get call from public health notifying you that you have been in close contact with COVID, because you have this card and because it’s evidence that you have been vaccinated twice, you won’t have to self isolate as a result.”
More provinces will likely begin relaxing regulations soon and Dr. Frederic Dimanche, director with the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Ryerson University, says now is the time to book because low airline costs are in place to increase demand.
“It’s a strategy to get people to start thinking and talking with their family and friends and say, 'Hey, look at those prices,'” says Dimanche. “But I think it has two objectives; one is to sell tickets actually, but the other objective, probably, is to get people to start thinking about travel again. Airlines want them to feel comfortable, we want them to feel confident about travelling again because we have not been; we have been very leery about travelling and we have been told for months now that it’s unsafe, we shouldn’t travel, to stay at home.”
Dimanche adds that while the prices are rock bottom now, as more Canadians plan their summer and fall vacations, the travel industry will rebound and so will the cost of an airline ticket.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
It could take years to catch up on child vaccinations in Ontario post-pandemic
Ontario is still playing catch up on routine vaccinations that many children missed during the pandemic and public health officials are warning that it could take years to solve the problem.