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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.