Calling all Canucks! Help!

[KateDrake]

Hey guys! I am in desperate need of some help!

It looks like my family will be moving to Edmonton, AL very soon! We are very excited, super scared and overall kind of freaking out - in a good way. Anyway, this makes planning our trip for February 2014 quite a bit different, and I'm wondering if you can offer any help.

We currently live in Salt Lake City, so we usually fly to DLR on JetBlue for less than $200 per person. Obviously those days are over, but I'm wondering if you guys can give me your tips on airfare. I'm sure there are airlines I would never even think to check! Any tips on flying to DLR - or just back to the States for a visit - would be much appreciated.

I'm also wondering if there are any special deals, tickets, packages, etc. for Canadian residents that I may not be aware of. I've seen people mention Flight Centre, can anyone explain what that is? I know the Harbor hotels and everything quite well, so I'm assuming I will just stick with what I know as far as that goes, but if there are special deals to be had, that would be awesome as well. If it helps, the family is me, DH, DD4 and DD(baby expected in October).

Anyway, as you can see, I have no idea how this will change our vacation plans and could use all the help I can get! We are so excited to take on this new adventure in one of the prettiest - and friendliest - countries in the world! Please feel free to send along any other advice you may have!

 

[kindakrazy2]

Hate to be there barer of bad news but your flights will be expensive. Seriously expensive. Its now an international flight and the taxes on our flights are high.

Having said that, keep an eye open for seat sales. Air Canada, WestJet and Alaska Air are the big ones that go from here to LA. Flying into the smaller airports (SNA, etc) doesn't really work because then you are hopping all over instead of a direct flight - LAX is the one to fly into from here.

Sometimes Disney does something for Canadian residents but the only thing I've seen in a very long time is 25% off Alaska cruises with DCL. Check with a travel agent though, they will be the ones to know. Used to see kids fly free or stay free quite frequently but haven't seen that in awhile.

I use Jubilee Travel and they have been really great. Google them and you'll find them - I'm almost certain they operate out of Edmonton too. Their "travel best bet" website is pretty good at listing deals but if you call they will have much more info.

Ask away if you have any other questions!

Oh...and welcome to Canada!

 

[Susie63]

Welcome to Alberta(soon)....the land of no sales tax. We do pay a 5% federal tax though. Edmonton is a great city. The city has one of the largest trail systems in North America...and a great art scene...as well as a major festival city.
Flying out of Edmonton...YEG... will run about $350 pp in February. There are direct flights to LAX. I believe most of the major
US carriers fly out of YEG with the exception of JetBlue. If you check EIA. Edmonton International Airport they have links to all the airlines that fly out of EIA.
I lived in Edmonton for 15 years and I loved it.
Don't forget it has the largest shopping mall in North America.
Good luck on the move.

 

[Toy Story Fan]

Welcome to Edmonton! I've lived here 30 years now, and can't imagine living anywhere else! Just be prepared for long, cold winters!!!
While planning our trip this year to Florida, the cheapest airline at the time was United. You can shop around on sites like Expedia and get a general idea of how much airfares differ.
Flight Centre is just like a travel agent. They sometimes have good deals that are in the paper weekly. I usually always plan all our vacations by myself, I find I can get better deals that way.
Here in Edmonton you are just hours away from Banff and Jasper, which are the most breathtaking and beautiful places to visit...something not to miss!
Again welcome, we are happy to have you!

 

[Rubygoose]

It would be a good idea to sign up for emails from Air Canada, WestJet and Alaska Air. (Not sure if Alaska flies out of Edmonton or not.) Last time, we flew with Westjet with their "kids fly free" promotion. We paid $400 for each adult, and that included air and 4 nights at a good neighbour hotel. This year, we signed up for Alaska Airlines Visa and got 25,000 points each for myself and DH. So 50,000 points was enough for 4 of us to fly one way SNA to Victoria. I think Westjet has a credit card too that offers good points.

We got our park passes through flight center and saved about $100. It was nice to be able to pay for them in Canadian dollars.

 

[twinspirit]

Hey guys! I am in desperate need of some help!

It looks like my family will be moving to Edmonton, AL very soon! We are very excited, super scared and overall kind of freaking out - in a good way. Anyway, this makes planning our trip for February 2014 quite a bit different, and I'm wondering if you can offer any help.

Haha its AB for Alberta and it gets flippin cold out here lol


We currently live in Salt Lake City, so we usually fly to DLR on JetBlue for less than $200 per person. Obviously those days are over, but I'm wondering if you guys can give me your tips on airfare. I'm sure there are airlines I would never even think to check! Any tips on flying to DLR - or just back to the States for a visit - would be much appreciated.

I'm also wondering if there are any special deals, tickets, packages, etc. for Canadian residents that I may not be aware of. I've seen people mention Flight Centre, can anyone explain what that is? I know the Harbor hotels and everything quite well, so I'm assuming I will just stick with what I know as far as that goes, but if there are special deals to be had, that would be awesome as well. If it helps, the family is me, DH, DD4 and DD(baby expected in October).

Anyway, as you can see, I have no idea how this will change our vacation plans and could use all the help I can get! We are so excited to take on this new adventure in one of the prettiest - and friendliest - countries in the world! Please feel free to send along any other advice you may have!

Right, we are flying first trip to DL from Edmonton and it was about $2700 Canadian for 2 adults 3 kids. I wanted to try someone other than WestJet, booked with AA. Turns out, they are ALL Westjet aircrafts 0-o. This into LAX for mid-September.

As Canadians, we don't 'truly' have good deals and promotions for DL. Not that I have seen, but I'm willing to be wrong and pointed in an awesome direction! )

 

[Susie63]

Right, we are flying first trip to DL from Edmonton and it was about $2700 Canadian for 2 adults 3 kids. I wanted to try someone other than WestJet, booked with AA. Turns out, they are ALL Westjet aircrafts 0-o. This into LAX for mid-September.

As Canadians, we don't 'truly' have good deals and promotions for DL. Not that I have seen, but I'm willing to be wrong and pointed in an awesome direction! )

Flight network....and check everyday. I received an email from them today and flights are $351 return, taxes in, for August out of Edmonton. We pay $1500 for the 3 of us out of Grande Prairie.

 

[Disneylovers2000]

Welcome to Edmonton!!

 

[deanimal]

We save a lot with the companion fares that come with the Alaska Air MasterCard. They do fly out of Edmonton, either direct or connecting in Seattle. We each have a card, and it allows us to book a companion flight for $100 plus fees (about $110 total) once per year. It's a huge savings, especially for a family of four. For example we flew to Orlando in February for about $1400 ($600 per adult plus $100 per kid) instead of the $2400 it would have cost for four regular tickets. We've already booked a trip next year to the Hawaii (Kona) for $1800 for four. Then the points we earn on these two trips will be enough for our next Disney trip next summer! Well worth the $75 yearly fee. Westjet has a card with nearly identical perks. It probably wouldn't be cost effective to get both, but one or the other could get you some good savings.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

flightcentre.ca/vacations/disneyland
Flight Centre sell tickets to DLR and vouchers for character meals. We used them for both for last year's trip and not at all for this August's trip. Why? Four out of five of us do not need tickets as we upgraded our FC PHs into APs while at the parks last year. We only need one child's ticket, as our 2yo (read: free everything except the flight!) is now a 3yo. FC's wholesaler refused to sell us a child's ticket alone without an adult ticket. It's too bad because they gave us a great price (CDN$1000) for the two adult + two children's 5-day PHs we bought in 2012. If you call up an actual agent, the agent can often offer you a bit of a better ticket price than what is posted on their website, I think as a seller pushing to make the sale.
We used FC last year to buy vouchers for four character meals (two regular, two premium) because they were a deal at the time, especially since they included tax and gratuity. This year, the prices are sky high, so that you'd pay more to use FC than to pay at the park. So we're paying at the park this time.

For the one child's ticket we need, we actually found a deal at CAA: CDN$261 instead of US$279 at the gate for a child's 5-day PH, which, thanks to the growing strength of the US$ now that the Fed wants to raise interest rates, saves us about $30. I do not know what they are charging for adults.

If you're making SoCal side trips, it's worth looking for tickets to things like Legoland at Airmiles (www.airmiles.ca). We saved about 30% on our LL tickets by buying from them. They also had tickets for sale in Airmiles rather than cash.

 

[canadiandisneycruise]

Welcome to Canada!! All of these are great ideas. We've used flight centre for park passes, and you print the voucher at home, and it's easy to redeem at the parks. The only direct flight is west jet to LAX. We often like to fly to DL with one stop, and fly home direct.

Check for package deals. They are often better than booking it all separately. Also, like the west jet page on Facebook. They have specials they post every Thursday!

 

[Rubygoose]

If you're going to SeaWorld and/or Universal, Costco.ca has a good deal on the soCal city pass. They also have a San Diego package, but I don't know if it's a good deal or not.

 

[Disneyland2013]

Unfortunately your days of cheap flights are over. We fly Westjet direct to LAX and rent a car because we are usually doing more than just Disneyland on our trips. I personally would rather spend a few extra dollars to fly direct. We flew through Seattle one time and it seemed to take up to bulk of our day just getting there.

We have booked many of our trips through Westjet's vacation packages. My husband and I did 5 days at the Double Tree Suites last December for 5 days - hotel, flights and car rental - for $1800 for both of us. It was a really sweet deal so that is why we went.

Welcome to Edmonton! As other posters have mentioned you are going to be really close to the mountains which are truly breathtaking. Plus our big mall, Fort Edmonton Park is fun, great sports teams, a festival of some sort every weekend in the summer and friendly people!! Our biggest downside - the long, cold winters. But I find that if you find something to keep yourself busy in the winter it isn't so bad.

 

[KateDrake]

Thank you all so much for the great responses! I so appreciate all the help. I will look into all of those options. My husband is in negotiations right now, so we'll see if it ends up becoming a reality, but it looks promising!

I am totally resigned to the fact that DLR will no longer be our "cheap and easy" vacation choice, but that's OK. We may not be able to visit as often, but I'm sure we'll find lots of other cool destinations close to home! I am very excited to see Banff and Jasper. So far I've only been to Waterton Lakes, and that was gorgeous!

It's funny you are all warning about the long winter, because the climate is actually one of the biggest draws for me! We don't mind winter at all here (though obviously farther North it will be longer), but I'm very excited to miss the days and days of 100 + temperatures in the summer! My husband is a huge snowboarder, so he is particularly excited to have a longer season

Thank you all so much for your help! I really appreciate it!

 

[nottellin']

I know that you are asking about flights but you might want to think about driving as well. We are from right outside of Edmonton and we drive 3 times a year. It is way cheaper and it doesn't take that long. We stop overnight in Idaho Falls and we normally make it to Disneyland by 4 pm the next day.

 

[Disneyland2013]

No problem! Hope the negotiations go the way that you want!

We might get close to 100 degrees here but it only last for a day or two. We also have a few small ski hills right in the city (in the river valley) so if your husband can't make it to the mountains he can easily get his snowboarding fix!

As for Disneyland, I made it to the parks 4 times last year (flying) by watching for sales. I actually bought an annual pass I went so much last year!! I would love to drive it one day as I really enjoy road trips but I need to convince my husband!

 

[nottellin']

As for Disneyland, I made it to the parks 4 times last year (flying) by watching for sales. I actually bought an annual pass I went so much last year!! I would love to drive it one day as I really enjoy road trips but I need to convince my husband!

Wow! Can I ask when the sales were? I can never find anything less than $2000 for the four of us. Althought that might be because we really prefer Westjet and I like non-stop flights lol.

We actually really like the drive. We stop at the outlets (usually in Primm or Vegas) to do some shopping and we don't have to worry about extra baggge so that's always nice. Tell your hubby there are many crazy Canucks who do the drive

 

[BCmomma]

We drive too (we are in Vancouver, not Edmonton) and it saves a ton. Packages are stupid expensive from Canada and even flying out of Bellingham (the biggest US town with an airport from us) does not have the best deals as some people think.

 

[KateDrake]

I hadn't really thought about driving, but that's not a bad idea. I just mapped the drive from Edmonton to Anaheim, and it has you drive right through Salt Lake City, where we're from. So we might be able to make it a longer trip and visit family on the way! Or we could even drive down to Salt Lake, stay with family a couple of days, then catch a cheap flight to DLR. Lots of possibilities!

Is Edmonton a hub for any airlines? Even though JetBlue has become our favorite when flying to DLR, we usually end up flying Delta anywhere else, just because SLC is a Delta hub.

What about flights out of Calgary? Are there any better options there, just because it's a bit bigger?

I really can't thank you all enough for your help! I really appreciate it! If any of you ever decide to come visit the national parks in Utah (or anything else here for that matter) please feel free to message me! I would love to help in any way I can!

 

[Mjmdiva]

If driving is an option you could priceline hotels on the way. My friends got hotels for $56 or $42 driving from Vancouver.

She would figure out what town they would be in about 9 pm and name her own bid on the way down.