Airmiles Armchair Chatter

[bababear_50]

I met up with my sister last weekend for a backyard Tea & Treats visit.
She got one of those new E Bikes ,,,just like watching a kid get their first bike all over again.
I was very upset to learn that the Gift Card for Tims I bought her has no balance on it ,,, yep another one bites the dust. Tim Hortons would not do anything even though she had a Gift Card receipt. ($50)

So I am fighting back,,,,,,, I usually start in July (yeah Christmas in July) buying Gift Cards for my sons and family.
Well this year I am making my own.
The sons are getting "Simpsons" Gift Cards this year.
I just attach the cash with a colored paper clip.
Here's what I have so far
Just sharing



One for my Family & Friends
Hugs Mel

 

[bababear_50]

Hugs Mel

 

[Donald - my hero]

I have been stuck in survey hell since just after lunch - so at least 90 minutes while I wait for the laundry to cycle thru. A couple of them drove me a tad batty but I'm happy with the outcome, didn't need to put on "outside clothes' and be around people

 

[tinkerone]

I have been stuck in survey hell since just after lunch - so at least 90 minutes while I wait for the laundry to cycle thru. A couple of them drove me a tad batty but I'm happy with the outcome, didn't need to put on "outside clothes' and be around people
View attachment 780039

If you don't mind doing surveys, I have found one I enjoy much more than this one. It's IPSOS. The rewards for doing surveys range from 75 points (.75) to, well, I just did one that I received 2000 points ($20.00) for. Each point is the equvalant of a cent. You can get gift cards with your points. Amazon, ITunes, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Walmart, Visa, Best Buy, Ultimate Dining Card, PayPal. I have been doing them on and off for about 8 weeks now and I'm up to 5095 which I think will be cashed out to a $50 Amazon GC.
I just find the pay out better on this site. It all works the same though. Do a survey, get a reward.

 

[Donald - my hero]

i obviously only looked at the dates that apply to us and glanced at the rest of the months but WestJet just released a sale that runs up to the end of April dates. We have a lot of flexibility in our schedules so picked a Sunday mid afternoon flight down and a late night return and it's coming in just over $700 for econo (not basic, 1 tier up) and just over $1000 for the econo flex for 2 people, all taxes and fees included. I have to see if the prices i saw on black Friday were close to this or lower

 

[ottawamom]

That sale is a good one as I was also just looking at flights to Orlando. For comparison purposes I paid $900 for two of us to Los Angeles in May. For three people with this sale Econo (not basic) it would be just under $1200 (direct to Orlando from Ottawa). Those are jump on it prices.

My only concern is they just changed their flight schedule (out of Ottawa) in the last two weeks. There was a Saturday flight which got moved the other day to Thursdays. I'm a little leary about booking with them this early as they still have only one flight to Ottawa from Toronto per day (thinking ahead for when they decide to cancel the Ottawa-Orlando route and we have to fly through Toronto) Fully refundable prices were $1600. Not really ready for them to have my money for that length of time.

 

[bababear_50]

Game plan is to stock up on a few Campbell's soup( $1) and Uncle Bens Rice ($1) and a few boxes of Prime Chicken (10.00) at FreshCo Thursday.
https://flyers.smartcanucks.ca/freshco-chalo-freshco-canada

 

[ottawamom]

FreshCo looks like it has some good deals this week. I like to have a few of the Lou's shaved roast beef packages in the freezer for a quick "Arby's like" meal.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Staring at numbers, working out a spreadsheet, playing with different scenarios for our next trip has left me a tad cross-eyed and confused!
I searched back thru this thread to see what flights cost on Black Friday last year and it *seems* to be they were pretty similar to the current sale. Do I jump or wait and see if they drop more ?? So many numbers and so much anxiety to make this trip a good one. Thoughts on waiting or pulling the trigger?

ETA: Akkkk for those that don't mind flying with Air Canada has dropped a counter-flash sale and the refundable rates are coming in around $1200 Our trip this past Feb/March was enough to turn us off them regardless of how cheap they might be!

 

[tinkerone]

Staring at numbers, working out a spreadsheet, playing with different scenarios for our next trip has left me a tad cross-eyed and confused!
I searched back thru this thread to see what flights cost on Black Friday last year and it *seems* to be they were pretty similar to the current sale. Do I jump or wait and see if they drop more ?? So many numbers and so much anxiety to make this trip a good one.

ETA: Akkkk Air Canada has dropped a counter-flash sale and the refundable rates are coming in around $1200 - help?!
View attachment 780458

Our last two flights with AC were such a nightmare that it's going to a long time before I use them as my first pic. They will be my last choice. YMMV so don't take what my experience was as anything other than an opinion. I will say the responses on their FB page tell me there are lots in the same situation as I was.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Our last two flights with AC were such a nightmare that it's going to a long time before I use them as my first pic. They will be my last choice. YMMV so don't take what my experience was as anything other than an opinion. I will say the responses on their FB page tell me there are lots in the same situation as I was.

YUP - us as well, I'm going to edit my post to add a comment that we won't use AC but others might. The only reason I added that was in case someone else would

 

[bababear_50]

Hmmmm......
Well just personally I have had fewer flight disruptions and changes with WestJet. Now I am not saying there have been none for WestJet.
I have never enjoyed a flight on Air Canada,,,seats just seem uncomfortable,,,, but I never upgrade.

I think I would be going for customer service and comfort above a price base right now.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Hugs Mel

 

[hdrolfe]

I booked my December flights this week, with Air Canada, and they have since gone up so I guess it was good to book when I did? Not to say they may not go down again but I am happy to have 90% of my trip now paid for and sorted.

I have terrible luck with WestJet cancelling my direct flights, in fact they changed them for December so I wouldn't have been able to book them any way. I think it very much depends on where you are flying to/from. I prefer direct and so that's Air Canada or Flair. And Flair has very limited options. Air Canada has changed a few on me as well but they seem to be more stable. We'll see I guess!

Last things to book/pay for are my one day tickets for HS (hoping for enough AM for at least one ticket) and the transfers to/from the cruise. I am trying to find some way to go from Disney to the cruise and not go back to the airport first. But it seems way more expensive to do that way. We'll Uber/Lyft to the resort, and there are a dozen transfer buses to choose from for the cruise to airport bit. We are not cruising on Disney so their transfers are not an option. I'll figure something out. Then just have to have enough to pay for food on site, and the rest of the room payment (already have some Disney GC's for that). Going to be a great trip, in 5 months lol

 

[Donald - my hero]

Hmmmm......
Well just personally I have had fewer flight disruptions and changes with WestJet. Now I am not saying there have been none for WestJet.
I have never enjoyed a flight on Air Canada,,,seats just seem uncomfortable,,,, but I never upgrade.

I think I would be going for customer service and comfort above a price base right now.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Hugs Mel

Yup, us as well - I added a comment to my post about that. We won't fly with Air Canada ever again but others might be willing to jump at the current prices. Again, this all hinges on being completely flexible with your dates!

Seriously gang, if your dates are flexible and you want to take a trip for the following dates the standard fares (none step above basic) just picked the cheapest dates in the weeks we're looking at for 2 people, taxes and fees included
Feb 26th - March 7th on Air Canada is $758.70
Feb 25th - March 8th on WestJet is $716.70

Wanna go for a last minute-ish, throw caution to the wind and book the basic fare trip?
Sept 16th - 23rd on WestJet is $540

 

[mort1331]

Wife just arrived yesterday down at WDW,,,they were AC,,,no issues,,,thankfully....approx 400 each return,,so cant complain...
Biggest news was that her being added to the DVC membership came thru today,,,,Happy Birthday to her,,,now she gets the discounts at the stores and dining......Sad news is this means she will be spending more there,,,,Her words,,,,"might as well since im saving now"

 

[Donald - my hero]

Wife just arrived yesterday down at WDW,,,they were AC,,,no issues,,,thankfully....approx 400 each return,,so cant complain...
Biggest news was that her being added to the DVC membership came thru today,,,,Happy Birthday to her,,,now she gets the discounts at the stores and dining......Sad news is this means she will be spending more there,,,,Her words,,,,"might as well since im saving now"

you might want to introduce her to my hubby since he's always saying "i can't afford to save that much"

 

[Debbie]

We are flying AC to Boston next month. I have my fingers crossed that everything goes well. WJ doesn't service our smaller airport much anymore. Next year, I need to fly to San Diego from Toronto, and if I want to spend 24-36 hours getting there, I could fly WJ. Just not worth it for me, and I have their credit card and have used them exclusively for some time. I wish Porter would come to YXU.

 

[tinkerone]

Wife just arrived yesterday down at WDW,,,they were AC,,,no issues,,,thankfully....approx 400 each return,,so cant complain...
Biggest news was that her being added to the DVC membership came thru today,,,,Happy Birthday to her,,,now she gets the discounts at the stores and dining......Sad news is this means she will be spending more there,,,,Her words,,,,"might as well since im saving now"

That is a valid point. You can't argue that one.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Unfortunately I'm home again and back to work yesterday We had a nice time but I'm for sure not taking DH with me again. It is not news that he doesn't love WDW, he tolerates it. I said in January that I got VERY tired of hearing his sighs and his whatevers.....that was only a 1 day trip to the parks. This time was even worse, maybe because we were there longer...IDK.

On the subject of flights. Our flight home was ready to close the doors 32 minutes early but we had to wait about 10 minutes for the ground crew to finish loading the luggage. We arrived back home 27 minutes ahead of schedule. From the time the plane pulled in to the gate to the time we got back to our car at park n fly (BTW, we got a free upgrade to valet) was approx 1 hour.

As far as Westjet VS Air Canada the differences are very minor. ALL airlines have problems. Air travel has changed drastically in the last few years. Airports have restrictions that they never used to have. They are short staffed in a way that has never happened before. Passengers are so intensely abusive to the staff and no one wants these jobs. There are a whole bunch of other issues that you are not likely to hear about that also cause flight cancelations and delays.....things like air traffic control staffing. For those that are anti AC...keep in mind that when flying with them if you have a problem they have a much greater capacity to help you. I certainly understand that when something has happened and you don't get the response that you think you should it can leave a bad taste.

 

[tinkerone]

Unfortunately I'm home again and back to work yesterday We had a nice time but I'm for sure not taking DH with me again. It is not news that he doesn't love WDW, he tolerates it. I said in January that I got VERY tired of hearing his sighs and his whatevers.....that was only a 1 day trip to the parks. This time was even worse, maybe because we were there longer...IDK.

On the subject of flights. Our flight home was ready to close the doors 32 minutes early but we had to wait about 10 minutes for the ground crew to finish loading the luggage. We arrived back home 27 minutes ahead of schedule. From the time the plane pulled in to the gate to the time we got back to our car at park n fly (BTW, we got a free upgrade to valet) was approx 1 hour.

As far as Westjet VS Air Canada the differences are very minor. ALL airlines have problems. Air travel has changed drastically in the last few years. Airports have restrictions that they never used to have. They are short staffed in a way that has never happened before. Passengers are so intensely abusive to the staff and no one wants these jobs. There are a whole bunch of other issues that you are not likely to hear about that also cause flight cancelations and delays.....things like air traffic control staffing. For those that are anti AC...keep in mind that when flying with them if you have a problem they have a much greater capacity to help you. I certainly understand that when something has happened and you don't get the response that you think you should it can leave a bad taste.

I love that you are taking short trips to WDW. I used to take short trips to T.O. by myself and thought that was the best. I always left DH home as well, he is one of those 'do you really need it' people when we shop and that drives me insane. Of course I don't 'need' it but I at least want to look at it. Lol. I'm envious of your quickie travels.

As for AC, it would not have been so bad for me if they had at least been consistent in their responses. We were 8 hours late getting to Orlando, 3 people were given a $300 future credit, 2 were given a 20% off next flight voucher and 2 were told sorry, you get nothing. It was almost the same on the return flight. The only difference was 5 got $300 off their next flight, 2 got 20% off their next flight. We also didn't get the seats we paid extra for on the way back. To bad, so sad. They sent me a survey, which I filled out, and at the end it asked if I would like to be contacted. It gave me spots for 3 choices of dates and times. That was months ago and have yet to hear from anyone. They didn't respond to my emails either. Long story short, if they were fair to all, consistent, then I would not have such a problem with their response. Sometimes things happen but they need to treat everyone the same.

Better topic, how is your Disney daughter doing? Any word yet? She must be getting antsy.
Welcome home!