Costs to fly home for the Holidays

Trying to make last minute flight reservations and wow its going to cost me.

Too many people working in Western Canada that used to reside in eastern Canada trying to get home to visit family and friends.

In October round trip out of Calgary into Windsor Ont cost me $440 TOTAL

Cheapest flight I can book now for the week of Dec 18-22 is just under $600 one way add another $400 to 500 to get back Dec 31

Now I have three choices of airports to fly into to get home, Windsor, Detroit and London Ont. Flying into Detroit is the most expensive nearly $1000 one way

Being the type to look at different ways to make this work I decided I MIGHT have to take a layover of a couple of days getting home....instead of paying $600 and getting home on Dec 18 I can save some money ( $160 or so) and fly into Vegas for a few days till Dec 21 and catch a flight from there to Detroit for under $200...total flight cost to get home $440

Caesars is willing to comp my rooms for my layover

What to do, what to do?

Quote: coilman

...total flight cost to get home $440

Good thing you stuck the word "flight" in there. You have the potential for this to be a very expensive trip home. Or a free one, depending upon the Winds of Fate.

True

But on the other hand I can do a lot of shopping and bring it back into Canada without any taxes ($800 duty free after 48 hrs)

Toss in some high 50's degree days would be a bonus over the - 5*F nights we have been working in the past week up here (actually been mild around here for this time of year)

Quote: coilman

True


Toss in some high 50's degree days would be a bonus over the - 5*F nights we have been working in the past week up here (actually been mild around here for this time of year)

50 degree days? Oh no! Is it going to start getting colder? It's been in the 70's last couple of weeks. :)

70*F would be a extra bonus....... just looking at the extended forecast and saw in the 50's around the 19th

mean while here in Alberta we are looking at a high of 1*F on Saturday. Why did they have to put all this oil and gas in the colder part of Canada?

Cheapest travel ever available in Canada was presented by Canadian TV announcer who informed his American audience that moose who wandered into downtown Vancouver to eat parking meters were relocated to Prince Edward Island but would wander back to Vancouver the next day. Americans on the street were being offered tickets to ride on the backs of the wandering moose in order to recover the governmental costs of the removal program.

Failing such travel, it might best for you to soak the casino for as much as you can. The more they invest in you now, the more they will continue to invest in you so as to get their money back.

OH PEI was a very nice place to visit earlier this year......see work took us all the way to Moncton NB back in June. Which was only a hour drive to the island. Since the guys had never been anywhere near the Atlantic ocean before they had to go check out the island....little did we know it was going to cost $47 to cross that same bridge back to the mainland.

Somebody talk to the weather gods to keep the heat on there till Dec 21 st for me please.....currently its MINUS 10*F in here in Alberta ;(

Well since this worked so well last year to get home cheaper with a few days and nights of fun tossed in, we plan to take the long way home again this year

Currently its $630 to get from Calgary to Windsor any day from Dec 18 to Dec 20

or


lets see Dec 17 into Vegas for $215 Canadian and late Dec 20 the Red Eye into Detroit for Saturday morning for $185US (total about $410 exchange included)

to boot just got a email with three free nights covering Dec17 - Dec20 with a $300 bonus play offer


Might have to pass on a rental car this time if the rates don't come down ( 3 days last year $96 this year showing $181)

Airlines bump up the costs of their Christmas flights in early September because they get a bump in demand for Christmas flights from students wanting to come home during the holidays. These prices can come down in early October as demand lets up and airlines try to fill the planes.

My advice is to hold off on booking and then book in early October (around Canadian Thanksgiving). But don't book later than 60 days before you travel -- this is one of AC (or WJ)'s travel periods where prices jump.

US airfare definitely goes down the closer you get, and since you're connecting anyway, DTW might be a better option.

Quote: FleaStiff

Cheapest travel ever available in Canada was presented by Canadian TV announcer who informed his American audience that moose who wandered into downtown Vancouver to eat parking meters were relocated to Prince Edward Island but would wander back to Vancouver the next day. Americans on the street were being offered tickets to ride on the backs of the wandering moose in order to recover the governmental costs of the removal program.

Stopped into a bar in Edmonton one time. The patrons thought I was Canadian just like them. They told American jokes until closing time. Do you remember the old Pollack jokes. That's the kind of jokes they were telling, except they substituted American for Pollack. I laughed right along with them. I didn't want to mess up their good time.

Quote: boymimbo

Airlines bump up the costs of their Christmas flights in early September because they get a bump in demand for Christmas flights from students wanting to come home during the holidays. These prices can come down in early October as demand lets up and airlines try to fill the planes.

My advice is to hold off on booking and then book in early October (around Canadian Thanksgiving). But don't book later than 60 days before you travel -- this is one of AC (or WJ)'s travel periods where prices jump.

US airfare definitely goes down the closer you get, and since you're connecting anyway, DTW might be a better option.

Pretty sure that I will be hitting VEGAS the week before Christmas and grab a DELTA flight into Detroit 5 days or so before Dec 25. Today it can be done for $425 that way..... cost of flight alone is +EV of just over $200 doing Calgary to Vegas to Detroit over AC Calgary to Windsor


Every day that I check my emails or the SNAILMAIL it becomes a bigger +EV to do it this way.

Right now I have $450 in free gambling money plus $50 in meal offers on the table plus free rooms at three different casinos...
And I am waiting on the one casino to send some December offers to add to these ones