em-sk

21 minutes ago, mumcat said:

No, we applied for his visa on line and it makes no difference where you are geographically. Canadians worldwide are not being given visas.

Well, that is unfortunate.   

On 9/24/2023 at 6:32 AM, mumcat said:

We are booked on a cruise which calls in to India mid December.  My husband has a Cansdian passport so his chances of getting a visa are slim to none. We are already into penalty phase. Looking at the language between Canada and India, I  suspect this is more than just a spat.

If your in France you may have an easier time.  They use a contractor in Canada to process Visa applications and have told the contractor to close its offices in Canada.  I don't think they have imposes restrictions on issuing visas for Canadian passports.  

10 hours ago, dgc2861 said:

Hi Everyone,

New to this flying home to US from Canada after our cruise. Lots of questions! There is a 3hr layover in Newark and a 1 hr 45 min layover. Not sure when we go through customs. When we check in at Quebec City airport or Newark. If Newark, I'll get the 3hr layover flight. Do we need to retrieve our bags? Do we have to go all the way to baggage claim to get them? Not sure how this works. Step by step would be so helpful!

 

Thanks!

Sue in Pgh

Only some Canadian airports have US customs pre-clearance.  Quebec City does not.  

At check in in Quebec City, your bags should be tagged to your end destination.

You would clear customs/immigration/agriculture in Newark.  I am not aware of any US airport that has the automatic baggage transfer through US customs.  You will very likely be required to pickup your bags in Newark, as you leave the customs area.  There should be a connecting bags belt by the door, where put your bags back into the system.  Since the bags are already tagged to your final destination it is just a mater of dropping them off. 

2 hours ago, snow bunny said:

I am wondering if the laser measuring is only in Canadian airports?  Seems that the ones flying in from elsewhere are not reporting this issue.  A bit concerned as my handle causes my carry on to exceed the 21.5” requirement.

 

snow bunny

They currently only have the machines in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.   They have them pre-security.  I can see them working in Toronto, it is a hopeless at virtually any other airport (including Vancouver and Montreal).  Most people in the line at T1 in Toronto are AC passengers.  In most other airports the passengers in line are for a broad mix of airlines.  

This comes down to aircraft type.  The 777 aircraft have a lot of bin space.  The worse AC aircraft I have ever been on for bin space are the Q400 that PAL airlines operates for Air Canada in Atlantic Canada.  There is zero change of getting a wheeled bag into those bin.  Everything has to be checked.  Even the Q400 that Air Canada Jazz, WestJet Encore or Porter use have more space and can accommodate those larger bags.   

The checkin agent at Air Canada based on aircraft type has a target for the number of passengers that need to have checked bags so they have a chance of not running out bin space.  It is not unusual for them to make an announcement, "I need 4 people to check their bags before boarding, and it is free".  They try to get to that target before they even start the boarding process.  To their credit it usually works. 

11 hours ago, EmmasNana said:

Looking at my A2S docs on the legs that are Delta/operated by AF, our first and middle names are merged as if they are one name. Is that normal? Example is ARTLEE or LINDAKAY. Art is first name, Lee is middle name. Linda is first name and Kay is middle name.

 

On the return flight which is on American, it looks normal in that Lee and Kay are separated from the first names. 

 

I am trying to figure out if this is going to be an issue. I did try to talk to A2S about it and they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. He said he could remove those middle names as we really only needed first and last.

 

Any ideas?

 

May be surprisingly but in Amadeus that is how it is expected to work.  Last name, followed by a slash, then first and middle name run together like that. LAST/LINDAKAY. 

Amadeus is the computer system used by Air France, Lufthansa as well as many of the airlines in Europe, Asia and Africa).  Air Canada and Southwest are the two North American airlines on Amadeus.  

Delta runs on the Deltamatic computer system and American runs on the Sabre computer system. 

Since your reservation involves airlines in all three, your reservation would exist in all three and the way the last name is shown will be slightly different in the three systems. That is the reason it looks different.  Nothing to worry about.

2 hours ago, gold1953 said:

We flew to London this week and while sitting at the airport staff walked around and tagged bags for under seat only if a person had 2 items. If these tagged bags went on the overhead they were removed.  They also told people that coats had to be sat on and not overhead.  Being a rule follower I enjoyed this

Is this the Halifax to Heathrow flight?   That flight is on a 737max.  That aircraft type is a bit more limited in terms of space than the widebody aircraft that are used on other routes. 

Halifax is in a weird situation.  Last month I did Halifax to Vancouver non-stop, also an Air Canada 737max.  I think that domestic flight is longer than the flight to Heathrow.   

On 10/16/2023 at 12:58 PM, Donam said:

Hi, what did you end up doing re: parking rv during cruise.  We are considering an Alaska cruise but unsure where to park our motorhome.

 

If you google RV Storage in Vancouver there are a number self-storage locations that will accept RVs.  Not certain if they are in the short term rentals or not.

14 hours ago, GTJ said:

Although there is a train from Reno to Sacramento, the connecting point for the train to Seattle and onward to Vancouver, the train from Reno is early morning while the connecting train is late night, resulting in an inconvenient 9-1/2 hour connection in Sacramento (although the connection is likely to be less in actuality because the train from Reno is frequently delayed). Somewhat better is to use an Amtrak-arranged bus from Reno to Sacramento in mid-afternoon, and a connection of "only" 6 hours. (Because of certain state-imposed restrictions on bus ticket sales, you might have to buy a ticket from Reno to Davis, but only travel by bus only as far as Sacramento.) Once the train arrives in Seattle, there is an overnight connection for the train onward to Vancouver. The actual timings are as follows. Train departs Reno 8:36 a.m., arrives Sacramento 2:13 p.m. Bus departs Reno 2:10 p.m., arrives Sacramento 5:35 p.m. Train departs Sacramento 11:49 p.m., arrives Seattle 7:51 p.m. next day. Train departs Seattle 7:50 a.m. third day, arrives Vancouver 11:50 a.m. In sum, travel by train requires slightly less than 48 hours. Advance purchase fare is about $160. (Travel entirely by bus is a bit quicker, and would require about 30 hours, with connections in Sacramento and Portland. Advance purchase fare is about $150. Depart Reno 2:50 p.m. via Greyhound Lines, arrives Sacramento 6:15 p.m. Depart Sacramento 8:45 p.m. via MTR Western, arrives Portland 9:05 a.m. next day. Depart Portland 12:30 p.m. via MTR Western, arrives Vancouver 8:45 p.m.)

As I said, this option only makes sense if you want to spend some time in one or more of those intermediate cities.

On 10/18/2023 at 7:41 PM, richart said:

I purchased a Delta flight that will be on their codeshare partner Westjet flying from Atlanta to Vancouver. If I enter my Known Traveler Number on Delta's website, does anyone know if that information will get transferred over to Westjet? Or will I have to contact Westjet and have them add it?

If you look at the paper work from Delta or the reservation in the Delta portal somewhere there should be a 6 didgit WestJet reservation number/ locator code.  With that code and your last name you should be able to pull up the record on the westjet website.

If you go the WestJet website and select Manage Booking you should be able to pull up your booking and enter any of that information. 

13 hours ago, EmmasNana said:

We will be flying DFW-CDG-FCO on Delta, operated by Air France. I paid to select seating, which I was okay about. 

 

1.  For luggage my paperwork says 4 x accessory and 4 x hand baggage (there are 4 of us). Does this mean I will need to pay for a checked bag? If so, any clue as to how much per bag and would it be for each leg of the flight? When I clicked on that option it wouldn't let me do it.

 

On cheaper tickets it is usually 1 free checked bag per person.  On the much more expensive Flexible tickets it us usually 2 free checked bags per person.

If you try to look it up there will be different rules for the DFW-CDG and CDG-FCO flight.  The transatlantic rules take precedence over the rules for the shorter connecting flight.  

If you want definitive answers somewhere on your paperwork it should have an Air France tracking number.  You can use that to look up the details on the Air France website.

Complementary wine and meals would be on the overseas flight.  Your likely going to have to pay on the shorter flight,   The French take their wine seriously, I would expect it to be slightly better than the US airlines. 

Looks like the Princess product is actually a policy form Nationwide Mutual just with some Princess marking around it.   

That is not an insurance company that is overly active in Canada.   They may not even be licensed in all provinces.

On 10/9/2023 at 5:40 PM, Bleueyes44 said:

No , I  only have TSA  precheck.   Guess I'll  have to find something later than noon.  Thanks

TSA Precheck is not not a thing in Canada.   

That said even without Global Entry, You should still be ok with noon.   

On 10/7/2023 at 10:53 PM, MaudeLou said:

Hi from Australia,

We flying to San Francisco and are visiting friends in Reno, Nevada prior to our Alaskan cruise on the Royal Princess 7th September 2024.

Can anyone tell me what is the easiest/best way to travel from Reno to Vancouver a few days prior to our cruise.

Have tried to research it but its totally confusing and looks very expensive 😞

Air Canada/United are partners.

WestJet/Delta are partners.

Alaska Airlines/American would be the third best option.  

You can try direct on the alrline websites or some of the travel sites. 

The other option if you have a lot of time is the train.  Amtrak operates train service from Reno to San Francisco.  There is also a train from San Francisco to Seattle or Portland.  There is a train service from Portland or Seattle to Vancouver.   This option will take longer and only makes sense if you want to spend some time in one of more of these cities.

On 10/9/2023 at 8:43 AM, Sn0cruiser said:

We’ll soon be booking a flight from our airport through Vancouver to LAX which is a first for us.  We have a couple of questions to help us decide how long a layover to book.
 

We know we’ll need to complete US border/customs in Vancouver.  Do we have to go through security again first like in Toronto Pearson ?  
 

Also, does filling out the new CBP MPC speed up the customs process ?

Being based in Victoria I frequently connect in Vancouver to the US.

Your bags should be cleared all the way through.    You do not re-collect them in Vancouver as they are automatically transferred.  

You follow signs for International/US transfers.  You will encounter some electronic gates.  You scan you boarding pass or show your connecting boarding pass/booking to the agent.  That lets you into the international terminal area.

If your going to the US you keep following the signs and there is an area for passengers connecting to the US.  You show your boarding pass and passport and your in.   

US has different screening rules that Canada.  You need to remove your shoes.  So you need to go through security screening again.

On 10/11/2023 at 6:42 PM, Fouremco said:

Too bad there's no consistency from airline to airline. For example, Porter, AC and WestJet all have different size limits when given in inches.

 

Porter:  22 x 9 x 16

AC:       21.5 x 9 x 15.5

WJ:       21 x 9 x 15

 

On the other hand, Porter and AC have identical measurements (55 x 23 x 40) when given in cm, with Porter rounding up (as it should) when converting to inches, while AC chooses to round down. WJ remains the stingiest, whether in inches or cm at 53 x 23 x 38.

 

I suppose it doesn't really matter, as I suspect that all of the cages are the same size anyway. 

 

Which is interesting..  My experience is the Q400 and CRJ are the worse aircraft with the smallest bins.  AC flies the CRJ.  All three fly the Q400.   Pacific Costal also operates some of the Saab aircraft for WestJet, those have extremely small bins, your not getting a wheeled bag into one of those.   

Recently AC started contracting PAL to operate some of the flights in Atlantic Canada.  The Q400 that PAL operates have extremely tight bins.  I was recently on one of their flight and virtually none of the bags with wheels on them made it into the bins. 

Flying out of Victoria frequently my first flight is on a Q400 and sometimes the Airbus.  The gate agent have a target for the number of passengers with checked bags based on the aircraft type.  Before boarding starts they will frequently announce we need an additional 5-6 people to check bags.  They will keep pushing until they get to that number.  

The MAX and widebody aircraft usually have lots of the bin space.  People need to put that bags on their side.

On 10/10/2023 at 11:48 AM, EmmasNana said:

I know you would be guessing, but are flights from US to Europe typically flying full?

Air Canada load factor (percentage of seats sold) between Canada and Europe is around 80-90%.  I suspect the US airlines are similar.  The airlines would all like for it to be 100%, but they don't always get what they want.  Yes, there likely will be a few empty seats on the flight.  Will they be next to the seats you pick? The odds are they won't.   

They load a certain number of seats into each fare category.  As they sell out lower fare categories your left with only higher ones on a specific given flight.  So if you look a day or two earlier or later you will see some differences.

Both Air Canada and WestJet will run sales from time to time.  Sometimes there is a special code you need to enter other time is more general.   As an example, just now Air Canada is running a promo where they are offering bonus Aeroplan points.  Usually if you look at their websites under the Special Officers or something like that you will see these.  

I would expect something around Black Friday.  That said, it will likely be a percentage discount off of what every is left at the time.  Will you get a better deal now than waiting for a sale? Hard to say.  

On 9/26/2023 at 11:18 PM, TulumSailor said:

How is customs at BLQ? Our plan is to have 2 checked bags, 2 carryons and 2 backpacks with us with no alcohol, no tobaccos  and only clothes and the usual accessories (iPhone, chargers, kindle and toiletries). We are on the B2B Transatlantic 

You will find it simpler and smother than North America.   

Any bags checked in from an airport within the European Union has green borders on them so they stand out.  Those that originate outside of Europe (such as yourself) are normal all white.

As others have said when you leave the baggage area there are two lanes.  Given what you have described you will likely have nothing to declare.  If you have the all white tagged bags, as you exit they may pull you aside to ask a question or two or do a customs inspection, however in Europe it is rare to see them do that, most people just walk straight through without even being stopped.  

18 hours ago, srobinet63 said:

 He has never flown before and has Type 1 Diabetes.  We will have all of his diabetic stuff with us.  

If you are traveling with insulin or related products, that is exempt from all the rules associated with liquids.   You want to keep it in it original packaging and as soon as you get the front of the line advise them your are traveling with medication.  

TSA info at:  https://www.tsa.gov/travel/special-procedures

I don't know how severe your sons disabilities are.  If you need special assistance on the flight or navigating the airport, most airlines have a medical desk that you can call a few days before and they can make arrangement ahead of time.  

22 hours ago, Kg1231 said:

This company is definitely a scam. I booked 2 tickets for a total of around $400. I received the confirmation email, and then shortly after received a phone call stating that price is actually no longer available (after I'd already received the confirmation) and that I now needed to pay $800 and owed them more money. I told them that is double the price and to cancel my order. Next day I get a phone call saying I needed to confirm my flight details and when I said I wanted to cancel, I was told I owed them a cancellation fee. I said I had paid insurance to cancel, which they denied. I told them I had proof in my confirmation email, and then they conceded but still said I owed a fee. 

Upon further research I found this is a scam and left a negative review. Immediately I received a phone call from the company asking me to take down the review, and they would waive the cancellation fee (which I already paid in my initial purchase!). The person was insistent and rude, and tried to pressure me. I ultimately hung up.

Tonight at 8pm I received a phone call from the company. Since it was late and I recognized the number, I did not answer. They then called 4 times back to back, without leaving a voicemail. I have a feeling they will be calling me again.... Definitely a bait and switch scam. 

Did you dispute the charges with your credit card company.   In addition to getting your $400 back, If that happens enough the credit card processors will drop them as a retailer.

8 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

Interesting.....very much appreciate the heads up on this.....we are traveling Tokyo to Orlando via Montreal in October......Got a deal on the Air Canada flight but the deal seems to be adding a slight challenge now....LOL. 

 

We've had Global Entry for several years....and we never (from foggy recollection) received anything in snail mail.  We had our Global Entry number but that was it.

 

We've never been asked for a Global Entry card (Miami, JFK, ATL) and we've gone to the magic kiosk and received the green light and the slip of paper.

 

I went online to the Global Entry site and see that there is place to activate the Global Entry card and it shows no card ever being activated for us. 

 

Caesar gives me the privilege of ordering a replacement card under the reason "never received" and I get to pay tribute of $25 each.....Instead of spending $50 for the cards for the one time experience of transferring in Canada and having the authority figure demanding the card, we will politely flash our passport and Global Entry numbers and see if we can get into the "privilege" line (of which we qualify for and have spent $$$ and time already to be able to utilize)...and if not, we will rot in the "steerage" line.

 

Fun times.....

 

 

 

If you connecting from Japan to the US in Montreal on the same day you probably don't even need to worry about.   You don't "enter Canada"  when you get off your flight you follow signs for US transfers.  You will be routed through a separate US border control line just for connecting passengers.  Your checked baggage will automatically be transferred. 

Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto (Terminal 1) have separate concourses for domestic, US and international.  That allows them to streamline international connections in the same way as major airports in Europe or Asia.    

The Calgary airport can be configured in the same way but, but during COVID they reconfigured to combine domestic and international departure gates similar to US airports and never went back.  In Calgary you would have to enter Canada, then go through US customs/security again.

1 minute ago, VermeulT said:

Can anyone provide feedback to Alaska Air... seats comfortable? suggested to upgrade seats or class for coast to coast flight? luggage fees?

I am probably choosing between Alaska Air and Delta for my cruise next Summer.  Alaska Air is priced better right now.  I will likely sign up for whichever's credit card for the miles &/or companion ticket and free luggage...

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Alaska is generally friendly.  They are a nice airline to travel with.

They are in the same alliance as American Airlines.  So if your with an American loyalty program you can collect/spend points on Alaska.  If your in the Alaska program you can collect/spend points on American.  

I do like Delta and find its is a toss up between them and Alaska. 

5 hours ago, obi_guacamole said:

For anyone else who stumbles upon this thread like I did.

 

We couldn't get a reservation for Canada Place parking and my wife didn't want to risk the lot being full on the day of our cruise. I had to find a less risky solution. And $55 a day is a bit steep honestly.

 

I got a "park & stay" deal with Accent Inn Vancouver Airport (which is actually in Richmond). The Burnaby location didn't have the program when I called the Accent Inn 800 number. but they still had it for the Richmond location. They shuttle to and from the Sky Train station in the airport. 

We'll see how it goes in a couple weeks.

There is a surcharge on skytrain when departing any of the airport stations (Templeton, Sea Island or YVR Stations).   If you ask the shuttle driver to drop you off at any of the stations in Richmond your will save about $5 per person. Bridgeport station would be my pick.

There is no surcharge going to the airport. 

Highly unlikely you would do pre-clearance in Vancouver if you have a Canadian stop before the US.  Usually when you do pre-clearance in Vancouver it is on a cruise where the first stop is somewhere in the US,  (Alaska, Hawaii or the lower 48).  

Nanaimo has Canadian immigration but does not have any US pre-clearance officers.  Victoria harbour does have US pre-clearance that are mostly used by the ferries between Victoria and Seattle or Port Angeles.  While it may be possible to do pre-clearance in Victoria I would be surprised if they tried to do that on a ship the size of cruise ship.   

Seattle is the most likely location.  

28 minutes ago, martincath said:

Maybe your taste in music differs from the prior poster, or you'd rather just have a chat in a quiet bar than have any music, but I'm afraid that unless some kind of pub/club/resto experience is up your alley Victoria offers almost nothing on a Sunday evening otherwise! Biggest employers by far are provincial and municipal governments, very much a M-F 9-5 gig (unless you work in the passport office where it's tools down at 4pm even if you're in the middle of processing an application!) and probably the next biggest category of 'workers' are Retirees - it's the retirement capital of Canada, and they roll up the proverbial sidewalks by 6pm for dang near everything!

 

But the local beer scene is top notch, especially if you're a fan of 'real ales' - nowhere outside of the UK has a better selection of cask ales per capita, with two brewpubs - Swans and Spinnakers - that offer a dual cellar experience where the same beer could potentially be sampled 'warm and flat' as God intended, 'cold and fizzy' as the marketing departments of every macro brewery want you to think beer is meant to be served (I believe at last survey, this is 100% of all such on the entire continent of North America!)... and if Fate truly smiles upon you 'virtually room temp straight from a cask with a tap & spile on the bar top' for a vertical tasting par excellence!

 

Of course the danger is that finding out what beer is meant to taste like ruins almost every bar elsewhere in the world for you, so it's a dangerous business! 😉

 

Not a boozehound? Have a nice walk around (or hire a mindblowingly expensive carriage to be driven around behind a horses arse) to check out the many Ye Olde Buildings which are nicely illuminated in the evenings, maybe have an extremely ill-timed 'Afternoon' Tea at the Fairmont if it's July/Aug (they take resos as late as 9pm in peak cruise season), but otherwise it's shopping or shopping... rather than tourist tat, maybe hit a local supermarket for interesting flavours of candy and chips you can't find in the US (don't buy Kinder Eggs though - it's easier to import firearms legally!)

Victoria comes across as a tourist and government town.  That is true, but the largest sector from a GDP perspective is actually high tech.  Not the same numbers as hospitably but still sizable.  The older exposed brick building in the downtown core are mostly occupied by tech companies on the upper floors.

All said, yes, on Sunday night is going to be slow downtown.   Here is the local events for downtown Victoria 

https://downtownvictoria.ca/events/