Air Canada will only fly three days a week

Travelling to Toronto will get more complicated as Air Canada pulls back to three days a week in May.

Canada’s largest carrier will only fly Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and will briefly add a Tuesday flight for the summer before reverting back to three days a week in the fall.

Rival WestJet also flies three days a week — Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday — which means even though there are two carriers flying to Toronto, the city is only getting direct service from Bermuda four days a week.

A comparison of costs for a Bermuda departure on Thursday, May 9 with a return on Thursday, May 16 shows WestJet at $188.80 and $230.44 respectively while AC is at $214 and $256.

Of course, if you absolutely have to travel to Toronto on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, you’ll have to use a US carrier.

American Airlines has several options for a round trip on the Wednesday, May 8 to Wednesday, May 15 at $360, but none of those are very palatable as you arrive in New York at 10:45am but don’t get into Toronto until after 6pm at the earliest.

The best one time-wise has travellers arriving at 4:30pm from New York but at a cost of $609.

Delta might be the best bet with just a five-hour travel with a stop in Boston for $374.70.

If you’re flying to other destinations in Canada you would have a stop anyway, but now, on the way back to Bermuda, you’ll have to clear US Customs and Bermuda Customs.

Price guarantee

While the above announcement by Air Canada is a bit disheartening, they did have some good news for Canadian travellers to Bermuda.

The carrier expanded its Lowest Price Guarantee to give customers added assurance they are getting  the lowest price available on-line within a 24-hour period when they book flights on Air Canada. The guarantee applies to any destination Air Canada serves for tickets bought in Canada on aircanada.com.

If they find the same flight elsewhere in Canada at a lower price within 24 hours, AC will provide a $50 travel credit plus the price difference. This price guarantee covers its entire global network.

Here are the highlights of how the Lowest Price Guarantee works.

It is available to all consumers and travel agencies purchasing tickets in Canada for Canadian originating flights on Air Canada, Air Canada rouge or Air Canada Express flights operated by Sky Regional or Jazz Aviation LP through aircanada.com

If, within 24 hours of purchase, the customer finds a cheaper price for the same flight, itinerary and fare brand on another Canadian online travel retailer, then Air Canada will provide a travel credit for $50 plus the price difference, which can be applied towards future travel.

Air Canada’s policy of allowing customers to cancel any flight and receive a full refund within 24 hours of booking remains in effect.

Customers and travel agencies who find a lower price can easily notify Air Canada on-line and are not required to buy the lower fare.

The programme covers all travel within Air Canada’s network on flights marketed and operated by Air Canada, Air Canada rouge and Air Canada Express flights. It is available for all published retail fares sold in Canada by any Canadian online retail distribution channel that is an accredited vendor of Air Canada.

If you have family or friends travelling to Bermuda, Air Canada should always be cheaper than WestJet, if not, AC is promising to refund the difference and give them $50 per person.

Wave season

January through March are generally considered the best time to book a cruise as the various lines are offering incentives.

Norwegian Cruise Line has a “DASH sale” which ends today.

If you book a cruise today you can receive up to up to $250 per stateroom to spend on board (based on cruise length and stateroom category), free balcony upgrades, reduced deposits and an e-coupon booklet worth up to $300 in on-board savings.

Air credits up to $1,000 are also available on select sailings. In addition, Norwegian is extending additional savings to families by offering 50 per cent off cruise fare for children ages 17 and younger on any of Norwegian’s Europe or Alaska itineraries, when travelling with two adults in the same stateroom.