This blog is a gift to my wife, Renee, and my children, Adele, Athan, Audrey, Anne, Amelia, and Andrea.

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Want to Fly to Alberta on the Cheap?

Heavily Photoshopped Picture I Took at Moraine Lake, AB

Before we had kids, in 2008, we drove all the way to Victoria, BC in a rental van and had a blast. Driving across the country had always been a dream for me, and 9 years later, we drove to the other end of the country, all the way to Newfoundland! Now that I've been to all 10 provinces, I know where I want to go back to... and that's Alberta!  Banff was such a beautiful place; it's like somewhere you would only see in movies.

The situation 11 years later is a bit different, shall we say? If I wanted to visit Alberta, I might have to fork out $600 for a plane ticket, multiplied by 7!  That's $4200 before I even left the door, never mind accommodations, etc.!  So, I used the tactic that I employed for my trip to Florida, which was to scour the web for cheap flights that fly out from a reasonably close airport (reasonably being within a 5-hr drive...perhaps too much for some).  Ladies and gentlemen, good news for us: I've found a relatively inexpensive way to get there.

Go to Google Flights and search for a flight from YXU (London, ON) to YEG (Edmonton) and you'll find unbelievably cheap flights. For example, on May 25, 2019, I found a round-trip direct flight by Swoop from London to Edmonton for $162, with June 10 to 24 as travel dates. This is peak season we're talking about!



Now, of course, there's a catch. First and you already know this, you have to fly out of London.  I'm perfectly ok with this as I've flown out of Pittsburg which is a much longer drive. My brother Eric living in London also gives me another reason to use the London airport. Second, flight times aren't great. For the outbound trip, you have to fly out at 10:35 pm.  For the inbound trip, it's even worse... 6:00 am!  Lastly, Swoop charges even for a carry-on luggage.

So, let's just say I do take this trip, this is what my cost would look like.

- Flights - $162 x 7 = $1134
- 2 checked luggage - $46 x 2 = $92
- Parking at the airport for 2 weeks - $50 x 2 = $100
- Gas to London - $50
- TOTAL - $1376

This works out to be $197/person!  I'd say that's pretty good!  So, you know where I might be going next year! :)

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