1. Get an Air Miles credit card – When I first started using Air Miles I noticed that it was extremely difficult to get enough to even be awarded a short flight. One of the biggest reasons for this is that I didn’t have one of Air Mile’s credit cards. Air Miles offers multiple versions of credit cards from bothMasterCard and American Express. Some of these credit cards have fees, however, you don’t need to spend as much to earn miles. I personally went with the no annual fee MasterCard, and found it to be more cost effective than the other options available, plus I don’t like paying credit card companies if I don’t have to. By using my Air Miles credit card I have earned double Air Miles on many of my purchases. This is called double dipping: the process of using your credit card and collector card simultaneously at an Air Miles sponsor.
2. Wait for bonus events – Bonus Air Miles are key if you want to be able to earn miles faster. Air Miles offers bonus events throughout the year promoting different stores. For example, Shell gasoline offers 3X bonus events every year or so, and Safeway promotes certain items they sell by tacking on bonus miles for shoppers who purchase specific products. One event that has become extremely popular throughout the past few years is Air Miles 10X bonus event, where users who shop online through AirMilesShop.ca earn up to ten times reward miles during a select few days.
3. Seek out savings – Although this tip doesn’t necessarily earn you more Air Miles, it does keep you grounded when it comes to ensuring you don’t over spend. Even if you’re an avid Air Miles collector, it’s important to ensure that it’s worth shopping at an Air Miles sponsor. In many cases, sponsors will charge customers more just because their business offer Air Miles, leaving customers with a deeper hole in their pocket then they would’ve had when shopping elsewhere. That’s not to say that Air Miles sponsors don’t have great deals. In fact, some companies provide Air Miles collectors with exclusive deals.
4. Shop online – Some of the best deals that I find with Air Miles are found online. As I mentioned earlier, Air Mile’s offers a 10X bonus event that is exclusive to online shopping. Furthermore, some bricks-and-mortar stores will offer Air Miles incentives to get customers shopping via e-commerce. In addition, purchasing through AirMilesShop.ca is a great way to know that you’re shopping with trusted online retailers, not a scam artist after your credit card number.
5. Be social online – One of the best ways to find out about bonus Air Miles is by subscribing to their Facebook and Twitter pages. Throughout the week you’ll find exclusive bonus Air Miles offers that can only be found if you follow the company on one of the social networks their using. In fact, the other day I found fantastic deals on movie tickets that I wouldn’t of found if I wasn’t subscribing to them on Facebook. Even better, it is easier for Air Miles to send you bonus offers via social media because deals will show up on your Facebook or Twitter stream. This means that you aren’t going to have to navigate to the Air Miles website everyday to see the latest bonus offers.

What are your tips for earning more AirMiles? Leave a comment below or send me a Tweet with your suggestions.

image source: Wikipedia

However, I’ve noticed that quite a few people visiting Vancouver haven’t heard of the train line, therefore, end up paying more for a taxi or a shuttle service. Although at certain times of the day (mainly during rush hour) the SkyTrain fare increases, I still think it’s worth while, as you won’t have to worry about getting stuck in traffic.

What Is The Canada Line?

The Canada Line is an automated train system in Vancouver Canada. It works similarly to a subway system, but runs above ground and doesn’t have a human driver. Furthermore, the trains can reach speeds of up to 90 km/h, providing quick and easy access to the downtown core. What’s even more impressive is that there has never been an accident recorded in the history of SkyTrain. If you’d like more information about how the Canada Line works check out this Wikipedia page.

The purpose of implementing the Canada line was for Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic winter games. It was designed to allow athletes, team personnel, and tourist easy access to downtown venues and hotels.

5 Reasons Why Canada Line Is The Best Way To Travel To and From The Airport

1. Reliability – I’ve been living in Vancouver for a very long time and rarely get delayed when I take the SkyTrain. The maintenance crews perform an excellent job in ensuring that on-time performance is maintained by working through the night. Compare this to driving, where traffic jams are a regular occurrence in Vancouver, especially during rush hour.
2. Network – Vancouver’s transit system goes way beyond SkyTrain and Canada Line systems. They’re also equipped with a vast bus network that can get you to all corners of the Lower Mainland quickly and efficiently. I usually purchase a day pass and use transit as my primary mode of transportation throughout the day.
3. Price – The price it makes it very economical to take transit in Vancouver. Prices range between $2.50 and $5.00, depending on how far you plan on travelling. Additionally, the price of gas in the province is sky high, not to mention that the provincial government has implemented a gas tax on every litre of fuel you purchase. This gives you even more reason to ditch the car and use transit.
4. Access – The fact that the Canada Line goes right up to the airport is absolutely phenomenal. In fact, the YVR station is attached directly to the building, making it a short trip to get from your flight to a train. The trip downtown is quick, taking just under 26 minutes.
5. You can relax – One of my favourite reasons to take the Canada line is that it gives you time to relax, especially after a long flight. When I take the train, I usually take a quick nap so that I can be ready to go when I have to get off. Even better, the trains are extremely quiet and smooth, making it easy to get some shut-eye.

What If I Get Lost?

As many of you know, Canadians have a very good reputation of being helpful. Furthermore, Vancouver is a multicultural city, with many citizens speaking a variety of languages. If you get lost, I’ve found that Vancouver residents are typically very helpful in getting you on your way. Also, many of the stations have staff members that will be able to help you out. With that said, they are usually located at busier stations, meaning that you may have to travel a bit before you find someone.

Resources

• Canada Line Route Map
• Map of YVR
• Translink Fares
• Translink’s Twitter Account

This all comes after WestJet had begun crowd sourcing their employees to promote ways of reducing costs. And according to this report, there was an overwhelming response. Furthermore, the airline was able to gather new product ideas by using this method.

It isn’t clear yet what exactly caused the slide today, however, both stocks had been maintaining their worth for the past week. Below is the graph of how today’s stock for both WestJet and Air Canada played out.

WestJet

Air Canada

This is a surprising statistic, especially with Air Canada facing heavy criticism by customers regarding their customer service. You wouldn’t expect large amounts of people applying to a company that has consumers whining about them. Furthermore, I’ve found many reviews by employees on the web criticizing Air Canada’s management and their uncaring attitude.

However, it’s also important to consider the fact that Air Canada offers their employees excellent benefits, along with a stable union that can represent them at the bargaining table. Some of the more prominent benefits include personal insurance programs, health benefits, dental benefits, life insurance, pension plan, and vacation benefits.Furthermore, the travel benefits are more extensive than Air Canada’s rival WestJet, with many more international destinations available. It’s also important to note that there were very few travel related companies listed among the top employers, meaning that competition was minimal regarding the airline industry.

Other companies among the top five include Research In Motion, IBM Canada, McGill University, and Bombardier. In order to be listed as a top company, the employer must have at least 1000 people working for them. Furthermore, they must also be one of the one hundred and fifty largest employers in Canada.

All in all, it’s important to remember that the survey conducted reflects on the attractiveness of working for Air Canada, not the opinion of employees already working for the airline. I’m concerned that results may have showed differently if the survey included people already working for them. On the other hand, there are very few companies who offer benefits that are on par with Air Canada.

image: DiscoveryFinance

The flight will commence on Mondays and Fridays, with the flight originating in Las Vegas. It will depart the entertainment capital at 9:45 AM, arriving in Hamilton just after 5 PM. It will then depart Hamilton at 6 PM and arrive in Vegas at 7:39PM.

“This is definitely new for us,” commented John MacLeod, WestJet Vice-President, Network Management and Alliances. “As we prepare for the annual fall transition of our fleet we had a window of additional flying time over an 11-week period. The people of the greater Hamilton area have always supported WestJet and we wanted to thank them by testing the feasibility of service to Las Vegas. Based on the demand during the 11-week trial, we will determine if this route is a viable option to consider as our fleet grows.”

The US Transportation Security Administration announced on Wednesday that they’ll be introducing new body scanning software to prevent naked images from being shown to TSA screeners. After continuous complaints from travellers, the TSA began testing this software to ensure that it could protect passenger privacy while still maintaining a high security level.

This addition allows the computer to use a generic body outline, while detecting and eliminating the actual physical form of the passenger. The TSA has says that passengers should expect this new measure in about 40 airports throughout the next several months.

There is still no word as to whether the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority will adopt this technology. Currently, their website states the following about privacy with the full body scanner.

A trained and certified screening officer examines the full-body scanner images from a separate room. This officer has no direct view of the passenger before, during or after the screening process, and receives no personal information that could associate the image to a particular person. To further protect passenger privacy, the images are deleted after they are viewed. Images cannot and will not be stored, printed or transmitted. The screening officer who assists the passenger during the scanning process never sees the image the scanner produces.

The TSA has been trying to recover from a public relations nightmare, as a result of complaints regarding pat-downs and body scanning of young children and senior citizens. However, the organization has maintained that passenger security continues to remain a top priority.

image: InfoWars

Big news coming out of Europe, as Lufthansa has announced that they have initiated a world’s first. They are the first airline to provide passenger flights using biofuel. The flights, which are operating Hamburg and Frankfurt Germany, will be using a 50% mixture of Hydro processed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), along with regular fuel in one engine. Regular jet fuel will be used in the other. The aircraft being used will be an Airbus A321, equipped with minor changes so that the engines can process the fuel more efficiently.

This is a huge step forward in green technology, especially considering that airlines are some of the biggest polluters in the world. Lufthansa plans on keeping these flights going for about 6-months, then re-evaluate after that. Furthermore, the airline, along with Airbus will be studying the long term impact of this new fuel on overall aircraft performance.

“Lufthansa is the world’s first airline to utilise biofuel in daily flight operations. This is a further consistent step in the sustainability strategy, which Lufthansa has for years been successfully pursuing. We want to secure future sustainable mobility by conducting research and development work today,” said Christoph Franz, Lufthansa CEO.

Airbus is the first airplane manufacturer to implement biofuel with their aircraft. Both Bombardier and Boeing have also made significant advancements, however, Airbus beat them to it.

image: tcgraf.de

This is the beginning of a new series on FlightNews.ca, where we will compare Canada’s two major airlines in a variety of different settings. From customer service to the aircraft they use, we’re going to go over both airlines with a fine tooth comb. Today we’re going to focus on the regional aspect of both Air Canada and WestJet.

Right of the bat, Air Canada has an advantage over WestJet; their own regional airline. Being affiliated with Air Canada Express (formerly known as Jazz) allows the airline to access airports with small runways, whereas WestJet and their fleet of Boeing 737s would not be able to land. Air Canada Express flies both DH3 and CRJ aircraft, which take up less runway when taking off. Having this ability gives Air Canada access to small rural areas, often being the only airline servicing a particular area.

The problem with both airlines, however, is that the small markets they’re trying to reach may not have enough population to support a regular route. In fact, many of these small routes aren’t profitable, forcing the airline to leave or cut their route frequency drastically. This has happened quite a bit post recession, especially in cities with less than 15 000 residents.

What’s interesting, however, is WestJet’s ability to attract small town markets to larger cities just to fly with them. For example, Kamloops, Kelowna, Prince George, and Abbotsford Airports have a large customer base coming from rural communities as far as three hours away. WestJet being so attractive to these smaller communities is probably due to their easy going customer experience.

With all of that said, the winner for this round is, hands down, Air Canada. The main reason for this is the fact that they are able to reach so many passengers with Air Canada Express. The large amount of routes they have available to customers puts them at a huge advantage over WestJet. Especially considering that WestJet isn’t even capable of landing in some of the destinations that Air Canada services.

• Toronto-Curaçao (CUR) on Saturdays beginning December 24 on a weekly flight using a 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft
• Toronto-St. Kitts (SKB) on Fridays beginning December 23 on a weekly flight using a 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft
• Toronto-St. Thomas (STT) on Saturdays beginning December 24 on a weekly flight usinf a 120-seat Airbus A319 aircraft

source: TravelTST

The airline is also saying that they have eight hotels available through Air Canada vacations near St. Thomas. They also have three hotels in St. Croix and one in St. John that they are affiliated with. Unfortunately, as the schedule states, the direct flights are only available out of Toronto. However, there are plenty of connections available through Pearson International airport.

]]> http://flightnews.ca/air-canada-announces-additional-caribbean-destinations-out-of-toronto/feed/ 0 http://flightnews.ca/prince-george-airport-in-talks-to-provide-direct-flights-to-germany/ http://flightnews.ca/prince-george-airport-in-talks-to-provide-direct-flights-to-germany/#comments Sat, 09 Jul 2011 20:10:59 +0000 Bradley http://flightnews.ca/?p=366

The Prince George Airport Authority released a survey on their website suggesting that they’re in talks with an airline in Germany that will provide direct flights between Frankfurt and Prince George. The airport is currently surveying potential customers to see if there’s a strong enough interest to be attractive to the German airline.

According to the Prince George airport website, the flights would occur weekly beginning in 2012 or 2013. However, one drawback to the purposed route would be that it would operate on a seasonal basis. Furthermore, pricing will be a significant issue, especially with the shutdown of mills in the areas and tight family budgets.

The benefits of this new route would be unprecedented, providing quick access to citizens for Northern BC to Europe and its surrounding regions. Furthermore, it would provide some much needed tourism dollars to the Prince George area. There is also a strong student exchange program with countries in Central Europe, and it may encourage more high school students in Prince George to participate in it.

The PGAA has not released any information regarding which airline they’re negotiating with. However, we’ve contacted them via Twitter and will release the information as soon as we get it.