tracys

OMG,

My dad will not be visiting me if we go to Canada!

Just checked prices for two adults travelling to NS 1/7/12 - 15/7/12 out of curiosity.

Air Canada to & from Heathrow £1899.72!

Canadian Affair same dates but with crappy Air transat in & out of Gatwick £1096.00

Anyone got any idea why there is such a massive difference? Can't see my dad paying even the lower price for two weeks in a place he's not interested in going, even to see his grandkids!

He could go to Portugal and back on easy jet about 5 times for that, and does, every year to visit his wife's family.

CA don't do flights in winter either so you're stuck with AC. Ok if you can afford it I suppose. Then again, no one is going to visit us in winter are they

Tracy

magnumpi

July is always guna be pricey.

Try April~May or Sept~Oct

tracys

Thanks Magnumpi, I have checked and they are much cheaper but dad don't do cold, so it's summer or nothing

Oink

Has he thought of going to Spain? Its probably going to be cheaper.

jericho

Just as an FYI, Air Canada are generally the most expensive way to fly from NS to the UK.

Canadian Affair fly back and forth between the UK and Halifax at that time of year, and would be much more affordable... I've seen prices around the 400 - 500 quid mark.

We're flying back to the UK at Christmas (ie/ another expensive time to fly) and it's just over $2000 GBP for 2 adults and two children (flying with US Airways: Halifax > Philadelphia > Manchester)

BristolUK

May and September cold?

There can still be a trace of snow banks on the ground in May but it's okay.

We still needed the AC in September and I was still in shorts until a couple of weeks ago.

jericho

We had the in-laws over for the first 2 weeks of October, and it was in the early 20's for most of that time. I recall it was 24 degrees one weekend as we were at the beach.

__TJ__

We flew gatwick Vancouver in October 09 for £320 return each. If my family come visit, I'd recommend October it's cheaper and we still needed sun cream!

Atlantic Xpat

And there's proof of the fallacy that living in NS (or NL for that matter) is good because of easier travel to and from the UK. Flights to Halifax are more expensive than flights to Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver etc. Demand and Competition come into play to drive prices lower. Atlantic Canada may be closer to Europe which makes for shorter flights, but, IMHO is not cheaper. If cheap flights to the UK are import to you, choose somewhere else.

tracys

Thanks for all the replies and advice. I know it's not cold in May and September but my dad still refers to Canada as the Great White North

However since my sister gave him her old I-phone he has been tracking the temperature in Halifax with the weather app and has been very very surprised.

From my little bit of research I have found that AC are the most expensive but they do have direct flights and for someone who hates flying one plane journey is about my limit. The thought of changing once or even twice just horrifies me.

Thanks again for replies.

Tracy

Souvy

You mention shorter flights. My YOW-LHR a couple of weekends ago was under six hours. I've no idea why.

tracys

Shorter flights definitely more important than cost for me personally. Plus I don't intend to go back to UK that often

Relatives not as solvent as us so cost will factor in to whether or how often they are able to visit. We knew this would be a factor though when we started this journey so not a complete shock. They are used to cheap fares to Portugal so prices may be a shock, even the cheaper ones.

Atlantic Xpat

With AC (who are my only choice from St John's) I will always pay more for a more direct routing. I hate flying in the wrong direction first. May-Sept I can fly directly to LHR from St. John's in 4.5hrs. The trip I did last month involved flying to Halifax first that sucks but not as much as flying via Toronto. When one has to do that, the realisation sinks in that 9 hrs after leaving ones house, one is flying over it again and has only then started the progress towards Blighty!

BristolUK

If you don't mind not being able fly in winter, Canadian Affair is roughly the same cost for Halifax as Montreal or Toronto isn't it? And a bit quicker. And a lot less than AC.

But there are always exceptions. I remember flying between Bristol and Montreal via Paris and another time via Amsterdam as well as Heathrow/Montreal for much the same cost as Canadian Affair from Gatwick would have been.

Lord Vader

It will not be cold in September or October. In fact, I would say that is probably the best time to come. He may even get to experience a hurricane. Send him this link. http://www.theweathernetwork.com/sta...05090/cans0057