dlake02

Yep - I did wonder that too.... Kayak is telling me to "wait" as well, so that's what I'll do....

Michael

Generally during the last month, the prices drop significantly except for Southwest and Jet Blue so book flights on those airlines 1-3 months in advance but not less than about 1 month and not more than about 3 months for the best prices. Also Southwest has a fare finder if you can be flexible usually by one day to get a lowest price.

Michael

You are correct. Expedia gives the total taxes and fees and the taxes and fees for a roundtrip from San Francisco to Vancouver is $93 and the taxes and fees from San Francisco to Seattle is $31. So I suspect many airlines try to avoid Vancouver if possible to avoid the extra $31 each way. That is probably why I didn't see any flights through Vancouver to Alaska.

scrubbedexpat091

YVR costs, are a big reason why Bellingham has non-stop's to places like Vegas, Hawaii, Portland, as well as Seattle which has been around for years.

Those are Alaska Airlines routes, I can't keep track of where Allegiant flies these days from there.

To the OP: Allegiant Airlines flies San Francisco to Bellingham (not sure how frequently, or what days, but its listed on their route map.) which could be an option to save money.

Bellingham is about 1/2 hour from the border, and then another 30-40 minutes to downtown Vancouver.

You can get a bus as low as 6-12 bucks to Vancouver on Bolt Bus or rent a car and drive.

Steerpike

Would you care to explain this comment? Are you suggesting Oakland airport is too dangerous to fly out of?! It's a great airport to fly through.

This is a preposterous statement. I just drove from Scottsdale, AZ to the Bay area, spending the night in the Sierras this time. It's a journey I do fairly often, spending the night at varying locations as the mood takes me. The roads are fantastic, and there are cheap, functional motels all along the way. I stayed at a Best Western for under $100, ate at a great restaurant, and met interesting tourists from France and Germany at the restaurant (in Lone Pine). My <$100 motel was facing Mt. Whitney, at > 14,000 feet the tallest mountain in the contiguous US - gorgeous spot. The cost of gas for the trip (900 miles) was about $120. On the way, I passed through beautiful desert, Vegas, Death Valley National Park, the Sierras, and Yosemite National Park.

I've lived in the Bay Area for 30 years and over the years, have spent weekends in Mendocino, Big Sur, the Redwood forest, Yosemite, Tahoe, and on longer breaks have traveled to Lassen, Kings Canyon, Oregon, Death Valley, San Diego, Santa Barbara ... and on and on. You are SURROUNDED by stunning scenery, with fantastic roads to travel on, and an abundance of cheap gas to fuel your travels. I'm sorry you can't get a cheap flight to Vancouver ... I did a few years ago and enjoyed it, but ... it's not like there aren't a lot of other things to do.

AmerLisa

Love Lone Pine, haven't been in years, but it's definitely a place I want to take my husband and daughter. You're correct, there are a lot of beautiful places to see.

Bob

That's still a pretty expensive weekend trip for a family, when it's only just travel time involved...

The OP does make a point about the trains though. I'd love to take a train to see more of the country, but it's not really practical, it costs aren't cheap and it takes forever.

Train ride from Boston to Portland, ME isn't to bad on cost/time, especially now there's a stop in Freeport, ME, but that's mainly because people go back and forth just for the shopping rather than a touristy holiday...and then you've got the hassle of getting a rental car, at a premium price at the station because you can't get out and about to another rental easily. Well you can in downtown Boston, but you're still paying a premium till you leave for the burbs but that's going on a bit of a tangent.

Giantaxe

I flew to Vancouver last November on the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day. Iirc, the return fare (on Alaska) was under $400. This was via Portland. Amazingly the weather was stunning, unlike the constant rain on my prior trip in an August. Assuming it doesn't rain all the time, it's a great city for a long weekend.

Giantaxe

All so true... And the snide comment about Oakland really sums up dlake for me.

AdobePinon

Yep. Had good experiences there.

scrubbedexpat097

My daughter, until recently, lived in Oakland and all our visits to her were to Oakland Airport.

I compared it to Hobby (Houston) which is always a nicer alternative to IAH (Houston)


There are a lot of myths to Oakland being a scary place to live. It is like any other city in the world, there are a very few places you stay away from and then there is the rest that is fine !

Michael

Especially if you live around Lake Merritt or in the east hills. To me, both are just beautiful areas.

SultanOfSwing

If there is no culture of holidays here, then how come almost everyone I know goes away for at least one week in the summer? The only reason we don't get away as often as we want to is money, not time and we both get the bog standard two weeks.

I got 25 days in the UK and I never went anywhere, I just took days off to stay at home. IMO, having fewer days here encourages me to use them more efficiently. Unless I really think about it, I end up not missing the other fifteen days.

N1cky

I work for a travel agency, HR recently conducted a survey that asked staff about vacations to Hawaii. 66% of employees have vacationed in Hawaii 10 or more times. Now we might get great discounts but people still need to travel using their holiday entitlement.

kins

How ironic - I was just on a UK parenting forum where they were moaning about it costing so much to get to France for a week.

I flew to Chicago for $6 and some airmiles a few weeks ago...