Printable View
hey guys were going to a wedding in tofino bc this summer looking at driving is going to cost well over 1500.00 for us to go so were looking into flying.. does anyone know how to get the cheapest airfare and car rental for in Canada flying? flying from sasaktoon.... hopefully someone can help us out thanks in advance :)
It depends on when in the summer you're going, but I usually go to travelzoo.ca for flights and hotels. That website will search on different places so you can compare prices. But a drive from Saskatoon to Vancouver is beautiful in the summer, especially when you cross the border from AB to BC!
Try to bid in Priceline.ca / com.
Expedia and Air Canada have sales on today only. Best time to book seems to be Tues and Weds (fares seem to be lower) from our experience.
Agree about Tuesday to Thursday booking.Quote:
Originally Posted by crafter
OP, best time to buy? When Porter, Westjet and Air Canada are having a seat sale war. Then you win. They do this about every 6 weeks or so, going by recent sales.
When we have booked on Westjet, they give us a link for car rental deals. Usually 5 deals. Usually one of the 5 car companies have a wicked good price that is much lower than the rest.
Check Westjet on "Blue Thursdays" when they post their Facebook deal of the week. It's sometimes Canada. It is sometimes USA.
Happy shopping/flying/driving:)
Some thoughts...
- Flying from YVR to Tofino is $175 plus taxes.... http://www.flyorcaair.com
- where are you renting the car? From the mainland? In addition to the car rental, budget $75 each way for the car rental on the ferry.
- After a 2hr ferry ride, budget for another 3hrs to drive to Tofino. https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=d...mra=ls&t=m&z=9
- Have you consider taking the bus for $70 each way from Vancouver? http://www.tofinobus.com/
kayak.ca searches numerous airline sites and you can set an alert to email you daily or weekly changes in price. Also has past fare history as a means to know if the price will go up or down soon.
I am tracking a flight to Miami in May and have used in the past for a New Orleans flight. For days it was $400-$500, then it dropped to $233 per person and purchased it no problem.
thanks everyone for the advice.. we would love to drive it but its just going to cost to much with gas, rooms and other expenses... So far the cheapest flights were finding is 460.00 to fly from sasaktoon to Nanaimo which is way cheaper then driving... they also have went down from 960.00 that's what it was originally so hopefully the price keeps dropping... we have never rented a vehicle before so didn't know that you get options when we check out shwa girl said! hopefully they have a seat sale fight again soon! thanks again everyone :) muchly appreciated
Hmm.... airline prices don't fall much when July school is out. Might want to lock in prices soon.
fyi... you can bus from Nanaimo to Tofino for $50...
http://www.tofinobus.com/fares
Car rentals? Economy car or Minivan? Insurance? Budget $70 to $200 a day.
The road between Nanaimo is beautiful with stops in Port Alberni, Cathedral grove and small towns in between. Then again, do you feel comfortable driving mountainous twisty roads for a few hours? Good thing you are not travelling in winter.
You can also rent a car once you get to Tofino to check out the parks...
https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=T...ra=ls&t=m&z=11
Car rentals, I regularly book with Budget, but I don't find there's a lot of variance in price between major car rental companies. I like Air Miles and this location is handy. :)
We rent full size cars (DH is 6'5, he can't really drive a small car), and look for coupon codes online. Costco has one for Budget and Hertz, different codes for different cars, how long you're renting, etc. A three day weekend can often be under $100, but it also depends on the time of year. I just rented one last weekend that was Saturday - Monday for under $70, taxes in. In October, a Friday - Monday was about $80. Summertime it's more.
We don't take their insurance, the daily rate is often nearly as much as the daily rate of the car. Check your car insurance policy and see if there's something there that you can use to cover it. Many credit cards also provide coverage, but they don't provide third party liability. We just use the credit card insurance; had to use it once, came back to our car in a parking lot with a dent and no note, and the process was fairly painless to get them to pay for it, I was kind of surprised actually.
Check out airbnb. I have used them several times. Much cheaper than hotels and if you get a good host it can feel just like home :)
I'm a travel agent. If you want to PM me I could help you look for car rentals or cheaper flights if you'd like.
I usually use flightcenter.ca to book flights. But sometime Aircanada send out Promo codes 15% off, so you need to check Aircanada website too.
thank you guys all so much! we don't mind doing the drive from Nanaimo and tofino my boyfriend goes to the mountain tons for sledding in the winter so that's not an issue :) we will be renting the car for about a week all your guys input is very helpful!