The staff here in the NYQUEST office are from around the world, and we make flights to and from Canada all the time to visit family, friends and do business. So we pulled together to compile our top tips on how to book a cheap flight to Canada this summer.
1) Use a flight scanner that will search many airlines at once
Websites such as SkyScanner.net or Expedia.ca can search many airlines at once saving you a load of time and hopefully money! Even when your search engine has given you a cheap flight, check the airline’s website directly to make sure all your fees (baggage, seat option, airport taxes) have been included!
2) Be as flexible as possible with your dates
If your summer camp job in Canada doesn’t start until June 22nd but you finished University on June 1st, you could look for cheaper flights to Canada earlier in the month and spend some extra time travelling! Remember, NYQUEST can offer their staff great discounts on events and accommodation in several cities in Canada – just ask us! The money you saved on your flight can go towards these extra fun excursions.
3) Use AirMiles or other reward points.
Some airlines will give you a discount or credit if you book the flight your flight to Canada using AirMiles. Similarly some Credit Card companies will give you a certain percentage of cash back for using their card to book your travel. These cards can sometimes also provide you with free comprehensive travel insurance so check in with your credit card company before you splurge on travel insurance.
Note: NYQUEST purchases 10 weeks of comprehensive health insurance for all of our international summer camp staff. Please check your email for details. Returning staff should contact us if they wish to be take advantage of our cheap health insurance coverage.
4) Sign up for deal notifications by email
Some of the best deals that we have found in recent years have been on CanadianAffair.com – You can sign up on their website to be notified when they have seat sales, and if you’re flexible with your dates (see tip #2) it’s an easy way to pick up a bargain.
Other websites like Kayak give you a Fare Alert option – so they’ll send you an email about price changes on your selected route.
5) Be flexible with your destination/departure airport
Before you leave for camp maybe it’s time that you visited your Grandmother that you haven’t seen for a while? Take a few extra days and flying out from a different major airport could save you money.
If you have some extra time before or after camp why not look into flying to/from bigger Canadian airports such as Toronto, Vancouver or some of the major US hubs such as Chicago or New York. You may be able to pick up a cheap connecting flight to/from these airports and your host city. Sometimes even smaller airports will give you a better deal! A popular route with NYQUEST staff is to work at a summer camp in Canada and then travel down to the US (New York/Seattle/Chicago) for their return flight.
6) Don’t book a flexi-fare (use this with caution)
If the Canadian summer camp director has given you your dates of employment and this has been confirmed with NYQUEST then you can set your flights in stone. By choosing to not have the option to change your flights at a later date you can save a decent amount of cash.
Important Note: You’re going to meet so many great people at camp that you will never want to say goodbye so plans after camp always change. More often than not you will stay for even longer than you originally planned. With a non-flexi-fare it will be next to impossible to change your flight and this could end up very expensive!
So, everyone has a great travel tip – but what is your best tip for finding cheap airline tickets?