Travellers looking for cheap flights from Vancouver can take advantage of a couple of big spring sales to popular sun destinations and select cities in the United States.
Canada's two biggest airlines have sales on April Fool's Day (April 1) with discounts on flights to hot spots in Mexico, the Caribbean and some U.S. destinations. However, the sales are not jokes.
WestJet and Air Canada have several options from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) this week.
WestJet
WestJet underscores that its sun discounts aren't part of an April Fool's Day joke or prank, calling its April 1 promotion the "Keep It Real" sale.
"April Fools had us laughing, but these deals are no joke," the airline quips on its website.
Over 50 sun destinations the airline flies to are part of the sale, including flights between Canada and Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America.
The promotion also applies to flights between Canada and the following U.S. cities:
- Phoenix
- Orlando
- Fort Myers
- Fort Lauderdale
- Tampa,
- Las Vegas
- Orange County/ Anaheim
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- Honolulu
- Maui
- Palm Springs
- Kona
- Lihue
- Atlanta
- Portland
- Seattle
- Minneapolis-Saint Paul
- Nashville
- Denver
- Detroit
- Washington
- Puerto Rico
The sale applies to travel between April 1 to Oct. 26 and there are no blackout dates. The discounts do not apply to codeshare tickets (WestJet must operate all flights on the journey).
Tickets must be booked by Tuesday, April 2 at 10:59 p.m.
WestJet has a calendar that shows which dates have the cheapest flights (see slide two). If you are flexible, you can adjust your travel dates to take advantage of the lowest-price option.
Once you've selected the travel dates, WestJet will ask you if you want to stay in the Basic fare class or upgrade. Ensure you are comfortable with the booking restrictions in the lowest fare class before you book your ticket (see slide three).
Air Canada
Canada's flag carrier also has an April Fool's Day timed sale, with discounts on flights from Canada to Mexico, the Caribbean, and select destinations in the U.S.
The sale applies to new bookings on travel between April 1 and Oct. 26 on undiscounted Air Canada-published base fares only. There are no blackout dates.
Tickets must be booked by Tuesday, April 2 at 9:59 p.m.
You can get discounts on numerous flights from Vancouver to popular cities across North America. For example, a one-way flight from YVR to the Kahului Airport (OGG) in Maui, Hawaii costs $221.43 (see slide four).
