Flying Europe to Halifax
 

This transport thing is becoming a bit of a problem.

We live in the North East of Scotland, close to Aberdeen airport. We're going to be in Lunenburg NS from the 31st July till the 14th August this year.

We would like to do this trip using as little time/ money as is rationally possible. I guess the big deal fro me is not too many changes; and the big dear for my husband is the cost.

We originally thought Glasgow-Toronto-Halifax (bearing in mind it's 3 hours drive from here to Glasgow airport). Then we THOUGHT we could do it direct (from Glasgow, with Icelandair, albeit the wheels touch down. But it seems we can't get back that way- at least not till the following Thursday. I don't mind losing Friday 30th/ Monday 16th, but more than that is a bit of a pain.

We then BOOKED successfully with BMI through Heathrow. The connection was tight but doable. That got us on an Air Canada flight direct from Heathrow to Halifax. They phoned two days after we'd booked to say that the Halifax flight had been brought forward, and tight had been come impossible.

Now we can still get that flight, but going to Heathrow earlier in the morning with BA, and it's not through ticketed. As a consequence it's about £180 each dearer.

We can fly direct to Schipol, CDG or Heathrow or Gatwick from Aberdeen.

We've considered flying to Boston and driving up

And I don't mind going to Edinburgh or Glasgow if the connections work at the other end. We're really struggling here. Does anyone have any great ideas?

No great ideas here but just my two cents that I don't think flying internationally without a through ticket is worth the hassle and risk in case of delayed arrivals/departures/baggage. You might want to think about the entire cost of your trip and then look at the flight options. I suspect that spending a little more money for fewer flight hassles will be quite a small percentage of the overall cost of your vacation -- in money AND time.

I probably agree with that :(

I just did a search for Aberdeen/Halifax return July 30/Aug 15, 2010. They have flights.

The cost will come down. You just have to keep checking...almost compulsively everyday until you see a fare that you can live with. Your travel dates are 6 months away. That's a long time & a lot can happen b/t now & then. Wait & see what happens with this Aberdeen/Halifax fare. It's your best option.

I travel Air Canada all the time & I rarely book the first fare that I see....unless it is exceptionally low which happens once in a while.
Maybe you have a travel agent who can keep an eye on this for you if you don't have the time and the patience to monitor fares yourself.

I agree w/ artsbabe above who strongly suggests a through ticket. Do that with Air Canada. Or, another airline if you can find it. I only checked AC.

Just thought of something else. It's not a through ticket from Aberdeen/Halifax but if you can get to Gatwick, then you can fly Gatwick/Halifax direct on an airline called Canadian Affair if they originate from Europe (maybe not)
www.CanadainAffair.ca

Or, you can do Scotland/Toronto or UK/Toronto.(Check for airports closest to you that have Canadian Affair flights to Toronto) Then switch from Canadian Affair to Air Canada for Toronto/Halifax(YYZ/YHZ) maybe even the next day. Or Westjet for Toronto/Halifax. Stay at an aiport hotel in Toronto.

Again don't let the high Westjet or Air Canada fares discourage you. You shd be able to get at least $99 (plus taxes & other stuff) each way if you wait.(YYZ/YHZ).

All of that said....I wld probably just wait for Air Canada fares to go down and do what has been suggested in a prior post.

Canadian Affair isn't an airline per se. They sell seats on charter flights (e.g. Thomas Cook). It looks like you can book WestJet flights through Canadian Affair now also for domestic flights.

Also, there's a typo in the link above, it should be http://www.canadianaffair.ca/. However, that website is for flights originating in Canada. For flights originating in the UK, go to http://www.canadianaffair.com/. Prices are in pounds etc.

I haven't used Canadian Affair myself, but a friend of mine does and she quite likes them. If you can be flexible with your dates you can get a really good deal.

Thanks SheliDawn. The "ca" explains why I did not see flights originating from Europe. And, I did not know Canadian Affair was not an airline. I see their ads in the Globe. (I make a lot of typos! Sorry....:) )

ShelliDawn

You are the business. Thank you so much!

If you have not visited Boston I would visit and drive up to Bar Harbor and take the huge catamaran to Yarmouth.You'll be close to Lunenburg and Boston and Bar Harbor are really worth the visit.Paul

I think the "Cat" is no longer running.

re "The Cat"

here's a statement from their website:

"On December 15, 2009, the Government of Nova Scotia informed Bay Ferries Limited there would not be an extension of financial support for ferry service out of Yarmouth for the 2010 operating season.

As a result, the high-speed ferry service delivered by our vessel "The CAT" will end."

You may want to try to do a flight search on http://www.itasoftware.com/
It's the most comprehensive search engine I've found ... gives many more possibilities and many more fares than any other IMHO.