Spring Skiing Bliss & Deals

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Today is April 1st and a Friday. You know what that means---this Friday in April, you can show up at any ski hill in North America naked, and ski free. Just kidding, April fools.

Low Season Benchmarks In last week's Travel Trend Thursday post, I talked about traveling in low season {April, May, June} and reaping the rewards of greater choice, fewer crowds and less financial outlay. It just so happens, each of these low season benchmarks could not do a better job of describing shoulder season at ski resorts too! Many locals refer to April and May as the secret ski season because the snow is still great, the weather a little warmer and the masses nowhere to be found.

Trip Styler Tip for Whistler Blackcomb If you're from BC or Washington, one value-added opportunity available to you {that I take advantage of every year} at Whistler Blackcomb is pre-buying a 5-day EDGE Card for the following year and tacking on unlimited spring skiing for most of April and May for an extra $79. Last spring I think I skied about 17 times, so I'd say I got my money's worth---to the tune of just under $5 per ski day.

Here are the specifics and benefits of buying Whistler Blackcomb EDGE Cards early: 5-Day EDGE Card $319/ 10-Day Edge Card $575 Includes bonus early-season day next winter for use before Dec. 23 & one free summer sightseeing day {great for hiking}. Add on Unlimited Spring Skiing for $79 and you can ski this season from April 4 - May 23.

PS - if you want to ski your brains off this spring but don't want to commit to an EDGE card for next year, buy a Spring Pass now for $209 {adult}, $159 {ages 65+ and 13-18}, and $115 {children 7-12}.

Related A Slower-Paced Whistler Fashion Friday :: Apres-Ski Whistler ::  Live High, Pay Low A 4-Season Guide to Whistler

[photo by @tripstyler, taken on the Crystal Chair at Whistler Blackcomb]

Travel Trends :: Rewards Programs

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This week, Expedia.com launched a loyalty program, not surprisingly called Expedia Rewards, to award people who book travel {multiple times} via their website. The program's claim to fame: earn free travel in as few as 3 trips with no blackout dates, and no loyalty limitations to a single hotel brand or airline. No word yet on an Expedia.ca program. With Expedia leading this time-tested travel trend, I wonder if Travelocity will follow suit?

Two, No Three Times Up until recently, if you booked with a travel service like this, you may have received rewards at your hotel if you had pre-joined their program, but now you conceivably get rewarded twice---actually 3 times if you use your travel credit card to pay for the transaction.

Canada's Go-To Travel Site For many people, Expedia is the go-to online travel booking service they use. Why? It's been around since the early days of web-enabled travel booking, it's dependable, and comes with a user-friendly layout and transaction experience. People in Canada like it so much that Expedia.ca commands 13% of all Canadian Online Travel Agency visits---combine this with Expedia.com's visits and their share is 17%. To put this into perspective, FlightNetwork.com is the next closest competitor at 4.85% of visits.

Trip Styler Tip Although I'm a huge evangelist for being loyal to 1-2 airline alliances and 1-2 hotel programs for collection and accumulation of points for free flights and stays, there is value in joining other travel loyalty programs along the way. Yes you'll have a bunch of logins to remember, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Why? The added perks. For hotel stays it might be a one-off benefit like free wifi, a 'welcome' amenity or special check-in desk, but isn't that worth it for the 3-minutes it takes to create a profile and future earning potential towards free travel? For example, though my hotel loyalty is with Fairmont, my second choice is the Starwood Preferred Guest program because of the number and variety {W Hotels, Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis, Le Meridien, etc...} of properties worldwide. To put this into perspective, if you stay at a Fairmont once, and join their loyalty program before you get there, you get free wifi and a host of other benefits. Stay 10 nights or 5 stays and you also get free workout gear, use of golf clubs, dining and spa vouchers, etc...

Related Loyalty Pays The Wild Web of Airline Affiliations The Wild Web of Hotel Affiliations

[photo of Expedia Rewards graphic]

What Happened to Allegiant's Aloha?

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As some of you may remember from this time last year, Allegiant Air, the US-based discount airline serving sunny destinations from Bellingham and elsewhere in the US, announced it had purchased 6 planes with the {fuel} capacity to fly over water. The discount airliner wanted to offer more than just trips to Vegas and give its loyal clientele and other price-sensitive fliers the chance to cross the Pacific and experience the aloha spirit in Hawaii.

Alaska First One of Allegiant's main departure points is Bellingham, Washington---an hour from Vancouver or Seattle and a 6-hour flight to Hawaii. Couple this with Bellingham's airport increasing their runway length to accomodate larger planes and terminal capacity to handle additional fliers, and I was sure Allegiant would announce their Hawaii-bound service from this airport last fall. Turns out, Alaska Airlines beat them to it. Since January 6th, Alaska's been doing daily flights from Bellingham to Honolulu.

Maui? Frustrated that I hadn't heard anything further about Allegiant's impending service to Hawaii, this winter when I flew to California with Allegiant, I asked a check-in agent about Hawaii. The individual confirmed the Hawaii service was coming, but couldn't confirm when. However, they heard that rather than flying to Honolulu like Alaska, planes would potentially fly from Bellingham to Maui.

My Prediction The last update I saw was Allegiant would begin its Hawaii service in mid-2011. Last summer they apparently ordered winglets for their 757s to reduce drag, add range and save money on the 5 - 6-hour, cross-ocean journey. This fall I read that the 757s' photos had been released indicating service was coming soon. It's now the end of March and still no word, other than rumblings of regulatory challenges being the culprit for delays. All we can hope now is that Allegiant will announce and begin service to Hawaii this year, and offer some ridiculous, PR-y launch sale like they did for their Bellingham to Long Beach service, where I paid $9.99 each way {total plus taxes $56 return!}.  Note Allegiant also just extended the advance booking window through November 15th.

What's your prediction: when do you think Allegiant's service will start and what island will they fly to?

Hawaii for Less, Now If you want to get to Hawaii for a great price now, here are your best bets: - Fly Hawaiian Airlines out of Seattle {return fares are usually $400/person} - Monitor WestJet and AirCanada for seat sales {2 years ago in April I paid $400 return for a direct flight from Vancouver to Maui...and heard of some similar fares since, but been unable to take advantage of them personally.}

Related Content A Tropical Weekend Experiment in Maui How to Book a Very Last-Minute Tropical Getaway High/Low Booking a Vacation in Maui

[photo by @tripstyler, taken in Wailea, Maui]

Travel Apps :: mileBlaster

Today I'm excited to tell you about one of the most well received and user-friendly mileage tracking apps out there: mileBlaster, selected by CNET Reviews as one of 10 essential apps for frequent fliers. What's different about mileBlaster in relation to other mileage and loyalty program tracking apps is aside from showing your progress for each travel reward program entered, providing details on your progress towards awards and alerting you to mile expiration, it informs you about current and relevant mile bonuses. Trip Styler Tip :: Many airline mileage reward program miles expire after no account activity over 18-months, so having an app to help you manage multiple accounts can mean the difference between a free flight and expired miles.

Because of this app's added features it costs a cool $5.99, but here's the kicker: if you have multiple accounts like me {ie - two fairmont president's club memberships}, or want to share the app with a family member, you can both enter your airline and hotel loyalty programs into this app {on one phone}.

Using the App, I just found out that I have 16,000+ miles expiring in 6 months with Flying Blue {Air France and KLM miles program}. To this end, I got an email from app providing me with 4 ways I could use, extend or redeem my miles. Invaluable. If I let the miles go, that's basically part of a free flight or hotel stay that's going into oblivion, but being on top of it I can quickly figure out my options and make the most of the miles earned.

As mentioned above, this app tracks airline miles and hotel reward programs, but it really, really excels in the airline miles tracking department!

Details

• $5.99
• Works with iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad & Nokia
• Try it for free with the desktop version, or for a discounted rate with the web version
• Track multiple accounts for one loyalty program

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Other Travel Apps Every Tuesday we feature a new travel app. Don’t forget to peruse the other 70+ travel apps we’ve reviewed from travel first aid, to luxury and boutique hotel finders, to border waits and trip itinerary management. Here are the most recent:

• HipMunk
• Mad Libs
• Travel Etiquette
• Jetsetter
• Metr0

YVR Airport Tips & Tricks

Located 30 minutes outside the city, Vancouver International Airport {YVR} is Canada's second busiest airport after Toronto, serving 119 cities worldwide. Although I dabble in the occasional departure out of Seattle and Bellingham, Vancouver's airport is my first choice for convenience and services. Beyond the efficiency, I'd be remiss not to mention its serene and welcoming West Coast design, brought to life with calming nature sound effects and complimented by water features and foliage throughout. No wonder it was ranked the top airport in North America in the 2010 and 2011 Skytrax survey.

The more I frequent YVR, the more services I've learned about and partaken in. Here are some features and opportunities you might not have known exist at Vancouver's airport:

YVR Tips & Tricks

• Need a massage or last-min mani pedi? Indulge at one of 4 Absolute Spas in the domestic or USA departure terminals, in addition to a day spa and salon in the Fairmont Vancouver Airport.
• Have an early flight? Stay at the fabulous and convenient Fairmont Vancouver Airport, connected to the airport. Wake up refreshed and walk right to your flight.
• Healthy pre-flight? Get to the airport early and visit the Fairmont's health club. A $15 drop-in rate offers you a workout, hot tub, sauna and shower.
• Have some time to kill? Take a self-guided art and architecture, sustainability or family fun tour.
• Get caught up on current events, work, emails and social networking with free wifi.
• Need dry cleaning or alterations? Drop off your items pre-flight and pick them up post-trip.
• Want to live the jetset lifestyle? Check out the Plaza Premium Lounges in the domestic, international and USA terminals. From $30/person for 2 hours, includes: showers, wifi, salad bar, hot meals, bevvies, etc...
• Forget your toiletries? Grab toothpaste last-minute at the Pharmasave in the domestic terminal.
• Food, on the fly. No food on your flight and no time to brown bag it? YVR's Food On The Fly program offers passengers the option to select their own meal from any restaurant or concession and take it with them on their flight, specially packaged in a travel-friendly bag.
• Need a little support? Most people don’t realize that YVR has its own Chaplaincy, offering spiritual counseling, emotional support, assistance---and even weddings---to travelers passing through YVR.

Getting To & From YVR Canada Line The Canada Line train is the most efficient and cost effective way to get to and from the airport. From YVR into downtown it costs $8.75 {$3.75 + $5 surcharge} and takes about 30 minutes. Trip Styler Tip: If you plan on taking local transit more than once while in Vancouver, to save on the fare and the $5 surcharge, buy your pass in a translink faresaver book {sold in books of 10 by number of zones based on where you need to go, below} in advance at an authorized dealer. Going to downtown Vancouver, the price per ticket works out to $3.15 with a booklet vs $8.75/person. At the airport there is a 7-11 convenience store in the Domestic Terminal on the lowest level that sells these passes. Note that from YVR there are three possible zones: 1 zone = Richmond 2 zones = Vancouver 3 zones = North Shore

Taxi To/from downtown, a taxi is about $30 + tip.

Limo To/from downtown, a limo is about $45 + tip.

Driving & Parking It's easy to find short-term parking at YVR, it's just a tad expensive starting at $4.25/half hour. Long term parking is $15.75 daily or $102 weekly. Bonus, check conditions before you arrive during normal business hours by calling 604-276-7739.

[photo of and by YVR]