Regina's Air Travel Options are Ridiculous!

Saskatchewan certainly has a reputation for its winters. This year I found winter to be stunning, how many days of hoer frost did we have? The crispness in the air too, I appreciate this for about two minutes. Let's be honest here, I am a crafter, and indoors is my thing. Luckily now that our kids are a bit older it is easier to go to the theatre, check out local art galleries, and attend community events. But what makes me the happiest in the winter months is dreaming about the hot vacation that hopefully has been booked!

Last year, a friend from my school days who lives in Salmon Arm, and I decided to ditch the hubbies and kiddos and book a trip down South. COVID had stopped any plans to celebrate our 40^th birthday, so we were due for some fun. The destination didn’t matter, just as long as the sun was shining, the air was warm, and our only responsibility is to ourselves.

After a couple of weeks of scoping out the travel options, we roll the dice and bought tickets. We each bought from Air Canada and full disclosure they were about $550 round trip. Each of us would fly from different routes in Canada both making it there that same day. This was back in April 2022, so we left things as they were until the flight changes started happening.

Original flight:

I could go into detail about the multiple flight changes that happened, but I don’t want to bore anyone. Let’s just say each time it looked something like this-  new email from Air Canada, you have a flight change, your flight that was 12 hours is now going to be a million more hours. Followed by at least an hour or two on the phone attempting to improve the flight situation.

Flight Change Example:

This was my favorite option, flying from Regina to Cancun, through Vancouver and Montreal. Rather than a flight that takes say 12 hrs, we are looking at a full 24 hrs.  In the end, after many hours on hold, both our flights took us to Vancouver where we spent the night, and then flew down to Cancun. This also was how our flight back was arranged. We ended up having to book two nights in Vancouver because of this. How does this make traveling from Regina appealing?

So here is my hot topic for you folks- should airlines be able to make changes like this? If you asked me, they are providing an inferior product, but because of limited options, we are at the whim of the airline. I have traveled more kilometers out of Regina than most, and I did not think it would get worse.

Well, Regina, we have nailed it! We have even worse air travel from Regina than we did a decade ago. The fact that we can’t get a direct flight with Air Canada to Calgary is ridiculous. Did you know that to fly now, with AC takes over 5 hours by AIR? I think next year a trip down to Minot will be the answer. Or better yet, maybe Delta Air will be allowed to offer?

Recently it was reported that the Saskatchewan Government will be subsidizing flights from Saskatoon to Minneapolis for the month of June. Hopefully, Regina will get a subsidized route as well.... I am not sure how I feel about this use of tax funds.    

I could also go on a full rant about carry-on luggage- and the 100 ml limit on liquids but will leave that for another day. In the end we did make it there, with a couple extra days of travel. I realize that it is a luxury to break up the winter season, and I am blessed to be able to go. I am very very grateful, even though I am bitching 😊

Also in QC Gifts blog