Canadians Travelling More

According to Statistics Canada, Canadians have been travelling more in November than before. Here's the news release.

Travel by Canadian residents abroad increased 0.8% from October to 5.0 million trips in November.

Canadian residents made 782,000 trips to overseas countries in November, up 1.6%, while travel to the United States rose 0.6% to 4.2 million trips.

Overnight travel to the United States rose 2.1% to 1.8 million trips in November. This was the first increase since July 2011. The main factor was a 3.5% increase in overnight travel by car to the United States. Overnight travel by plane decreased 0.6%.

What you should know if you get imprisoned overseas

Many Canadians don't expect to get arrested and or imprisoned while travelling. But, the jurisdiction you are at may have different laws and customs that one may find in Canada. While in a foreign country, one is subject to the laws of that country. It is in extremely rare situations that the Canadian government will intervene in issues where a Canadian Citizen has breached a local law.

As such, it would be a good idea to review the publication the Canadian Government has issued - aptly named A Guide for Canadians Imprisoned Abroad.

Clearing the air on Consular Services

Canadians often have misconceptions over what their government will do for them if they require assistance overseas. So I thought it would be a great idea to review what the Federal Government will and will not do for you while you are overseas.

Lets start by asking, what are consular services to begin with. Here's what DFIAT - Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has to say:

With more than 260 points of service in 150 countries worldwide, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada is ready to assist Canadians travelling, working, studying, or living abroad. Before you leave Canada, it is important to know which services we do and do not provide and to realize that not all Canadian government offices abroad provide the same services. The following list includes some examples of consular services. The $ symbol indicates which services are provided for a fee. 

Skip the security line up at Canadian and American airports

Recently, dedicated lanes have began to appear at certain American and Canadian airports that give "trusted" travellers the ability to clear airport security in a quicker manner.

CATSA Trusted Traveller Security Lane in Canada

Dedicated lanes have appeared at airports in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax, and Winnipeg. These lanes appear to allow Nexus card holders to bypass the regular line to get through airport security. In order to use these lanes, you must be a nexus card holder. People accompanying you cannot use these lanes unless they are card holders too. 

Volcano National Park - Kilauea Military Camp

If you're a member of the Canadian Forces and happen to be visiting Volcano National Park on Big Island in Hawaii, you'll be pleased to know that you are eligible to stay at the Kilauea Military Camp.

At the time of my visit KMC is the only lodging facility located within Volcano National Park.

Members of the U.S. Military pay based on rank (on a sliding scale). However, Canadians don't get the benefit of that scale. Even though you will be paying a slightly higher rate on the rate scale, it is still a bargain for the value you get. In addition to your overnight stay, meals and items bought from the General Store at KMC are exempt from sales tax.

Tip: Keep in mind that KMC has activities through out the week. Whether it be fitness classes in the morning to spicy wing eating challenge, there will be an activity that would interest you.

Here are some photos of the grounds and cottage.

Google Flight

Google has recently launched a new flight searching tool called Google Flight Search.

So far its works well for flights originating and ending in the United States. It has nifty search features that allow you to choose different dates in a calendar to fly with instant fare comparison depending on the day of departure.

It also allows you to compare multiple airports so that you can select the most convenient and cost effective airport to both fly from and to.

Lastly, there's a search feature that allows you to say where can I go for $300 this weekend.

The possibilities are endless. For those who need visual aids, perhaps the Google video highlighting flight search would explain it better. Or you could just try it for yourself - go to Google and type in "flights from Buffalo" or visit www.google.com/flights

Its only a matter of time before Flight search comes to Canada

Getting the best bang for your buck at Niagara Falls

Most couples who visit Niagara Falls are so romantically in love that at times, they don't look for deals when they can be easily had.

Hotel Rooms
If you're planning on staying over, more often than not, most hotels in Niagara Falls will package their rooms with a series of meals, fun activities, casino gaming chips and transportation. This would be an opportunity to save since you are probably going to have to, at the very least, pay for a meal while staying over. Most often, hotels give great packaged deals in the fall and winter. From time to time packages can be found on various deal sites such as Groupon*or DealFind*.

Tip: When comparing deals that include restaurant vouchers, be sure to review the menu prices at the restaurants. Some restaurants, especially at the Marriott and Hilton, can cost upwards of $60 a person to dine there.

Parking
While hotels may offer on site parking, it may be more advantageous to park your vehicle at the Casino parking. The casino offers free parking if, at the time of writing, you intend on playing at the Casino and have or will sign up for a Players Advantage Card (PAC). Otherwise, it will cost you. The Casino charges you as you exit so it doesn't matter how long you have been parked in their lot - works great if you are planning on spending more than 1 night.