After enjoying a Thanksgiving feast and shopping on Black Friday, you may be ready for a holiday from the holidays. Perhaps you should consider visiting Canada, because there is a great deal right now on flights to the Great White North.
This deal includes flights to Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver from a number of U.S. cities, including Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami, that we found for under $100 roundtrip. Some of the best prices we saw involved Air Canada and its Black Friday fare sale. The travel window is from December through March 2024. What’s really nice about this sale — besides some of the crazy low prices we saw — is that Christmas and New Year’s Eve are not excluded, depending on your departure city. We found a few good prices on itineraries that included the holidays.
Air Canada and United fares are Economy tier, but they include a carry-on (Checked bags will be between $30-$55 each way). However, if you book a flight with budget airlines Flair or Porter, you’ll have to pay an upgrade fee for a full-size carry-on bag.
Deal basics
Airlines: Air Canada, Flair, Porter, United, WestJet
Routes: Various cities
How to book: Browse Google Flights, then book directly with the airline
Travel dates: December 2023 through March 2024, though some routes have low fares until June; Christmas and New Year’s Eve included from some U.S. cities.
This deal was originally sent out by Going, formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights. Sign up for Going to get deals up to 90% off via its Premium membership, which users can try for free for 14 days and then $49 per year. You can also upgrade to the Elite tier for $199 per year and receive all the Premium deals plus premium economy, business-class and first-class alerts.
Sample flights
How about a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Toronto for less than $100 roundtrip? We found a few options in that price range in early December on Flair Airlines, flying from Fort Lauderdale International Airport (FLL) to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). As mentioned above, if you book this, you’ll have to pay extra for a full-size carry-on, but it’s still a good deal at this price point.
We also found lots of great prices for this route in January. This Air Canada itinerary is $141 roundtrip, but it comes with a free carry-on bag.
Related: What it’s like to stay at the W Toronto hotel
Want to visit Calgary? If you live in Houston, you can fly in mid-December out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Calgary International Airport (YYC) for just $213 roundtrip. It’s a split ticket between United and Air Canada, but you get a free carry-on each way.
You can book an even cheaper deal for travel in March from Houston to Calgary. This WestJet itinerary is only $179 roundtrip, and it comes with a free carry-on bag.
We saw some fantastic prices for Los Angeles-to-Vancouver itineraries. You can fly from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Vancouver International Airport in March for just $104 roundtrip on Flair Airlines. Again, you’ll have to pay the upgrade fee to bring a full-size carry-on.
If you want to spend Christmas in Vancouver, you can book a roundtrip flight out of LAX for only $217 on Flair Airlines.
We also found some great fares out of San Francisco. You can fly out of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Vancouver (YVR) in mid-December for just $155 roundtrip on Air Canada.
You can also fly from San Francisco to Calgary in January for just $172 roundtrip on Air Canada, with the free carry-on.
Maximize your purchase
When you book this deal or any travel, be sure to use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as:
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 2 points per dollar on travel
American Express® Gold Card: 3 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel
The Platinum Card® from American Express: 5 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year
Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees): 3 points per dollar spent on airfare
Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3 points per dollar on travel
Bottom line
These are excellent prices for a trip to Canada. If you want to enjoy winter or even early spring up north, start browsing for an itinerary that fits your schedule. As always, the more flexibility you have in your travel schedule, the better your chance of finding a good bargain.
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