Canadians Save Money By Flying From US
Canadians drive to US for cheaper airline tickets
An increasing number of Canadians are driving to the United States to take advantage of cheaper airline tickets says data released from the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) 2011 Canadian Travel Intentions survey.
Twenty-one per cent of leisure travelers said they traveled by car to a US airport last year to take a trip using less expensive airline tickets purchased for US or foreign travel, and an additional 11% said although they had not done so in the past, they might this year. This is up from 18% in 2010.
“This has the potential for almost one third of Canadian travelers spending money on foreign airline tickets and taking flights outside of Canada. The dollar at par and high costs for Canadian airports and travel mean that Canadian air carriers are at a distinct disadvantage and cannot offer the prices to match those in the United States,” said HAC president Tony Pollard. “This growing trend has serious consequences for the Canadian travel industry and needs to be addressed by the reduction of airport fees, travel security costs and airline surcharges.”
The survey also revealed that 83% of leisure travelers said they will be traveling in 2011, up from 78% in 2010. Seventy-six per cent of business travellers said they will be traveling this year, a figure consistent with 2010. However, in Ontario business travel will be up 5% year over year.
Seventy-three per cent of leisure and 86% of business travelers also say they use the Internet to gather information before they book travel. “The top five things travelers are looking for on the Internet are special travel offerings, photos, maps, accommodation ratings and amenities,” said Pollard. “The number of travelers reading testimonials from other travellers, consulting blogs and writing about hotels on Twitter and Facebook is also increasing.”
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