London's Calling

[trip style = luxury + urban]

I spy with my little eye, something that is:

• white, red and splashy;
• has a sleek, purple-lit interior;
• serves an in-air welcome cocktail, wine or beer; a full meal; dessert service with coffee, tea and hot chocolate; a movie snack AND afternoon tea.

Big news. Reach London in style without paying insane business class fares via Air Canada or British Airways. Hint hint, this airline's economy is similar to most airlines' business class. Virgin Atlantic will be flying into Vancouver from London Heathrow four times weekly, and seasonal lift-off is expected between May 24 to Oct 27.

Virgin CEO Steve Ridgway noted that Vancouver is a market Virgin has been eyeing for years, and hinted they are already anticipating building the service with more frequent flights as well as yearly service.

Grab your Mulberry bag, your Burberry trench and get ready to jetset with a little more class than your usual middle-of-the-road transatlantic flights. Cheerio!

Fast Facts

• The service will be operated by an Airbus A340-300, configured with 34 upper class suites, 35 premium economy seats and 171 economy seats
• Flight times: Depart London at 1pm, arrive Vancouver 3.10pm. Depart Vancouver 7.50pm and arrive the next day at 1.45pm
• Flight days: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday
• Vancouver is the only Canadian city on Virgin Atlantic's roster

Book it Virgin Atlantic's flight between London and Vancouver is now available for booking!

[photo sourced online]

Tech Tuesday :: Getting Direct

[trip style = any]

{Editor’s Note: Enter to win one of FIVE DuWop Flight Sticks. With light, hydrating coverage, these mini skin-enhancers are packed with antioxidants and a touch of caffeine to spruce up tired skin. Up, up and away!}

Non-stop flights are the holy grail of air travel. The faster the arrival, the fewer the airports and the greater the time at your destination, the better.

Recently, Kayak has come out with a new tool aspiring jetsetters will love: direct flight listings from most major airports worldwide. Search by airport and month to determine which airline is going where, organized in a list by distance/time.

The Value Proposition

• Find out what airlines fly non-stop where before you start your vacation flight search online.
• If you're strapped for time or hate flying, decide where you want to go based on direct flight routes.
• See how many airlines compete for each direct route. For example, out of Vancouver in January, 2012: 9 airlines will fly to Toronto, 7 to San Francisco, 5 to Honolulu and 1 to Kauai.
• Say you're about to leave for a 3-month sabbatical in South East Asia, but only have your flight there and back booked. It's helpful to know what direct flights exist from each major city you're visiting to maximize your time at each destination.
• If you want to geek-out, see mileage for shortest and longest flight out of your preferred airport.
• Think of the application to the Amazing Race teams...

PS - Have you heard of Kayak Fly Now? Say it's 5 o'clock somewhere and you decide on a very last-minute trip. Search your home airport and destination, and Kayak will show the next available flights. Even if it's a pipe dream to think we can just pick up and leave on a whim, it's nice to know there'a a travel tool to make that happen. Just in case...

[image by @tripstyler]

A Royal Honeymoon Hideaway

[trip style = uber luxe + royal]

Yesterday morning when I read initial, what almost seemed like leaked reports about Kate and Will's honeymoon I was disappointed. I know they are the hottest Royals since Shy Di, meaning cameras and opinions follow them e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e, but after sharing their wedding with an estimated audience of 2 billion, couldn't people just give them a break? Just for a few days?

Initial Reports Yesterday morning, reports indicated someone from tourism Seychelles {an Indian Ocean archipelago off the east coast of Africa and a destination on my travel bucket list}, confirmed The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were indeed returning to the destination, albeit not likely to the same resort, where they vacationed post break-up in 2007. At this point, I can't tell if the initial info leak was a big no no {and someone's gonna get it}, or if it was all part of the plan. Either way, now that the cat is out of the bag, will a bazillion paparazzi storm each of 115 islands in the Seychelles in search of the pair? I hope not, though I suspect US weekly and OK Magazine will post honeymoon bathing suit shots, like, asap!

Why If I'm so keen on the couple having a media break, why am I writing about it? Since the story's out, and is timely and relevant to aspiring jetsetters, I felt I could talk about it. After all, I'm sure we all want to know what constitues trip style = royal!

Trip Style = Royal Where does a Prince and Princess honeymoon? Prior to the wedding of the century, speculations swirled about destinations such as Kenya {where Will proposed}, Necker Island {Sir Richard Branson's vacation home island}, Jordan, the Caribbean and Lizard Island in Australia {a place we almost stayed, though I think they would have been more secluded here}.

At the time of writing, no one knows exactly where they are honeymooning, but here's what Canada.com reports: "the couple are said to have chosen an exclusive private island {in the Seychelles}, with only a handful of secluded 4,000-a-night villas. Described as a "Robinson Crusoe" island, each villa has its own personal chef and butler." USA Today thinks this masked island might be Fregate, a private, eco-minded retreat 4-degrees south of the equator with only 17 villas.

A Prediction Over the next few weeks, the Seychelles will suddenly reappear on every travel editor's hot and must-go destination list. There will be ''royal" vacation packages, t-shirts and an endangered animal will likely be named after one of them. Would you splurge on an uber-luxe royal-esque retreat in the Seychelles?

[photo by Fregate Island of Fregate Island Villa, Seychelles}

Spring Skiing Bliss & Deals

[trip style = active + ski]

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

[trip style = any]

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]