Ruth and the sunset at the island of Dhiffushi, Maldives.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Back in the motorhome!

Lindsey followed with her car while we headed back to drop off the car rental. As expected, the price for a full week with taxes included was $135 CAD ($107 USD). Not bad at all. The rental agent says "How did you find a deal like that?"

Well, I look for deals... they're out there if you look for them.

Then, she drove us to Ottawa airport.

Thanks Lindsey!

This time, we were flying with WestJet. It's been a long time since we've flown with them. For no particular reason, it's just that when we're flying within Canada, there are only three main choices... Air Canada, Westjet, and Porter. Sure, there are also some small regional airlines, but those are currently the three choices. (That will change next month with the launch of FlySwoop, which is owned by WestJet).

Our WestJet plane, ready for boarding at the Ottawa airport.

WestJet has always been a non-unionized airline, where they took pride in advertising that every employee was a part owner of the company. That is changing now that the WestJet pilots have formed their own union, and of course what's the first thing a new union does?

Well, they go on strike, don't they?

Anyhow, the pilots voted last week to go on strike but they legally have to give 72 hours notice. Fortunately, talks continued through the weekend, and our flight took off on time and as scheduled. 

We waited to check in when we arrived at the airport. As we were checking in, I casually asked the attendant if there were any extra legroom seats available. She said no, that our first flight was pretty full, and that she couldn't even seat us together. But, she said the second flight was a possibility. 

She printed out the boarding passes, and we were on our way.

The first flight was uneventful, and I even managed a snooze. We arrived at Winnipeg and had a very tight 35 minute connection time. Fortunately, Winnipeg airport isn't that big, and we managed to get to the small plane as they made the final boarding call.

We noticed that our seats were in row 2. Right up near the front.

Sure enough, we were seated in the WestJet "Plus" section.

Ready for takeoff. A little blurry...

Lots of big puffy clouds.

They came around with the drink and snack cart. The two flight attendants were joking with the guy in front of us because they asked what he wanted, and he just said "a coffee please", and they said "You know, you're seated in the "Plus" section, so you can have anything off the menu".

Now, this is only a small 78 seater plane and it was only a one hour and 15 minute flight. It turns out that if the flight is scheduled less than one hour and 11 minutes, there is no snack and drink service at all. But we were over that by four minutes, so we got snacks and drinks. 

It's the little things in life that make us happy! :-)

Beer, wine, and snacks.
All because I asked if there was extra legroom available.

If you don't ask, you don't know.

We arrived back at Sherman, with a two hour gain in the time change. Sure enough, he was right where we left him and everything was fine.

Sherman, waiting right where we left him in the temporary long term parking.

Ottawa to Winnipeg to Saskatoon.

Rained a bit overnight, and still a bit cloudy this morning. We want to try and get this welding job done to Sherman, so depending on how that goes we don't know how far we will drive, or if we will drive at all.

But, we will be heading north west, towards the city of Edmonton, Alberta.

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Nice price drop on the Garmin RV 770. Not a huge drop, but still the cheapest it's ever been...


And in Canada, a great deal on the Bosch Lithium Drill Driver kit. Shows out of stock, but you can order now and lock in the low price...





10 comments:

  1. A goo deal on the flights and so nice to get back into your home again,good luck with the welding and safe travels.

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    Replies
    1. The welding job didn't happen, we will have to keep our eyes open for someone along the way.

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  2. I'm glad you made it back to Sherman safely. Hubby is in Toronto right now returning on WJ tomorrow - was so glad when we got inside the 72 hour strike notice. He will safely return now. I really think they should have to give more notice than that - why is it that in Europe they know over a week out when they are having a transportation strike? I knew of the rolling Air France strike 9 days before we were flying and that happened the 2 days before we were to fly with them. Allows the travelling customers a better timeframe for trying to rebook with other carriers or make alternate arrangements. I hate unions, have never been in one. I have seen unions take down Canada 3000 and would hate to see the same thing happen to Westjet as I actually like the airline.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we are glad that we got on our flights with no problems and before the strikes, if they actually strike. Even if we knew ahead of time we would just have contacted the credit card company because we booked them with a credit card that has insurance on it for cancelled flights, however we aren't quite sure how that would have panned out because the tickets were actually obtained with points and only the taxes paid with the credit card. Glad that we didn't have to worry about all that though. It will be curious to see what happens with WestJet in the future. Glad your husband will be able to get home too without any hassle.

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  3. Can't wait to follow your RV journey North. I have a feeling that your upcoming trip report might well push Canada right up there towards the top of our destinations list 😀
    Jo @ DossersDiary.com

    ReplyDelete
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    1. We are looking forward to this new adventure as well. We already think that Canada should be near the top of your list as you will find the fuel cheaper than in Europe and most others things will be much the same in price. The scenery is fantastic and so different right across the country. I am sure that we will have no problem convincing you of this though, especially after reading our posts. :-)

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  4. I will try the "extra legroom" question, next time I fly! Thanks for the tip.

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    1. Remember we don't book our seats ahead of time and then try to get to the airport early to be one of the first ones checked in. It probably wouldn't work well on popular fights though.

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  5. Glad your back with Sherman. You both are lucky when it comes to getting good deals and flights. Enjoy your travels.

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    Replies
    1. Some luck involved, but it's mostly because I look for the deals.

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