Category Archives: ski-holiday

WestJet announces year-round service: London U.K. to Canada

Non-stop service to London to operate year-round from Calgary and Toronto

WestJet announces year-round service to Europe

WestJet today announced it is extending two of its new non-stop transatlantic services to London (Gatwick) from seasonal to year-round. Flights from Calgary and Toronto to London will now operate on a year-round basis, three times weekly and daily respectively through the winter, while service from Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and St. John’s will operate seasonally as announced in September 2015.

“Today’s announcement is another important step in the international expansion of WestJet,” said Chris Avery, WestJet Vice-President, Network Planning, Alliances and Corporate Development. “Year-round service to and from Europe on board our fleet of Boeing 767-300 extended-range aircraft offers our business and leisure guests the opportunity to take advantage of our low fares, high value and remarkable guest experience on both sides of the Atlantic whenever it suits their schedule.”

As part of a major system-wide seat sale, one-way fares to London (Gatwick) are available starting from:

Departing Arriving Air transportation charges (ATC) One-way taxes, fees and charges Total one-way price from
One-way base fare from One-way other ATC
Toronto London Gatwick $209 $7.50 $54.50 $271 CAD*
Vancouver London Gatwick $269 $7.50 $46.50 $323 CAD*
Calgary London Gatwick $284 $7.50 $57.50 $349 CAD*
Edmonton London Gatwick $284 $7.50 $57.50 $349 CAD*
Winnipeg London Gatwick $258 $7.50 $52.50 $318 CAD*
St. John’s London Gatwick $181 $7.50 $59.50 $248 CAD*

*Some restrictions apply. Please see westjet.com/londongatwick for details. Advertised taxes and fees may fluctuate without notice.

One-way fares from London (Gatwick) are available starting from:

Departing Arriving Air transportation charges (ATC) One-way taxes, fees and charges Total one-way price from
One-way base fare from One-way other ATC
London Gatwick Toronto £100.00 £4.00 £86.00 £190 GBP*
London Gatwick Vancouver £128.00 £4.00 £86.00 £218 GBP*
London Gatwick Calgary £146.00 £4.00 £86.00 £236 GBP*
London Gatwick Edmonton £146.00 £4.00 £86.00 £236 GBP*
London Gatwick Winnipeg £140.00 £4.00 £86.00 £230 GBP*
London Gatwick St. John’s £87.00 £4.00 £86.00 £177 GBP*

*Some restrictions apply. Please see westjet.com/londongatwick for details. Advertised taxes and fees may fluctuate without notice.

Service dates for WestJet’s non-stop flights to London are:

  • Vancouver – seasonal May 6-October 21, 2016
  • Calgary – year-round from May 6, 2016
  • Edmonton – seasonal May 7-October 22, 2016
  • Winnipeg – seasonal May 7-October 1, 2016
  • Toronto – year-round from May 6, 2016
  • St. John’s – May 7-October 22, 2016

Source: WestJet

All ski resorts in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies will be open this weekend and to celebrate, we are offering a FREE 3-day Tri-Area ski pass to one lucky Twitter follower (CA$279.09 value with tax). The Tri-Area ski pass covers Banff Norquay, Sunshine Village and Lake Louise ski resorts as well as the ski shuttles from Banff. Banff Norquay celebrated it’s earliest opening ever and is currently open weekends until November 30 2012. Sunshine Village and Lake Louise are set to open for the season this Friday, November 9 2012.

To enter, follow all you have to do is:

  1. Follow us on Twitter @HolidaysCanada
  2. RT the tweet below

One of tweeters who RT will be chosen at random to win the 3-day Tri-Area pass. The pass must be redeemed and used this season. Good luck and happy skiing!

What’s happened to the Kicking Horse Powder Express?

I can’t tell you how many calls and emails we have received over the past few weeks from return and new guests regarding the Kicking Horse Powder Express. There seems to be a lot of confusion over what the Kicking Horse Powder Express is this season. Where has it gone? What has replaced it? How much does it cost? We have already spent a lot of time answering these questions and to make it easier and to save us some time answering individual calls and emails regarding this topic, here are some questions and answers below.

All of our guests seem disappointed and frustrated about these changes. Feel free to comment on this post as we would like to hear your thoughts.

Okay, let’s start with the questions and answers below:

1) Is the Kicking Horse Powder Express operating this season?

The Kicking Horse Powder Express with the dedicated return transportation and lift pass included at a rate of about $100 including all tax is no more.

2) Is there a replacement to this service?

Yes. There is a scheduled service which is about $100 plus tax return for just the transportation and in addition to this, you must purchase the lift pass. There is no discount on the lift pass – you must pay full price making this ski-away day quite pricey compared to the old service.

3) How is this service different?

This service is not a dedicated Powder Express ski shuttle as in previous seasons. It is a scheduled service connecting Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, Golden and Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. The advantage of the scheduled service means that minimum numbers are not required.

The return time of 3:30pm means that you do not get to enjoy a full ski day on the mountain but you do have the convenience of catching a one way shuttle for a reasonable price.

4) What is the schedule for this new service?

This is the new schedule correct as of today:

FROM CANMORE / BANFF / LAKE LOUISE / GOLDEN TO  KICKING HORSE

Depart Canmore 5:30
Arrive in Banff 6:00

Depart Banff 6:15
Arrive in Lake Louise 7:15

Depart Lake Louise 7:30
Arrive Golden (Prestige Inn) 8:50

Depart Golden 9:00
Arrive Kicking Horse (Glacier Mountain Lodge) 9:30

FROM KICKING HORSE TO GOLDEN TO LAKE LOUISE / BANFF / CANMORE

Depart Kicking Horse (Glacier Mountain Lodge) 15:30
Arrive Golden (Prestige Inn) 16:10

Depart Golden 16:10
Arrive Lake Luoise 17:40

Depart Lake Louise 18:00
Arrive Banff 19:15

Depart Banff 19:45
Arrive Canmore 20:00

5) When does the above new service operate?

Daily: December 20th, 2011 through March 31st, 2012.

6) Are there other ski-away options out of Banff?

Yes, the Panorama ski bus is operating again this season with a minimum of 4 required to guarantee a departure. We are finding most guests are booking this ski-away day instead this season to experience another ski resort in the Canadian Rockies at a fraction of the cost.

7) Will the original Kicking Horse Powder Express be offered for the 2012-2013 season?

We have no idea but hope so! If it does, we will be sure to get the word out!

❓ How do I book this new service?

Contact Ski Holidays Canada.


Happy Holidays to you all and thanks for reading. We hope that we have answered your questions okay? Remember to visit www.SkiHolidaysCanada.co.uk for ski package deals and specials.

Looking forward to your comments!

New travel domains, Canada

Below are a few new travel domains utilizing the new .co domain extension.

Rocky Mountain Holidays now has the following:

Ski Holidays Canada now has the following:

Thanks for reading and enjoy all this snow we have been receiving!

Good Bye Summer, Hello Autumn

The summer seems to have flown by this year.

It’s September 30 2010 and less than 2 weeks ago, the ski resorts in the Canadian Rockies received 20cm of fresh snow and we experienced way below average temperatures. The Canada Ski Blog posted some photos of this September snow. This last week, we have experienced above average temperatures (in the 20s°C) with sunny skies giving us another opportunity to take advantage of the many summer activities in the Canadian Rockies. This is typical of the Canadian Rockies as we are in the mountains at higher elevations.

Just check out the colours in the recent pictures taken in the Canadian Rockies. This is what we love about the autumn.

Autumn in Canmore

Cascade Mountain, Bow River, in the Autumn

The Rocky Mountaineer train departing tomorrow from Vancouver, October 1st 2010, is the company’s largest departure in their history, and will set a record for largest passenger rail train in North American history – a total of 1331 guests! This is one of the last Rocky Mountaineer train departures for 2010, but we already have 2011 packages in place with early-bird savings of up to $1,400 per couple.

50%OFF Panorama Lodging early-bird deal ended today but we have many early-bird deals for the 2010-2011 winter season, some of which are soon to expire. We are seeing some of the best ski accommodation deals in Banff this year with free nights accommodation and free ski deals for stays of 7 or more nights.

The early-birds will definitely be getting the best deals on ski packages and summer packages.

We hope you had a great summer and we thank you for reading our blog. We always love to hear from our readers so please feel free to post any relevant comments you may have.  Wishing you safe and happy travels.

Ski Panorama – 49 Hour SALE!

Panorama Mountain Resort is having a REALLY LARGE sale and we don’t want you to miss out as it is for just a short time!

From 8 pm February 8 to 9 pm February 10 2009, Panorama will present their first ever 49 Hour Sale!  Please note these times are Mountain Standard time (GMT-7 hours)

Any condo, any day $49 per person per night!*
These are the best prices Panorama has ever offered, and you can only get them for 49 short hours. They have even included family day!

Contact rocky-peak Ski Holidays to book! 

Here is the small print:

*Price includes lodging only. $49 per person, per night based on two (2) adults sharing a Studio or 1-bedroom condo, or four (4) adults sharing a 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom condo. Available for new bookings made between 8pm Mountain Standard Time on February 8, 2009 and 9pm Mountain Standard Time on February 10, 2009. A two (2) night minimum stay applies. Subject to availability. Conditions may apply to all packages and programs. Rates subject to change or cancellation without notice. All facilities and programs subject to seasonality and change without notice.