Travel.gc.ca on Twitter / X
We have updated sections of our travel advice for the #UnitedStates with information on screening at the border, carrying proof of status, and instructions on visa applications. Read our full advice here: https://t.co/fvcboq8f0a pic.twitter.com/nz33MpaRT3— Travel.gc.ca (@TravelGoC) April 4, 2025
Global Affairs Canada points out that individual US Homeland Security border agents have "significant discretion in making those determinations" and may "strictly enforce entry requirements". This includes denying entry to anyone whom an agent feels is a critic of the policies of the new Trump administration.
The updated Travel Advisory stresses that Canadians should expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including their electronic devices. US border agents can search them and don't need to provide a reason when requesting a password to open your device (laptop, cell phone, tablet, etc).
If you refuse, authorities may seize your device(s), or they may deem you inadmissable, and detain you until you're deported. Global Affairs Canada now suggests you put your device(s) in airplane mode to "ensure remote files don’t get downloaded accidentally". An example of that would be texts or emails from friends or family which are critical of the Trump administration.
As there have been some instances where US border guards have denied entry to Canadians who simply have apps on their phones such as left-leaning MSNBC, or the New York Times, some border security experts are suggesting that before you get to the border or head into airport screening, you should make sure your phone is fully backed-up, and then delete any social media, messaging, or news apps that might have content unsupportive of the Trump administration, and then reload them once you're in the USA and connected to Wi-Fi.
You should also spend some time at least the day before heading to the border to temporarily deactivate any social media accounts (Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) where you've made posts that are critical of the Trump administration. This is because if your phone has no social media apps on it, CBP officers have recently started asking for your social media accounts, and checking online to see what you've been saying.
If you're planning to be in the USA for more than 30 days, you can pre-register with the US government and get an I-94. But, even if you have an I-94, you can still be denied entry, and if that happens at a land border, you could be detained for hours or days before being deported.
As a result, immigration experts suggest those Canadians going for more than 30 days, instead of driving, fly into the US by plane from a major airport such as Vancouver, where you'll undergo US Immigration pre-clearance before boarding your flight. That way, if you're denied entry, you can just turn around and leave, because you're still in Canada.
U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order earlier this year requiring foreign visitors staying 30 days or longer to register with the U.S. government, and warning that those who don't comply could face fines of up to $5,000 USD, or jail time.
The requirement has been in effect since April. However, as the new snowbird season kicks off, this is the first time many Canadian snowbirds are dealing with the rules — resulting in some uncertainty and frustration.
Most CBP officers are requiring people driving into the USA for stays of more than 30 days to pay $30 USD each for an I-94 (Electronic Arrival Record) which includes then being fingerprinted and photographed.
However, some CBP officers are allowing Canadian snowbirds to drive in without doing that, and instead are allowing them to register online at their destination by filling out a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) form called G-325R.
The form asks travellers a lengthy list of personal questions, such as their U.S. address, email and marital status. It must be completed within 30 days of arrival, and there’s no fee and no fingerprinting requirement for Canadians.
Nexus cardholders are exempt from the registration requirement because they submitted their data, including fingerprints, when applying for the card.
CBC
Canadian snowbirds fingerprinted and photographed at U.S. border as part of new requirement
Several Canadian snowbirds reported they were fingerprinted and photographed at the U.S. border this month when registering for their winter stay, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told CBC News is standard procedure.
Dogs being taken into the USA by air, sea, or land now have to be at least six months old, be microchipped, appear healthy, have proof of having received a rabies vaccination within the past three years on or after being microchipped, and owners will have to fill out a new CDC Dog Import form, which includes a picture of the dog showing its face.
cbc.ca
Travelling to the United States with your dog? Here's what you need to know
The U.S. is implementing new rules for dogs entering the country on Aug. 1. All dogs entering the U.S. from Canada will need to be microchipped, at least six months old, and accompanied by a new import form, among other requirements.
As a result, immigration experts suggest those Canadians going for more than 30 days, instead of driving, fly into the US by plane from a major airport such as Vancouver, where you'll undergo US Immigration pre-clearance before boarding your flight. That way, if you're denied entry, you can just turn around and leave, because you're still in Canada.
A big change has just taken taken effect for people boarding a plane in the USA: to get through security screening and onto a plane, you now have to show photo ID that is "Real ID compliant", and if you don't, you'll be shifted to a long line where you'll undergo additional inspections and questioning.
For Canadians and others from outside the USA, passports and NEXUS cards are REAL ID compliant, so nothing changes for us!
For Americans, it means showing a Real ID-compliant driver's licence or state ID card which has a gold star in the upper right, or is marked "Enhanced Drivers Licence", which signifies that the issuing body has taken extra steps to confirm the identity of the person.
The Real ID requirement took effect on May 7.
Many countries will not admit you if your passport will expire within six months of your arrival.
But, the USA has a little-known "Carrier Liason" agreement that lets Canadians travel to the US as long as your passport will still be valid on your scheduled date of return. A list of countries covered by that initiative is below…
For travel to other countries, if your passport will expire within six months, renew it now. If you're not sure when it expires, pull it out and check!
Passport office staff say they're constantly encountering panicked people who were sure their passport was still valid, only to have discovered when they went to go travelling, that it had actually expired months ago.
You can usually get a passport renewed within a few weeks, but if you need it sooner, you can pay $50 extra for Express service which will get it to you within a week, or you can pay $110 extra for Urgent renewal which will enable you to pick it up within three business days, or if you have proof of travel booked in less than that, within two days including weekends. If you need to pick it up on a weekend, you have to pay the cost of a staff-person coming down to the Passport CEntre to open it up on the weekend.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has an excellent website on Passport renewals and applications…
Even if you're not planning to travel outside Canada, it's still a great idea to have a valid passport, which can be invaluable as photo ID if you lose your driver's licence or BC ID card.
The price of a Canadian Passport rose on April 1, and will now go up again each year, the federal government says, to reflect inflation and service delivery costs.
For applications made within Canada, the cost of the five-year regular adult passport has increased $2.50 to $122.50, while the price of the 10-year regular adult passport jumped $3.50 to $163.50.
A five-year regular child passport now costs $58.50, up $1.50.
The government says this is the first increase in passport fees since 2013.
For Canadians living outside of Canada, the passport application fee for a 10-year adult passport jumped $6.25 to $266.25, while the five-year adult passport fee increased $4.25 to $194.25.
The government is also increasing the fees for urgent pickup, weekend or statutory holiday service, a temporary passport or an interim passport.
The federal government is also promising your passport application will be processed within 30 business days or it will be free. (Refunds will be issued automatically if processing exceeds 30 business days, meaning no action is required by applicants.)
Many Canadians can renew their passport online, but you'll need a digital photo taken by a commercial photographer to do that.
Check to see if you're eligible, and what you'll need…
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is now allowing Canadians to renew their passports online, as long as you can wait three weeks to get it. This is a new service, and capacity is limited, while they make sure the system doesn't crash.
- You’re applying to renew your own passport.
- Your home and mailing address is in Canada.
- Your current passport:
- is a regular (blue) passport
- was valid for 5 or 10 years
- shows your place of birth
- was issued when you were 16 years of age or older
- was issued in the last 15 years and
- is expired or
- will expire in the next 6 months
- You’ll use the same name, date of birth, place of birth and gender identifier on your new passport.
- You don’t have any observations in your current passport. (Observations are notes some people have on a separate page of their passport to explain special circumstances (like a name that was too long to be printed in full or if you have a diplomatic passport). Most people don’t have observations in their passport.)
You'll also need to go to a photographer who knows about, and can meet, the requirements for a digital passport photo.
You can create an account and start your application until they reach their daily limit. The limit resets at 4am and 4pm Pacific time each day. If you can’t create an account when you try, try again when the limit resets.
You new passport will be mailed to you, or you can pay an additional fee and pick it up at a Service Canada office. The link is below…
The US State Department has announced that Americans can now renew their passports online, bypassing the usual long lineups and waits. Fees are the same as for mailed-in renewal applications: $30 for a Passport Card, $130 for the traditional Passport Book, or $160 for both.
The online renewal portal is Travel.State.gov/renewonline
United States Department of State
Announcing Online Passport Renewal - United States Department of State
The Department of State is making our new online passport renewal system fully available to the public today, a significant step forward in ensuring that Americans can more easily access passport services. Instead of printing a paper application and mailing it with a check, Americans can now renew their passports through a secure process that […]
If your airline ticket is booked under a name that's even one character different from what's on your passport (such as omitting a middle name or misspelling a name), the airline won't let you fly, because they can't check your name against no-fly lists and other databases.
This is especially important for people with multiple middle names, or hyphenated last names.
If your full name is too long to fit on your passport, the key is what's printed on the first line of the machine-readable zone (MRZ) at the bottom of your passport ID page (the three letters just before your surname are the country code; CAN for Canada, GBR for Great Britain, etc.)…
If your reservation is under a name that's different from what's printed in the MRZ at the bottom of your passport, you won't be allowed to fly.
- If you have a name that is hyphenated, the hyphen will be omitted in the MRZ area of your passport and replaced with a > and your ticket should not have the hyphen either.
- If your full name with middle name(s) is too long for the max. 39-character limit of the machine-readable zone of your passport, your middle name(s) will be truncated, and your reservation should reflect that shortened character limit as well.
- For example, Adrian Alexander Morrison MacDonald-Smith would have the second middle name truncated and show as…
P<CANMACDONALD<SMITH<<ADRIAN<ALEXANDER<MORRIS
- If you spot a mismatch after booking a flight, most airlines will allow you to fix it within two hours at no charge. After that, they may require you to cancel your booking and make a new one with the correct spelling, which may cost more — and likely a lot more if you don't spot the error till shortly before your trip!
- If your flights were booked by a travel agent, they are responsible for paying any additional cost of rebooking you — unless you gave them the wrong info when you asked them to book you.
An ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) is a new digital travel permit that is mandatory for citizens of countries that can visit England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland without a visa for short trips. This includes Canadian citizens.
ETA's now cost £20 — that's about $37 CAD.
A UK ETA is valid for multiple visits for either two years, or when your passport expires — whichever comes first.
Applying for a UK ETA is entirely online and paperless. Canadian applicants can complete the application in less than 20 minutes. You do not need to visit consulates or visa offices for an in-person interview or to submit documents. Important note: in order to get a UK ETA, your passport must not expire within six months of your expected departure from the UK.
There are numerous apps and websites where you can apply for a UK ETA, and they charge a variety of rates. Be aware that some try to get you to apply through them by (falsely) claiming that they can get you expedited approval.
We recommend you only use the official UK ETA app, or website.
It usuallly takes three days to process an ETA application. You'll receive a decision, whether approved or rejected, via the email address you provide when applying. Most airlines flying to the UK now require you to provide proof that you have an ETA (unless you have a British or Irish passport), before they'll let you check-in. Check-out the info below, and then you can apply for an ETA online via their app or website.
If you don't have a mobile phone, you can apply for your ETA online, here…
A big change has been made to the UK's ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) system, affecting people who are dual citizens with British or Irish citizenship.
Here's a screenshot of part of the updated UK ETA website (at gov.uk/eta)…
The big change is that Canadians (or others) who are dual citizens with British or Irish citizenship, do not need an ETA, but now must use their British or Irish passport when leaving their country of residence, and use that same British or Irish passport to get into the UK or Ireland.
if you try to use a Canadian passport to leave Canada for Britain or Ireland, you will find that you will not be able to check in for your flight, and if you arrive ship or rail, you will not be allowed in if you use your Canadian passport unless you have paid for an (expensive) Certificate of Entitlement — you must now use your British or Irish passport.
On Feb. 1, the UK and Ireland began requiring dual citizens to only use their UK or Irish passport to enter and leave, and no longer allowing them to use their Canadian passport in either direction.
This change has resulted in a flood of applications from dual citizens needing to get their UK or Irish passports renewed, as they can't travel to the UK or Ireland without one. So many people are applying, that the wait to get one could be up to three months.
To avoid people cancelling their trips because of that, the UK government is now offering a potential workaround: if dual citizens have an expired UK/Irish passport issued in 1989 or later,and a valid passport from a country like Canada that qualifies for admission via ETA, airlines are allowed to let you fly to the UK and Ireland — provided the info on both passports matches.
Note that airlines may choose to not allow a dual citizen to fly with an expired UK/Irish passport and a valid Canadian passport…it's their decision. If you're in this situation, we recommend you check with the airline, and shown them this new info (link below) before booking your flight!
If you're visiting Europe for less than 90 days for the first time since April, you'll now have to line-up to register for their new free EES (Entry/Exit System), which means you'll have to have your face, fingerprints, and passport scanned and registered, and then you'll have to proceed to a second set of kiosks to confirm that scanned info.
The EES system is free, and your scanned info will be valid for five years, or until your passport expires, in which case you'll have to re-register with your new passport the next time you visit any EU country.
Heads-up if you're going to Switzerland: although Switzerland is not part of the EU, the Swiss have decided to join the Schengen-zone nations in using the EU's new EES starting June 12.
When the EES was first implemented in April, the lack of enough scanning stations led to lineups of in some cases three to four hours.
Under pressure from nations such as Spain and Greece which add lots of weekend holidays cancel plans, The EU agreed to allow border officials to go back to the old passport inspection-and-stamp system if lineups got longer than half an hour, and that seems to have largely solved the problem.
Because of the long lineups for this new system, it's recommended that you make sure a connecting flight or train doesn't leave within two hours of your scheduled arrival — especially if you're flying into one of the busiest affected airports.
The following European countries are using the EES:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden — and Switzerland starting June 12.
There is, as yet, no EES in Cyprus and Ireland. Travelers’ passports are still being manually stamped.
You can download the free Travel to Europe EES pre-registration app from the Apple or Google App Store, which will let you go in an Express Lane, but there's a catch…
As of June 1, it'll only save you time if you're flying into Sweden or Portugal, although other countries are expected to start accepting pre-registration in the coming months.
Here are some tips on how to minimize the impact of the EES rollout…
- Fly into a smaller or less-affected Schengen airport where possible — secondary hubs typically have shorter non-EU queues than mega-hubs like CDG, MAD, AMS and FRA
- Avoid the 6–10am arrival window at major hubs, when long-haul waves from Asia, the Gulf and the Americas stack up simultaneously
- Pad connections generously. Especially if you’re transiting through Pairis, Frankfurt or Amsterdam to onward Schengen destinations, aim for a minimum three-hour layover right now
- Keep your boarding pass handy. Some airports are triaging passengers with tight connections, so having your onward boarding pass visible may help you get fast-tracked through a manual lane.
- Consider routing via a non-Schengen hub like Istanbul (IST), Dubai (DXB), Doha (DOH) or London Heathrow (LHR) if your itinerary allows, so EES only happens once at your final destination
VisaHQ
EU Allows Temporary Suspension of Biometric Border Checks to Ease Schengen Entry/Exit Queues
Brussels has authorised Schengen countries to pause obligatory fingerprint and facial scans during peak traffic, letting officers fallback to manual passport stamping. The change, announced 4 May 2026, aims to cut hour-long queues that have dogged the new Entry/Exit System. While Ireland is not in Schengen, the measure affects Irish travellers transiting through EU hubs and requires mobility managers to update connection-time advice.
ETIAS waivers were supposed to be required starting last year, but that requirement has now been postponed till late 2026.
ETIAS stands for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, and the EU created it in an effort to identify any risks associated with visa waiver-exempt visitors — including Canadians —travelling to Europe.
An ETIAS Visa Waiver will cost €7 which is about $10 CAD.
Canadians under the age of 18 or 70 years of age and older will not have to pay for an ETIAS Visa Waiver, but will still need to get one before travelling to Europe.
The start-up of the program has now been delayed until late this year till after they get the bugs worked out in the new EU EES system, and when it kicks-in, there'll be a six-month transition period during which an ETIAS Waiver will not be mandatory, but will be strongly encouraged, with express clearance lines for those who have one.
If you're going to Europe this fall, you'll get an EES only if you leave one European country and go to another. You don't need to apply for it in advance the way you will have to for an ETIAS.
More and more countries are now requiring you to show proof that you have Travel Health Insurance before they'll let you enter.
Some European countries such as France, Spain and Italy, which were still exempting visitors who are allowed to enter without a VISA, have now removed that exemption, and will not let visitors enter without proof of valid travel health insurance.
More info on what amount of travel health insurance you need for each country is below…
Airlines here in North America and Europe (and also more and more other countries) have finally standardized carry-on luggage size limits, so if your carry-on fits on one airline, it'll fit on all of them.
However, the new standardized size — (22" x 16" x 9" or 56cm x 40cm x 23cm — is a slight bit smaller than about 60% of carry-on's in use today, and even worse, if you go shopping for a new one — especially if you shop online — many that are being advertised as being "Carry-On Ready" were actually made to meet the old standard, and are too big, which is why they're being cleared-out at huge discounts.
If your carry-on is even a bit too big (and the new size limits include handles and wheels), airlines are now requiring you to pay to have it checked.
So, measure a carry-on before you buy it, and make sure it's within 22×16×9".
In addition to the new standardized size limit, the carry-on weight limit has also been standardized around the world at 10kg which equals 22 pounds.
If your carry-on is heavier than 10kg/22lbs, you'll be required to either remove some items, or pay to have it checked.
More and more airlines are installing carry-on bag scales, including some which are putting them at boarding gates, where it's really embarassing as well as costly if you have to step aside to have your carry-on checked — unless you can hurriedly remove some heavy items and put them in your jacket!
The new standardized carry-on size and weight limits are not the only change for travellers in 2026…
- The new rules require that all portable electronics must have enough power to be turned-on if requested by security screening staff. If your laptop or tablet doesn't have enough power to be turned-on, you can be required to leave and charge it up and return for re-screening, or to leave it behind.
- There's a new 20-device limit on portable electronics being carried aboard per person.
- According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), power banks with a capacity of up to 100 watt-hours (Wh) are allowed in carry-on baggage. Most power banks of 20,000 mAh or less will be within this limit. (Read on for the formula to use to be sure.) Spare batteries are strictly prohibited in checked luggage for safety reasons. These guidelines align with the regulations set by the FAA and TSA for domestic flights, ensuring consistency in safety measures.
- If your power bank exceeds 100 Wh but is within the 101-160 Wh range, you can carry up to two spare batteries in your carry-on, though airline approval may be required.
- Batteries larger than 160 Wh are not permitted in either carry-on or checked baggage and must be transported as cargo in compliance with IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations.
To check if your battery pack complies with regulations, you need to convert mAh to Wh using a simple formula: Watt-hours (Wh) = (Voltage (V) × mAh) / 1000
For example, most power banks use lithium-ion batteries with a typical voltage of 3.7V. If you have a power bank with a capacity of 10,000 mAh, the calculation would be:
Watt-hours = (10,000 mAh × 3.7 V) / 1000 = 37 Wh
So, yes, you can bring a 10,000 mAh power bank on a plane, as it falls below the 100 Wh limit.
Similarly, if you have a 20,000 mAh protable charger, it would be approximately 74 Wh. This is also within the allowed range for carry-on luggage.
As for laptops, the airlines strongly encourage you to put them in your carry-on, not in checked luggage, both for anti-theft and fire safety reasons. That said, they are still allowed in checked luggage, but extra rechargeable batteries are expressly prohibited in checked luggage…
If you print out paper boarding passes, two things can — and these days, often do — go wrong:
One, your flight can get cancelled, in which case you'll have to line-up to get a new boarding pass and possibly miss your flight.
Secondly, your flight(s) might get changed to a different concourse while you're enroute. If it was gate B17 and now it's B23, not a problem as long as you spot the change before you head in the wrong direction. But if gate B17 becomes C18, at many airports, boarding passes are only good for flights in the same concourse, so you'll have to line-up for a new boarding pass and may miss your flight.
If you use the airline app, you'll be notified if there's a flight and/or gate change, and you can quickly download a new boarding pass and be on your way.
Flying Air Canada back to Victoria from St. John's Newfoundland via Toronto, Suzanne and I had our connecting flight from Toronto to Victoria delayed and changed to different gates five times, and then cancelled. Each time, the change popped-up on the Air Canada app before the terminal reader-boards changed. Within five minutes of the cancellation, the app rebooked us on a new flight (via Vancouver) and electronically issued new boarding passes…
Those not using the app, had to endure this lineup (this is only half) for Air Canada Customer Service…
Also, make sure you check-in online as soon as you can starting 24 hours before your first flight.
If you hold-off checking-in till you get to the airport, you may discover you've been bumped off the flight, because many airlines have quietly gone back to overbooking flights to minimize having empty seats. Yes, you'll be compensated for being bumped, but if you're heading to a cruise ,or to a connecting flight or a special event, that'll be little comfort if you arrive late.
Apps are supposed to be automatically updated, and they are - eventually. There are so many hundreds of millions of smartphones in use, that it can take days if not weeks for app updates to get pushed out to your phone, and that can cause problems if you need the latest version of an app, or want to use the new features and slash or avoid bugs plaguing an earlier version.
This is why we recommend you regularly do a manual update for your apps, epecially if you're about to go travelling, when you need your airline and border crossing apps to all be up-to-date!
Only a few weeks after changing the process for manually updating apps on iPhones and iPads, Apple has further tweaked the process.
Here's the latest process for iPhones and iPads running OS 26.4/26.4.1:
- Open the App Store
- Tapk on your initials or picture in a circle in the upper-right corner
- In the screen appears, tap on App Updates (new name and location) and it'll show you how many app updates are pending — but that result is likely out-of-date.
- In the screen that appears, pull down in the middle of the screen like lowering a window-blind, hold for a second, and let go. You'll briefly see a spinning wheel at the top of the screen, while it checks right now for available app updates.
- Scroll up, look for the number of apps that have updates available, and tap on Update all.
- One by one, those apps will be updated, and you'll be good to go!
On an Android device, open the Google Play Store app, and tap on the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner of the screen. Tap on “My apps & games”, and you'll get a list of apps that have updates available. Tap “Update all”.
Tip: if you're going overseas, make your roaming data last longer by going into your phone's Settings, Cellular, and turning off cellular access for apps that use a lot of data, like YouTube.
Social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and Pinterest also use a lot of data, so you may wish to turn off cellular data for them while you're overseas, and only check in when you're on Wi-Fi.
Quebec-based Freedom Mobile has signed-up a lot of people in recent months, especially people going travelling, because virtually all their plans include +120 country "Roam Beyond" coverage at no extra cost. This lets you make unlimited phone calls in the country you're in and back to Canada, and gives you a monthly bucket of "Roam Beyond" data for roaming overseas…
If you're on a budget Freedom Mobile plan which does not include "Roam Beyond" data, or if you want more international data any given month while travelling, you can buy a 30-day pass (now at cheaper rates) which will add onto your plan:
- $25 for 5GB + unlimited talk and text
- $40 for 10GB + unlimited talk and text
Telus and Koodo now offer a variety of Travel Passes, including the only passes specifically for Latin America or for Australi and New Zealand, but no International pass.
The rates from Telus/Koodo are better than those being charged by Rogers and Bell — although nowhere near as good as Freedom Mobile, whose "Roam Beyond" coverage is included in viurtually all plans at no extra cost!
For Europe, Telus/Koodo offer two choices…
For Mexico and the Caribbean…
For Australia and New Zealand…
For Latin America…
…and for Asia…
Rogers and Fido have rejigged their "Roam Like Home" Travel Pass offerings, and now offer a variety of travel passes good for 3 days to 30 days,and for coverage in US/Mexico/Caribbean/cruises, or International, as well as for USA only.
Missing from the new pass offerings is their Europe Travel Pass, which used to be $60 for 14 days or $70 for 30 days. Instead, you'll now have to choose from a more-expensive $100 International pass good for 14 days, or a $120 International pass good for 30 days…
In both cases, the pass lets you use your phone in more than 180 countries just like here in Canada, with unlimited calling in the country you're in, and back to Canada. You get as much (or as little) data as you have on your Canada plan.
If you're going on a cruise while overseas, Rogers/Fido are also now offering a special $160 Travel Pass good for 10 days, which will work on most cruise ships, as well as on land in 180+ countries…
Note that when you're on a cruise ship, if you use more than 1GB of data in a 24-hour period, your data speed will be reduced to 1/10th what it was!
If you're going on a cruise to Mexico or the Caribbean, Rogers/Fido have two Travel Passes that will let you use your phone in the USA, Mexico, and the Caribbean plus onboard most cruise ships…
Rogers also has USA-only Travel Passes for people who have Canada-only plans; they are 3 days for $25, 7 days for $50, 14 days for $60, or 30 days for $80. Or, you can ust pay $16/day.
Bell and Virgin Plus are offering a variety of "Roam Better" travel passes that include coverage in your choice of…
- USA (3 days for $30, 14 days for $60, or 30 days for $80)
- Caribbean and Mexico (14 days for $70)
- Europe (14 days for $75 or 30 days for $90)
- Asia (14 days for $75 or 30 days for $90)
- International (14 days for $100 or 30 days for $120)
RoamRadar.ca is a fledgling independent Canadian website that tracks international roaming options for various Canadian carriers. So far, it includes Fido, Koodo, Virgin+, Public Mobile, and Freedom Mobile, but the website says more carriers will be added 'soon'.
You type in a country where you're planning to travel, and Roam Radar will tell you what Canadian carriers let you roam there.
For example, if you're planning to go to Patagonia in Argentina, RoamRadar.ca shgows that Koodo has roaming coverage there, while Freedom Mobile, which has very popular 120+ country "Roam Beyond" coverage, does not yet have coverage in Argentina…
If you'd like to be able to instantly switch carriers to stay connected in case your carrier has an outage or when you're in an area where their coverage is poor or non-existent, check-out the new multi-carrier eSIM's being offered by Sweat-Free Telecom based in Waterloo, Ontario…
For a limited time you can buy 1GB of non-expiring Canada/USA/Mexico data for $16, or 5GB for $62 or 10GB for $122. Sweat-Free Telecom says those prices are higher than what other eSIM providers like Airalo charge, because their data allotment is yours until you use it up — it never expires, and because they let you instantly change carriers…
Sweat-Free Telecom also offers three non-expiring data packages for travellers:
- one works in 30+ countries in Europe and lets you switch between 90+ carriers, and costs $9 for 1GB, or 5GB for $34 or 10GB for $66…
- another works in 100 countries around the world and lets you switch between 200'ish carriers, and costs $25 for 1GB, or 5GB for $94 or 10GB for $179…
- …and a third that works in 150 countries, and 300'ish carriers, which costs $45 for 1GB, $220 for 5GB, and $423 for 10GB…
They also have plans that include 25,GB, 50GB, and even 100GB. Their website is SweatFree.co
Especially if you're going travelling, but even if you're not, make sure the numbers in your Contacts for people you're going to call are saved with a +1 before the area code and number if they're here or in North America, or in some cases, you won't be able to call them.
We had previously suggested just a 1 for North American numbers, but we've discovered that because of the myriad of phone carriers here in Canada, the USA, and Caribbean, some calls cannot be completed unless there's a +1 in front of the area code and number.
If you're going overseas, many of you have switched to Freedom Mobile to take advantage of their "Roam Beyond" plan, which let you use your phone in dozens of countries around the world at no extra cost. Or, you may be using Sweat Free Telecom to add an overseas number via an eSIM.
But, either way, in order to call people in a foreign country when you're there, you must save their phone number beginning with + and the country code.
If you don't do that, depending on the carrier, your call either won't go through, or you'll get billed for an international call as it'll be routed back through Canada, or the first digits of their phone number will be interpreted as a country code and you'll get billed for a call to Russia or Finland or some other country!
On home phones, you have to dial 011 and then the country code and their number, but on mobile phones, you just need + and the country code and their number.
"Tech Talk" listener Vivien recently returned from England and Italy and found $80 in extra charges on her Freedom Mobile bill, even though she'd switched to them for their "Roam Beyond" coverage. When she contacted Freedom Customer Care, they explained that those charges were because she dialled numbers in England without putting in the country code, so those calls were routed via Canada. As a goodwill gesture, they removed those charges from her bill this one time only.
Regardless of which carrier you're on, we recommend you go through your contacts and, one-by-one, add a +1 in front of their number if they're in Canada, the USA, or the Caribbean — even if it's a local number — and add + and the Country Code if they're overseas. You can find a full list of Country Codes at CountryCode.org
Note that Caribbean country numbers use the North American calling format, so you just need a +1 in front of their area code and number.
WiFi Calling is a great feature on newer phones which lets your phone route calls over WiFi when the cell signal is weak. This not only saves battery, but also makes your calls sound much clearer.
However, if you leave WiFi Calling on and leave Canada, even if you have a plan that includes data roaming in the country where you're going, you'll get dinged for international phone calls if you make phone calls to/from numbers outside Canada while connected to WiFi in the foreign country.
If you're in, say, Spain and calling a number in Spain, if you're on WiFi Calling, that call is routed back through Canada, and thus it becomes an international phone call which you'll get charged for per minute, even if your plan includes roaming in Spain.
So, if you're going traveling outside Canada, make sure you turn your WiFi Calling off before you leave, to avoid hefty international calling charges!
We recommend you also put a reminder into your calendar for the day you return to Canada, to turn WiFi Calling back on once you're back home.
If you're taking an older smartphone or cheaper travelling with you, and are planning to use a foreign SIM card or eSIM in it, check before you go to see if your phone can use the frequencies used in the country(ies) where you're headed.
Many countries use newer, high-quality mobile frequencies which older and/or less-expensive phones don't support.
We discovered this when we got a SIM for a homestay student from Türkiye; her three-year-old Samsung phone only supports one of the 14 frequencies we use here in Canada, so she had to get a newer phone.
The easiest way to check is to use the online Kimovil Frequency Checker, which is here.
Select your phone and the country you'll be going to, and it'll tell you if your phone will work there…
Kimovil.com
Will My Phone Work in Canada?
If you have ever wondered if the mobile you are thinking of buying will work in Canada, this is the right site to answer your question. You can also find out if your mobile phone is compatible with the frequency bands that are used in Canada, or with the mobile phone operator you are going to use in Canada.
For example, here's the result for a Samsung Galaxy S6 phone to be used in Australia…
You'll see from the results above, that coverage on that phone would be spotty, because the phone does not receive several of the frequencies which Australian carriers use.
You can use the ArriveCAN app (or website) to quickly pre-clear Canada Customs, if you're arriving at the Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, or Halifax airport -- but NOT yet in Victoria.
The time it saves is enough to enable you to make a tight connection if your incoming flight is late!
When you scan your passport at an Immigration kiosk, it skips the Customs part and gives you a receipt, and you're on your way.
Make sure you have the latest version of the ArriveCAN app, also, make sure you know your ArriveCAN account password, as the app signs you out after 10 days, and you'll need your password to sign back in if you're going to be aware for more than 10 days!
The ArriveCAN app is avilable free on the Apple and Google App Stores, and you can also submit your CBSA Declaration in advance online…the link to do that is in the webpage below…
If you're heading to the USA (including Hawaii and Alaska), US Customs and Border Protection has a free app which you can use to save a lot of time at the border — and this can be especially valuable if you have a tight connection.
It's called MPC (Mobile Passport Control) and it replaces the third-party Airside Mobile Passport app.
It can be used by people from many countries including Canadians and Americans, and it can also now be used at airports like Vancouver, where you pre-clear Customs and Immigration when flying to a major US airport. More here.
If your flight is cancelled -- and that's happening a lot more often now because of staffing shortages and weather problems -- you'll have to deal with that third party to get rebooked, if you can even reach someone, and that can be really stressful.
There's another reason to avoid third-party travel sites: most are not regulated by provincial travel regulators, so if they make a mistake — such as spelling your name incorrectly on a flight booking — you can find youself on the hook (see below) for paying for a new ticket.
By all means, search the web for the best fares (see how to use Google Flight Search in the next item), but once you've found the best fare, then we encourage you to go to the app or website of the airline in question and book the flights there.
CTVNews
Ontario couple’s dream vacation ruined after typo on airline ticket
An Ontario couple booking their dream vacation to Africa says they were searching for flights online when they got a call from a travel website offering a good deal, but after reserving the tickets, a typo of just one letter ended up ruining their trip.
There are a tonne of airfare search tools out there, but the one which consistently finds the cheapest fares is Google's Flight Search tool at Google.com/Travel/Flights. Start by putting in your To/From cities and then your ideal travel dates. I've picked Orlando from Dec. 29-Jan. 7 as an example…
There are a couple of built-in tools in the lower right of your search results that can save you a lot of money. One is the Date Grid, which lets you see which days have the cheapest fares. You'll see, in our example, below, that we could save $434 per person by going a day later! And if we could go on New Year's Eve and come back on Jan. 10th, we could save $672 per person!
…the other useful tool is the Price Graph, which shows you what happens to fares if you shorten or lengthen your trip, or if you change your dates. In our example, if we were to change our travel dates to Jan. 14-23, our initial price of $1146 per person drops to just $404 per person…
Google Flight Search also lets you filter prices to show what's important to you, such as non-stop flights, or avoiding long layovers. And living in Victoria, you can also easily check to see if it's a lot cheaper to fly from Vancouver or Seattle. In our case, if we pick the cheapest travel dates from Victoria but change to departing from Vancouver…
…the price drops by $52 to $352 per person, but, if we were to change our dates to Jan. 13-21, it drops to just $235 per person! That's an $911 per per person saving from what we started with!
Once you find the best fares, you can then book directly with the airline, or you can forward the results to a travel agent and pay them to book it for you. We do not recommend booking with an online travel site like Expedia or SkyScanner — especially for flights overseas — because you don't want the stress of having to try to contact someone at those sites if your flight gets cancelled, and there are a lot more cancellations these days than in years past, especially in the winter.
Air Canada is now offering free Wi-Fi for Aeroplan members on select flights within North America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The internet connectivity is sponsored by Bell, which has been partnering with Air Canada since 2023 to provide Aeroplan members with free in-flight texting. With this expansion, the airline promises “streaming-quality Wi-Fi” on Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, and now also on Air Canada Express flights operated with smaller CRJ900 aircraft, like the ones that fly between Victoria,m Vancouver and cities loike Kelowna and Nanaimo.
Air Canada says you’ll be able to find out whether your plane has free Wi-Fi within five days of departure by entering your flight number or route on its website.
Fast, Free Wi-Fi for Aeroplan Members sponsored by Bell now on Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express flights in North America, Mexico and the Caribbean
Fast, Free Wi-Fi for Aeroplan Members sponsored by Bell now on Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express flights in North America, Mexico and the Caribbean
Customers will enjoy speeds that allow for streaming video services, gaming and more on their personal devicesCertification and Wi-Fi installation on Q400 fleet operating at Toronto Billy Bishop expected later this yearFast, free Wi-Fi for Aeroplan Members expanding to international flights in 2026MONTREAL, May 1, 2025 – Fast, free Wi-Fi for A...
American Airlines has announced it'lld be offering free, high-speed, satellite-based Wi-Fi provided by AT&T to all of its jets this year. The installation process will start this month with American’s narrow-body and dual-class regional planes, with the goal of having its entire fleet updated in time for Spring Break 2026.
To access the free Wi-Fi, you'll need to sign up for American’s AAdvantage loyalty program. Signup is free, and once you’re logged in, you can select “Free Wi-Fi” to start browsing.
This is similar to United Airlines’ deal with Starlink Wi-Fi, or Delta Air Lines with T-Mobile, both of which require users to sign up for the airline’s free rewards program before logging on.
There's a new way to find an affordable plane flight: an app called Airble (note the spelling).
Among other things, it lets you book seats on the empty leg of a chartered small plane.
If you use a credit card outside Canada (incl. in the USA), decline if the payment terminal offers to display the price in Canadiam dollars, or you'll pay a lot more than you were expacting to!
Here's a picture ot of the screen on the handheld payment terminal when it was our turn to pay the hotel bill at a town on our recent trip to Germany with the family of our former homestay student…
Note the 3.99% "mark-up" that would've been tacked-onto the total, if I'd chosen the convenience of seeing the total charged to my VISA card in Canadian dollars instead of Euros! In this bill, the surcharge would've amounted to an additional €51.26 — which converts to an extra $83 CAD!
The credit card company splits that extra fee (which ranges from 4% to 6% depending on the card processing firm) with the merchant.
Make sure you always choose the local currency, and never the Canadian currency option!
If the option to choose isn't shown when you're handed the payment terminal, ask the merchant if they chose for you before handing you the terminal, and if so, ask them to redo the transaction and let you choose. Many staff at hotels, restaurants, and shops are not aware of the significance of the choice, and think they're helping you by choosing your country's currency!
Similary, if withdrawing cash at a foreign ATM (‘Bancomat’ in Europe), decline the default option to lock-in the exchange rate, because that option includes a surcharge of usually an additional 3-4%!
Instead, let your bank do the conversion, which, because of the millions of transactions being processed each day, will always get you a great exchange rate.
RFID-blocking wallets, passport shields and credit-card sleeves are inconvenient and a waste of money, because they solve a problem that doesn't exist!
For many years, the info on your card has been encrypted and useless to anyone who holds a scanner near it. While its technically true that someone with a handheld payment terminal could trigger a transaction and hold it near your wallet to trigger payment, they'd have their terminal deactivated as soon as the fraud was discovered, and you wouldn't lose any money.
Tapping is a more-secure way of paying with your credit- or debit- card, because there's no way for anyone to see what your PIN code is.
Debit cards are limited to a maximum transaction of $100, while credit cards will allow taps of up to $250 on all cards, and higher on some cards at some stores.
But if your card doesn't always work for Tap-to-Pay, it may not be the card — it may be how you're holding it!
On most cards, the Tap-to-Pay symbol (which looks like a WiFi signal icon on its side), is right next to the Chip which you insert into a payment termanal when paying with your PIN.
But on more and more newer cards, the Tap icon is now at the other end of the card, and sometimes on the back.
If that's how it is on your card, hold the card by the Chip end and tap the Tap-to-Pay icon on the payment terminal.
We all know 9-1-1 is the number for emergency services here in Canada and the USA, but many countries use a different number: for example, in the UK, it's 9-9-9; in Australia, it's 0-0-0, in New Zealand, it's 1-1-1, in Colombia, it's 1-2-3, and in Libya, it's 15-15.
If you're travelling and not sure what number to call, dial 1-1-2 and your call will automatically be routed to the correct emergency service number.
If you're a trivia buff, a full list of the various numbers used in countries around the world is below…
In case you care 9-1-1 is used in Canada, the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, American Samoa, Aruba, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
If you want to be able to easily find your way back to some spot, use the free Find My Car app.
You don’t need to actually have a car; if you want to find your way back to your hotel or AirBnB, for example, set the location of your "car" when you leave, and off you go.
You can even snap a picture, and add notes to the saved location.
When you want to find your way back, tap the "Find my car" button in the app, and choose whether you want walking, driving, or transit directions back to that spot.
A new update to Apple's Siri digital assistant eliminates the need for the Find My Car app.
Now, when you've parked (or when you're leaving some location without a vehicle), just say, "Siri, remember where I parked my car".
When it's time to return to you car (or the location without a vehicle), simply ask, "Siri, where did I park my car?" and you'll see the same dialog box to guide you to where you parked.
If you don't get this option, go into Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, scroll all the way to the bottom to System Services, and scroll down and turn on Significant Locations.
This is not a new problem, but a lot of travellers are unaware of the security risk: never use an airport USB charging station or kiosk to recharge your smartphone or tablet.
Quite often, the USB ports are connected to computers which try to siphon info out of your phone — especially Android phones — while charging them.
And don't use a charging cable that someone has left behind, either, as it may contain a chip that'll unleash malware, even on iPhones.
Plugging into a public USB port or using a left-behind charging cable is like finding a toothbrush on the side of the road and deciding to stick it in your mouth — you have no idea where that thing has been!
Here's a great (iPhone only) tip if you're flying, or are expecting someone who is:
Text yourself your flight number(s) (i.e. AC1900).
Then, anytime you want to know updated departure/arrival info, just hold your finger on the flight number and tap "Preview flight" and you'll see everything you need…
There are numerous free flight-tracking apps, but the one which currently gets the top ratings is FlightRadar24, which is available both on Apple and Android mobile devices, and on the web.
FlightRadar24 lets you search by flight #, by airport, by route, and even by tail number.
It's especially useful in finding and tracking the plane that's scheduled to be your departing flight, so you can get an early-heads-up if your flight is going to be delayed.
If you want, you can upgrade to the paid version to get rid of ads and to access additional features such as custom alerts for up to 10 flights, and 90 days of flight history for $18/year.
If you're going to Europe and are going to be taking trains and/or busses, use the free Trainline app or website to book tickets.
Holders of select VISA cards are now eligible for up to six free visits a year to more than 1,200 Airport Lounges around the world, including many here in Canada.
You access the lounges using the free VISA Airport Companion app available for Apple and Android devices.
Find out if you're eligible by going to VISAairport Companion.ca/terms
CruisePlum.com is a fairly new website which was created by a small group of cruise enthusiasts who weren't happy with any of the existing cruise search / deal list sites.
It offers a suite of tools to help you find the best cruise at the best price. It's completely free and unbiased…
CruisePlum.com is not afilliated with any cruise line or company; it's run by a small group of cruise enthisaists…
The list includes tips on how to enjoy popuar events like the free Aloha Friday Fireworks, the new way to get free tickets to visit Pearl Harbour, and how to make a mandatory reservation to climb Diamond Head. It also includes some hidden gems — both sights and dining!
You can download and/or print it by clicking on the arrow-in-square icon in the upper right, below…
If you have any additional places you'd like to share, I'd be glad to add them to this list! Email me at AlanPerry@outlook.com
A new iOS app called Wayther wants to help you better plan your road trips by giving you real-time road conditions and weather forecasts along your route.
Created by indie developer Axel Le Pennec, Wayther gives you weather forecasts along your route up to 10 days in advance.
Wayther works in all countries where Apple Weather is available, and supports both metric and imperial units. Wayther can also be used for trips by motorbike, RV, truck, bus, or bike — even walking!
Wayther offers a free trial that gives three trips for free. After the trial period, if you like it, pay $20 a year and get unlimited usage.
Of all the tech gear that's been invented in the past few years, item trackers are our hands-down favourites! They're inexpensive and easy-to-use, and eliminate a lot of stress.
Apple AirTags work great if you have an iPhone and/or iPad, while Eufy SmartTags work with both iPhones and Android phones, and now there are rechargeable credit-card sized trackers for your wallet or purse!
If you have an iPhone, AirTags are listed in the "Items" tab in the "Find My" app ,which is built into every iPhone and iPad.
The "Find My" app includes a Notification option which will put a pop-up on your iPhone if you're leaving an item behind, with a switch to have it not do that at specific locations such as your home or work.
When our shuttle driver in St. John's accidentally drove off with my backpack still in his van, it soon notified me, and within minutes, I could see that it was in the van which was back outside the hotel. I called the hotel and they had him return and give it to me within minutes.
I have AirTags in my backpack, tech bag, carry-on, and suitcase, as well as on my keys, on my bike, and in my car.
You can now share the location of your AirTags with multiple people, so they can help you find missing items if your iPhone is out of power or not with you.
Apple AirTags are $39 each or $129 for a package of four (you can sell/give them individually) at London Drugs, Best Buy, Staples, The Source, Simply Computing and other stores.
If you buy one/some, you'll want to put them in holders to keep the top from vibrating off, but holders are quite pricey at most stores — up to $30 each! You can buy AirTag holders that are just as good for a fraction of the price on Amazon. Here are two which we've bought, which are $12 for a set of four…
Amazon.ca
E-TING Air Tag Keychain for Apple Airtags Holder, 4 Pack Protective Leather Airtags Case Tracker Cover with Air Tag Holder, Airtag Key Ring Compatible with Apple New AirTag Dog Collar (Multi-Color)
E-TING Air Tag Keychain for Apple Airtags Holder, 4 Pack Protective Leather Airtags Case Tracker Cover with Air Tag Holder, Airtag Key Ring Compatible with Apple New AirTag Dog Collar (Multi-Color) : Amazon.ca: Electronics
Amazon.ca
E-TING 4 Pcs Multicolor Anti-Scratch Case for AirTag,Holder with Keychain Hanging on Dog Collar Backpacks Wallet, Safety Anti-Lost Airtag Case Cover with Key Ring
E-TING 4 Pcs Multicolor Anti-Scratch Case for AirTag,Holder with Keychain Hanging on Dog Collar Backpacks Wallet, Safety Anti-Lost Airtag Case Cover with Key Ring : Amazon.ca: Electronics
These SEINXON credit-card-sized trackers are the first ones we've found which you can recharge, and wirelessly, so they can be ultra-thin (about the thickness of a credit card) because they don't need to have a power jack. They work with Apple's "Find My" system, as well as with Seinxon's own app.
They're waterproof and can work for up to eight months on a charge, and you can also hold your finger on the power logo to power them off if you won't need to track an item for a while.
They're currently $28 on Amazon…
Eufy makes an AirTag-style tracker which is twice as loud as an AirTag and doesn't need a holder, as it has a keyring hole in the corner. The Eufy SmartTrack Tracker Tag is $30 at Best Buy stores.
Another option is BoomPod BoomTags, which also work with Apple's "Find My" system…
They're made out of 100% recycled ocean plastic, available in four colours, don't need a tag holder, and are on sale for $20 (save $10) at London Drugs.
A new feature introduced to iPhones and iPads with iOS/iPadOS 18. 2 is the ability to temporarily share the location of an AirTag with someone you trust — like airline baggage people — so they can easily locate your misplaced item and get it back to you…
Westjet has followed the lead of Air Canada and Porter Airlines and has enabled Apple's "Find My" Share Item Location feature to speed lost baggage recovery.
To use this feature, locate your AirTag in the Find My app.
Then, tap on the area that says ‘Share Item Location’ and send that link to WestJet via their online Delayed Baggage Report.
Once your item is returned to you, the sharing link will stop working. You can also deactivate the sharing at any time.
If you add a credit card (or cards) to an iPhone Apple Wallet, you can do more than just use your iPhone to pay for purchases without the merchant getting your card number.
You can also designate one credit card to be your Express Transit Card, and then you can just tap your iPhone to ride Translink/SkyTarin/SeaBus in Greater Vancouver, for example, instead of having to buy and load a Compass Card. Same for Seattle instead of buying an Orca Card, or a BART card in San Francisco, or a PRESTO card in Toronto, or a Tube card in London, et cetera, worldwide.
To designate a credit card which you've added to Apple Wallet as your Express Transit Card, go to Settings, Wallet & Apple Pay, and scroll down to and tap on Express Transit Card.
Tap on the card you want to use for transit, and confirm it's you with your face or fingerprint, and a checkmark will appear next to that card.
The credit card which you select (no debit cards) will now work automatically without requiring face ID or your fingerprint or passcode; just hold your iPhone near any supported transit reader.
This does NOT yet work here in Victoria, where you currently pay for transit rides via the UMO app or a UMO card, but we're told tap-to-pay is coming here in the future, too.
If you have an iPhone, you're doing a lot of travelling, and have different SIM cards for different countries, you can now keep up to 8 phone numbers from around the world on your phone.
But, only one of them can be a physical SIM card; the others have to be eSIMs, and only two of the numbers can be active at any one time. So to start using a third number, you'd have to turn off one of the other active numbers.
Most carriers allow you to convert your current SIM to an eSIM, so you can use the SIM card slot for a physical SIM if you travel to one of the few countries, such as China and Turkmenistan, that do not yet use eSIMs.
Most Android phones can only support two numbers — either one SIM and one eSIM, or two eSIM's.
Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra allows you to have three numbers — omne SIM and two eSIM's, but only two of the three can be active at a time.
Uber has added a new "preferred currency" setting, which is set by default to ensure your ride fare is charged in Canadian dollars. But, there's catch — Uber adds a 1.5% currency exchange premium for that convenience!
To avoid paying that extra fee, open the Uber app, tap on Account at the bottom-right, tap on Wallet at the top-centre, scroll-down to the Preferred Currency section, change the setting to Always pay in local currency, and at the bottom, Confirm.
The black one is currently on sale on Amazn for $65…
Westjet's loyalty program,Westjet Dollars, is now Westjet Rewards, with each dollar in your account being converted to 100 points, and those points will not expire…
More importantly, you'll be able to redeem those points for more than just free or discounted flights and vacation packages: you'll now be able to use them to pay for airport fees and taxes as well as the base airfare, plus advanced seat selection, baggage fees, in-flight meals, and more.
Türkiye’s aviation authority has introduced a €62 ($100 CAD) fine for passengers who stand up before the "fasten seatbelt" sign is switched off upon landing.
When passengers rush to stand up while the plane is still taxiing to the gate, they frequently jostle other flyers or risk causing injuries by attempting to open the overhead compartments.
The ruling also intends to reduce the need for cabin crew to repeatedly issue safety instructions that are frequently ignored.
The new rule applies to all airlines flying into or out of Türkiye.
There are a tonne of pocket battery packs on the market, but almost all of them have one or more drawbacks: they require you to bring cables to use them and/or charge them, or they're low power and/or slow to charge your phone, or they won't work overseas.
Well, we've finally found one that has none of those drawbacks…
It's called the Dashed TravelPod, and it has a 10,000 MAh battery, enough for several charges of a phone, or 1.5 charges of a tablet. It has built-in cables for high-speed charging via USB-C or Lightning, plus USB and USB-C jacks so you can charge two devices at once, as well as high-speed wireless charging. It has a fold-out AC plug to recharge it, comes with snap-on adaptors for use around the world, and has a digital display showing in percent how much charge you have left.
No stores here carry it, but you can buy a Dashed TravelPod in black or white on Amazon for $130…
Amazon.ca
Travelpod 5-in-1 Portable Travel Charger Power Bank | 10,000mAh Power Bank with Global Adapters Included | Wireless Charging, Built-in Lightning & USB-C Charging Cable | Foldable AC Plug
Travelpod 5-in-1 Portable Travel Charger Power Bank | 10,000mAh Power Bank with Global Adapters Included | Wireless Charging, Built-in Lightning & USB-C Charging Cable | Foldable AC Plug : Amazon.ca: Electronics
We took two of these with us to Europe this past summer!
If you're willing to pack your own charging cable(s), there's a much-cheaper competitor brand, which also gets good reviews: the 6700MAh MetaTronics Omni Charger 4in1 Travel Charger, which is $65…
Amazon.ca
MetaTronics Omni Charger 4in1 Travel Charger Power Bank with Global Adapter Kit | 4in1 Powerbank Features Wall Charging, Wireless Charging, 6700mah Portable Battery, and 4 Travel Adapters
MetaTronics Omni Charger 4in1 Travel Charger Power Bank with Global Adapter Kit | 4in1 Powerbank Features Wall Charging, Wireless Charging, 6700mah Portable Battery, and 4 Travel Adapters : Amazon.ca: Electronics
You don't actually need a physical or digital pass; you just have to go to a National Park, National Historic Site, or National Marine Conservation Area, and you'll be waved right in!
The Canada Strong program, which was implemented to encourage us to vacation within Canada (instead of going to the USA), includes:
- Parks Canada: Free admission for all visitors to national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas administered by Parks Canada and a 25% discount on camping fees.
- National museums and the Plains of Abraham Museum: Free admission for children and teens aged 17 and under and a 50% discount for young adults aged 18 to 24.
- VIA Rail: Free travel for children aged 17 and under when accompanied by an adult, and a 25% discount for young adults aged 18 to 24.
- Participating provincial and territorial museums and galleries (including the Royal BC Museum here in Victoria): Free admission for children and a 50% discount for young adults aged 18 to 24.
www.canada.ca
About the Canada Strong Pass
Canadians can enjoy free or discounted admission as they make Canada their travel destination, from December 12, 2025, to January 15, 2026 (inclusively). The Canada Strong Pass celebrates what unites us—our shared experiences, natural wonders, and cultural richness.
The Transportation Safety Administration in the USA has announced that three morew items have been banned from checked bags - and they're common enough that you may mistakenly forget to put them in your carry on…
The TSA is focusing on cordless hair devices, as they say many contain gas cartridges and butane - harmful materials that aren't allowed on flights.
Cordless curling irons or flatirons containing gas cartridges, butane-fueled curling irons or flat irons and gas refills (spare cartridges) for curling irons or flat irons are all banned, effective immediately. If travelers' luggage contains the banned items, it will be thrown away.
The ban doesn't mean you'll have to go without your favorite cordless hair item, however. The TSA says that passengers will be able to keep the devices in their carry-on bags, provided that they're covered to prevent activation during the flight.
Men's Journal
TSA Has Officially Banned 3 New Items From Checked Bags
The Transportation Safety Administration did travelers around the country a massive favor by getting rid of the rule requiring the removal of shoes, but new guidelines may have fliers rethinking what they place in checked luggage. The much-maligned 3.4-ounce liquid limit is still in effect, forcing ...
Under EU laws, if a flight within or from Europe is delayed by more than three hours or cancelled, you're entitled to b etween €250 and €600 ($400 to $960 CAD) in compensation from the airline.
But, because the process of applying-for and getting that money is often frustrating and time-consuming, British-based ReFly.org is offering to handle it all for you, in exchange for a hefty cut of the money you get.
You simply fill-in the info on their website on what flight was delayed or cancelled, and Refly will quickly confirm if you're eligible for compensation, and if so, how much. They'll then offer to file the claim on your behalf, in exchange for you agreeing to let them keep about 1/3rd of the money if they're successful. You don't pay any money upfront; they send your share of airline compensation via bank transfer, and say 98% of cases are successfully concluded with two to six months.
If you've had a flight within or from Europe cancelled, check out the ReFly.org website to see if you're eligible for compensation…
If you're making a coffee-table book of pictures from a memorable cruise, or if you'd like a framable print of a map showing where you sailed with all your ports-of-call and the dates, there's now a website for that…
Meet Will, Matt, and Emma, the trio behind TheCruiseMaps.com — a website where you can order prints of any cruise.
Their software uses AIS data to create a GPS-crafted map that tells your story exactly as it happened, including every route-change and port of call.
The Cruise Maps
How it works
We build your cruise map from the exact route your cruise took. Stuck out of port for a few days, missed a destination, dodged a storm - we show it all! We manually check every map on confirm the route. We print local to save the planet. We are always looking for opportunities to improve our maps, please send us your
They've also created The Cruise Globe app, the first-ever digital platform where cruisers can log their entire cruise history on a map - for free - and then see all of their collective stats.
The Cruise Maps
The Cruise Globe
See the exact routes of your entire cruise history, all on one beautiful FREE interactive map. Made using AIS satellite ship-tracking technology, this website (and soon-to-be app) is the digital extension of The Cruise Maps, giving every cruiser the perfect tool to track and share all their cruises.
WestJet Rewards members and TELUS Rewards members who link their accounts can now earn, transfer, and redeem points across both programs, unlocking exclusive travel and connectivity benefits, including WestJet seat selection vouchers and TELUS Roaming Passes.
The linked loyalty platforms means members who link their accounts can:
- earn WestJet points on their TELUS bills;
- redeem WestJet points towards their TELUS services and the TELUS Rewards catalogue
- and convert their TELUS Rewards points into WestJet points, unlocking flights, vacation packages and more through the new WestJet Rewards eStore.
As an added bonus, members who link their accounts before November 30, 2025 will receive a free entry into a contestto win an all-inclusive WestJet vacation for two to Mexico.
The sunflower card signifies that the person has a hidden disability, such as being autistic or dyslexic, or having log COVID, PTSD, dementia, and may need additional support, help, or simply a little more time.
The Sunflower card was launched in 2016 at London's Gatwick Airport, and since then, its use has spread around the world.
Here in Victoria, sunflower lanyards are available at the YYJ Customer Service desk, and at some airline check-in counters.
Some people wear their Sunflower card on a lanyard where-ever they go, and some wear a customized sunflower card that explains what their hidden disability is, and how you can help them.
If you see someone by themselves who's wearing a sunflower card, be quiet and calm in their presence and give them space, and perhaps quietly ask if you can help them with anything.
hdsunflower.com
A symbol for non-visible disabilities
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower is a globally-recognised symbol for non-visible disabilities, also known as hidden disabilities or invisible disabilities. Some people choose to wear the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower to discreetly identify that they may need support, help, or just a little more time in shops, transport or public spaces.
An Ontario couple’s decision to record video of their negative interaction with Air Transat check-in staff has been applauded in a scathing decision by an Ontario judge, who ordered the airline to pay the couple $7000 for not allowing them to board their flight home from the Dominican Republic.
When they were sent to the wrong check-in lines because the wife has a Canadian passport and the husband has an Indian passport and a Canadian work permit, an Air Transat check-in person at the Punta Cana airport refused to let them board because they were in the wrong line.
At that point, the wife began recording what was happening on her smartphone. An Air Transat check-in supervisor can be seen yelling at the couple that they would not be allowed to board unless they stopped recording and deleted any video and pictures of their interaction.
They refused, and were not allowed to board, and ended-up pay for new tickets home to Toronto on an Air Canad flight. When they sued Air Transat in Ontario Small Claims court, the airline claimed it nenied them boarding because they were a security risk.
But in a scathing ruling, the judge pointed-out that the supervisor can be clearly seen and heard telling the couple they would be allowed to board if they deleted their footage. Justice Marcel Mongeon added, “Thank goodness” the wife recorded the video, “so that I can actually see how terrible the customer service that he received at the hands of the defendant corporation was.”
He ordered AirTransat to pay the couple $7000 to make-up for their mistreatment.
Two takeaways here: one, if things go south in your interactions with staff, record video. And two, if you end up out-of-pocket with an airline, instead of filing a complating with the (CTA) Canadian Transport Association, which can take years to get resolved, consider taking the airline to Small Claims Court, which usually takes only a few months.
My good friend Dale in Oak Bay forwarded this heads-up about a new type of scam targetting people who book hotels through Booking.com…
The woman says they received a WhatsApp message requesting they pay a deposit on a hotel stay which they'd booked through Booking.com.
The message included the correct dates of their stay, their names, contact numbers, etc., so it made sense, so she provided her credit card info to pay the deposit. Fortunately, their bank spotted and block the transaction when it saw that the money was actually going through Ethopia!
Valuable lesson: if you get a request for a deposit from anyone, before sending it, check directly with them first — in this case, check with the hotel.
Suggestion: by all means, use sites like Booking.com, Hotels.com, Trivago, and Expedia to find a good hotel rate, but then, contact the hotel directly and see if they'll give you the same rate or even possibly an upgrade for the same price, as the hotel then doesn't have to pay a hefty commission.
In light of numerous recent incidents in which Canadians have been denied entry to the USA, and some have been detained before being deported, Global Affairs Canada has updated its advice for Canadians going to the USA…