Travel tips

Whether you are planning a weekend cross-border shopping trip or a vacation down south, it’s important to have travel insurance coverage. Sure, you hear this a lot, but travel insurance can not only provide you with travel assistance, it can save you a significant amount of money if you happen to get injured while in the United States. Without travel insurance, you are on the hook for all medical costs you incur, and many travellers will likely not be able to pay such fees easily.

Money is always a factor for planning a trip. Most travellers set a budget for an upcoming trip, but how many of us actually stay within our budget? It’s common for people to get home from a trip only to check their credit card bill and see that they went over budget.

Starting March 15, 2016, a new travel screening process will begin, impacting some visitors to Canada. The new rule affects people travelling by air from visa-exempt countries. These travellers have a new entry requirement – an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) – for boarding a flight to Canada. The new rule impacts travellers from most European countries and a few other countries.

There has been a lot of talk about the impact of the low Canadian dollar on people’s travel habits this year, and this talk has spread to areas in the United States that are popular among snowbirds and vacationers alike.

There is a difference between booking a vacation and booking an escape. A vacation is something that average tourists do: they visit the sights in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver. An escape is a trip that allows you to disconnect and experience something completely unique, and it may even take you out of your comfort zone.

The prospects of taking a vacation in Canada have not been this good for more than a decade, which was the last time the Canadian dollar took a nose-dive. For Canadians, Americans and international travellers alike, now is the perfect time to book a Canadian vacation and be reminded why the country is a premier tourist destination.