AC1234 Vancouver-Toronto, June 25, 2005
My 35th birthday trip is booked! I’ll be at large over the North Atlantic.
I’m going to Iceland! Not quite the Arctic Circle, but as close as I can afford to get. My first choice was Iqaluit, in Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut, but I couldn’t get any return flights between June and the end of September on points. Regular prices for these flights are well over $1,000 plus taxes and fees. Flights to my other choices were $1,000-2,000 (cities in Norway and Finland), but Reykjavik was my first choice after Iqaluit. Iceland celebrates their day of independence on June 17, and my birthday is June 18. The timing is good!
I am very much looking forward to the photographic opportunities in Iceland, especially the Blue Lagoon. Wow.
On Iceland Air, a flight to Reykjavik is a reasonable price of US$590. But Iceland Air will only add Halifax as a departure city on May 17, so I’m flying to Halifax from Toronto on Aeroplan points. I also discovered that I can add Reykjavik as a stopover for up to 7 days. So I chose a destination based on cost — Paris is only $100 more — and visiting people, and I added a 5-day “stopover” in Reykjavik. All up, I’m well under my CDN $1,000 threshold for air tickets; that is, I have never exceeded $1,000 for any single reservation. And in this case, I get to visit three cities (two new to me: Halifax and Reykjavik) for less than that.
Toronto –> Halifax –> Reykjavik –> Paris –> Reykjavik –> Halifax –> Toronto
Roll on June!
Speaking of rolling, I’d better get rolling to this birthday party…
