Tagged Pages Archive | Ottawa
2012
25
September
Don't fall for the '$128 for 2 roundtrip flights' OneStopTravel scam
25
September
Over the past little while, I've had a lot of people ask me about a deal they've seen pop up on a variety of those 'daily deal' type sites (you know the ones, the Groupon-esque clones that were all the rage last year, and initially had some legitimately great deals but have now all turned into a wasteland of spa treatments and massages you can never get an appointment for).
The offer I'm referring to specifically is the one claiming that you can buy '$128 for 2 roundtrip flights', usually to somewhere like Europe or Hawaii. The offer will claim that this is a '$1100 value' and you're 'saving 90%' off the usual airfare cost.
Here's a real-life example from DealTicker:
You just know there has to be a catch right? Outrageous taxes and fees tacked on? It's true that the airport taxes & fees are not included, but that's not the real catch here. Let's take a look at the terms & conditions...
The key part to this scam (it doesn't deserve to be called a 'deal') is that you also *must* book your accommodations through the website specified (usually escapetheordinaryonline.com) and that you're required to purchase a minimum number of nights.
People that fall for this scam will find themselves forced to book accommodations at rates that are vastly inflated to what the hotel would normally cost. In the end, once they've done the math, they'll find that they actually ended up paying more than they would have had they booked their flights + hotel on their own.
Of course, it's the headline that suckers people in. The headline could read '2 free roundtrip flights' and it would still be a bad deal for you in the end. But of course, that would be a little too obvious that something wasn't right, making people more suspicious before purchasing. Giving it a price like $128 is an attempt to give it an air of legitimacy.
The purveyor of this scam seems to be a company claiming the name of OneStopTravel, apparently based out of Orlando, Florida. Googling around, you won't even find a website for them. Unless it actually is the site located at OneStopTravel.com (I wasn't really sure), in which case, the look of it should set off enough alarm bells already.
The site they force you to book your accommodations through is listed as escapetheordinaryonline.com, and has a contact e-mail address using the domain myholidaybreak.com (another dodgy looking site).
Run, don't walk.
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2012
17
September
Ottawa to Los Angeles, California - $365 roundtrip after taxes
17
September
2012
5
September
Ottawa to San Francisco - $325 roundtrip after taxes - throughout schedule up to August 2013
5
September
UPDATE: September 21 - These cheap Delta fares to San Francisco are back! They were around for virtually just hours last time before going back up.
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2012
4
September
Is it possible to get a good deal on a flight within Canada ?
4
September
2012
13
August
Let's Talk Turkey - A how-to guide for planning your trip
13
August
Back in mid June, KLM Canada held a little contest that resulted in some temporarily amazing prices to Istanbul from across the country. Judging by the number of e-mails, Tweets, and Facebook messages I received, I think it's safe to say there will be thousands more Canadians than usual visiting Turkey later this year and in the spring of 2013.
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2012
27
July
Ottawa to Phoenix, $329 roundtrip after taxes - throughout schedule
27
July
Just a heads up that Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta, United, and US Airways all look to be engaging in a bit of an unadvertised fare war to Phoenix. They've just dropped their prices throughout most of their schedule between August 2012 and all the way up to June 2013 !
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2012
24
July
Ottawa to various West coast U.S. cities - from $364 roundtrip after taxes
24
July
2012
14
July
Ottawa to Hawaii - $533 roundtrip after taxes - throughout schedule!
14
July
UPDATE: Delta looks to be putting their prices back up now. You may be able to snag some on Orbitz (price still seems to be verifying cheaply, but probably not for much longer). Click through to Orbitz at the bottom of your Google Flight search.
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2012
12
June
Ottawa to Istanbul, Turkey - from $693 roundtrip after taxes!
12
June
I've been waiting a long time for this! Turkey has always been near the top of my list of places on this planet that I want to check out (and it's a long list). Fares are *never* cheap though, and usually hover around a minimum of $1100-$1200 roundtrip after taxes.
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2012
11
June
KLM asking people to vote on which city they should put on sale
11
June
UPDATE:
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