The inaugural WestJet flights to Chicago O’Hare airport from Vancouver and Calgary took off yesterday.

Flights depart daily from Vancouver until Oct. 27. Flights leave Vancouver at 11:40am and arrive in Chicago at 5:39pm.

From Calgary there will be daily flights until Oct. 26. Flights leave Calgary at 4:00pm and arrive in Chicago at 8:15pm.

According to WestJet the flights are timed to connect with the airline’s code-share partner, American Airlines, to cities such as Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. American Airlines is code-sharing on the Chicago flights; therefore, WestJet guests have the ability to earn either WestJet dollars or AAdvantage miles when booking these services.

One way rates from Vancouver start at $149 plus tax and from Calgary $129 plus tax.

WestJet vacations is also offering vacation packages to the Windy City.

Frankenburg, a 22-year-old Brit, had a wonderful vacation booked to the tiny island nation for him and his girlfriend but then they broke up and Frankenburg doesn’t want to go anymore.

Since the trip is non-refundable he tried to sell it on eBay but since that’s illegal he’s taken to YouTube in an effort to give the $1600 vacation away to a worthy recipient and the travel partner of their choice.

(Editor’s note: I tried to embed his video on this page but to no avail so check it out here.)

“I want to give this to someone who deserves it though. Maybe you’ve had a tough month or maybe you’ve never been abroad,” says Frankenburg in his YouTube video.

He’s hoping his act will inspire others to do some good in the world.

No word on whether you have to be a U.K. resident to take Frankenburg up on the offer.

To appeal to Frankenburg you can send him a video response or an email to iwantyourholiday@hotmail.com.

The dates for the trip are July 3-10 and the package includes two return direct flights between Malta and East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire, England, twin or double bed at the four star Hotel Fortina with breakfast included and a car rental of a Kia Picanto or similar.

Frankenburg adds that a lot of tourist attractions in Malta have been in contact with him and are willing to give away some added extras.

The only thing the winner would be on the hook for is paying for the name change on the tickets, which is 35 pounds a person. But Frankenburg says he’s willing to help the winner out if they can’t afford it.

Frankenburg will pick a winner in June.

(Huffington Post)

An 18-month-old girl and her parents were removed from a JetBlue flight preparing to leave Ft. Lauderdale Airport Tuesday because the airline said the toddler’s name appeared on a no-fly list.

The toddler, Riyanna and her parents were asked to leave the flight by an employee and then met with TSA officials.

Riyanna’s parents say TSA officials made them stand in the terminal for half an hour.

Eventually they were allowed to re-board but after being thoroughly embarrassed the family decided to leave the airport.

Riyanna’s father alleges that they were removed from the plane as his wife wears a hijab, a head covering warn my Muslim women.

The TSA says that it wasn’t them who ordered the child from the flight as if she had appeared on the no-fly list she wouldn’t have been issued a boarding pass.

JetBlue now believes it was a computer glitch on their part that led to the incident and are investigating.

(WPBF)

The Samsung Galaxy tablet will be the only in-flight entertainment available on two WestJet flights starting in June.

WestJet is toying with the idea of replacing the in-flight entertainment system on their airplanes with tablets.

The airline will give the plan a trial run in June when two of their aircraft will start distributing Samsung Galaxy tablets to passengers.

But there’s a catch, it will cost between $10-$12 to rent a tablet.

According to the Financial Post the tablets will be loaded with up to 10 new and still in-theatre movies and 10 hours of TV shows. Games may also be included.

WestJet currently offers seat back TVs on its flights with about two dozen live TV channels. Movies are also available for a fee.

The TV reception is spotty though and according to the Post drops off over the Pacific on WestJet flights to Hawaii.

It appears though that this would only be a temporary situation as WestJet works to find a better way to entertain passengers in the air.

“We’re currently in the process of evaluating our long-term in-flight entertainment strategy to understand where we will go,” Marshall Wilmot, WestJet vice-president of product development told the Post.

“As a bridging opportunity, knowing that in-flight entertainment is such an important thing for our guests, we’ve decided to try some tablets.”

WestJet plans to be renting tablets on four planes by the end of the year.

(Financial Post)

The Riu Palace Peninsula is now open in Cancun.

The pristine white sand beaches of Cancun have a new palace adorning them.

The Riu Palace Peninsula opened Friday bringing the number of Riu resorts in Cancun to four.

The hotel has 568 rooms which are distributed between the main building and 48 villas

There are six restaurants on site that offer a variety of culinary selections. There is the main restaurant ‘Las Olas’, the Japanese ‘Kabuki’, the fusion restaurant ‘Krystal’, the Mexican ‘Tamales’, the Italian ‘Venecia’ and the steakhouse ‘Isla Mujeres’. Guests can also choose from seven different bars to sample the extensive menu of domestic and international cocktails, including the coffee and pastries from ‘Capuchino’ located in the lobby.

The hotel offers five pools, one with an integrated jacuzzi and swim up bar and one exclusive to the villas. There is also entertainment on site and a spa.

On the hotel property there is an archaeological site with Mayan ruins called Ta’acul, meaning “that which remains hidden”. The site was recently excavated by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) with funding from Riu.

You can be one of the first to stay at this five-star gem by calling TravelTST at 1-888-665-4541 or visiting TravelTST.ca.

Air Canada's in-flight entertainment system is doubling the amount of movies available for passengers to watch.

Flying with Air Canada just got more entertaining.

The airline has doubled the amount of movies available on their seat back in-flight entertainment system and added more TV shows.

Previously Air Canada passengers could choose from 72 free movies on international flights and 31 movies on North American flights but those number have jumped to 150 and 63 respectively.

The range of movies available is quite impressive, passengers can watch anything from recent releases to classics in every genre, from avant garde and art house to international cinema.

Movies are available in more than 20 languages.

Combined with the 100 albums and 12 channels of satellite radio available to customers Air Canada’s updated  in-flight entertainment system now offers passengers up to 600 hours of digital entertainment.

EVA Air's Magic Jet Hello Kitty themed plane.

For me Hello Kitty, the much beloved Japanese cartoon, was something I’d begrudgingly watch on a Sunday morning because Magic School Bus wasn’t on until 9.

But around the world Hello Kitty is an icon and what better way to celebrate an icon then to plaster their image on the side of a plane.

To celebrate their 20th anniversary Taiwanese airline EVA Air has done just that with three Hello Kitty themed planes.

The exterior of each plane has a different theme. There’s the Global Jet which has Hello Kitty and friends exploring various world sites, the Apple Jet which celebrates her love for apples and the Magic Jet which is pretty much self explanatory.

But the Hello Kitty experience doesn’t stop there.

Boarding passes are decorated with the cartoon, there are special Hello Kitty check-in consoles and the food on board is Hello Kitty inspired.

The Hello Kitty planes will fly from Taipei to a variety of cities in Asia including Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Believe it or not this isn’t the first time EVA Air has done this. The airline had two Hello Kitty themed airplanes in the sky between 2006-2009.

The airline is also working with Hello Kitty rights holder Sanrio on two more themed planes.

You can learn all about the planes at their special website.

(Metro UK)

One way you can save some coin on an all-inclusive getaway this summer is by taking advantage of WestJet Vacations price drop guarantee.

If you book a vacation of three nights or more before May 31 and the price of that trip drops (a minimum $25) WestJet will refund you the difference. The price guarantee is valid between the time you book up to 21 days prior to your departure date.

This deal is good for any vacation between now and Oct. 31.

Call TravelTST to book.

Want to gamble? Sure. Party like a rock star? No problem. Eat a colossal burger that causes you to collapse? You bet.

You probably know where to go to check off the first two items for the third head to the Heart Attack Grill.

A 40-year-old woman was taken to hospital last weekend after collapsing at the restaurant while indulging in a “Double Bypass Burger”.

The Heart Attack Grill's ''Quadruple Bypass Burger'.

The Double Bypass Burger contains a pound of beef and bacon.

The burger may not be the lone cause of her problem though as owner Jon Basso says she was smoking and drinking a margarita around the time of the incident.

She’s the second patron to go down at the Heart Attack Grill this year. In February a man collapsed while chowing down on a “Triple Bypass Burger”.

The restaurant makes no effort to hide the fact that their is bad for you. In fact they even have a sign up that reads ‘This Establishment is Bad for Your Health’.

To go along with the unhealthy theme waitresses dress as nurses and customers are referred to as patients.

Those who really feel like making their body suffer can try the ‘Quadruple Bypass Burger’ which contains two pounds of meat. For an extra $3.69 you can add 20 strips of bacon to the burger.

On the side add some Flatliner Fries. If you can feel your arteries clogging up that’s because they’re cooked in pure lard.

To wash it all down grab a nice ButterFat shake, it’s made with pure cream. The shakes come in vanilla and chocolate.

So next time you’re in Vegas and feel the need to push the limits of your body check out the Heart Attack Grill (450 Fremont Street), just make sure you have some cash leftover after the casino as they don’t take debit or credit.

Prices are reasonable (the Quadruble Bypass Burger is $12.94 plus tax) and if you’re over 350 pounds you eat free.

(Reuters/The Los Angeles Times/Heart Attack Grill)

In an article headlined ‘Are Travel Agents Back?’ (just for the record we didn’t go anywhere) the Times looked at the numbers and found that travel agents are having a strong rebound as many travellers return to agencies after going it on their own online.

But why are travellers coming back to agents?

One reason is that arranging travel plans online can be time consuming.

A survey of more than 2,000 passengers conducted by Steve Peterson, the global travel and transportation leader for the IBM Institute for Business Value, found that 20 per cent of respondents said it took them more than five hours to arrange their travel online.

Another reason the article points out is the information overload the Internet provides.

You can find out pretty much everything about a particular location or accommodation online but too much knowledge can be overwhelming.

Traveller review sites like TripAdvisor, while valuable to an extent, can add to these headaches as half the posts will rave about a hotel while the other half will implore you not to step foot inside it.

Travel agents can cut through all that clutter and give you an honest assessment as to whether a place is right for you.

A common misconception that leads some people online is that it costs more to book through a travel agent.

That’s rarely true.

Sometimes a fee may be charged for putting together complicated travel plans or booking plane tickets but many times booking through a travel agent can actually save you money as we have a variety of resources at our disposal to hunt down the best prices for your travel arrangements.

And perhaps the best reason to use a travel agent is the personal touch. We get to know our clients and can recommend locales and hotels because we know who you are and what you love to do. Plus it’s always nice to have someone in your corner in the event something goes wrong.

The Internet is a great tool for travellers and travel agents and should be used to its full potential but many times the full potential of your vacation is reached with help from a travel agent.

(New York Times)