Canadian seeks flight booking advice

Unfortunately, there are no great prices anywhere right now. Airfare is high and going higher. The best you can do is start watching prices now so that you will recognize a good price when you see one and jump on it immediately.

MD, You might start by having a look at the Air Transat website. Depending on what time of year you'll be travelling, they have direct flights from YVR to LGW. However, they don't operate out of Berlin AFAIK, so you'd have to take the train to FRA for the return. As they're a charter, they typically only offer flights about once a week, so your travel dates would have to be a bit "flexible". Your best bet for daily flights into London and out of Berlin would be to check Air Canada. I'm not sure if these would be direct or with a connecting flight (I'd have to check). The prices may not be the lowest though. I'd also suggest checking KLM as they now have an agreement with WestJet (although for flights to YVR, you'll probably be using only KLM aircraft). I typically check a variety of sources including Hipmunk, Travelocity, Expedia and others, and also the airline websites. When I find the combination I prefer, I book through a Travel Agent. I don't mind paying the small fee, as she often finds a slightly better price or better connections. Good luck with your planning!

Hey thanks, Ken! Air transat should have occurred to me sooner. And I was unaware that KLM had an agreement with WestJet. That is good to know, WestJet is great. As a personal preference I typically avoid Air Canada when possible.

MD, I've flown with Air Canada for the past several years, and so far the service has been great. I usually want to travel on specific days and to specific airports, so I just wasn't able to get a good "fit" with Air Transat (although I have used them in the past). I've been a bit concerned with some of the current "issues" that AC has been dealing with, especially the aspect of sub-contracting their aircraft maintenance to off-shore countries (I heard China mentioned in one report). That makes me really nervous! As a result, I'll probably try a WestJet / KLM combo on my next trip. As I mentioned earlier, as you're flying out of YVR, you'll likely be using only KLM aircraft (which probably means a change at AMS in each direction, as that's the KLM "base").

Since you're close, you could also consider flying out of Seattle. Iceland Air is known for having fairly low prices and if you do it right, you can also stop over in Reykjavik for a day. You might also want to comb through YVR's website to see if there are any other airline options that you might now have considered (like Finnair). That can be found here: http://www.yvr.ca/en/flight-information/departing.aspx
Additionally, you will need to connect somewhere when you are flying out of Berlin. It may be the capitol, but it is not a flight hub in the same class as FRA. :) You won't find direct flights listed on that website from Berlin..

Ken: I've seen the quality of AC deteriorate quite extensively over the last few years. I really just don't trust them at this point. Nicholas: I'll actually be leaving from Vancouver Island, so getting to Seattle would be more of a headache/expense than I am willing to deal with. However, checking the departures from Vancouver Airport is a really great idea, thanks!

MD, Although I've never had any major problems with Air Canada, it would seem that their quality is "slipping" a bit . I just had a look at some of the reviews on This Website, and they seem to be a bit "mixed". Part of the AC flights that I've used over the years have been with their Code Share partners (mostly Lufthansa), and no problems there at all. I'm going to monitor the situation for awhile, but the recent incident in Toronto with Turbine Blades falling off one of their aircraft on takeoff didn't inspire much confidence.