Is this crazy or not?

[gooselace]

For Sept. 16 Eurodam Colors of Canada cruisehad a hard time finding convenient flights from Washington Dulles to Quebec. Inconvenient connections (we are old and not especially spry) or direct flights that arrived late evening. We wanted to go on the 15th, stay over at a nice hotel, do a little sightseeing in the morning and board on the 16th (departure on the 17th).

Finally, I checked using my FF miles and found UA flight 991/6906 with connection in Chicago (which didn't show up on my regular searches) was available for reasonable miles. United Express/Skywest flight in scheduled to arrive at 4:25, giving us more time to enjoy our evening at Chateu Frontenac (or whatever hotel).

We have relatives who live near O'Hare (some formerly worked for UA) who would meet us for a drink during the time before our connection. And could help us if we ran into any problem.

This sounds like the kind of connection I would normally object to if using HAL Air, but in this case it seems to fit our needs. If any of you know why this isn't a reasonable plan, please reply/explain. Especially anyone who has taken the UA Express/SkyWest portion.

Asked this on Cruise Air (had received a lot of knowledgeable help in exploring the options) and the only response I got was that it seemed a waste of FF miles. I have more than can probably use in my lifetime so I don't consider this a problem.

Reservation is on hold until Sat. 9 a.m. so ASAP, please.

[Jemima]

This is typical of flights to Quebec City. We sailed out of Quebec City last October for the repositioning cruise to Florida. We flew into Quebec City two days early. Our flights were even stranger because we were flying from the southwest. The only way we could get into Quebec City in the day time was to red eye to Newark and then take a small Continental express flight to Quebec City.
Some people on our roll call were on the UA express Chicago to Quebec and I didn't hear anything negative about that.

[ethan1171]

withdrawn

[gooselace]

My advise: go for the non stop IAD to YUL, it does not worth it to risk it via Chicago during this time of the year due to weather delays. Also check your flight numbers to make sure you have them right.
--e

Thanks for your research, but IAD to YUL is what I'd like to avoid, with connection to YQB (Quebec City) and either having to sprint (ha!) through the airport or take a later flight and arrive in Quebec around 9 p.m. (probably 10 by the time we get checked in) missing dinner and having to get a room service snack, if that. Not a great way to start a trip celebrating our 50 years together.

[ethan1171]

Thanks for your research, but IAD to YUL is what I'd like to avoid, with connection to YQB (Quebec City) and either having to sprint (ha!) through the airport or take a later flight and arrive in Quebec around 9 p.m. (probably 10 by the time we get checked in) missing dinner and having to get a room service snack, if that. Not a great way to start a trip celebrating our 50 years together.

you are right. here is what i get on UA for award availability on these days:


Washington, DC (IAD) Quebec, QC (YQB)

United 7968
Operated by: United Express/trans States Airlines
IAD 07:09 PM
Wed, Sep 15, 2010 YQB 09:00 PM
Wed, Sep 15, 2010
Economy (XY)

There is limited availability out of ORD and due to weather related delays that time of the year i would suggest to get on the non stop... inventory fluctuates quickly so if i were you i would grab those seats on 7968 as soon as possible.

--e

[ethan1171]

Thanks for your research, but IAD to YUL is what I'd like to avoid, with connection to YQB (Quebec City) and either having to sprint (ha!) through the airport or take a later flight and arrive in Quebec around 9 p.m. (probably 10 by the time we get checked in) missing dinner and having to get a room service snack, if that. Not a great way to start a trip celebrating our 50 years together.


sorry for this post i was looking for YUL and not YQB.... loooong day:o

in any case these are short flights so i advise against connections.... connecting through ORD or another east coast hub with weather days, lost luggage, misconnections etc could make a 2 hr flight into a 12 hr ordeal...

--e

[gohabsgo]

Have you considered a direct flight to Montreal, from there more connections to Quebec city (50 minutes flight) or drive to Quebec (2-3 hours) or bus.

[ethan1171]

Have you considered a direct flight to Montreal, from there more connections to Quebec city (50 minutes flight) or drive to Quebec (2-3 hours) or bus.

Here is how i would prioritize the options

1. Direct flight to Quebec from IAD
2. Direct flight to Montreal from IAD and *drive* to Quebec
3. Flight to Montreal or Toronto and Connect to Quebec

The drive to Quebec from Montreal is not a bad option

BTW If I were using miles I would try to get a lot of miles for my "miles" :D and get on the non stop IAD-YQB

[gooselace]

Have you considered a direct flight to Montreal, from there more connections to Quebec city (50 minutes flight) or drive to Quebec (2-3 hours) or bus.

Yes, that's looking like the most reasonable choice to meet our needs. AirCanada has a morning flight to YUL with hourly connections to YQB. The UA nonstop is tempting, but we'd lose a lot of our expensive hotel time. Although at this stage of our lives, we're less concerned with price than with the experience - and never mind the FF miles.

Thanks also to ethan1171 although I'm less concerned about max value for my miles than about having options, which the IAD-ORD-YQB trip doesn't offer. We lived in Chicago for 20+ years and don't remember major weather-related problems that early but stranger things have happened.

[sandthrush]

We're on the Eurodam out of Quebec City on Oct. 6. We prefer direct flights, so we are flying to Montreal on Oct 4. and taking the train to Quebec City. We did the opposite last year when we ended a cruise in Quebec City. We took the train to Montreal for our direct flight back to Orlando. We didn't get to see Quebec City last year, because it was snowing the day we arrived (mid October), so now we now we are taking a cruise in the opposite direction to be able to see Quebec City. So we will have a day and a half before the cruise to enjoy Quebec City.

[Master98]

This tool will help you to plan your flights to Quebec City Airport (YQB):

http://timetables.oag.com/itt/yqb/?language=en