There are times when family duties call. You don’t ever get to chose where family lives but you can chose how to get there. In this adventure, we made the best of it by flying commercially and got ourselves upgraded to Air Canada Business Class.

Trip Introduction: Kenora Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada via Air Canada Business Class

Trip Planning:

MrsWT73 is from “all over”, but her good cousin lives in Kenora, Ontario. The shores of Lake of the Woods Ontario happen to be two and a half hours drive east of Winnipeg on the Trans Canada Highway. Even as a Canadian, I initially had no idea where it was. MrsWT73’s cousin decided to get married which meant an Ontario wedding in our future and of course a visit to rural Ontario. 

There weren’t many ways to get to Kenora. The easiest route for us from the West Coast was on Air Canada flying into Winnipeg. Airfare in Canada is expensive as it will ever be. Our economy class “upgradeable to business class” ticket was $780 round trip – a shocking 0.33 cents a mile for travel set in the middle of the summer. From Winnipeg it was a rental car with Avis for a 3 hour drive eastward on the Trans Canada highway. The other alternative into Kenora is the lesser known Bearskin airlines which offers air service from Winnipeg.

We didn’t have a whole lot of choices with respect to hotels on this trip. As a result, we ended up at the Four Points by Sheraton Winnipeg International Airport for one night, and three nights at the Best Western Lakeside Inn and Conference Center in Kenora, Ontario. We booked the Four Points through the Starwood Preferred Guest (now Marriott) website, and the Best Western Lakeside through Rocketmiles with a four thousand Aeroplan Point bonus.

Flying domestically within Canada isn’t always the most exciting adventure but it always seems to cover long distances. I hope you’ll join us on this adventure to Middle Canada and the simple life in the prairies.