ACV wants travellers to discover Europe Your Way in 2018

When you save up for a trip to Europe, you should do it your way.

Such was the message from Air Canada Vacations last night, as they debuted their ‘Europe Your Way’ 2018 collection in Toronto.

Featuring incredible savings and booking incentives on 66 new destinations through Europe, the new brochure highlights various cruise offerings, including a new partnership with Uniworld, tour packages, rail packages, and a series of guided trips and vacations through Europe with new partners Contiki and Trafalgar in some of this year's hottest European destinations.

Do 2018 Your Way

“Our collection has 122 vacation packages including 66 brand new ones, and 50 cruise packages,” said George Platanitis, vice president, sales and partnerships, Air Canada Vacations. “New destinations include Croatia, Italy, Portugal, Iceland, and from a flight perspective, we’re adding flights from Toronto to Porto, which is very exciting, Montreal to Lisbon, Montreal to Dublin, Montreal to Shannon, and Toronto to Bucharest, so with our network and connector cities, getting to Europe is now much easier.”

The majority of flights booked in connection with ACV’s new vacation packages run twice weekly, depending on departure cities. “On all of our packages, we’re offering a bonus of 1,500 qualifying Aeroplan miles, and up to 2,500 for a package,” Platanitis said. “We’re trying to drive Air Canada Vacations’ best customers to the travel agents.”

Approximately two-thirds of the new flights are non-stop, and as Air Canada continues to expand its flight network, more options will come.

Don’t Worry About Transportation

This year, it’s all about the urban getaway via a guided tour. Essentially, travellers conjure up the trip of a lifetime, and ACV takes care of the technical details for their customers, covering everything from ground transportation to hotel bookings. ACV currently has several incentives in place, including the new Fly & Drive vacation, which provides the flights, car rental, and hotel stay in the package rate, along with a suggested itinerary of things to stop and see along the way; the Fly & Rail vacation, in which ACV has partnered with a local rail provider to allow travellers to immerse themselves in the destination by going from city to city, while enjoying one of the most enjoyable forms of travel through Europe, and finally, the Guided Rail Tour which includes all flights, airport transfers, train tickets, a handful of activities, accomodations in the heart of the city, and even luggage transfers with each stop.

“One of the unique features that is exclusive to us is that we have a rail tour out of Italy that takes care of your luggage,” Platanitis explained. “Your bags will always go with you to the next hotel, so you never have to worry about losing them. We also have a local DMC and unique relationships all throughout Europe.”

Rich in culture, history, and gastronomy, it’s not uncommon for today’s experiential travellers to want to get out and truly explore a destination. The Europe Your Way 2018 collection provides travellers with the inspiration behind a destination, but the flexibility and choices to be found in the new packages is so broad, that once the planning aspect with an agent is complete, the traveller will feel as though the itinerary is custom-built.

New Partners, Unlimited Vacations

“The partnerships with Contiki and Trafalgar are quite unique, because when you leverage the Air Canada network and book your Trafalgar or Contiki package with us that includes your air, the prices are just unbelievable, and that right there is the key message for agents,” Platanitis explained. “When you go and try to do all of this yourself, and book the land only, it can be very expensive, and this way, it’s a one-stop shop. It could mean up to $1,000 in savings per person, and we’re launching an early booking bonus which actually saves you up to $1,000 per person which is very cool.”

In total, there are 12 new itinerary styles in the Europe Your Way 2018 collection:

• Fly & Drive Vacation
• Fly & Rail Vacation
• Guided Rail Tour
• Urban Getaway
• Design Your Urban Getaway
• Guided Tour
• Island Hopping
• Amalfi Coast Escape
• French Riviera Escape
• Seaside Escape
• Family Getaway
• Journey at Sea

One that Platanitis expects will do well is the Island Hopping in Greece tours. “We have 50 new itineraries complete with flight transfers, the accomodations, the cruise, and the ferry transfers, so it’s very all-inclusive and it’s the typical islands that you would go to, like Mykonos, Santorini, and Paros, but you can also do the off-the-beaten path islands that aren’t as popular as well,” Platanitis said.

The Journey at Sea collection also has 50 new itineraries , and offers the same style of flexibility when it comes to booking. “We go out of the major ports like Barcelona, Copenhagen, London, and Rome, and we have 10 itineraries,” Platanitis said. “New this year, we have a partnership with Uniworld so we’re doing river cruising with them which is very popular right now.

“Your Way is all about making our guests feel comfortable when they travel,” Platanitis said. “That’s the key thing, because it’s hassle-free.”

Travelling Care Free

To make things easier for travel agents booking clients to Europe, Air Canada Vacations has introduced their exclusive Care Free incentive. “Care Free Europe is essentially an insurance, and it includes your seat selection, a $50 waiver on administrative fees, a value of up to $310, and if you book now, until the end of March 4th, your customers pay $1,” Platanitis said. “We’re trying to provide agents with more closing tools, and right now, if customers book with their favourite travel agent, we’ll send them a $100 voucher redeemable to use on booking Europe. Agents who book by the end of this month will receive a 15% commission, and that includes all cruise as well.”

Early booking bonuses for Europe are now on, with savings of up to $650 on Contiki holidays, $1,000 per couple on Trafalgar vacations, and up to $200 on flight and cruise packages.

For more information, visit aircanadavacations.com