Great News!

WestJet has just finalized its special "group" booking for our SPAADS 2010 Reunion, and has offered us a 15% discount off its best available 'regular' fares and 10% off its available 'seat sale' fares at the time of booking (excluding web & promotional fares) ! WestJet will also provide one Complementary ticket for every 50 guests booked (to a maximum of 5 for our Reunion). Such tickets to be used for a draw or raffle item at our 2010 Reunion.

Normally, WestJet strictly limit any reductions for group 'Convention' bookings to a single convention city. WestJet also normally require travel to take place within just a few days of the convention itself. However, WestJet has recognized our SPAADS "Extend your Visit" program, the statistics presented from our "survey" system, the limited air service into Penticton, and our need to fly in and from both Kelowna and Vancouver. Accordingly, WestJet has graciously extended its discount program for SPAADS 2010 Reunion 'attendees' flying WestJet, and has confirmed its WestJet booking account number for our forthcoming SPAADS 2010 Reunion to our Registrar for travel into/from Kelowna/Vancouver from August 27 through September 23, 2010. WestJet will also allow flights 3 days prior and 3 days post these extended dates to qualify ! That makes the WestJet 15% discount program possible for SPAADS attendees travelling into/from either Kelowna or Vancouver during 24 Aug => 26 Sep 2010 to attend our Penticton 2010 Reunion. This specific discount is only in place for travel to and from our 2010 BC Reunion, and is not available for enroute stopovers to visit family members, friends, etc along the way. However, WestJet is an outstanding airline, and your SPAADS 2010 Reunion Committee recomends strongly that ALL Members flying to SPAADS 2010 should contact the WestJet Specialty Group as they may still offer a discount on a portion of outbound and return flights, just not the entire booking, if the attendee chooses to “stopover” for an extended period of time.

WestJet serves the Canadian cities of Abbotsford, Calgary, Charlottetown, Comox, Deer Lake, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Halifax, Hamilton, Kamloops, Kelowna, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Prince George, Quebec City, Regina, Saint John, Saskatoon, St. John's, Sydney, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg, and Yellowknife.

WestJet also serves the International cities of Atlantic City, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Honolulu, Kauai, Kona, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Maui (Kahului), Miami, New York (Newark), Orlando, Palm Springs, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Tampa, Bridgetown, Barbados, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Cancun, Mexico, Cayo Coco, Cuba, Cozumel, Mexico, Freeport, Bahamas, Holguin, Cuba, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mexico, La Romana, Dominican Republic, Mazatlan, Mexico, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Nassau, Bahamas, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Hewanorra, St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, Varadero, Cuba, Bermuda, and Samaná, Dominican Republic.

Since WestJet is extending programs to all bona fide "attendees" to our 2010 Reunion, all SPAADS Members planning to fly to Reunion 2010 should apply to our Registrar via the first "click-here" link below. A WestJet "booking account number" + a SPAADS member code (and WestJet Specialty phone numbers) will then be emailed/mailed/phoned to the Member, who will then be able to contact WestJet's "Speciality Sales Team" to make all flight bookings. Members should make all travel arrangements (not only for themselves, but also for spouses/partners/ family, etc "attendees") through WestJet's Specialty Sales Team, and quote their WestJet "booking account number" and "SPAADS Member code" at the time of booking. Contacting the WestJet Conventions line directly by phone is the only way to complete bookings for for SPAADS Members! Once firm bookings are made between the Member and WestJet, the Member need only keep the SPAADS 2010 Reunion Registrar advised of firm bookings (and any revisions) via the second "click-here" button below. Attendees flying with the Member will be handled slightly differently than attendees flying separately, however, our system (within the 'click-here' buttons below) has been designed to handle this complexity.

For those Members & Attendees requesting a WestJet "booking Account Number" + a SPAADS member code.

For those WestJet Members & Attendees who have already booked flight reservations with WestJet

Furthermore, Ontario & BC have just concluded negotiations with the Federal Government to replace the current GST/PST system in BC & Ontario with a new "Harmonized" tax environment effective 1 July 2010. WestJet has now confirmed that flights "booked" before implementation of the new tax will not be charged HST. Flights booked after 1 July 2010 will be charged HST where applicable. That will mean a 7-8% savings for BC & Ontario SPAADS residents -- on top of other WestJet savings -- for flights booked before 1 July 2010 !

Given your response to our "Initial Survey", SPAADS Members should also be aware that negotiations are also planned with rental car companies to achieve similar discounts/reductions for 2010 Reunion 'attendees'. We are approaching a number of rental car companies associated with WestJet, as well as Hertz , Avis, and a number of other major rental car providers. So keep checking back to this website's Transportation section.