Wardair Canada president Max Ward in 1967. The upstart company challenged the country’s largest airlines from the 1960s to 1989 before being sold to Canadian Airlines.James Lewcun/The Globe and Mail
A few weeks ago, I asked readers of this newsletter whether the “golden age” of travel is gone for good, and to tell me how the growing hassle and expense of getting around was impacting their lives and wallets.
A lot has gone down since then. Affordable Cuban vacations are off the table for the foreseeable future, Canadian travellers in Mexico were left to shelter in place because of cartel violence, and airlines are trimming once wildly popular routes amid geopolitical rifts.
Against this backdrop, the responses you shared were often steeped in nostalgia, with many willing to spend more to travel less in pursuit of better value. Here‘s what else you shared:
Wardair Canada was a benchmark for excellence
When contemplating what the golden age of travel looked like in Canada, an overwhelming number of you pointed to Wardair. The upstart company once challenged the country’s largest airlines from the 1960s to 1989, before being sold to Canadian Airlines (later swallowed up in a merger with Air Canada).
James Watson, who once worked for Wardair, recalled seats with a 34-inch pitch (the distance between rows), free drinks and gourmet meals served on Royal Doulton china. Others raved about the inflight bingo, silverware and attentive service.
After Wardair introduced $459 return tickets to European hotspots such as London – around $1,600 in today’s dollars – a 1981 bulletin wrote that “a pricing battle between Air Canada and Wardair has made a winter vacation to Europe or the south affordable to thousands of Canadians who had expected to spend the winter months shoveling snow.”
And for all its glamour, Wardair largely offered one-class service for most of its existence.
Airport lounges are squeezing you, physically and financially
Many of you questioned whether airport lounges still delivered bang for your buck.
Glenn from Kamloops, B.C., who earned access to Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge with more than 1.5 million miles travelled, now finds himself competing for perks alongside a growing crowd of credit-wielding travellers.
Lounge operators have taken note, with many unbundling or repackaging perks while extracting more cash. In Vancouver, some dual-lounge concepts now allow any traveller to pay to enter, while those with lounge access can upgrade to a more premium option for $30.
Paying more to travel less
A lot of readers dreamt of and saved for globe-trotting in retirement. But with flying now becoming even pricier for older travellers, many of you are cutting back.
Robert Malcolmson and his wife, who are both in their early 80s, spent years flying economy. “Now, it’s just too physically demanding,” Malcolmson said in an email.
Business-class seats typically cost four to five times more than economy, while premium economy is about double the price.
Shrinking legroom is making the journey tougher for anyone tall, wide or with stiff muscles. Many readers – but especially retirees – say they’re paying up for premium seating or opting to stay home instead.
“We are not quite ready to give up travelling, but the recent experiences are moving us in that direction more quickly than before,” said Greg Burke.
Travelling light to cut losses
On a recent flight from Costa Rica to New York, Kerry Knoll said his airline announced after takeoff that because of high winds and a weight issue, “they’d left behind about half the luggage.” His own philosophy is to fly with only a carry-on, even when travelling for months.
To end on a positive note, most of you acknowledged how much more accessible flying has become.
It’s not uncommon for Knoll to find a $200 fare from Kelowna to Toronto. When he lived in Toronto in the late 1970s, the standard fare for a domestic flight to his hometown of Edmonton was also $200 – the equivalent of about $1,000 today.
Lastly, here’s a link to a recent Stress Test episode I co-hosted on the topic of a big-travel, small-budget blueprint for 2026.
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