Discounts in Toronto

If you plan to visit Canada this winter, look into Toronto’s Double Your Pleasure program.

You can get 50% off regular rates at more than 50 hotels on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. At check-in you will also receive a coupon booklet filled primarily with two-for-one discounts at restaurants, sightseeing attractions and theaters, and for stores and car rentals.

Among sightseeing options are the CN Tower, said to be the world’s tallest free-standing structure at 1,815 feet. (By comparison, the Eiffel Tower in Paris is 984 feet tall.) It contains an observatory at the top and a space-travel attraction at the base.

There are also the Royal Ontario Museum, Metro Zoo, Ontario Science Center and the Black Creek Pioneer Village, among others.

Toronto has a new, large underground complex filled with stores and restaurants.

The program runs until Feb. 27.

Contact travel agents, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation at (213) 622-4302, or Metro Toronto at (416) 979-3133.

In Toronto and six other major Canadian cities, Budget is offering discount booklets at its car rental stations.

Most of the coupons offer two-for-one discounts at restaurants and sightseeing attractions, and 50% off for meals or admissions.

You also can get 50% discounts off regular rates at some hotels for as many nights as you have a rental car; you must show your car rental contract.

More than 130 hotels are participating.

In some cities you may also be able to get such complimentary extras as child safety seats and ski racks. Ask when renting a car.

The number of coupons in the booklets offered may vary among the cities that include Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax.

Budget is offering these coupon booklets through 1988. Generally, the coupons are good even if you are no longer renting the car.

Remember that you can’t, as a rule, combine discounts (and thus get two discounts at a Toronto hotel).

Nevertheless, when combined with the favorable exchange rate for Americans, both the Double Your Pleasure and Budget programs are excellent bargains.