I think your google flight options are misleading. In order to get the $287 options, it requires the traveler to turn a simple same-day commute into a whole day 5 segments nightmare : YYZ-YOW-YUL-YQB-YOW-YYZ. Sorry, that itinerary simply isn't going to fly for an average corporate traveller who needs a same day return.

Regardless of the actual prices on any given day, the point Transpacificflyer is making is a valid one however, because by simply reversing the direction of travel on the same day, ITA is showing a very different picture.



As someone who used to commute quite a bit in the said corridor, I can tell you that YTZ is far more likely to be used than YYZ for the purpose of commute and the price war is usually between Porter and AC since Westjet doesn't fly to Toronto Island.

Because YTZ-YUL is an all-economy flight, Executive class is irrelevant. YTZ doesn't have a MLL either. Even C-level Executives will not go out their way to fly to YYZ just so that they can fly AC in J. In that sense, schedule, convenience and indeed the ticket price are the dominating factor in deciding who to fly. That means, you pretty much have to fly very close to the lowest price available but most employers I know of do not put that above the comfort and convenience of employees. For example, if there is a flight at 10PM on a Friday at $50 cheaper vs. a 5PM flight, you will normally be well within your rights to book the earlier yet more expensive flight to get home earlier at a more reasonable hour.