Originally Posted by
BlondeBomber
[redacted]
If you are basing a purchase on this connection, make sure you confirm and take screenshots of allowed routings so if they change their mind, you might have recourse.
They wouldn't care. If they cease service to a destination, that's grounds for a complaint, but all they've done is said you can fly from A to B. You haven't even booked a ticket yet.
This is all a side-effect of the routing rules they use in the FP engine. At one point, it was very simple:
Step 1: Find the shortest duration for any route on your date of travel
If the options are:
YYC-PHX - 3 hours
YYC-YVR-PHX - 7 hours
YYC-YYZ-PHX - 12 hours
you end up with "3 hours" as your starting point.
Step 2: Perform some math. Your allowed travel duration is 2x + 1.5 (numbers may be a little off, but it was something close to this).
2*3 + 1.5 = 7.5
You are allowed 7.5 hours
Step 3: Present all "reasonable options" under that duration. Don't expect a 7-stop option when a 2-stop is available, but the actual routing doesn't need to adhere to typical fare rules.
YYC-PHX is allowed, since 3 < 7.5
YYC-YVR-PHX is allowed, since 7 < 7.5
YYC-YYZ-PHX is not allowed, since 12 > 7.5
This led to some interesting situations on itineraries like YQL-YQQ, since you had to do two stops, which naturally add significant travel time to an otherwise short itinerary. In that example, a random date shows 5:44 travel time. Meaning 12:58 is permitted. And that's enough time to route through YYZ.
With people actually booking and flying itineraries like that, they made some tweaks to the FP routing engine. They've tried to lock down things like that, but there have been some negative side effects. Such as me wanting to fly SFO-YMM, and having to leave at 1pm, even though I can leave at 4pm and arrive at the same time. Now I have to call in to get lower duration routings with the same number of stops.
Needless to say, every time you post one of these on FT, assume they're going to fix it. And "it won't last" ... maybe. But it only takes a slight schedule adjustment for the "stupid" routing to no longer be within the limits of the math without them making explicit changes.
But the Southwest Sun pass already has an explicit YYZ exclusion for connection points. More options can be added to that list fairly easily.