Originally Posted by
canadiancow
That being said, I think it's highly unlikely IKK would disappear. And dynamic pricing on all redemptions is the equivalent of IKK disappearing. SE IKK is defined as requiring the same number of miles as a fixed mileage redemption.
I seem to recall the only statement being made was that most NA redemptions would be dynamic, which means it's possible for some to not be dynamic. And I'd take that to mean IKK isn't going anywhere.
I don't think it's likely IKK disappears, but I do think there's a high risk it becomes a much less valuable benefit. After all, at one point IKK allowed access to any unsold seat, and look where we are now.
Originally Posted by
BenSenise
thinking out loud here. just out of curiosity, i had a look at some prices, in cash or points, for flights.
let's say i want to go to YQB in feb for the winter festival. YYJ in business is from around $1175 on rouge flights to around $1500 on a 789 between YVR and YUL.
it's 50,000 aeropesos plus around $200, so the 50,000 points would save between $975 and $1300 depending on the choice of comfort.
buying those points during this "sale" would cost around $800 if i got in at the second tranche at 0.016 CAD. i choose this because i seriously doubt i would get in on the first since they'll be gone in nanoseconds.
so $800 for the points plus tax plus the nearly $200 in "fees" will bring me over $1000. if i chose the rouge flights, the savings would be non-existent. lie-flats on a 789 could save somewhere near $400-500. interesting but not earth shattering.
If you did the rouge flights, wouldn't the savings be more like $175? Of course, you'd earn no AQM etc.
The big risk for someone without SE status and wanting to redeem miles for J at a specific time is availability of I space. Is there currently I space on the flights you want? If so, the risk is a lot lower. But often times for non-SEs, even simple TCONs require stupid connections or terrible timing to find space in J.
If you have flexibility to go somewhere a day or two earlier or later, it's easier, but if you're trying to do a short trip for a particular events, it can be a lot more challenging.
question about sales tax; if i go to points.com now and look at the purchase price of 10,000 miles, it shows a TOTAL PRICE of $300. No mention of GST or PST. The page gives you the fields to enter your CC information and there's a "purchase now" button which i assume would trigger the transaction. i can't see them adding tax when the summary clearly showed TOTAL PRICE on the purchase page.
when chose a flight on my aeroplan account and need to "top up" with purchased miles, it appears to be 5%, so just GST. Is that correct or is "sales tax" both provincial and federal?
Once you enter your address on points.com, it will calculate the taxes. It appears that only GST/HST is applicable but not PST. So the applicable tax is 5% everywhere except Atlantic Canada (15%) and Ontario (13%).