Benner

Had an interesting experience a couple of days ago with an Aeroplan ticket on AC from SYD > YVR > YYZ.

The afternoon before my flight I received a notification that AC 34 was delayed and another delay notification an hour or so later, which would result in me missing my connection in Vancouver. I called in to see what they could do and the agent said she could put me on a much later connecting flight from Vancouver. I asked if she could put me on something else, and she was able to offer Asiana from SYD > ICN and Air Canada from ICN > YYZ. I asked about Etihad, but she said that I had to stay within the zone (and it wouldn’t make sense as I would get in much later than the other option). Her recommendation was to wait as she said the system would likely bring up a better option in a misconnect scenario.

Went to bed and woke up early to see a notification from AC that they had rebooked me on UA 100 from SYD > IAH and AC 108 from IAH > YYZ. As much as United has improved, the idea of spending close to 16 hours on that flight didn’t really appeal to me. I did some investigation and found a Qantas flight from SYD > LAX and an AC flight from LAX > YYZ. I called in and asked to be put on those flights, as I didn’t want to be on a United flight that was that long. At first the agent told me that the Qantas flight was operated by WestJet, but after assuring him WestJet doesn’t fly from Sydney to LA and doesn’t fly A380s he checked again and was able to book it. It was a bit challenging for them to ticket the flight (took about an hour), but they were able to get it done.

Not sure if AC has become a lot more lenient with booking non-AC non-alliance flights in these scenarios, but I was pretty impressed that they were willing to make it happen. I got to experience Qantas long-haul business for the first time, which was a real treat (seat was very comfortable, food was fantastic and the pyjamas were a treat) and got to Toronto a little after I was originally scheduled to arrive.