Originally Posted by
Altaflyer
AC respects its status flyers by operating a fair upgrade system by not selling those seats for peanuts to anyone. There is a balance between revenue and loyalty. I know I won’t get an upgrade each time but I’ll sit in a comfortable seat on every flight. A friend recently told me WS bid upgrade for SFO to YYC started at $80….not likely there will be many seats for status upgrades with those rates. Also, WS rewards pales in comparison to the reward spectrum I have access to with Aeroplan.
I have seen pretty competitive AC J fares with lately. YVR=YYZ/YUL widebody $999 AC. YVR-LAX $399, YVR-FCO $1645. (downside international flights had to be booked as returns to get the lower business class fares)
I bought those on AC even when WJ was similar priced in premium/J because I value the Air Canada frequent flyer program more and find service in J to be better.
Westjet excels at a better on time performance and a great same day change policy for Gold/Platinum especially if you are flying in Y. I used to appreciate WJ service and freedom of agents to bend the rules slightly but unfortunately that culture seems to be gone.