expert7700

Just booked a "stopover qualifying trip" which will overnight YYZ March 1st.

Only 3 options in the link after booking (SE100K flex fare) were Sheraton Airport (not Sheraton T3) $140, Four Points Dixon Road $120, and Westin Airport $180

Sheesh, I can book those rates on my own and ensure Bonvoy stay credits...

tth6133

Does a stopover qualifying trip really exclude award flights? I never had a need for it but I don't see any exclusionary language.

expert7700

Award flights are not sold by air canada or air canad vacations. They are sold by an "external" "third party" (Aeroplan).

Many options do not show on 'manage reservations' when you input an Aeroplan ticket #, and a warning instead appears that it was issued not issued by Aircanada. Therefore my hypothesis is the add stopover hotel has a 0.0% chance of appearing.

If you want to test you can also plug your info to the following URL (must be at least a US-Canada(overnight)-International destination

Air Canada Vacations: Stopover

kttosia

Just have a good look at your credit card statement after your stay...
For mine Sharaton T3 Toronto stay I got charged twice - 49CAD to Air Canada vacances, which was correct, but then also 210CAD charged by Sheraton for unknown reason. It took them 2 weeks to pay me money back, and I didnt get any apology.

gpb_croppers63

Hi All,

Just found this really helpful thread while doing some very initial searching for a trip from TXL to BGI next year. When I play with some dummy dates (ours are not open yet), I get the option of the stopover program on the return flights but not on the outbound, despite having more than 6 hours but less than 24 hours in YYZ. I saw upthread in a very old post that itineraries containing codeshares are not eligible but the flight back to TXL would have a codeshare too and that is offering the stopover program. I'm therefore rather confused. Am I likely to be able to add the stopover hotel for the outbound after booking even if it doesn't show up during the booking process or is there some hidden rule making this itinerary ineligible (no stopover hotel is offered if I look at the outbound as a one-way either). Thanks in advance for any insight you're able to give.

P.S. Sorry if this was answered previously. I did try searching the thread but didn't find what I was looking for in the 169 posts.

escape4

In my experience, an itinerary paid in Y does not offer hotel prices low enough to justify booking under Air Canada Stopover. You will normally not get Platinum (or above) treatment unless they make an exception. So if you consider the value of room upgrades, free breakfast, the value of points earned, the value of earning an extra night credit, etc. then when it's all said and done, yes we are better off booking on our own.

However I found that paid J itineraries come with lower hotel prices, which makes it worthwhile booking with AC. But not Y.

elenea86

Hi friends,

Trying my luck here: I booked a J fare from YUL -> YYZ -> CPH -> FLR and have an 8hrs layover in YYZ. Because I booked it as a UA redemption, I'm not eligible for the Signature suite but do have access to the MLL as it's all on AC metal. The only flight that isn't on AC metal is the CPH -> FLR as it's on SAS because AC doesn't fly there. Could have flown from YUL but award redemption was better with the connection in YYZ and they were flying with the new signature seats, not the crappy old J seats that make you squished in like a bug with the tiny tv. UA is also charging an arm and a leg if I want to change the YUL -> YYZ flight so no dice there.

Here's my question: Because it's over 8hrs, I technically qualify for the AC stopover program but when I called in, AC told me that because the last leg of my journey is on SAS, I don't qualify for it. Which is ridiculous and I told them so as I shouldn't be getting penalized for going to a place they don't fly to. The agent said she would send an email off to ask as I am in J fare and I should know in 48hrs.

Should I try calling back to see if I get a different agent and respond or wait and see? Or is this going to be a dead end here with AC? Really just trying to avoid an 8 hrs stay in the MLL at YYZ.

Thanks!

CanadaDH

I can't answer your question about the AC Stopover hotel eligibility, but yes, you will have access to the lounge. But, with an 8-hour stopover during the day, why not take the UPX train to downtown Toronto and do a bit of exploring? That will pass the time much better than sitting around the airport. It's a 25 minute train ride from Terminal 1 to Union Station downtown.

yyz_atc_qq

james dean

agreed, done the stop-over many times and it's paid J only

elenea86

I thought about it, but I've explored downtown TO a ton already and if I did go that route, i'd just go to get some Sweet Jesus ice cream because it's awesome. I still have my Presto card too, so that opens up options too.

Oh and yes : I know I can't get access to SS because it's a reward booking. Already knew that thanks to this forum

pmarrsouth

elenea86

I tried doing that and got an error saying to call AC Vacations :/ I think i'm going to try calling again today to get a different rep to see what happens.

Originally I thought the issue was because it was an awards ticket however, there's nothing in the Ts and Cs saying you can't access it with an awards ticket. This has been super helpful, really appreciated!!

canadiancow

The issue is you're looking at "Business Class" as a cabin, whereas if you read all options, it's very clearly a paid fare brand.

I could transcribe those column headers to:
...BA
...TG
...FL
...CO
Y/B
O/E/N
J/C/D/Z/P

You're not getting a free hotel room in I-class.

elenea86