Thankfo the help. Will check the rules with
expedia. Is the other engine ITN.com?

Yes it is www.itn.com

Is V class upgradeable to Mexico?

That's a trick question Academic. For Super Elites it doesn't matter (when flying on AC metal -- MX doesn't count) since SE systemwides are good anywhere AC planes fly for V class and higher.

For Elites, I suspect not but I am not sure. Mexico is not shown on the table on the North American certificate (but it could be "other N. American" locations). Hawaii is specifically excluded. I guess you would have to check with AC unless someone has direct experience.

Since the YYZ-MEX flight is operating out of Terminal 1 at YYZ, I assume it's considered as international flight by AC?

Upgrading really isn't an issue since the flights on a MHD directly into/out of MEX won't be on AC anyways, so can't be upgraded with certificates or stickers. The AC sectors will all be domestic and/or transborder, so a V fare will work. It is only the non-stop YYZ-MEX service where your question comes into play.

According to the rules on the Cdn+ sticker folder, Mexico is considered as NAmerica for purposes of upgrading on those fares: but beware of the V-class problem as I have posted it elsewhere. As to AC certificates, that is an interesting question based on BB's response. You could always argue that the NAmerican Free Trade Agreement includes Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, so it would be hard for AC to reject upgrarding with NAmerican certificates.

I realised after I posted that I'd been a little too cryptic. I had been thinking from the POV of Elite. I was surprised to realise, though,that it was a more complicated question than I had thought. It's scarcely surprising that we get different answers from desk agents if we make standby requests. That thought should keep me humble and polite.

Well, I am preparing to join the MHD club. Just amazed a travel agent this afternoon by having him book a 10-segment itinerary for my trip to YYC next week, and issue the ticket.

YOW-YYZ AC
YYZ-YYC AC
overnight/meetings
YYC-LAX AC
LAX-MEX MX
MEX-CUN MX
2 nights
CUN-MEX MX
MEX-LAX MX
LAX-YVR AC
YVR-YYZ AC
s/over
YYZ-YOW for a later business trip

About 14K qualifying miles (I'll hit Elite renewal by the end of March now) and 10K in AC double bonus miles.

The travel agent just could not believe the fare [$1460 with taxes and airport fees, etc.] in J-class all the way, no restrictions and fully refundable! The best YYZ-YYC-YYZ AC fare outside the 14-day advance purchase window for the dates I have to travel ia $1780 in Y going and H class returning.

So instead of overnighting in YYC waiting for Saturday to come and go, I shall be on the beach at Cancun...

Thanks Ken and Cliff.

Incredible!!

Two days ago I paid more than that for a Y class YYZ-MIA-YYZ trip. And all I get is a measly 3000 q miles.

I don't suppose there's some way of working MIA into that routing.

[This message has been edited by After Burner (edited 02-27-2001).]

After Burner, do you suppose there is a similar fare phenomenon for AA flights? YYZ, MIA, and MEX are all served by that airline and that might be a possibility for you. If memory serves me right, one of the experts said that the MHD is not an Air Canada phenomenon but is due to some quirky tariff.

FewMiles..

Indeed!

In fact many MHD's work better on carriers other than AC or *A partners. It depends on where you want to go, and which airline has a hub in the destination of your choice. In this case MIA is a big hub of AA, and they may well be your best bet.

'Course it means you'll be collecting oneworld/AA miles/points instead of *A/AC. But that can be a good thing sometimes.

Yup. Every time I do searches for MHD's, I seem to come up with better pricing and routing using AA. I'm constantly considering switching from AC to AA. It's a very complex decision, though. Each time I sit down and do the analysis, AC seems to have the edge. It wouldn't take much of an unfavourable change by AC (or a favourable AA change) to make me defect.

Shareholder - would you mind telling me (here or Email fine) of the contact details of the travel agent you booked with? I'd like to try & book one, and I can foresee avoiding a tedious conversation if the agent is familiar with the MHD concept!

Actually, it takes no special skill to construct a MHD on the part of the travel agent. (On the part of our resident experts, KH and BB, the skill level is at the epitome of travel planning.) For that reason, I do not wish to pass on the name of the gentleman who did mine.

Just work out the itinerary that suits your needs, then walk it down to any travel agent in the city. Have him or her put each segment into the computer, then calculate the fare, which the res system does automatically. Quite honestly, and meaning no disrespect, I don't think the agent I used still understands the principles of the MHD even after going through the process. It is unlikely he knows the subtleties well enough to be able to construct a trip for you on his own. (I did not reveal everything to him becuase I did not want to entice him into starting this as a specialty, raising the profile more than it already has been by the Globe article, and leading to AC or MX making further changes. Any expertise and understanding resides solely out in Vancouver and Calgary with our resident experts.

So I just suggest you run a few things past us on this board. ie where exactly you want to go, when you need to be at your required destinations, and how many days you have to travel before or after those dates. As you are in Toronto, you will have to travel into either YXU or YOW to start the trip because you cannot start a MHD in this city. Tha's why I will be taking a VIA train up to Ottawa (I am already well into building up my VIA Preference account) the day before, meet some friends for dinner, overnight at a hotel (for some more points), and do a couple of business meetings through the morning. I then officially begin my MHD in the afternoon, en route to YYC for a business meeting the next day. [I am hoping to convince a couple of those Alliance MPs who played the real MHD on Parliament Hill a couple of years ago � the Senator Andy Thompson fiasco � to serenade me in the MLL at YOW, since Thursday evening is generally when they fly back to their ridings for the weekend...] This side trip to YOW or YXU has to be factored into your time and budget, of course.

Already the MHD has paid off in other ways. The same client now wants me to stop into their YVR office and meet with project staff, so I will have to do a date change to my return ex-YVR, permissible without charge. So what started off as a somewhat more costly trip � a one day Calgary trip for project meetings on what would have been an $1800 economy ticket � has now taken on the character of a real bargain for the client, even though I will be sitting in the front cabin all the way.

Also, don't forget to do your final segment with a stop-over in YYZ and an onward flight to YOW in the short term future. Then cancel that segment once you've returned and use it for a future trip to that city. (You have a year from the date of issue of the ticket to use the coupon.) This is why I chose YOW, since I am likely to have business there in the near future. Or you can save that segment to get you back to do another MHD.

Important: Just don't book the trip YOW-various cities-YYZ [end], because if your ticket doesn't take you back to YOW, the fare jumps into the $4K+ range.

You are in fact obligated to use the coupon, so make sure you do, sometime within the year, even if you simply take the train back the same day.

It's important to fastidiously adhere to all the rules, especially given AC's recent "crack down" on things like flight coupons and upgrade certificates. I imagine throw-a-way ticketing might be in their sights in the near future.