Kidz

Unfortunately they've taken it a step further. There is actually now a tab to redeem a Star Alliance ticket... but, of course, the availability does not show up online. Just a couple days ago I called up complaining that I saw the availability on a different Star Alliance airline that was not UA/US/CO, and the agent very calmly said: "sure, no problem, i'll book it for you" and charged me $25 extra for the pleasure. So they make it seem as if you're checking availability on all of Star Alliance but that is not the case.

Legalbee

Not only do they charge more points for the ac booking but they still charge more points than the chart for 2 cabin class configurations booked in bus/first on the partners.

I cant help but wonder how many "extra" points AP gets from those who dont know any better on these bookings. As an example I just booked to seats for November BUF-AUA. When booking the website indicated 160,000 points for first class, yet I knew that on US Air this was a 2 cabin configuration therefore it should have been 120,000. Having been down this road before and having had an agent advise me previously that one should book the flights online then call AP to correct it(thus saving the fee) I proceeded to do so. Thus I entered into a debate with an agent who indicated that this was first class and therefore it was correct. Only when I finally persuaded her to verify did she advise me that I was correct and the points were adjusted to the 120,000. This has been a problem with the AP website for years and it begs the question as to why this has never been corrected.

Braindrain

This was actually introduced a few years ago.

smarsh102

Hi there.

I am looking to book two first class tickets to Europe using points.

There are a few references in this thread to booking on other *A airlines to get a better rate. I have had a look at the Aeroplan site and had a quick search on the flyertalk site as well and can't find how to do this.

Can someone point me in the right direction so I can make the most of my miles?

Cheers.

DaveTO

If you want to fly first class, there are only 3 *Alliance airlines that fly to NAmerica that have first class seats:

Lufthansa
Swiss
United

I don't know where you live, but you will need to connect to a gateway city that these airlines fly TATL from...and then find availability on flights that match your schedule.

smarsh102

Thank-you DaveTO for the reply.

I am travelling out of YYJ.

So what I am learning is to make the most out of Air Canada's Loyalty reward program is to avoid Air Canada when using the points??? only AC would come up with that.

Is there a more effecient way of searching for a reward ticket than using the Aeroplan site? I keep getting the "This flight cannot be combined with your previous selection(s)" Message when I pick routes that don't involve AC.

Cheers.

rankourabu

Yes, get a pencil and paper.
Write down the flight numbers segment by segment
Call Aeroplan to book. The $33 booking fee will be worth getting the flights you want and avoiding the fuel surcharge.

smarsh102

Pencil, Paper??? that's pretty old fashion.

So What I've learnt so far... To get the most out of Air Canada's Loyalty reward program is avoid using Air Canada AND its reward program website when you try and redeem the reward points earned flying Air Canada.

rankourabu

well, no, if you want to go from Winnipeg to Edmonton, by all means, use the website.
If you want a mini-round-the-world ticket, do your own research beforehand, but yes avoid AC flights

smarsh102

Thank-you for the Info.

Cheers

Chp129

The reason you are getting this message is because you are most likely trying to combine two diffrent kinds of tickets. One is from AE's actual availabilty (the fixed amount of miles depending on the destination) and the other is from AC's availabilty (the flights that sometimes appear for a gajillion miles). AC availability on aeroplan's website is callled "Classic Plus" and basically what that is, is that Aeroplan has run out of availability for that flight and they provide us with the "opportunity" to buy an ticket from AC using your AE miles. Because one comes from Aeroplan and the other from AC the ticket can't be combined.

Rejuvenated

There is also JFK-FRA vv with SQ for F.

RoninTech

Does SQ actually release F seats for *A reward flights?

Ancien Maestro

I've had some success booking via website AE rewards, and just booked an open jaw spring break to the Hawai'ian islands.. online.. including a direct flight ogg-yyc. No booking fees, and no hassle.

Academic

What you need to do is to use a tool (like KVS or the ANA tool) that will show you award availability for the routes that will get you to your destination. This is where you can get creative (e.g. for LHR-YVR, which might not be available on AC you could do LHR-FRA-ORD/BOS/EWR/YYZ/YUL-YVR). Once you track those down just note the flights and make the call.