CloudsBelow

Could have sworn I read in some of the hype from Platinum Amex that the short haul ticket 2-for-1 included taxes and feees on the freebie and any call center fees to Aeroplan.

Just called to use this for the first time and the AP agent says cardholder has to pay all fees and surcharges for both tickets.

If so, that stings. Fees/charges for 400 mile trip on Beech1900 come to $345CAD for 2 tickets!! Absurd.

Can someone who has redeemed their Amex Plat free shorthaul partner ticket please confirm what fees/charges the cardholder is responsible for.

wwtsang

according to the amex website, they'll waive the aeroplan booking fee but fees and taxes apply

couldn't copy and paste the text but did a screen capture, i rollovered footnote 3 for the aeroplus platinum card from this site

CloudsBelow

Cardholder does pay fees for both tickets.
Catch-22 . . . you gotta be on AC metal to get the 15,000 ticket but that comes with fees that are steeper than the Air Miles program.

You Can fly NH/TG first class around the world for lower fees than a 60 minute flight in a Beech1900 on Air Canada. That is laughable.

Really thought this $500/yr card might cough up for the taxes/fees on this perk. Dreaming I guess.

lardiop

YYZ-YWG is a great redemption route for 15,000 miles. Saves me around $400 a year.

tryinginvain

I recently got the Amex Platinum as well. I don't have any specific plans for the shorthaul flight but I thought I'd look into options at some point. I thought the ridiculous AC charges were mostly TATC or TPAC? What flight are those charges from?

My mini-RTW this summer has 2 AC segments (NRT - YYC & YYC - YOW) and the total charges including the other 5 segments is under $250. I don't get how/why one shorthaul would be over $170?

How far can you go on a shorthaul flight on AC from YOW or YUL? Is there a chart somewhere - I looked on the aeroplan site and couldn't find one.

global happy traveller

lol u got stung!

CloudsBelow

Think east canada, down to atlanta, chicago, winnipeg . . . roughly think of 2.5 hour flight or less

YOW_Flyer

I have used this for several years now. It's always the cardholder that pays ALL the taxes and fees. The only thing we don't pay is the AP booking fee - I think it's usually $30?

Generally speaking, all immediate neighbouring provinces and states from your point of departure are considered short-haul flights.

The best value for short-haul, in my view, is Churchill Manitoba, from Ontario. The flight to Churchill from Winnipeg alone is around $1,000. Again, this is only value to miles, and if you want to go see polar bear every year.

cslusarc

1 Isn't YOW-YFB aslo a good redemption city pair for 15,000 aeroplan points?

2. I just wish that AC and aeroplan would eliminate fuel surcharges from reward redemptions. Would you think that the fuel surcharge is part of the base fare since it goes to the airline and not to NAV Canada, a local airport authority or HM Government? I could understand removing fuel surcharges would require redemption rates to increase. I don't understand why they haven't yet in the current economic envirnment.

tryinginvain

Now that would be interesting, thanks! I'm going to think about that. I'm guessing hotels up there aren't cheap though.

tryinginvain

Doesn't look like AC flies to Churchill - unless I'm missing something? Anyone?

fission

They don't – but Calm Air does. Under Eligible Flights:

YOW_Flyer

Fission is right, it's done under Calm Air. But, everything is done manually! You call Aeroplan, and they build your itinerary and send it to Calm Air. Calm Air then comes back with a yes or no, and then AC issues the ticket. It usually takes a few days.

tryinginvain

So it is a 15k AC reward from YOW? Anybody have any idea about the taxes?

If I can come up with an interesting destination at a fairly low cost I will probably do it at some point this summer as a long weekend trip.

Vaclav

I have had both the Amex Aero Plat card and the real thing for one fee of $499. However, it was IMHO a good deal only during the 1st year due to the 25,000 point sign up bonus. The AE fees - too long to list here - are very expensive even for the short haul tickets, so it is often more economically viable to plan ahead and buy a revenue ticket or make alternative arrangements, if you can.

As AC *G I do not need the lounge/J class check in privileges provided by the card, so I have just cancelled the co-branded one and will keep only the real thing. They have many promotions, like very recently a 100% bonus (targeted offer) which gives you altogether with the point accelerator quite a few points. And the fee is $399, a saving of $100.