Thought I'd join this good discussion.

I'm a transplanted Canuck living and working overseas and I am proud to have moved up to AC Elite this year from Prestige. Last year I had to ration my upgrade certificates that I received when I moved into Prestige, as they were few and far between. It also doesn't help that the "systemwides" only cover Y class tickets from Europe.

In December 2000 I ended up making a trip to Canada that moved me past 35K into Elite. I am not at all disappointed as to the number of upgrades I now have (11 systemwide, 4 North America). I received a slew of them when I requalified for Prestige, and then when I passed 20K and 30K. A bunch more arrived with my Elite package last month.

I likely won't even have the opportunity to use them all. I'm heading to Canada next week from LHR (bought a Y class ticket for $1,000 USD) and will only use two upgrades. I've been able to plan out an MHD, all in J class, so I won't need any upgrades on that mileage run.

Overall I am impressed with Aeroplan and I go out of my way to fly AC and other *A partners when possible. (I use BA Exec Club if I have to...)

Hopefully with three or four trips to Canada and a couple of MHDs this year, I'll cruise beyond AC*E into AC*SE for 2002...

mjschill, Actually the YYZ-LHR-YYZ fare is closer to $3000. I'd be very interested to know where one can get a lower fare than this. I haven't been able to find one.

AfterBurner --

LHR-YYZ-LHR on AC, Y class ticket, $1,024 USD (approx $1,600 CAD). I speak from experience on this as I purchased this exact ticket today. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cool.gif

Maybe the other way around YYZ-LHR-YYZ is more expensive?

Exactly. The Y2UK fare is about $1500 CAD, LHR-YYZ-LHR.

The Y2 in the other direction is closer to $3000.

Go figure.

Yes, it's cheaper originating in LHR. My question for mjschill, however, is how to avoid paying either of these Y-class fares.

Afterburner....with absolutely no sarcasm, I would approach the situation like every other I've faced in my life....I would just figure it out.

Some people don't like or understand that response, and my wife hates it. However, it's the attitude that has allowed me to get where I happily am today. In my mind there is no problem without an optimal solution to be had.

I don't know the exact answer to your question, but give me the motivation to find a solution, a telephone, map, internet connetion, and about three hours and I am 100% confident I could provide you with a better alternative than an AC Full Y fare.

If my motivation is Business related, I would pay the full Y fare, if there were nothing lower available. I know there are some people who can't avoid this, however to this point in my career where I've had responsibility for my own travel budget, I have never been faced with this situation.

Sorry...I forgot my last paragraph.

There is a catch to my response. It's called a tradeoff. What I described in the post above is exactly how things like the MHD are born. My wife almost lost it when I told her I was considering a cheaper way to Calgary, which required me to make a trip to Ottawa first, and stop in LAX, MEX, CUN, MEX, and ORD to do it.

My wife once wanted me to cash in AA points to get her YYZ-YVR on two days notice. The AA agent was very helpful, and did indeed find a routing YYZ-LGA-MIA-DFW-YVR.

So, in my mind it really is all about trade offs. ((Not talking Business travel)) If you had to go to London, would you be willing to save $1500 (an example) by taking the bus to St. John's, a train to Halifax, driving to Boston, or cashing in some points to fly to Atlanta first. Some would and some wouldn't...but none the less it would still have financial gains over a direct $3000 flight on AC.

Know where you are, know where you want to be, identify your resources and constraints and figure out the best way to get there.

How many points did that cost you? Most US airlines like NW would charge two tickets for that itinery... so a total of 50,000 points.

mjschill, from your post I thought you were referring to business travel. It is my understanding that a discounted fare to LHR requires a 7 day stay and at least 7 day advance booking. These are conditions (especially the 7 day stay) that are nearly impossible for business travel.

I just stumbled across this post. I met Goldlust in NYC last month, and we were on a day tour with echelon which was great fun. He is a bright young man, and I'd die for his linguistic skills, as English believe it or not is NOT his first language. Spent an afternoon with shareholder same weekend, and was shown the highlights of The Met. All 3 of us will be in Cannes, and even possibly Vancouver next month? Hope these nice guys can share a Carlsberg or a Labbatts or whatever together then and laugh about this clashing of swords! I wish I'd been able to earn an Elite card of any airline at 19, and Goldlust can pick up plenty of great AC tips from the very seasoned AC fliers here. And tip #1 Goldlust is the higher up the FF tree you get with any airline, the better the deal - the better the perks, remember that. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


And for any who are not aware, the VANCOUVER FT Weekend is May 18-20:

http://www.lava.net/~susanj/vancouver.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum95/HTML/000840.html

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~ Glen ~

Thank you for your posts, Ozstamps.

My debate with Goldlust need not have been transferred to the other forum, though my remarks related to his choice of airline in the Vancouver topic obviously made that a logical thing to do from his perspective. I still feel strongly that if he is using AC to gain Elite status to make use of the STAR Gold lounge access, AC is paying for those privileges and he should put some money into their coffers and not other STAR partners. And I stand by that belief, as minor as the amounts may be in the overall scheme of things. It is the principle of the thing.

Also, I just want to clarify one thing I said in my last post on the subject. AC is one of the very few airlines that does not require one to fly at least one segment on their flight number/code and metal in order to hold elite status. [Sorry, haven't figured out how one highlights/boldfaces on these posts...] This should not be confused, due to the way I stated it orignally, with the fact that Aeroplan accounts will be kept open as long as there is at least one flight transaction every three years.

As for any beer that gets drunk in Vancouver, it will be have to beShaftebury or Okanagan Springs, the two local craft breweries I hold stock in.

That's interesting, I did not know that. AA requires at least four segments to be on their metal.

I was not aware that AC pays someone when AC Elites / ACSE use other * lounges. Even so, I guess I disagree out of principale - I choose to shop were the merchandise are best at the lowest price. AC is therefore my choice. It is not my fault that they do not profit from that. Likewise, when I buy stocks I do not buy stocks in companies with the best services at the lowest price - but rather companies with high profits. On the other hand AC might benefit from me later on because I might find a liking to their program at a young age so maybe their strategy is not that bad after all http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Regarding the highlighting of stuff it's pretty easy (once you know). E.g. if you want to write:
Goldlust and Shareholder are great friends

You just type:

[ B ]Goldlust and Shareholder are great friends[ /B ]

(without the spaces)

Read it all at: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ubbcode.html

Cheers http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

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Goldlust

[This message has been edited by Goldlust (edited 04-19-2001).]

Two Shaftsbury's on me then guys. Except, due to the current, ahem, "weakness" in the OZ dollar, I might need to use the bar's layaway plan. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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~ Glen ~

You can became EuroBonus(SK) Gold without any SK segments at all. 100K(different levels in other parts of the world) points is all that is needed no matter what * airlines or other partners you are flying with..