YYC-YYZ award seats keep on flooding or none
Sep 25, 2012, 10:59 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Toronto, Ont., Canada
Programs: Aeroplan; Marriott Platinum; IHG Platinum; Best Western Diamond
Posts: 2,165
YYC-YYZ award seats keep on flooding or none
Have been looking for reward seats to get someone in Calgary, to come to Toronto for weekend of Nov. 23-25.
Have been watching for availability. On some days there will be all kinds of seats, on virtually every AC flight. Then they all disappear the next day. This is for both coming back Nov. 22 or 23, and returning 24 or 25.
A few days ago, there were some seats on Nov. 25 YYZ-YYC. Then nothing available. Then all of a sudden there were seats on virtually all AC flights that day. Now nothing.
There had been virtually no seat YYZ-YYC on Nov. 24, but today seats are available on virtually all AC flights that day.
It would make sense if some seats all of a sudden pop up on one flight (cancellation, or whatever reason), but a dozen flights that day?
It's too bad those floods of availability are not happening on both coming back and return.
Have been watching for availability. On some days there will be all kinds of seats, on virtually every AC flight. Then they all disappear the next day. This is for both coming back Nov. 22 or 23, and returning 24 or 25.
A few days ago, there were some seats on Nov. 25 YYZ-YYC. Then nothing available. Then all of a sudden there were seats on virtually all AC flights that day. Now nothing.
There had been virtually no seat YYZ-YYC on Nov. 24, but today seats are available on virtually all AC flights that day.
It would make sense if some seats all of a sudden pop up on one flight (cancellation, or whatever reason), but a dozen flights that day?
It's too bad those floods of availability are not happening on both coming back and return.
Sep 26, 2012, 2:10 am
#2
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: YXE
Posts: 3,050
Could be a variety of factors causing this. Anything from the Oilers vs. Calgary game in Calgary on the 24th that might bring Oilers fans from Eastern Canada, to a big Indian or Jewish wedding with hundreds of guests all cashing out their points.
If Aeroplan is denying you a seat that you otherwise would have paid money for...then I would suggest that Aeroplan and Air Canada have achieved their business goal of creating a situation where Aeroplan does not displace revenue customers, but is rather used for incremental discretionary travel. October and November are traditionally very weak for AC and the airline industry in Canada generally, with Reward seats usually highly available -- so maybe they are trying a different strategy this year of limiting redemptions that have a high probability of displacing revenue tickets.
If Aeroplan is denying you a seat that you otherwise would have paid money for...then I would suggest that Aeroplan and Air Canada have achieved their business goal of creating a situation where Aeroplan does not displace revenue customers, but is rather used for incremental discretionary travel. October and November are traditionally very weak for AC and the airline industry in Canada generally, with Reward seats usually highly available -- so maybe they are trying a different strategy this year of limiting redemptions that have a high probability of displacing revenue tickets.
Sep 26, 2012, 5:55 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: YYZ/YHM
Programs: Marriott Titanium, Air Canada 50K, United Silver, Accor Platinum, Others on Rotation
Posts: 363
I've also been keeping an eye on award travel on this route in the December period.
Air Canada has been moving equipment around. In particular they've been playing around with scheduling a 767. This opens up more reward seats than with a 319 or E90. Similarly, when they take the 767 out of the lineup, the seat vanish. With planes moving around that might explain some of the difficulty.
Air Canada has been moving equipment around. In particular they've been playing around with scheduling a 767. This opens up more reward seats than with a 319 or E90. Similarly, when they take the 767 out of the lineup, the seat vanish. With planes moving around that might explain some of the difficulty.
Sep 26, 2012, 11:56 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Toronto, Ont., Canada
Programs: Aeroplan; Marriott Platinum; IHG Platinum; Best Western Diamond
Posts: 2,165
If AC is just changing aircraft on some flights, it should only affect those flights.
What has been happening is an entire day's list of a dozen routings, both non-stop flights and connection flights, are appearing to have reward seats, then all of them disappeared. For Nov. 24, they all of a sudden appeared, for both non-stop and connecting flights. So that couldn't be caused by change of aircraft on a couple of flights.
Yes it is US Thanksgiving weekend. It'd make sense if that affects routes to US. Probably shouldn't affect routes within Canada. But who knows, maybe that is the reason the algorithms are giving weird results.
What has been happening is an entire day's list of a dozen routings, both non-stop flights and connection flights, are appearing to have reward seats, then all of them disappeared. For Nov. 24, they all of a sudden appeared, for both non-stop and connecting flights. So that couldn't be caused by change of aircraft on a couple of flights.
Yes it is US Thanksgiving weekend. It'd make sense if that affects routes to US. Probably shouldn't affect routes within Canada. But who knows, maybe that is the reason the algorithms are giving weird results.