Question about upgrade chances for NA flights
Oct 4, 2012, 11:53 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,166
Question about upgrade chances for NA flights
Hello,
I'm an AC E and I need to book a flight from YYZ to IAH in the next few days.
I see AC has several flights per day for this route, and I was wondering which time of the day usually has the lowest number of business travelers and SEs
flying out, so my chances of getting upgraded can be maximized.
Better yet, generally speaking, for NA flights (Canada and US), what is usually the best time to fly (early morning, noon-ish, evening, etc) to find the most number of open J seats?
Is it mostly random and pure luck, or is there a trend?
Thanks a lot in advance-
I'm an AC E and I need to book a flight from YYZ to IAH in the next few days.
I see AC has several flights per day for this route, and I was wondering which time of the day usually has the lowest number of business travelers and SEs
flying out, so my chances of getting upgraded can be maximized.Better yet, generally speaking, for NA flights (Canada and US), what is usually the best time to fly (early morning, noon-ish, evening, etc) to find the most number of open J seats?
Is it mostly random and pure luck, or is there a trend?
Thanks a lot in advance-
Oct 4, 2012, 12:30 pm
#2
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 2,237
It's a CRA so limited # seats and no kitchen ( last time no coffee, water issues ) so not exactly a great "J" experience, but compared to regular CRA seat well worth it.
Flown it twice earlier in the year before they pulled at a route (YEG-YYZ-IAH is now a no go, but I can do IAH-YYZ-YEG return, go figure )
No issues getting e Upgrade on late afternoon/evening flight Monday or Tuesday out of YYZ
Flown it twice earlier in the year before they pulled at a route (YEG-YYZ-IAH is now a no go, but I can do IAH-YYZ-YEG return, go figure )
No issues getting e Upgrade on late afternoon/evening flight Monday or Tuesday out of YYZ
Oct 4, 2012, 12:33 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: YVR
Programs: Just a kettle now :)
Posts: 330
I fly this route quite frequently, and the most important thing to remember is that these are the CRJ 700's operated by QK. The J cabin isn't as nice as what you'd find with mainline Air Canada. Sometimes, when one of the CRJ 700's goes MX, they'll down-gauge to a CRJ 200, which has no J cabin at all.
The 700 doesn't have an oven on board either, so the J meal is usually a choice between a cold chicken & spinach or pasta & salmon salad.
There are a lot of business travellers on this route during the fringes of the week (Friday through Monday), but even so, upgrades have been pretty easy as a AC*SE. Your odds are almost guaranteed if you fly Tuesday through Thursday.
Enjoy!
The 700 doesn't have an oven on board either, so the J meal is usually a choice between a cold chicken & spinach or pasta & salmon salad.
There are a lot of business travellers on this route during the fringes of the week (Friday through Monday), but even so, upgrades have been pretty easy as a AC*SE. Your odds are almost guaranteed if you fly Tuesday through Thursday.
Enjoy!
Oct 5, 2012, 1:25 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,166
Thanks for the replies guys, really appreciate them.
From what you told me though, I'm reconsidering using my precious eupgrade credits
on a jazz flight.
I personally care about the food more than the seat when I'm not sitting in a pod (to me all non-pod seats are the same haha), so if they only serve cold food for the main entrees, then I'll pass on the upgrade this time.
Am I understanding this correctly though?
No warm entrees offered at all on CRJ flights?
From what you told me though, I'm reconsidering using my precious eupgrade credits
on a jazz flight.I personally care about the food more than the seat when I'm not sitting in a pod (to me all non-pod seats are the same haha), so if they only serve cold food for the main entrees, then I'll pass on the upgrade this time.
Am I understanding this correctly though?
No warm entrees offered at all on CRJ flights?
Last edited by agjil; Oct 5, 2012 at 1:31 am
Oct 5, 2012, 3:55 am
#5
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC SE MM, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Platinum, hhonors Gold
Posts: 3,421
Thanks for the replies guys, really appreciate them.
From what you told me though, I'm reconsidering using my precious eupgrade credits on a jazz flight.
I personally care about the food more than the seat when I'm not sitting in a pod (to me all non-pod seats are the same haha), so if they only serve cold food for the main entrees, then I'll pass on the upgrade this time.
Am I understanding this correctly though?
No warm entrees offered at all on CRJ flights?
From what you told me though, I'm reconsidering using my precious eupgrade credits
on a jazz flight.I personally care about the food more than the seat when I'm not sitting in a pod (to me all non-pod seats are the same haha), so if they only serve cold food for the main entrees, then I'll pass on the upgrade this time.
Am I understanding this correctly though?
No warm entrees offered at all on CRJ flights?
Try to get 12A, as is almost as comfortable as the J seats.
Oct 5, 2012, 6:26 am
#6
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: YEG
Posts: 3,717
It's a CRA so limited # seats and no kitchen ( last time no coffee, water issues ) so not exactly a great "J" experience, but compared to regular CRA seat well worth it.
Flown it twice earlier in the year before they pulled at a route (YEG-YYZ-IAH is now a no go, but I can do IAH-YYZ-YEG return, go figure )
No issues getting e Upgrade on late afternoon/evening flight Monday or Tuesday out of YYZ
Flown it twice earlier in the year before they pulled at a route (YEG-YYZ-IAH is now a no go, but I can do IAH-YYZ-YEG return, go figure )
No issues getting e Upgrade on late afternoon/evening flight Monday or Tuesday out of YYZ
Oct 5, 2012, 9:30 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: YQR
Programs: NEXUS; alas, no status anymore.
Posts: 1,181
I upgraded on YQR-YOW in June, on a CRJ-705 (these are actually more like the CRJ-900s than the -700s despite the name) and it was a good experience. The seat is comfortable, the breakfast was surprisingly tasty and the service was good. On a nearly four-hour flight it was nice to have the space and I felt like I spent my precious Prestige eUpgrade points well. 
Oct 5, 2012, 10:16 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: YEG
Posts: 3,717
I upgraded on YQR-YOW in June, on a CRJ-705 (these are actually more like the CRJ-900s than the -700s despite the name) and it was a good experience. The seat is comfortable, the breakfast was surprisingly tasty and the service was good. On a nearly four-hour flight it was nice to have the space and I felt like I spent my precious Prestige eUpgrade points well.
AFAIK the IAH sectors are the furthest they fly, and 4 hours in J versus 4 in Y, if you have the credits is a no brainer for me...
Oct 5, 2012, 3:00 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,166
Thanks for the additional input everyone.
I was looking at the possible routings, and other than the non-stop flights, there are a few connecting flights that go through DEN.
YYZ-DEN is AC metal (A319), but DEN-IAH is on UA metal, which led to another question:
If I purchase a ticket on AC.com and my flight is a connecting flight where one segment is on AC metal and the other on non-AC, can I only upgrade the segment on AC metal, or can I somehow use my upgrade credits for the non-AC segment as well since the ticket was purchased through Air Canada?
Thanks again-
I was looking at the possible routings, and other than the non-stop flights, there are a few connecting flights that go through DEN.
YYZ-DEN is AC metal (A319), but DEN-IAH is on UA metal, which led to another question:
If I purchase a ticket on AC.com and my flight is a connecting flight where one segment is on AC metal and the other on non-AC, can I only upgrade the segment on AC metal, or can I somehow use my upgrade credits for the non-AC segment as well since the ticket was purchased through Air Canada?
Thanks again-
Oct 5, 2012, 7:27 pm
#11
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: ARN
Programs: AC UA TK FI DL
Posts: 800
What if it is the other way around?
I have a UA ticket with a NA segment on AC, would I be able to at least choose the preferred seats?
Or am I stuck not being able to choose a regular economy seat because UA bookings cannot access the AC seating chart till check in at airport? (Which has happened to my parents recently)
I have a UA ticket with a NA segment on AC, would I be able to at least choose the preferred seats?
Or am I stuck not being able to choose a regular economy seat because UA bookings cannot access the AC seating chart till check in at airport? (Which has happened to my parents recently)
Oct 5, 2012, 7:36 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan SE AND 1MM, HHonors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Platinum , L'Accor Platinum
Posts: 9,580
Responding to the title of the thread, but re: a different route, I find that YOW-YVR (in either direction) for a give time of day and day of week is usually much harder to upgrade than (for example) the YYZ-YVR route in either direction, for a similar time of day and day of the week.