Cost vs Class Fare?
 

OK, so I know that if I want 100% status miles, I need to have at least a 'Flex' Class fare. Obviously, I'd like to save as much money as possible when flying internationally to South-East Asia, so I'd like to know how the various Flex fares compare for cost.

For example, I know that a Q fare is less expensive than an M fare (which is counter-intuitive), but I'd like to know how all relate and if there are any restrictions on eUpgrades with any of these fares.

All flex fares are eligible for eUp. If you want to check I believe the lowest flex class is the cheapest. It's on the AC site.

I'd also consider other *A airlines for Z or C fare that gets you J seat and 125% status miles if prices are good compared to AC flex fare.

Not quite correct. Depends upon status. Lower status may require an M fare for upgrade on some routes.

OP, welcome to FT.

What is your Altitude status?

What do you mean by the bolded text?

Welcome to FT! ^

As mentioned above, upgrade eligibility depends on status. E35 can only upgrade on a limited number of fare classes but E50 and up can upgrade on more.

You should also be aware the upgrades are subject to availability which in practical terms means there has to be R space. Do a search and you'll find lots on what that means.

By default the AC.com page will list the lowest fares currently available. So if you want to spend less, what you see on the page is what you can get at that point in time. Juggle your dates and you may see other available fares. Or learn how to use KVS or ExpertFlyer and you can see the fares there.

I suspect OP expects A class to be cheapest and Z to be most expensive, but obviously this does not reflect reality.

Why would an airline do something that makes so much sense? :p

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Not sure if the following is what you are looking for:

.------ ------- -------- -------
| Fare |Booking|Altitude|Booking|
|......| Class | Status |Window |
.------ ------- -------- -------
| Flex |...M...| SE100K | 7days |
|......|.......|..E75K..| 6days |
|......|.......|..E50K..| 5days |
|......|.......|..E35K..| 4days |
|......|.......|..P25K..| 2days |
.------ ------- -------- -------
| Flex | U, H, | SE100K | 7days |
|......| Q, V..|..E75K..| 6days |
|......|.......|..E50K..| 5days |
.------ ------- -------- -------

I got it from the following info off AC Web site:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/aeroplan...des/howto.html

and click the Between Canada and an international location link

The "counterintuitive" part is that the fare class cost hierarchy is unrelated to the order of letters in the alphabet.
It would be easier to understand if they called the fare classes "sagittarius", "taurus" and "leo". Or for that matter "sagittarius", "tuna", and "kazoo". By using letters, there is an implicit ordinal relationship that is not used.