Adam Smith

Thanks both for your feedback. I cancelled online this morning and the IKK credit was restored to my account right away ^

vernonc

Is Priority rewards same as IKK ? I am looking at a flight on Air Canada and AE. Flight does not show on AE even when I select Priority Rewards. EF shows J2, Y7, B5. Can I still redeem points for a Y ticket and since it does not show on the website do I have to call in ?

Plumber

The flight is probably full, but AC is still willing to sell seats. You will not get this by calling in.

Priority Rewards for SE is another term for IKK when talking about Y-Cabin seats.

YEG USER

To expand on what Plumber said, the flight is likely in an oversell situation. The plane may physically have 150 seats, but AC is willing to sell 160 tickets (assuming cancellations, no-shows, etc.). IKK for Y is only available when the plane isn't oversold. This is why you may see revenue seats available but no IKK.

That being said, it might be worth calling in. We're talking about AC/AE so it is possible that there is an IT glitch that is preventing the seats from showing up. Also, how many seats are you trying to redeem? If more than 1, see if there is a single IKK seat available. If there is, but the seats disappear when the number of pax increases, then IKK won't be available.

Also, IKK isn't just at term for SE. All Altitude members have access to additional Y seats, it's just that the lower tiers have to pay more mileage.

Plumber

You are correct.... I used SE and Y-Cabin as I dont really consider the other 'Priority Rewards' to be true IKK. (ie you can have any unsold seat) .....I don't consider current Priority Rewards for J-Cabin to be true IKK anymore because they are limited. In the old days of IKK, ANY unsold seat was available at regular mileage.

But as you point out, other tiers can have any unsold seat in Y-Cabin also, just for more miles.

vernonc

Thanks.
I did call and yes they could not book. However the agent said that AC holds onto some seat and does not release them and priority rewards do not apply to those seats. Either the agent is wrong, the flight is sold or AC is holding seats and may release at the last minute. No mention at all by the agent of being oversold.

Plumber

Interesting. I have never heard that before. Though I think sometimes AC Vacations has some seats available that they seem to have allocated to them. I have seen seats for sale on AC Vacations site that AC does not have for sale. Is this a Sun destination?

Stranger

vernonc

So something seems off.
One way flight was $2918, only Lat available, no flex available. Return was $2535 both ways in Flex. I booked and paid $2535 for the return in flex. Yet the seats were not available on Ikk/Priority rewards. I have screen shots of both the o/w price with Lat and the return with both legs in flex.
After booking, I checked EF and it is now J2, Y9, B7, M6, U5, V1. So availability seems to have increased.
Leads me to believe that rev mgmt is holding seats on the outbound.
Please explain how I am incorrect if you disagree.

Plumber

Those numbers could still very much indicate an oversold situation. We have no way to verify that.

Adam Smith

Overselling.

AC is happy to take your $2500 and take gamble that either some cancels, no-shows, misconnects, etc, or pay someone a few hundred dollars of compensation to take a later flight. They are willing to oversell some flights by huge margins (I've seen a couple instances of 20-30 oversold on E90 and 319 flights). And they are sometimes willing to oversell even in lower fare classes/families than Latitude.

But if a flight is oversold, there's no IKK, no matter how many seats you can buy for cash.

vernonc

Thanks for the explanation.
Ok, if they are oversold.
But what is the explanation of the outbound one way available only in Latitude but return (both legs) available as flex ? So the return fare is cheaper than the one way. And the availability increase after I purchased the ticket. If they are oversold, why offer a cheaper return fare and increase availability ?

vernonc

I agree with the 'we have no way to verify that'. My question is why would availability increase after I purchase a ticket and the return fare is cheaper than the one way - all when oversold ? Seems weird.
I am more inclined to believe the agent that perhaps AC is holding seats at busy times of the year on flights they know will sell out.
Its also possible that they are oversold but these bouncing pricing and availability numbers make me a sceptic.

vernonc

No, Aeroplan could not book the seat.

vernonc

Not really. The flight I am discussing is YYZ-EZE direct flight.