At the end, the reason those flex fares are so much higher than the tango fares is because people buy them.

And the main reason for people buying flex fares are:
1) You get a ticket to participate in the R games (aka eUpgrade).
2) You receive 100% of your miles flown compared to 25% or 50% when flying tango.

I highly doubt anyone buys a flex fare for its "flexibility".

Many people I know are pissed at the price differential between flex and tango, and yet the majority of them still end up buying flex fares.
So there ya go...flex is a good money maker for AC.
You don't lower the price when something sells well.

Gross annual household income, not individual.

If one does not qualify, go to the back of the queue. The same logic if the individual is not the greatest revenue and profit generator for AC, that individual should not be SE.

My company has a policy that a road warrior (and there are domestic and international definitions for that) gets Amex Plat or can expense a lounge access plan/card up to $500. So no personal money is required.

Flex is not a product, it is a means of charging a co-pay for the use of eUpgrades. The differential is highest on FF-heavy routes like YVR-YYZ.

As I said, good on you, but that's not the case for most corporations, definitely not publicly traded ones.

Then get rid of bottom feeders. A SE does not have to be the greatest revenue and/or profit generator for AC. The reward program has not been designed this way, so the Tango/Flex conversation is moot due to this.

Another dumb thread.

And yet another great addition by you!

our policy would not allow purchasing of flex (added with this level of difference). i agree with the poster above. this will backfire. but then again, the uneducated canadian travel population goes gaga over their aeropesos as do many on these boards over status and could gladly stick an extra 600 bucks on a r/t ticket to their companies when they could easily book the tango ticket. i am sure they will come up with some excuse about the flexibility etc. all of which is hogcrap to get them more aeropesos.

I think what some people forget is that Tango isn't just...a low priced regular fare. They are "SALE" fares. Sure most flights offer them, but that's because they want butts in the seats.

I agree, that in this case it's a bit ridiculous, but there's also lots of times if purchasing well in advance it's not much more. I just bought a YVR-LGA and JFK-YYZ for Feb. JFK-YYZ was only 20$ more for flex and YVR-LGA was bout $40 more. Normally I wouldn't even blink and buy the cheapest one. Flights within Canada earning only 25% though, and thinking I MAY want to upgrade/change it I took the Flex. For JFK-YYZ, I figured the $20 was better kept in my pocket.

When it comes to a YVR-BOG route being $850 return on sale, that's a good price for me, doesn't get much cheaper on other airlines even on their sales. But the flex for that same route is likely going to be at least $1400...no thanks.

Do I think the flex prices are always fair? No. But if that's the "full fare economy" price it's up to them to set it. If you don't like the price, shop elsewhere, if you don't like the price at that fare, pick a different one. You can't say you don't have options. End of the day, Tango prices aren't the bar-setting price. They are the "sale" price, once you change your thinking to that, I don't think this is as much of an issue.

Evidence, please.

Evidence otherwise, please. Ok, fine I have only spent "significant" amount of time with large multinational IT companies. An AMEX plat/lounge card is an unnecessary evil, a cost that shareholders could give a flying bleep about. Places like IBM make you fly Tango everywhere, if you're so lucky as to fly AC, and make you stay at some pretty bad hotels. I realize IBM is on one end, but still, travel isn't as luxurious for corporate employees as you might think (or see in your org).

If anyone else working for a corporation gets to expense an AMEX Plat or lounge card up to $500 or w/e, please speak up!

Otherwise we will never know...

I always buy Tango fare for domestic flight, and I agree with the OP that the price difference doesn't make sense, and also I do not have any status with AC. So buying the cheapo fare makes sense.

My company is gold only. My best friend works for a large Canadain company, he is upper management, basic card only. I do not know one person with a plat. American Express card that is corp., unless they are in small business.

A reminder that the thread topic is the price differential between AC fare types, not which CC members are carrying.

tcook052
AC Forum Moderator

I disagree on a couple points.

Tango isn't a one time sale price. It's a family of regularly filed fares offered on all mainline flights. It is the headline lowest economy fare that will be shown by all OTA search engines.

Flex isn't full fare economy. That's Latitude, which is expensive but rightly so as it's a fully flexible ticket. Flex in fact has nearly identical restrictions to Tango, with one exception which is that it allows the use of eUpgrades.