Sep 9, 2016, 9:35 pm
Last edit by: jaysona
Update: 14-Jan 2016, 00:50
The old website is in the process of being "retired"
Leaving the below here for now for the sake of posterity and reference.
Most of the old website URLs now redirect to the new "beta" website.
The old website is in the process of being "retired"
Leaving the below here for now for the sake of posterity and reference.
Accessing the "old" website.
At the moment (09-Sep-2016) accessing the old and functional website is still possible.
The procedure to access the old website requires a few steps.
1. Clear all aircanada.com related cookies and browser cache.
2. Go to this URL. https://www.aircanada.com/en/go-beta.html
3. Click on book travel Button at the top left of the screen.
Alternatively for some clicking on one the following links will work for some as well.
https://www.aircanada.com/aco/flights.do or;
https://www.aircanada.com/en/home.ht...ialSignon=true
"A digital transformation underway at Air Canada is reshaping the customer experience in almost every way"
At the moment (09-Sep-2016) accessing the old and functional website is still possible.
The procedure to access the old website requires a few steps.
1. Clear all aircanada.com related cookies and browser cache.
2. Go to this URL. https://www.aircanada.com/en/go-beta.html
3. Click on book travel Button at the top left of the screen.
Alternatively for some clicking on one the following links will work for some as well.
https://www.aircanada.com/aco/flights.do or;
https://www.aircanada.com/en/home.ht...ialSignon=true
"A digital transformation underway at Air Canada is reshaping the customer experience in almost every way"
New Air Canada Website!
Aug 12, 2016, 10:31 am
#392
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: YYT/YYZ
Programs: AC*SE, AC*MM, SPG Gold, FPC Plat, HHonors Diamond, PC Plat Elite, R&C Club 5C, Hyatt GP
Posts: 2,201
There's a reason why code editors and IDEs are generally really well designed - the people who write them, use them.
Someone at AC needs to force their web designers to spend an entire day using the site to perform a simple task over and over, until they understand what's wrong with it.
Someone at AC needs to force their web designers to spend an entire day using the site to perform a simple task over and over, until they understand what's wrong with it.
Aug 12, 2016, 10:40 am
#393
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Ice Cream Club, AC SE MM, Bonvoy Life Plat
Posts: 2,803
There's a reason why code editors and IDEs are generally really well designed - the people who write them, use them.
Someone at AC needs to force their web designers to spend an entire day using the site to perform a simple task over and over, until they understand what's wrong with it.
Someone at AC needs to force their web designers to spend an entire day using the site to perform a simple task over and over, until they understand what's wrong with it.
The other problem is, bilingual mindset. It's not really a problem, per se, but it does result in differences in UI design, etc... it's not as bad as say, Arabic to English, where everything lines up on the right side of the page.
Aug 12, 2016, 10:56 am
#394
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: YUL
Programs: Skymiles Silver Medallion
Posts: 955
I've worked in digital marketing and web dev here in Montreal for over a decade. Every website and digital experience we build for Quebec clients is natively bilingual. That does NOT imply poor UX. On the contrary, when done right, it should imply better UX since you're taking the multilingual environment into account from the start.
AC's website sucks not because it's bilingual. It sucks because AC is incompetent.
AC's website sucks not because it's bilingual. It sucks because AC is incompetent.
Aug 12, 2016, 11:23 am
#395
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: YYZ
Programs: FOTSG Tangerine Ex E35k (AC)
Posts: 5,612
Here's what I don't get, it's been out for what, 7 months now? As is still not standard. I mean how long is this beta; and, if it's a beta... what if anything are they doing based on user feedback because I doubt they're looking at this thread.
Aug 12, 2016, 2:56 pm
#396
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,315
I never visit AC without opening a new incognito window, and it cuts my frustration down significantly
Aug 12, 2016, 4:29 pm
#397
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: YYZ
Programs: FOTSG Tangerine Ex E35k (AC)
Posts: 5,612
I remember booking about 5 segments for two people with NZ years ago and after the final step with all my credit card details the page goes blank. Their help desk informed me it ONLY works in IE and that I wouldn't be charged.
Air Canada doesn't discriminate, their site works equally poorly in all major browsers I've tried. My favourite being "I've now tried to book this ticket using three browsers, four devices, sat in three locations across two continents - clearly your system is incapable of handling this 5 segment booking".
Air Canada doesn't discriminate, their site works equally poorly in all major browsers I've tried. My favourite being "I've now tried to book this ticket using three browsers, four devices, sat in three locations across two continents - clearly your system is incapable of handling this 5 segment booking".
Aug 13, 2016, 2:55 pm
#400
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: YQB
Programs: AC SE
Posts: 2,139
Another thing. I am trying to change my meal selection for an upcoming booking. After selecting the meal I want and validating, it brings me back to the home page. When I go in again to check if it worked, for some reason it assigns me some other meal I don't want. All the time. Looks like I will have to call in to select my meal properly.
Aug 13, 2016, 4:48 pm
#402
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: YYC
Posts: 23,803
Until yesterday they still had www.aircanada.com running. Today it redirects to beta.aircanada.com. 
Took me 30 minutes to enter passport info on four reservations, plus changing seat assignments in one of them.
Lots of cancel, cancel again, that sort of things, with pages in between slow to load.
lg-plane-tree-hds.jpg is over 500 kB and somehow it took 3000 ms to load. Admittedly running a vpn through my office which may slow things.
When looking at existing reservations, does not show seat assignments. You need to go to "print itinerary" or "change seats." It does however show a bunch of overly large pictures of rental cars that in 90% of cases no one cares about. Did Avis pay them for th crap, or what?
You change seats, in J. You need to press "pay" to confirm. It then gives you a bill for $0.00... But apparently won't let you return to "my bookings." Need to start over from the main page.
Things only get worse. Never better....
Took me 30 minutes to enter passport info on four reservations, plus changing seat assignments in one of them.
Lots of cancel, cancel again, that sort of things, with pages in between slow to load.
lg-plane-tree-hds.jpg is over 500 kB and somehow it took 3000 ms to load. Admittedly running a vpn through my office which may slow things.
When looking at existing reservations, does not show seat assignments. You need to go to "print itinerary" or "change seats." It does however show a bunch of overly large pictures of rental cars that in 90% of cases no one cares about. Did Avis pay them for th crap, or what?
You change seats, in J. You need to press "pay" to confirm. It then gives you a bill for $0.00... But apparently won't let you return to "my bookings." Need to start over from the main page.
Things only get worse. Never better....
Aug 13, 2016, 5:41 pm
#403
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 151
Agree (as a dev) the site is utterly terrible. Constant loading waits and needless additional popups. And changing the date for a return leg forces you back to repick the first leg. Every. Time.
Agree with everyone who says that the people making it have never been made to try and find flights on it.
Urgh.
Agree with everyone who says that the people making it have never been made to try and find flights on it.
Urgh.