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-   -   ITA Matrix and AC reservations (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-canada-aeroplan/1813279-ita-matrix-ac-reservations.html)

jasdou Jan 6, 2017 8:47 am

ITA Matrix and AC reservations
 
I generated a rather simple multi-city itinerary using Matrix ITA and used the link generated by Powertools to book on AC.com. I was able to fill in all the passenger information, select seats and enter my credit card details. However, AC.com told me something was wrong and that I should call in to complete the booking with the flight numbers and fare classes I had selected.

I called in, talked to a nice agent who tried getting me the same fare Matrix gave me and failed, claiming that the inventory had been sold out "3 minutes" before I completed my reservation, the last seats in those fare classes having been purchased by two ladies from what he could see in his system, hence why the website rejected my booking. The agent said the first two legs were now only available in high Flex (H) and return two legs were only available now in Latitude (B), nearly tripling the cost of the ticket.

I really doubt that the agent's system allows him to see that "two ladies" had just snagged the last seats "3 minutes" before me, but I could be wrong.

Initial routing was Jan 30th AC8909, AC7532 and return was Jan 31st AC2896, AC8926. Matrix ITA still shows these flights and fares as available. Thoughts?

doubleflier Jan 6, 2017 9:08 am

I would try again.

A few weeks ago, was trying to book a P fare available online, but was upgrading from a current booking....

Was showing 3 available online when on the phone with AC.

Agent 1 said it wasn't available. Gave up with agent 1. Called back and Agent 2 booked it right away.

Hopefully you get it sorted.

Adam Smith Jan 6, 2017 2:46 pm

Not uncommon for Matrix to pull up things that aren't or are no longer available.

According to EF, on the outbound is only available in H, so that checks out with what the agent said:

AC (**) 8909 0 YQB
01/30/17 5:00 AM YYZ
01/30/17 6:53 AM DH4
Daily
69% / 20m Y9 B9 M9 U9 H6 Q0 V0 W0 G0 S0 T0 L0 A0 K0

AC (**) 7532 0 YYZ
01/30/17 8:25 AM PHL
01/30/17 9:52 AM E75
Daily
75% / 28m J9 C9 D9 Z9 P8 R7 Y9 B9 M9 U9 H6 Q0 V0 W0 G0 S0 T0 L0 A0 K0

On the return:

AC (**) 2896 0 EWR
01/31/17 5:30 PM YYZ
01/31/17 7:12 PM ERJ
Su,M,T,W,Th,F
67% / 40m Y4 B4 M4 U4 H4 Q4 V4 W0 G0 S0 T0 L0 A0 K0

AC (**) 8926 0 YYZ
01/31/17 8:50 PM YQB
01/31/17 10:27 PM DH4
Daily
66% / 35m Y9 B9 M1 U0 H0 Q0 V0 W0 G0 S0 T0 L0 A0 K0

If you're trying to book for two pax, the Y9 B9 M1 of the second flight might force the whole thing to Latitude.

I wouldn't bother calling AC again. Can't speak to the veracity of the agent's story about two ladies booking, but the rest seems to check out.

YHZ_Flyer Apr 12, 2017 6:16 pm

Didn't want to start a new thread. Helping a buddy of mine try to find flights to come to YHZ this summer, from BJX. Right now Air Canada wants $1000 CAD for a specific combination of flights booking into high flex H. When I search this itinerary on ITA I see it for $694 CAD booking into Tango G. I used powertools to force it over to Air Canada. I am just wondering what people's success rate using powertools for situations like this is? I don't really want to try booking it yet as his plans aren't 100% confirmed, so don't want to deal with booking then cancelling just to see if it works.

Adam Smith Apr 12, 2017 6:23 pm

It will likely error out when you try to complete the booking. Matrix caches availability, so it's likely that it simply hasn't refreshed availability recently.

YYT82 Apr 12, 2017 6:34 pm


Originally Posted by YHZ_Flyer (Post 28170119)
Didn't want to start a new thread. Helping a buddy of mine try to find flights to come to YHZ this summer, from BJX. Right now Air Canada wants $1000 CAD for a specific combination of flights booking into high flex H. When I search this itinerary on ITA I see it for $694 CAD booking into Tango G. I used powertools to force it over to Air Canada. I am just wondering what people's success rate using powertools for situations like this is? I don't really want to try booking it yet as his plans aren't 100% confirmed, so don't want to deal with booking then cancelling just to see if it works.

Works wonders for me.

Edit: You might want to check which version (CA/US) you should book though. There was one instance where AC.com wanted to book me into H, but I was able to use UA.com to book G because the US point of sale inventory was different than the Canadian point of sale inventory.

CanRulez Apr 12, 2017 6:39 pm


Originally Posted by Adam Smith (Post 28170147)
It will likely error out when you try to complete the booking. Matrix caches availability, so it's likely that it simply hasn't refreshed availability recently.

I was reading Adam's original reply and thinking, "wow, those loads....and several months down the road...in January of all months...".

Then I realized someone had latched onto an old thread....LOL

hydrogen Apr 12, 2017 7:19 pm


Originally Posted by Adam Smith (Post 28170147)
It will likely error out when you try to complete the booking. Matrix caches availability, so it's likely that it simply hasn't refreshed availability recently.

I was under the assumption that AC availability is based on origin-destination and that Matrix doesn't deal with married segments - which is why Matrix sometimes shows things that AC doesn't offer. Is that true?

Adam Smith Apr 12, 2017 7:23 pm


Originally Posted by YYT82 (Post 28170194)
Works wonders for me.

Edit: You might want to check which version (CA/US) you should book though. There was one instance where AC.com wanted to book me into H, but I was able to use UA.com to book G because the US point of sale inventory was different than the Canadian point of sale inventory.

Not sure that's likely to be the issue on a Mexico-Canada issue, but it's possible.


Originally Posted by hydrogen (Post 28170347)
I was under the assumption that AC availability is based on origin-destination and that Matrix doesn't deal with married segments - which is why Matrix sometimes shows things that AC doesn't offer. Is that true?

I'm not an expert on Matrix, but a quick Googling suggests that's not the case. In fact, this thread on another forum suggests Matrix is actually quite good at dealing with married segments.

CanRulez Apr 12, 2017 7:32 pm

I wish there was an ITA Matrix user guide with advanced codes used by AC passengers.

This tool has so much potential, but I have yet to figure out the more complex scenarios and how to code that into the tool.

Adam Smith Apr 12, 2017 7:43 pm

There's already a user guide for advanced routing codes...

CanRulez Apr 12, 2017 7:52 pm


Originally Posted by Adam Smith (Post 28170431)
There's already a user guide for advanced routing codes...

Yes, I guess I need some hand-holding though or a user guide with common but complex use cases/examples a typical AC passenger may go through. I have EF as well, but I'm only using it to 10% of its potential.

For example, I still haven't figured out the proper syntax when I want to force a *A flight.

canadiancow Apr 12, 2017 8:08 pm


Originally Posted by YYT82 (Post 28170194)
Works wonders for me.

Edit: You might want to check which version (CA/US) you should book though. There was one instance where AC.com wanted to book me into H, but I was able to use UA.com to book G because the US point of sale inventory was different than the Canadian point of sale inventory.

If that's the case, you can do it on AC.com.

Just choose "US English" :p


Originally Posted by hydrogen (Post 28170347)
I was under the assumption that AC availability is based on origin-destination and that Matrix doesn't deal with married segments - which is why Matrix sometimes shows things that AC doesn't offer. Is that true?

If EF can show married segment availability, I have to assume ITA can.

Adam Smith Apr 12, 2017 8:24 pm


Originally Posted by CanRulez (Post 28170457)
Yes, I guess I need some hand-holding though or a user guide with common but complex use cases/examples a typical AC passenger may go through. I have EF as well, but I'm only using it to 10% of its potential.

For example, I still haven't figured out the proper syntax when I want to force a *A flight.

/ alliance star-alliance. A helpful guide is here.

The codes that will be useful to you really depend on what you want to do.

Last year I wanted to fly YYC-LON (stop)-ZRH; ATH-YYC. I wanted to do it on *A and I wanted to fly home on FRA-YVR so I could do 747 upper deck.

So I searched multi-city, YYC-LHR; LCY-ZRH and had to do ATH-FRA and FRA-YYC separately to get the FRA-YVR-YYC I wanted in the end.

I used the / alliance star-alliance filter to only get *A flights.

I used the N filter to only get non-stops on YYC-LHR, LCY-ZRH and ATH-FRA flights. I filtered by connecting airport to get the connection through YVR on the way home.

And so on...

But you may have completely different needs. So if the guide still isn't clear, feel free to post questions and I'm sure people here will try to help (I will).

CanRulez Apr 12, 2017 8:35 pm


Originally Posted by Adam Smith (Post 28170571)
/ alliance star-alliance. A helpful guide is here.

The codes that will be useful to you really depend on what you want to do.

Last year I wanted to fly YYC-LON (stop)-ZRH; ATH-YYC. I wanted to do it on *A and I wanted to fly home on FRA-YVR so I could do 747 upper deck.

So I searched multi-city, YYC-LHR; LCY-ZRH and had to do ATH-FRA and FRA-YYC separately to get the FRA-YVR-YYC I wanted in the end.

I used the / alliance star-alliance filter to only get *A flights.

I used the N filter to only get non-stops on YYC-LHR, LCY-ZRH and ATH-FRA flights. I filtered by connecting airport to get the connection through YVR on the way home.

And so on...

But you may have completely different needs. So if the guide still isn't clear, feel free to post questions and I'm sure people here will try to help (I will).

Thanks Adam. I appreciate the link to the guide. I'll take another look and see if this one is more clear.


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