I have done YYZ-SIN in J (including SQ J) before for $3,500. That was one rare time (but it was fantastic)

On AC, in P class

did YVR-YYZ-DEL return for $CDN 4,200 late last year (28,000 miles)

and recently YYZ-YVR-TPE return for $CDN 3,600 (24,000 miles)

my clients pleased with these fares, that in USD is significantly lower than what they had in their budgets for these projects.

15cpm is not "cheap" when your goal is "Most AQM for least $ in J".

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...dd742de0bb.png
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a2e20c8a4a.png

That's my past month of fun J fares on AC.

lol did not know deals like that ever existed in AC.

Best I've ever done with AC is 8CPM years ago which I thought was amazing all things considering.

I've done tons of UA P fares under 5CPM EX-Canada. You could hit UA 1K for $4000 CDN back in the good days doing only P mileage runs lol.

Can't even buy a R/T transcon in J for $4k nowadays on AC :D

I'm curious: non-Canadian resident examples seem moot, as they're exempt from the AQD requirement. Canadian resident examples seem equally moot, as you need to spend a defined AQD in order attain each status tier, calling into question the "least $" variable.
Finding a cheap P fare to Munich is great, but I struggle with the point if all I'm doing is turning around on the concourse and reboarding the same plane from whence I flew. Bavaria in the holiday season would seem to be a great place to explore for an extended weekend.
I suppose that's the aspect of avgeekery I can't comprehend; spending the time, money and effort to attain top-tier status, without the underlying need to fly at all, except for a few flights per year. If the flying was required for one's job, or with the goal of meaningfully exploring destinations, then it makes complete sense. Otherwise...I'm baffled. Why not simply buy cheap business fares when you need to travel - and automatically get all the perks that the SEs receive.

The easy answer is that these folks want to feel important. No matter what they say, I believe it’s the reason. And of course they enjoy aeroplanes.

I used to feel that way.

Takes about 25 years of flying for that need to go away…

Couldn't be further from the truth. Enjoying planes yes but I have no idea what feeling important has to do with buying cheap P fares for earning miles to burn later in INTL F, plus being able to go on holidays in comfort. All the P fares I booked for the purpose of earning miles still had an amazing destination, and I considered each trip a holiday(because it's so cheap I always had my +1 or a friend that was willing to come too). I never ever once thought that me buying P fares made me feel more important, but rather feel a sense of self accomplishment to be able to travel comfortably within my means.

Value is in the eyes of the beholder, has nothing to do with feeling important or what not. Would you spend $10K a year to have a track membership to drive exotics? Some would find that an amazing value while others would laugh at it.

I don't know why people are so concerned about how people spend their money and how they value it. It's just something that should never be debated.

This is only true when you're privileged and based out of the US... lol ;)

Please note a few posts have been edited or deleted as they dealt with maters beyond the thread topic so let's please focus on this topic and leave other discussions for other threads.

tcook052
AC forum Mod.

First, slight correction. Non-residents are subject to half the AQD requirement. We're not exempt.

However, it's irrelevant.

What about people who are at 75k AQM and $50k AQD? Would this not be useful? Knowing Dorian, I suspect this is much more along the lines of his situation.

Or what about people at 100k AQM and 20k AQD? Why not find a cheap J fare somewhere since the additional AQD is no longer required, and maybe you're just looking for a cheap vacation?

$20k AQD and 100k AQM requirements do not mean every flight has to cost 20+cpm. It doesn't even mean the average has to be 20+cpm. It means you need $20k AQD. If you do that on 2cpm fares, you still get the status.

Both of my Munich trips involved leaving the airport at YYZ and seeing friends/family. And SFO-YYZ-MUC-YYZ-SFO was cheaper than SFO-YYZ-SFO. So is this really that different than the Torontonian who drives to BUF and flies via EWR to get to MCO, rather than taking the more expensive YYZ-MCO flight?

"Need" is a strong word. I never "need" to travel. It's all discretionary. And J fares do not include all the perks SEs receive.

And I've explored (and will continue to explore) various destinations in 2017.

The RCHHMP are really out in this thread today. I post 5 segments I've flown in the past month, and you assume I don't "meaningfully exploring destinations" ? Even though one of those segments let me "explore" two different continents...

My regular travel is regular travel, and generally not worthy of even mentioning on FT. It's only these out-of-the-norm ones that get discussed. But then you assume that those are all I do. But you know what they say about those who assume...

No, as I mentioned, AQD does not play a part in this. I've also purchased fares like this on other alliances where I have no or negligible status.

What cow said above.

I've seen some YVR-BKK deals on 014 in P (i think) for under 3k CAD. Works out to about 23,000 AQMs.

Yes, I purchased one of those for January. Good value, and with NH J x 2 as well.

I'm in the middle of a YYC-BKK on 014 stock that was 2.6k... BR J on the TPE-BKK leg, too ^