That is my concern.

I don't care if they want to bring out a basic economy other than to see more CBC articles how AC didn't help Person X because they purchased the cheapest fare, blah blah

However, if this pushes prices up, that will be frustrating

reminds me of when they introduced Tango on TPACS. Made a SYD go from $2000-$2500 to $4,500 in flex

What about AQD? If the company only spends on lowest-fare, I wonder if these will count towards the annual spend? If not, quite a few people, including myself would be royally screwed.

In the Skift interview with Mark Nasr (AC’s VP for loyalty and e-commerce) that was published less than a month ago, he stated:

Now, with the introduction of Economy Basic, AC has the following fare classes:
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...82ca9f4160.png

... and of course, that is the simple view. The branded fare fiasco adds additional complexity, making it even harder to ensure that you're getting the right fare brand.

Good job, AC. Way to follow Mark's guidance.

If Tango prices remain the same and Basic Economy is less, then I am all for it.

As if that's going to happen...

Did a few search and seems AC has not start selling BE fares, curious which booking code they will use, UA uses N which is occupied by discount PE on AC.

No, I meant what I said.

We will have people without a brain who will buy these "low" fares. Then they will pay extra for a seat, for luggage, and one day, a fee to probably call a 1-800 number with a question.

Then, when they see the total, they might realize they paid more than they would have if they bought another fare class. And so they will whine and complain, etc.

Wow. AC really likes to overcomplicate things. I like how Tango was supposed to be the "restricted Y" fare, but now its a more flexible Y fare, but not "flex."

At this rate, navigating AC's fares will become a full time job. I already have to call my corporate TA whenever I book because I don't want to end up in a "low flex" fare and be stuck with a massive co pay on a domestic eup.

No need for Air Canada to use specific booking/fare codes. With the Branded Fares they've introduced, Economy Basic fares can span the entire alphabet if they wish.

I assume this is in response to Canada Jetlines, FlyToo and Swoop. Allows Air Canada to offer a similar product to those carriers - Particularly once they start flying Rouge narrowbodies between major Canadian city-pairs.

It looks like they’re trying a bit of a hybrid approach compared to what we’ve seen in the US. AC is allowing a carry-on and permitting advanced seat selection for a fee. I guess it’s “better” :rolleyes:

I believe this won't be the case, it will be a disaster for corp travel portal users as well as travel agents. Also BE won't earn any AQM make it impossible to share fare codes with other fare types.

To be clear they aren't offering advanced seat selection, they're offering to let you buy it at twice the price of Tango advanced seat selection.
I wonder if seat selection is free at T-24.
I also wonder if SE will get free selection like with Tango. I doubt it.

Wowwwwwwwwwww

Branded fares have already been a disaster for my corp travel portal. My corp portal is restricted to showing FLEX and LATITUDE fares only. However, if low FLEX fares are available, my portal only shows LATITUDE and I have to call in.

I don't see why this would make it impossible to share fare codes with other fare types. With the same fare code, AC is already able to determine how many AQMs and AQDs you receive. And only the fare basis (TANGO / FLEX) shows up in your Altitude dashboard. It'd be very easy for AC to say WxxxBasic earns 0 AQM, 0 AQD, 0 AQS.