Introducing Air Canada Basic Economy
Feb 18, 2019, 9:31 pm
#196
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: *G^2, Bonvoyed, NEXUS
Posts: 3,506
Coming soon: Air Canada to introduce Economy Basic on select Asia Pacific routes
From AC travel agent newsletter:
Air Canada will introduce the Economy Basic fare for travel over the Pacific effective February 25, 2019. The Economy Basic fare will be offered on select routes and flights to/from Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, as of this date.
The addition of Economy Basic fares to these select Asia Pacific markets will allow AirCanada to offer a choice of products and services that best meet customers’ individual travel needs.
The last two characters of the fare basis code for the fare type on your GDS will be:
The addition of Economy Basic fares to these select Asia Pacific markets will allow AirCanada to offer a choice of products and services that best meet customers’ individual travel needs.
The last two characters of the fare basis code for the fare type on your GDS will be:
- BA = Basic
Feb 19, 2019, 8:22 am
#198
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Western Europe
Posts: 205
Hi, didn't want to open a new thread and figured it fits into this one. Is it possible that AC categorically prevents booking standard economy tickets on very short-notice, i.e. 1-3 days prior to departure? I've just tried a couple of routes from Germany to Canada and Chile and surprisingly, despite Expertflyer showing plenty of availability, the "Standard" option on Aircanada.com has been greyed out every time. Is AC steering people towards more expensive tickets for short-notice flights?
Feb 19, 2019, 8:59 am
#199
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: YCM
Programs: Aeroplan, Marriot, Hilton, IHG, P25K
Posts: 129
Feb 19, 2019, 9:25 am
#200
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Western Europe
Posts: 205
Feb 19, 2019, 9:37 am
#201
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 669
Hong Kong Airlines? Basically all airlines from a China? Plus, CX currently has capacity problem and is bleeding a lot of money. They are selling the YVR-HKG route at crazy low prices, including their J cabin.
Feb 19, 2019, 11:37 am
#202
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: YAM, CIU, CGN
Programs: AC FOTSG, DL WM
Posts: 190
Is it possible that AC categorically prevents booking standard economy tickets on very short-notice, i.e. 1-3 days prior to departure? I've just tried a couple of routes from Germany to Canada and Chile and surprisingly, despite Expertflyer showing plenty of availability, the "Standard" option on Aircanada.com has been greyed out every time. Is AC steering people towards more expensive tickets for short-notice flights?
You also need to have "Standard" class seats available on the flights you want to take. The airline only makes a certain number of seats on each flight available at or below a given fare level.
Feb 19, 2019, 12:50 pm
#203
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: YVR
Programs: UA Premier Platinum
Posts: 3,759
Low price is not the same thing as low cost. All the airlines you referenced are full service and do not have equivalent fare types to "basic economy" on AC.
Last edited by eigenvector; Feb 19, 2019 at 2:42 pm
Feb 19, 2019, 3:09 pm
#204
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 669
Feb 19, 2019, 5:53 pm
#205
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: YVR
Programs: UA Premier Platinum
Posts: 3,759
BS. I checked CX, HX, MU, and CA and none of them offer a completely non-changeable hand baggage only fare ex-YVR. I stopped searching after 4 airlines because that was enough to determine you have no idea what you're talking about.
Feb 19, 2019, 7:31 pm
#206
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 669
You do know CX discounts are not available online and Chinese airlines charge differently for NA to Asia? You should not call BS if you don’t know what you are talking about. Looking online, does not give you answer like many people think on FT. Quick examples, my Jan flight on CX to HKG. CX J ticket online was $7000 CDN. One quick call to Hong Kong, got ticket for $3900.
Feb 19, 2019, 7:53 pm
#207
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: YVR
Programs: UA Premier Platinum
Posts: 3,759
You do know CX discounts are not available online and Chinese airlines charge differently for NA to Asia? You should not call BS if you don’t know what you are talking about. Looking online, does not give you answer like many people think on FT. Quick examples, my Jan flight on CX to HKG. CX J ticket online was $7000 CDN. One quick call to Hong Kong, got ticket for $3900.
Feb 19, 2019, 9:36 pm
#208
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
Different airlines treat BE fares differently, particularly for their dime a dozen elites. For instance, I'm travelling in June on UA's brand-new TATL BE fare and have the following benefits as UA Gold:
All that being said, I'll be extremely worried the second AC or the other * partners implement Economy Basic on TPAC routes. It's one thing to make the experience miserable on a short-haul TATL flight, it's a whole other to make the experience miserable on an 18 hour long haul TPAC flight!
Safe Travels,
James
- 3 Checked Bags of up to 70 lbs each
- Complimentary E+ seat assignment at booking (whilst the loophole exists)
- Zone 1 boarding and the usual priority benefits
- Lounge Access
- 50% milage accrual
All that being said, I'll be extremely worried the second AC or the other * partners implement Economy Basic on TPAC routes. It's one thing to make the experience miserable on a short-haul TATL flight, it's a whole other to make the experience miserable on an 18 hour long haul TPAC flight!
Safe Travels,
James
Feb 20, 2019, 1:20 am
#209
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: YVR
Programs: UA Premier Platinum
Posts: 3,759
If an airline makes a fare ineligible for any FF benefits, they are effectively saying "if you are in the market for this kind of fare, we do not care about your loyalty". Which is entirely their prerogative to say. Travellers can then be free to choose the lowest fare without the psychological encumbrance of worrying about mileage accrual.
UA has made certain business decisions about who they want to target with their FF program and AC has made different ones. Remember AC dropped accrual on the lowest fares domestically to 25% quite some time ago. Going from 25% to 0% isn't much of a leap.
UA has made certain business decisions about who they want to target with their FF program and AC has made different ones. Remember AC dropped accrual on the lowest fares domestically to 25% quite some time ago. Going from 25% to 0% isn't much of a leap.
Feb 20, 2019, 1:18 pm
#210
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: London, Vancouver, Tokyo, San Francisco, NYC
Posts: 265
I completed a AC transatlantic basic economy flight to London. Overall, no big difference from AC Standard/Tango economy as E75K:
On the other hand, restrictions are,
Considering the price difference, it is not a bad option at least for me.
As for the upgrade, e-upgrade is not applicable but surprisingly I received voluntary upgrade in domestic part legs for each
- 3 Checked Bags
- Zone 2 boarding
- Lounge Access
- 25 % Miles (vs 50% for Standard)
- Seat selection at check-in or paid advance
On the other hand, restrictions are,
- No chance of change/cancel (200 CAD for Standard vs No possibility )
- No chance of e-upgrade (** I am not sure if upgrade from Standard will sustain, I won't take as far as co-payment exists )
Considering the price difference, it is not a bad option at least for me.
As for the upgrade, e-upgrade is not applicable but surprisingly I received voluntary upgrade in domestic part legs for each
Different airlines treat BE fares differently, particularly for their dime a dozen elites. For instance, I'm travelling in June on UA's brand-new TATL BE fare and have the following benefits as UA Gold:
All that being said, I'll be extremely worried the second AC or the other * partners implement Economy Basic on TPAC routes. It's one thing to make the experience miserable on a short-haul TATL flight, it's a whole other to make the experience miserable on an 18 hour long haul TPAC flight!
Safe Travels,
James
- 3 Checked Bags of up to 70 lbs each
- Complimentary E+ seat assignment at booking (whilst the loophole exists)
- Zone 1 boarding and the usual priority benefits
- Lounge Access
- 50% milage accrual
All that being said, I'll be extremely worried the second AC or the other * partners implement Economy Basic on TPAC routes. It's one thing to make the experience miserable on a short-haul TATL flight, it's a whole other to make the experience miserable on an 18 hour long haul TPAC flight!
Safe Travels,
James