Explanation for the $1300 price difference
 

I tried to book a direct flight from YYC to NRT. AC website showed this price.https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f723d6ff5a.png

When I tried LAX-NRT for the same dates, AC showed the same flights with a stopover in YYC for this price. The YYC-NRT segment flight numbers are the same.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3fa3d450f0.png

Can anyone help me out with an explanation for this?

Thanks

Demand and supply. Not many Angelenos want a flight to Tokyo that stops in a place they’ve never heard of.

I am seeing the same difference LAX-yvr-nrt! crazy

I just saw the same thing with UA booking... SFO-NRT is 1800!!! LAX-SFO-NRT is 775!!!! same dates!

Gotta fill those AC longhauls somehow!
​​​​​​Check out the current AC <$400 fares from HKG to SFO.

glitch? sixth freedom traffic..who knows.

When you're booking flights, the only thing that matters is origin and destination.

All this says to me is that there's a sale on LAX-NRT. It doesn't matter whether you connect in SFO, SEA, YVR, YYC, or anywhere else. You're buying a cheap LAX-NRT fare.

I understand that. I just cannot digest that LAX-YYC-NRT is so cheap but booking the YYC-NRT segment separately triples the price..

If you only care about price and don’t care about connections or travel time here is a potential option. Book a multi city originating in LAX to Tokyo, and back to YYC. Here is an example for your dates. It’s still not cheap, but it’s about a $400 saving after paying for a one way YYC-LAX

https://goo.gl/flights/vVj6X

Lots of airlines do these sorts of things when they are trying to capture traffic that might not otherwise use the airline. For example, would an American living in LA think to look for Air Canada's price? Not likely. AC is also trying to capture US traffic away from US carriers so make the price lower.

As another example, it's well known that if you want to fly transatlantic cheaper on British Airways, you start/end in Europe, not in London. I have flown BA to Milan, Italy (connecting in London) for half the price of a YYC-LHR flight. I had lunch in Milan and then flew back to London on a separate ticket. Who knew you could save $3,000 by having lunch in Milan?

Other airlines fly non stop LAX-NRT...AC doesn't. Of course they'll have to price it temptingly. OTOH they DO fly non stop YYC-NRT... and attach a price premium for the convenience. I wouldn't be at all surprised if another airline had exactly the reverse....

Never, EVER try to equate distance or number of flights with price. They are usually only tangentially related...and often appear to be completely unrelated.

what dates! i cant find!!

i've seen the same type of difference for SEA-NRT via YVR and just YVR-NRT direct. it could save you a thousand bucks to go down to SEA for the outbound and then just drop the last leg on the return but it would eat up the better part of a day.

There's a significant population of the Canadian travelling public, who for reasons of visa issues, or simply paranoia of US authorities, won't travel to overseas countries through the United States. AC knows this and prices their options ex-Canada accordingly. The election of the anti-immigration President was basically music to AC's ears as it accelerated their business of not only transporting (perhaps justifyingly) paranoid Canadians, but also those from South and Central America to Asia.

Leftovers of course are dumped in the US. So if you don't mind doing a quick one-way, enjoying a US city for a day, etc., and then flying back, it can be a bargain.

I just saw this price posted as a deal in the mileage run deal thread... Seems like spending half a day is worth the price difference....

This begs the question: is it possible to drop the *first* leg of an itinerary, and board on the second? In this example, rather than going down to SEA, would a person be able to book SEA-YVR-NRT but simply board in YVR?

(I did a quick search but didn't find anything on it.)

EDIT: ok, I found it. Missing the first leg voids the rest of the itinerary. Should have known it wouldn't work. :p

Can someone explain how to find such deals?
I have a YVR-NRT(or HND) flight to book for a couple of months from now, and would love to spend an extra day in LA or SanFran, especially if the price would be cheaper.

Things like this in airline pricing annoy me.

Other than specifically searching for different connecting cities, is there a way to find the cheapest deal for a PY Or J.

It requires work on your part, sometimes a little , sometimes a bit more than that.

There are some clues from @pitz in post 14, as well as elsewhere in the thread.

There are 2 FT threads that can sometimes offer great deals

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/premium-fare-deals-740/

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-deals-372/


There are various bloggers sites, some of who post deals they hear about on FT, or they copy and paste each other or sometimes, they actually post first.

Then there is Google Flights (GF for short). You can pull up a comfy chair and play with dates, different points of origin and your intended destination.

These are just some suggestions of the search tools etc that are available.

Thanks! Wish there was some type of smarter algorithm.

Edit:
Does anyone use VPN for better deals? Its often advertised as a reason to use a remote location, i.e. https://www.safervpn.com/blog/save-m...t-tickets-vpn/

I have not had any luck so far with this either.

I just gave you quick the things that were the usual basic sources.
There are many, and some are easier to find than others, plus some may require some sort of "subscription".
Either you need to do the work or you might want to consider paying someone to do it for you. Those services exist as well.

when i found this discrepancy a few years ago, i was just looking for fares, plain and simple. i searched for YVR - tokyo and then SEA - tokyo and i was astonished at the price difference in J.

these differences are all over the place. just remember that most people will pay more for a direct flight which is why AC tries to get people to fly up to canada to continue on elsewhere. personally, i feel that the average canadian consumer just doesn't shop around for the best deal. i remember looking for a particular item in vancouver. i found a store that had it for over $1100 plus they wanted 8 - 10 weeks for delivery! I found a store in NY that had it for $400 and shipped by UPS and i had it in four days. so who in their right mind would buy it from that store? the same things applies to flights. obviously, canadians are paying those inflated prices while our canadian airline sells cheaper to the americans.

BA does the same thing. people fly from the UK to amsterdam or similar to catch J or F flights for much cheaper than they would be originating in the UK. if they're smart, they book the return with a need to change airports (e.g. LHR to LGW) and conveniently miss the flight.

if i were paying full fare J for two, i would go to SEA if it meant saving a few thousand bucks.

It has been a pain getting flights out of YYC... I usually find it is cheaper to get a return ticket to LAX or SFO and then fly out from there......

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a289a93f37.png
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c9fbb5261b.png
Weird, my first attempt on google flights- YVR vs SEA to LED in June. Cheaper to depart YVR. This is for PY

Why? Because AC wants Canadians move to US, their IT can't handle so many Canadians flying.