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Surprised how cheap YVR-PVG is with AC

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Surprised how cheap YVR-PVG is with AC

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Old Mar 29, 2019, 2:49 pm
  #31  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
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So, are we happy with the low price due to competition, or we are not happy because those who fly the monopoly/oligopoly routes are “subsidizing” the routes with competition?
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 2:53 pm
  #32  
 
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I flew this route a couple weeks ago. STL-YYZ-PVG RT $450 USD. Full flights both times YYZ-PVG. With regards to the "China Threat" I will mention I was pretty much the only Laowai on that flight, and definitely, the only one going to Mainland. The others were connecting to Thailand. Saw mostly PRC passports when boarding.

Last edited by noahsilv; Mar 29, 2019 at 2:59 pm
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 2:57 pm
  #33  
 
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I know this doesn't matter as much at this price but I do want to say that Air Canada was significantly worse than most of the Asian carriers I've flown. Tight 789 seats in Y, Terrible food, basically no snacks, nonexistent service. I'd avoid AC to Asia unless they offered these cheap fares, so maybe this is reflective of that a bit. Why would I fly AC when I could fly CX or CA
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 3:04 pm
  #34  
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Originally Posted by noahsilv
I know this doesn't matter as much at this price but I do want to say that Air Canada was significantly worse than most of the Asian carriers I've flown. Tight 789 seats in Y, Terrible food, basically no snacks, nonexistent service. I'd avoid AC to Asia unless they offered these cheap fares, so maybe this is reflective of that a bit. Why would I fly AC when I could fly CX or CA
Surprisingly I've never done a long haul flight with AC before. I've had decent experiences with CA and CX, but in this case, both CX and CA were about $150 more. I see no reason to spend $150 more just for economy seats. For J seats, ok, I can understand.
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 3:06 pm
  #35  
 
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For me it depends on the destination. I was headed to PVG so this flight made sense. But if I was going somewhere else in Asia I'd definitely pay $150 more to say connect at HKG vs PVG and fly CX (Esp if its the 9 across 777).
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 3:06 pm
  #36  
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Originally Posted by songsc
So, are we happy with the low price due to competition, or we are not happy because those who fly the monopoly/oligopoly routes are “subsidizing” the routes with competition?
lol! I think the thread got derailed...I'm definitely happy even though this is on economy. Even CA offered decent J fares to HKG from YVR. I checked last week, but the dates didn't worked out for me C$2251 for YVR-PEK-HKG.
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 3:08 pm
  #37  
 
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Originally Posted by lsquare
lol! I think the thread got derailed...I'm definitely happy even though this is on economy. Even CA offered decent J fares to HKG from YVR. I checked last week, but the dates didn't worked out for me C$2251 for YVR-PEK-HKG.
Check Hainan? Best mainland airline probably. Should fly that route too.
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 3:34 pm
  #38  
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Originally Posted by noahsilv
For me it depends on the destination. I was headed to PVG so this flight made sense. But if I was going somewhere else in Asia I'd definitely pay $150 more to say connect at HKG vs PVG and fly CX (Esp if its the 9 across 777).
CX is moving to 10 across for their 777.
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 4:39 pm
  #39  
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Originally Posted by noahsilv
I know this doesn't matter as much at this price but I do want to say that Air Canada was significantly worse than most of the Asian carriers I've flown. Tight 789 seats in Y, Terrible food, basically no snacks, nonexistent service. I'd avoid AC to Asia unless they offered these cheap fares, so maybe this is reflective of that a bit. Why would I fly AC when I could fly CX or CA
Well duh. You cant really compare AC to BR/CX, but even flying on CZ and CA in Y i felt was better than AC (albeit not longhaul) - well minus the opups on AC - those are always welcome.

That does kinda answer the surprise in the title of this thread doesnt it, noone will pay premium to fly the garbage that is AC Y (and PY for that matter)
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 5:14 pm
  #40  
 
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Originally Posted by noahsilv
Check Hainan? Best mainland airline probably. Should fly that route too.
I tried them on one of my five trips from YYZ to PEK/PVG/SHA last year, the rest were AC..

If you want your meal drink (aka wine) one hour after your meal you will like the slightly lower price. Most of the FAs are very young and speak very good English, the problem is they do not understand it when asked a question...but this is traveling in some fast developing economies. I have flown most of their domestic carriers in the country where this is not a problem but I expect a little more on a long TPAC flight.

I'm currently hoping to find a decent price for a YYZ - HKG flight for late August, it is a ways off but right now AC price is more than I want to pay..

Bob
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Old Mar 29, 2019, 11:02 pm
  #41  
 
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Last November, you could have flown YVR-PEK Return for $394 all in for the entire month of April 2019 and it wasn't even a publicized seat sale and no Canadians had been detained yet so not politics, just heavy competition. I procrastinated and by the time i purchased a few weeks later, I still paid less than $600 per person all in round trip which is less than what I usually pay YVR-YYZ. Mainland China has been cheap for many years.
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Old Mar 30, 2019, 10:18 am
  #42  
 
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Originally Posted by CDN_BOBCAT
I tried them on one of my five trips from YYZ to PEK/PVG/SHA last year, the rest were AC..

If you want your meal drink (aka wine) one hour after your meal you will like the slightly lower price. Most of the FAs are very young and speak very good English, the problem is they do not understand it when asked a question...but this is traveling in some fast developing economies. I have flown most of their domestic carriers in the country where this is not a problem but I expect a little more on a long TPAC flight.

I'm currently hoping to find a decent price for a YYZ - HKG flight for late August, it is a ways off but right now AC price is more than I want to pay..

Bob
I understand the frustration. I speak a little (albeit terrible) Chinese so that is helpful when flying the mainland carriers. I did find the service to be quite good when I've flown them though.
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Old Nov 30, 2019, 5:03 pm
  #43  
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Originally Posted by lsquare
I've never flown AC to China before. Saw YVR-PVG for C$605 return on a 787 in Y. I think I should get at least 50% EQM with OZ since it's L-fare. It's even cheaper than flying to PEK (not sure why that's the case considering PEK is closer to YVR). I decided to give it a try. My only complaint is the timing. I wish it leaves YVR a little earlier and PVG a little later so that I can get more time in PVG. Anyone here surprised how cheap the fares are to PVG at the moment?

@lsquare

When you posted this thread in March, you were commenting on how cheap AC fares were on YVR-PVG
Discussion ensued about the variety of reasons.

I just noticed that there are fares even lower than what you saw but of course, it's about timing, and in this case, ex-USA

These are Y Standard with 50% AQM. I would assume, there are still those for whom price is more important than mileage or status accumulation.

LAS-YVR-PVG versus YVR-PVG. Note, fares are $USD to make the comparison.

LAS-YVR-PVG






YVR-PVG







Obviously no point here in routing to LAS to save $9 USD but it was PVG that I noticed in the first place.
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