psoque

I just purchased an open-jaw ticket from United for a trip next year in September. We will fly from Indy to Athens on United metal, and the return from Rome to Indy is operated by Air Canada (codeshare). We bought a standard economy fare, NOT basic economy on United website. It was my understanding that when we purchase standard economy from United, there will be no checked luggage fee, and there will be no fee to get our seats assigned ahead of time.

I was able to get the seat assignments (for free) for the United-operated portions of the itinerary before purchasing the flights, but the United website told me to wait until "November 2" to get the seats assigned for the Air Canada segments. So I logged onto United.com today (Nov. 2) and was surprised to see that it is still not available. So I went to Air Canada website and pulled the reservation using the Air Canada PNR for the same reservation. Air Canada is asking money to get the seats assigned.

Is this the way Air Canada flights are sold by United as codeshare? Despite the fact that we paid a little more over basic economy to have the ability to get our seats assigned ahead of time, that "privilege" only applies to flights operated by United? If this is the case, that's another reason code-sharing allows airlines to be somewhat fraudulent.

douglasr

Ultimately, the features services you receive on a codeshare flight depend on the fare class of the airline whose metal you're flying on, not on what you might receive from the airline you're purchasing from. Cow (or someone) will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that United's "Standard" roughly translates to Air Canada's "Standard", and on Air Canada a "Standard" fare does not include advanced seat selection without a fee. That being said, this also might be an issue whereby the website is unable to deal with your seat selection without charging you a fee, but without knowing the fare class it's harder to do anything other than speculate. You could try calling Air Canada and pleading your case though YMMV.

FlyerTalker70

... and to add further complication to this matter, AC has a very convoluted system of fares and the benefits assigned to them referred to as a branded fare. So for a given fare code (i.e. A) it could be Standard or Flex, the latter of which gives you free seat selection. UA doesn't know how to handle this nonsense and can only distinguish between Basic and Normal Economy. It's looking like your AC segment may be Standard but again who knows without calling AC and pleading your case.

To illustrate the insanity of this new system, here's a description of the various types of Economy fares AC makes available (5 different types of Economy fares!):


If you can make sense of that gobbily gook I congratulate you!

Safe Travels,

James

flyquiet

I wondered whether the reference to "after Nov 2" was a reference to the Amadeus cutover, with the wrong date.

codfather

It may be worth calling, but it is definitely a case of YMMV. Believe me, I am equally as frustrated as you by ACs foolish fare system and having to pay for advanced seat assignment.

AC is a great airline IMO, but they still test my patience on unusual things such as this.

FlyerTalker70

Also forgot to mention that I booked 2 award Y seats on AC through UA today and could select seats on the UA site. Maybe try again? If not call UA first and see if they could do it for you. Chances are they may be more sympathetic to your case than an AC agent!

-James

aznfreak007

code sharing means diddly squat. never buy code shared flights to avoid nasty surprises.

you are bound to rules of the operating carrier. i always fly to the US with united because seat selection is free when not buying basic and in case of irrops, you get better service and choice on ua whereas ac you need to buy their "on my way" insurance, otherwise, it's rare that they would book you on other carriers.

FlyerTalker70

Easy for you to say! Sometimes the codeshares are cheaper than buying the flight on native metal. In other cases, codeshares are the only option for a given itinerary (i.e. flying from the US to HKG connecting on NH in TYO to HKG) given plating restrictions.

You are correct in stating that it's always the operating carrier that sets the rules but to dismiss codeshares out of hand seriously limits the options OP has for flights. Even if OP, "did the right thing" and booked direct that segment with AC, he would still need a degree in rocket science to figure out which of the half dozen economy fare types actually gets him what he wants.

-James

psoque

Just to give you more context to my situation, here are the details.

I could have purchased an "all-Air Canada" itinerary with no codesharing nonsense, but that would have forced me to take a transatlantic segment on Air Canada Rouge. I'm not saying United is by any stretch of imagination better, but I've read too many terrible things about Air Canada Rouge for us not to "try it for the first time" on a long flight. Just to make our decision easier, this "All-Air Canada" itinerary was about $200 USD more per person than the itinerary we ultimately chose, which is United/Air Canada combination (all-United going, all-Air Canada on return, sold as codeshare by United) that we purchased from United. And the Air Canada segment of the itinerary has none of that Rouge.

I guess my point is that if United wants to "get the piece of the action" by selling Air Canada flights on codeshare, they should be obligated to disclose exactly what the fees are when we pay for "standard" economy vs. basic economy for ALL SEGMENTS of the itinerary they are selling. If they are choosing to let the operating airline dictate the fees, United should clearly say that their "if you pay regular economy, you will avoid paying to choose your seats" mantra do not apply to flights operated by Air Canada.

aznfreak007

my point was not avoiding codeshare flights. i am totally agree with you that sometimes it is cheaper or better routing with codeshare. years ago, i've booked a direct ac flight (ua code) to the us and it is much cheaper than buying native code with ac plating or buying united flights with stopover (ua plating).

i've bought some code share on trans pacific or trans atlantic flights too. my point is that one needs to follow the rules of the operating carier. when i bought flights to hong kong or bangkok with a mixed of NH and UA, i know that i would earn less on aeroplan on my tokyo and hong kong/bangkok nh segment despite being a ua codeshare. 30% instead of the usual 50% on a k class.

also, when i fly trans Atlantic, flying back on a UA code share on swiss or lufthansa, i know that my carry on could be scrutinized and i packed accordingly.

same for ac code on cathay pacific, i don't think that the extra luggage allowance for star gold is honored when coming back to north America.

emcampbe

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but figured better than starting a new one.

Been a while since I've flown AC and needed to pay for seats (I've mostly been flying with the kids, so they take care of those). If I pay for a seat assignment in advance, I understand they are non-refundable (unless AC moves me), but what about changing to a different seat? Is the value retained? So let's say I pay for an aisle in row 20, and want to move to an aisle in row 15 later (seats cost the same?). Will they use the value of the payment to cover that? What about if a preferred seat becomes available. If I paid $25 for my regular seat, but want to move to a preferred seat near the front that costs $40, will they just charge me the $15 difference?

Also, thinking about potentially booking this via an agent (may want to use some Chase points). After confirming the booing, can I select/pay for seats on the AC site, or will they not allow that on 3rd party bookings?

Appreciate any insight.