Will Air Canada Cancel a Reservation if I Buy Two Flights?
#151
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My point is I don't think there's any proven way to consistently game the system.
#152
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#153
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But I don't really see the point. If it's impossible to take both flights, assume one will be cancelled. If it is possible to take both, but they're close enough together that one might get flagged anyway, I don't even know if there's anything they can do to stop it.
#154
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I expended a decent amount of Concierge time in trying to find a way, with no success. They tried adding remarks to the file, they called their help desk, all sorts of stuff. No one was aware of any way to prevent the system from cancelling one, even if both were flyable and you intended to fly them.
#155
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#156
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But by the time you take that up with AC's legal department, it will be months after the flight has left without you. Or you've bought a new ticket at the current price.
#157
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I expended a decent amount of Concierge time in trying to find a way, with no success. They tried adding remarks to the file, they called their help desk, all sorts of stuff. No one was aware of any way to prevent the system from cancelling one, even if both were flyable and you intended to fly them.
I would rather make that choice then let AC's system make it for me.
Thanks for the info.
#158
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So how safe is it to make 2 bookings from same OD within 12 hours of each other but different calendar days 23 and 24 Dec? Fully upfront the 24th flight would be purchased in flex or better to ensure free cancellations in the case of weather complications.
If I fly a boy up on the 23rd, to drive a vehicle down but then their second flight is cancelled and they miss Christmas, I will not be permitted to enjoy my holiday.
How soon would I see the central control decision?
If I fly a boy up on the 23rd, to drive a vehicle down but then their second flight is cancelled and they miss Christmas, I will not be permitted to enjoy my holiday.
How soon would I see the central control decision?
#159
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Fully upfront the 24th flight would be purchased in flex or better to ensure free cancellations in the case of weather complications.
How soon would I see the central control decision?
#161
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Thanks all! Learning something new about how AC works here.
Yeah, the agent did specifically say "this happens rarely", which I understood to mean that it is infrequent, but not unexpected. He seemed to sympathise that it's not a reassuring situation, but didn't have any ideas about what to do about my future travels with nested (new term for me, thanks) bookings. He did not say or suggest that it was a fare rule or minimum stay requirement issue; he specifically said it appeared to be a "duplicate booking", even though clearly the dates and to/from are different. Based on the discussion here I'll at least double check that there isn't any minimum stay with the employer flights that my nested flights might appear to be trying to work around.
Spoiler
#162
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If you have two reservations for the same O-D on different days, how many days apart must they be? For example, I'm fairly certain if they were 7 days apart, there would be no issue. What about 2 days apart? What about 1 day apart (two successive days)?
#163
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The best way to test this would be for someone with a UFP to try it out and see, but I don't have any of those at the moment. Next-best would be with refundable fares.
It's also possible that the algorithm is so complex that even if we do some testing, we won't uncover exactly how it works. I've never figured out why it didn't flag the three conflicting flights I once had, or why some other things don't get flagged.
#164
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I don't know. They've definitely cancelled flights on the same O-D pairing on back-to-back days on me. Even when I had return flights booked, e.g. YYC-YUL-YYC on back-to-back days. And I know that they cancelled IAH-YYC on another FTer when he had it booked two days in a row.
The best way to test this would be for someone with a UFP to try it out and see, but I don't have any of those at the moment. Next-best would be with refundable fares.
It's also possible that the algorithm is so complex that even if we do some testing, we won't uncover exactly how it works. I've never figured out why it didn't flag the three conflicting flights I once had, or why some other things don't get flagged.
The best way to test this would be for someone with a UFP to try it out and see, but I don't have any of those at the moment. Next-best would be with refundable fares.
It's also possible that the algorithm is so complex that even if we do some testing, we won't uncover exactly how it works. I've never figured out why it didn't flag the three conflicting flights I once had, or why some other things don't get flagged.
I have only ever being marked duplicated for bookings that involve the same flight. E.g I once booked YYZ-YUL-LHR and then booked a separate ticket for YYZ-YUL. And almost immediately the duplicated booking remarks appeared on both bookings and demanded a resolution by X date.
I also booked same day LHR-YYZ on different flights and appeared to be no issue as both reservations stayed alive for a few days before I cancelled one.
I also booked same day NRT-YVR-YYZ and NRT-YUL-YTZ and both reservations stayed alive for days until I cancelled one. But these are technically not the same OD pair so they might escape the mighty duplicated booking detection.
These are my anecdotes.
#165
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Just overheard an example of this when I was dealing with an agent. Woman to my right was complaining because 2 bookings she had were "There this morning". AC spontaneously cancelled one booking and then cancelled the remaining flight.
She was quite perturbed b/c this was "precisely why she made 2 bookings" she informed everyone in a 2 gate radius.
Further twist, it sounded like she booked a redundant second leg, given fragments of the conversation.
She was quite perturbed b/c this was "precisely why she made 2 bookings" she informed everyone in a 2 gate radius.
Further twist, it sounded like she booked a redundant second leg, given fragments of the conversation.