Vit007

Hello,

For the flights I am looking, they are about $300 cheaper than when booking through Expedia than directly through Air Canada. The reason they are cheaper is because it is 2 connections vs 1 that I can book directly with AC. I can not book directly with AC online as there are non AC operated flights. At least I can not book on AC website, I have not tried calling AC yet. According to ITA matrix these are AC issued tickets. The flights are: Canada->Europe (EU)->Europe (non-EU). My questions are:
1) What happens if there is a schedule change prior to the flight, which cause misconnect? Who deals with it - AC or Expedia? I am guessing Expedia. If it is Expedia, what are they going to do - e.g. can I ask them to put on one connection flight without extra charge?
2) What happens if there flight delay/cancellation/etc. once I left the port of origin - is it still Expedia who I need to deal with, or do the airlines take over at that time? If it is Expedia, what do they normally do?
3) What if gets more complicated: outbound is AC ticket, returning is Austrian Airlines ticket, all booked as the same itinerary - does that change anything for questions 1 & 2?

The reason I am even considering booking: this my schedule for this trip is somewhat flexible - e.g. if I am late by a day, it is not a huge problem, and I will definitely read what the credit card insurance covers prior to booking, and if I can get someone else to pay for a day of my accommodations and meals in say Vienna, I am all for it...lol
I normally book direct with the airlines or on points, so this is a new adventure for me.

Stranger

With ITA matrix powertools you should be able to carry over itineraries located on Matrix that can be issued by AC to aircanada.com, no need to deal with Expedia.

Mind you, currently it is not much easier to deal directly with air Canada than it is with expedia. But that's supposed to get better when the migration to amadeus is complete.

Vit007

I wish I could, but I am getting the following message on AC:
This route cannot be booked online.
However, one of our Star Alliance partners may offer flights on this route, and reservation can be completed by calling Air Canada Reservations.

This is with me trying to spoon-feed the connections on AC website. These flight options do not show up as an option when I do a simple roundtrip search.

SparseFlyer

1) Expedia, and it's complicated. The rules should be the same as i
had you booked with AC, but TAs are very concerned about ADMs
2) Either can deal with it. But Expedia "TA"s are not very experienced and will often just out you on hold and call AC. But do note: once AC touches the ticket, the agency cannot touch it anymore.
3) I very much doubt this is booked on separate tickets. So much so that I'll leave it at that.
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Stranger

That's not the same as transferring from ITA using powertools.

I have personally encountered precisely that situation, no way to get aircanada.com to price what I want, even if trying using multicity. But ITA transfer using powertools does it if indeed the fare rules allow it.

eigenvector

You deal with Expedia. What they will do for you depends on the specific situation, how helpful the agent you are dealing with is, and what the ticketing airline allows. I've had generally good luck dealing with OTAs on schedule changes as long as I spoon-feed them my preferred alternative.
You will deal with the airline for any changes after departure.

D582

I had issues in December with Powertools/deep links not working when an interline segment is included. (No issues with codeshares). AC Reservations booked without issue over the phone.

StuMcIlwain

The AC phone reps can book itineraries that aren't shown on the website, including those with segments on partner airlines. Just call in and give them the flight numbers. The price should be the same as what ITA Matrix (or Expedia) is giving you provided all the fare rules are met. I always try to book directly with AC because it is much easier to resolve any issues if the flights change. Right now with the MAX grounding, flight changes are the norm.

You can also Google ITA Powertools and try that.

Often1

This is only partially correct.

1. You will always deal with the TA, e.g. Expedia for any changes or cancellations, except:
2. Day of travel IRROPS. In this sole instance you deal with the carrier causing the delay, e.g. AC.

The problem with #1 is that TA's are stuck with the fare rules and are loathe to work outside them because an audit of an e-ticket may well lead to an ADM which they cannot likely recover from the passenger. On the other hand, carriers can be quite flexible, especially with their own metal. Moreover, you should carefully read any TA's policies as many impose their own fees and other conditions which are over and above the fare rules of the ticket and COC of the carrier.

Vit007

With ITA powertools, I am able to deeplink to Air Canada. When I enter my information (either by logging in or using guest mode), and click next, I get the following error message. I tried pricing in USD and in CAD.

We're not able to process your request. Please try again. If the problem persists, please take note of the error message/number and contact Air Canada Reservations. BK_ORD_001

When I try to book with Expedia, I can not get the same flights, but similar price - I get the price jump to when checking out.

Any suggestions?

RangerNS

Block off 2 hours and call them.

Fiordland

I would separate 1 into two categories. There are "old-school" travel agents. Then there are these online ones.

The old school travel agencies are the ones where you know the name of the agent and they know you. These are much more likely to push the airline to do something special for you.

The online ones are basically call center staff where you might as well be a number. That is just part of their business model.

All said I will use an old school travel agent if it is complex. I will use Expedia if its is hop down to Vegas for a meeting or two or a regular type of trip where I get a good bundling the hotel with the airline ticket. I will use the airline directly if it is not complex and there is no bundling advantage.

In all my years of doing this I have only had two cases where the airline takes over the reservation from the travel agent prior to departure. In both cases it was Expedia. So it can be done they just don't like doing it. In one case it was Delta where a flight to Japan was cancelled and the software auto-rebooked with a 15 minute connection in Seattle. The Expedia agent said since the computer auto rebooked it have to be a "legal connection" as the computer system does not permit illegal connections. The airline agent disagreed.

eigenvector

I've had instances where I wanted something a bit more than "rebook on the first alternate option in our search engine" for a schedule change/cancellation causing a misconnection and the TA held the inventory I wanted then phoned the airline to get it approved (presumably to ensure the TA would not be charged anything extra) before confirming the change. You do have to push for it as nobody, whether airline agents or TAs, wants to more work than they have to. In some cases it was a 'real', fee-for-service large corporate TA and in some cases it was FlightNetwork/Cheapoair/etc.

Accepted wisdom is that all things being considered, it is easier to work with airlines than TAs and I agree with that. But if there are other reasons to book through a TA such as a significantly cheaper fare, difficulty actually contacting the airline (*ahem* AC), corporate policy, etc., it's not the end of the world.

OP, keep in mind Expedia is one of the worst OTAs for showing outdated inventory in search results - causing the price to jump at the stage of purchase where they actually check real-time inventory. So sometimes the price discrepancy is just that the OTA is showing you inventory it's not capable of booking.

SparseFlyer

It's only easier to deal with the airlines cause there's no point in ADMing themselves 🤣