Old Aug 12, 2020, 12:02 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Adam Smith
You must call in for stopovers, multi-city, or complicated routings, until the new booking system launches in 2021.

I hope others will significantly improve this wiki!

There are four zones: North America (inc Central), South America, Atlantic (including India and Western Russia), Pacific (inc Eastern Russia) and the chart is based which one you start from and which one you end up in, there's ten of these.

Cost is based on distance, which zone pair your flight is in, which class you are flying in.

Partner airlines (again) are a better deal because while Air Canada will calculate cost on a wide ranges but partner airlines are fixed to the bottom of the range.

YQ is eliminated. There's a 39 CAD fee for booking a ticket which contains a flight on a partner airline. Aside from this, there's no incentive any more to book a return flight it seems and every incentive not to.
Note: The partner booking fee is refundable, so it's basically a YQ, rather than a booking fee.

Most flights are devalued. However, the elimination of YQ sweetens this significantly. Within North America, a lot of flights became cheaper, YVR-HNL very significantly. YVR-TYO is much cheaper while YVR-AKL is a little cheaper.

A vastly more powerful booking system is promised for 2021.

There are a lot of new tricks to be learned. https://princeoftravel.com/blog/new-aeroplan-flight-rewards/ is a good start.

Information that is harder to find:
  • SE IKK redemption from the old program can be changed ("within reason") without repricing. Dates, routings, no problem. Origin/destination should be fine. But nothing that would have required a repricing under the old program. This is from Mark Nasr in https://www.facebook.com/pointsmiles...44878252851420
  • The "Activity" page only shows you the most recent ~48 transactions. See this post for information on how to get older data.
  • A partial refund may not be possible (e.g. if you book RT and outbound flight is cancelled by you or AC, to delete the first flight segment, you have to cancel the entire ticket and rebook the inbound at a potentially higher fare. It seems supervisor can grant exceptions.)
Print Wikipost

2020 Air Canada Aeroplan Program

Old Nov 9, 2020, 12:52 pm
  #781  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM
Posts: 23,274
I m a little confused about how AC space works.
My understanding was that X class was the lowest band.

I see seats available for 14k cross country domestic in X class using United miles. Yet Aeroplan wants 23.1k miles for the exact same flights
rankourabu is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:03 pm
  #782  
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: YYZ
Programs: Aeroplan 50K/Star Alliance Gold, Accor Gold, base level Marriott/Hyatt/Hilton
Posts: 657
YYZ-YVR in J seems to be around 20% cheaper for 25K status holders. What's the difference for other tiers?
yyztozag is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:07 pm
  #783  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,707
Originally Posted by expert7700
curiius about trip with zero AC segments (that they don't even sell for $).

are trips such as one way fra-lhr or one way ist-dxb bookable online now?

I can check when I am back near a PC. I gave been curious how they'd enable this. perhaps they appear if book with points is selected in the slider then disappear when cash is selected
Yes, I'm seeing all sorts of itineraries with zero AC segments.
YOWgary is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:13 pm
  #784  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 614
A few days ago booked a YYZ-YVR segment in J for 25K. Same flight in the new program costs 100.8K.

I was expecting a significant increase for domestic J redemptions but 4 times is insane.

Flight loads showing almost the same as when booked a few days ago. Currently: J9 C8 D7 Z5 P4 R3
bcnfish is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:16 pm
  #785  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: YXU
Programs: AC SE100K, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 326
One thing I'm seeing less of is the old Aeroplan problem of mixed-cabin itineraries, where a business class ticket from, say, YUL-YYZ-YVR-HNL would have only YUL-YYZ in J.
talkeryxu is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:18 pm
  #786  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,188
Originally Posted by bcnfish
A few days ago booked a YYZ-YVR segment in J for 25K. Same flight in the new program costs 100.8K.

I was expecting a significant increase for domestic J redemptions but 4 times is insane.

Flight loads showing almost the same as when booked a few days ago. Currently: J9 C8 D7 Z5 P4 R3
What about I space? If it's I>0, then this is really bad.

But with R space and a chart that is supposed to cap out at 60k, that's quite concerning. If it were J1 C0, fine. But R3???
canadiancow is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:26 pm
  #787  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 395
Anyone (especially SE) have any examples of what types of discounts they are seeing if they hold an AC Credit Card? I haven't applied yet but also don't need to book anything soon.
martyYOW is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:29 pm
  #788  
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: YYZ
Programs: Aeroplan 50K/Star Alliance Gold, Accor Gold, base level Marriott/Hyatt/Hilton
Posts: 657
YYZ-YVR J seems to be around 20-30% cheaper for me (dropped from 32K to 25K and 60K to 42K). I a) haven't hit a Priority Reward threshold, and b) thought that 25K was limited to domestic/US economy discounts.
yyztozag is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:30 pm
  #789  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: トロント
Programs: IHG Gold
Posts: 4,809
I see the usual nonsense...a flight to Asia with a 1.5 hour flight in business and a 13 hour flight in economy..priced as if all of it is business class as a "mixed cabin". Fix this.
Adam Smith likes this.
mapleg is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:32 pm
  #790  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 614
Originally Posted by canadiancow
What about I space? If it's I>0, then this is really bad.

But with R space and a chart that is supposed to cap out at 60k, that's quite concerning. If it were J1 C0, fine. But R3???
Good call, checked I space and there's nothing. Like you said though, still very concerning given there's R space + it's 67% over the "max" price for that route.
bcnfish is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:33 pm
  #791  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Vancouver
Programs: AC SE100K 1MM, FB Platinum, Bonvoy Platinum Elite, IHG Gold Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,583
Originally Posted by martyYOW
Anyone (especially SE) have any examples of what types of discounts they are seeing if they hold an AC Credit Card? I haven't applied yet but also don't need to book anything soon.
Made two bookings each with a priority:

YEG-FCO, MXP-YEG - 65350 points + $108.15
YUL-LIM-YUL - 41350 points + $126.71

I gotta admit these are pretty good deals from my perspective, especially YUL-LIM-YUL.
martyYOW likes this.
EdmFlyBoi is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:36 pm
  #792  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,188
Originally Posted by martyYOW
Anyone (especially SE) have any examples of what types of discounts they are seeing if they hold an AC Credit Card? I haven't applied yet but also don't need to book anything soon.
@philelite is going to post a couple examples, but YVR-PVR round-trip in J was something like:
SE: 47.1k
P25K+CC: 46.6k
SE+CC: 46.1k

I think both CCs were the mid-tiers.

So in this one example, the credit card wasn't significant, but there was definitely a discount.
martyYOW likes this.
canadiancow is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:50 pm
  #793  
Marriott Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: YUL
Programs: AC E75, WS Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, GHA Plat, UA Silver, SQ Silver
Posts: 214
Originally Posted by canadiancow
@philelite is going to post a couple examples, but YVR-PVR round-trip in J was something like:
SE: 47.1k
P25K+CC: 46.6k
SE+CC: 46.1k

I think both CCs were the mid-tiers.

So in this one example, the credit card wasn't significant, but there was definitely a discount.

Based on mine and some other folks exploration before AP went live - Summary is as follows. I posted some in that reddit thread with screenshots.
  • significant difference between No Status and P25K - 10-30%
  • P25 Vs E35, E50, SE100 - around 5-10% at max
  • VI (Core) provides another 1-2 % gains around 200-250 miles on some samples
  • VIP (Premium) gives another small gain
  • E35 with VIP Card was Exactly same as E50 + VI card (no change in say 5 scenarios) - Also very similar to SE100 with a VI Card
Again, our exploration was limited wrt E75 & SE100 as we don't have a lot of super elites.

For travel hackers aka AP collectors, 100K AP (without AQS, AQM, AQD) will continue to give P25K status as a continued benefit. So pretty good deal for locking discounted award pricing

Originally Posted by rankourabu
One way with stopover is not working for the promised 5000 miles - its simply adding the two legs searched.

Asia is looking dire. Anything involving AC TPAC is >200k in J

Mixed cabin itineraries popping up where 4% is in business (something like EWR-YYZ on a ticket from India), with no ability to filter out
Yup, its very glitchy also PY pricing is ridiculous - wonder if its a glitch or a flawed pricing algorithm

Edit: OMAAT Reports


By 2021 Aeroplan is promising an industry-leading award search tool offering the following:
  • The ability to book stopovers online
  • The ability to book complex routings online
  • A robust award calendar
  • The ability to rebook your reservation online

Also, SkipLagging is going to be Key going forward. You could see significant arbitrage gains. Not going further as its a kinda controversial topic :P
martyYOW likes this.

Last edited by Adam Smith; Jun 22, 2021 at 5:36 pm Reason: Merge consecutive posts by same user
jugaadkabaap is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 1:59 pm
  #794  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM
Posts: 23,274
Originally Posted by bcnfish
A few days ago booked a YYZ-YVR segment in J for 25K. Same flight in the new program costs 100.8K.

I was expecting a significant increase for domestic J redemptions but 4 times is insane.

Flight loads showing almost the same as when booked a few days ago. Currently: J9 C8 D7 Z5 P4 R3
Is your flight available as an award with other currency? Lifemiles? United?
If so, what's the justification for AC increasing the price 4x?
rankourabu is offline  
Old Nov 9, 2020, 2:03 pm
  #795  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 614
Originally Posted by rankourabu
Is your flight available as an award with other currency? Lifemiles? United?
If so, what's the justification for AC increasing the price 4x?
There is no I availability showing on United. Revenue price for the ticket is the same as when I booked - $1602
bcnfish is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.