Aug 12, 2020, 12:02 am
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:
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.)
2020 Air Canada Aeroplan Program
Apr 22, 2021, 2:41 pm
#1366
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,734
You can sign up for United's website, and do calendar searches there. Then once you find the flights you like, go to AE to confirm.
Saver awards correspond to J flights available, generally, on AE.
Do note that United won't show availability for non-Star Alliance flights eg Etihad.
Saver awards correspond to J flights available, generally, on AE.
Do note that United won't show availability for non-Star Alliance flights eg Etihad.
Also note that United *will* show availability for some seats AC can't book, including lots of United's own seats, particularly in Saver Economy, as well as Aer Lingus and flights on Copa metal ticketed in "G".
Apr 22, 2021, 5:25 pm
#1367
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,781
re: Calendar Search. I'm looking to use points on partner airlines for upcoming summer travel. I'm flexible on dates. How the heck am I expected to do this without having a calendar of availability??? For real....am I really expected to try each and every single date combination? Or do I really need to get on the phone and have an agent do the searching for me? Can't believe they'd go live with that important piece of functionality (available on every other airline in existence today) being available.
Apr 22, 2021, 5:27 pm
#1368
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,359
They've made it very clear they think it's very important, but the options were:
1. Launch without it
2. Wait for Amadeus to add some necessary functionality, then launch the new program
1. Launch without it
2. Wait for Amadeus to add some necessary functionality, then launch the new program
Apr 24, 2021, 7:40 pm
#1369
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: YYZ
Posts: 380
Points based on Number of Passengers?
In the new world of a dynamic award chart is it possible points required for an award flight is dependent on the number of passengers on the itinerary???
looking for award space for 3 pax and on the same date with the exact same flights it costs 150K pts one way for each passenger on the same itinerary. However, searching for 1 pax on the exact same dates/flights the points required drops to 70K pts. So i know there is award space for 3 pax but the pts required differ based on search.
I am wondering if it's possible to book 3 separate tickets vs 1 and be able to get the flight for 70K pts each, any thoughts on this? thanks.
looking for award space for 3 pax and on the same date with the exact same flights it costs 150K pts one way for each passenger on the same itinerary. However, searching for 1 pax on the exact same dates/flights the points required drops to 70K pts. So i know there is award space for 3 pax but the pts required differ based on search.
I am wondering if it's possible to book 3 separate tickets vs 1 and be able to get the flight for 70K pts each, any thoughts on this? thanks.
Apr 24, 2021, 7:56 pm
#1370
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,734
In the new world of a dynamic award chart is it possible points required for an award flight is dependent on the number of passengers on the itinerary???
looking for award space for 3 pax and on the same date with the exact same flights it costs 150K pts one way for each passenger on the same itinerary. However, searching for 1 pax on the exact same dates/flights the points required drops to 70K pts. So i know there is award space for 3 pax but the pts required differ based on search.
I am wondering if it's possible to book 3 separate tickets vs 1 and be able to get the flight for 70K pts each, any thoughts on this? thanks.
looking for award space for 3 pax and on the same date with the exact same flights it costs 150K pts one way for each passenger on the same itinerary. However, searching for 1 pax on the exact same dates/flights the points required drops to 70K pts. So i know there is award space for 3 pax but the pts required differ based on search.
I am wondering if it's possible to book 3 separate tickets vs 1 and be able to get the flight for 70K pts each, any thoughts on this? thanks.
Apr 24, 2021, 8:33 pm
#1371
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,359
That's exactly how revenue fares work.
If a flight is Z3 P2, and you want 3 seats, you're paying the Z fare. If you buy 2 and 1, you're paying 2 P fares and 1 Z fare.
I'd be tempted to search for 2. If it's 140, book 2 then 1. If it's 220, book 1 then 2.
But you're not going to get 3x70.
"So i know there is award space for 3 pax" - No. There's space for 3 pax. AC no longer has "award space". All space can be bought with points.
If a flight is Z3 P2, and you want 3 seats, you're paying the Z fare. If you buy 2 and 1, you're paying 2 P fares and 1 Z fare.
I'd be tempted to search for 2. If it's 140, book 2 then 1. If it's 220, book 1 then 2.
But you're not going to get 3x70.
"So i know there is award space for 3 pax" - No. There's space for 3 pax. AC no longer has "award space". All space can be bought with points.
Apr 24, 2021, 9:12 pm
#1372
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 14
Apr 25, 2021, 9:53 am
#1373
Join Date: Jan 2021
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 459
I can't figure out the pricing for some routes. I'm looking at flights from YYZ to HEL via FRA in September and I see them for 70k. But if I search YUL-HEL for the same date, I see YUL-YYZ-FRA-HEL for 57.5k points. What the heck?
Apr 25, 2021, 10:00 am
#1374
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,781
Keep in mind that there's no longer an award chart, and flights on AC metal are priced dynamically. Just as you might see a YUL-HEL revenue ticket be cheaper than a YYZ-HEL one, a points ticket may now also be cheaper. At times, this may be a good thing, and at others not so good. But we're probably going to encounter this kind of thing plenty in the new program.
Apr 25, 2021, 10:03 am
#1375
Join Date: Jan 2021
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 459
Keep in mind that there's no longer an award chart, and flights on AC metal are priced dynamically. Just as you might see a YUL-HEL revenue ticket be cheaper than a YYZ-HEL one, a points ticket may now also be cheaper. At times, this may be a good thing, and at others not so good. But we're probably going to encounter this kind of thing plenty in the new program.
Apr 25, 2021, 10:28 am
#1376
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: YYZ
Posts: 380
That's exactly how revenue fares work.
If a flight is Z3 P2, and you want 3 seats, you're paying the Z fare. If you buy 2 and 1, you're paying 2 P fares and 1 Z fare.
I'd be tempted to search for 2. If it's 140, book 2 then 1. If it's 220, book 1 then 2.
But you're not going to get 3x70.
"So i know there is award space for 3 pax" - No. There's space for 3 pax. AC no longer has "award space". All space can be bought with points.
If a flight is Z3 P2, and you want 3 seats, you're paying the Z fare. If you buy 2 and 1, you're paying 2 P fares and 1 Z fare.
I'd be tempted to search for 2. If it's 140, book 2 then 1. If it's 220, book 1 then 2.
But you're not going to get 3x70.
"So i know there is award space for 3 pax" - No. There's space for 3 pax. AC no longer has "award space". All space can be bought with points.
Apr 25, 2021, 10:36 am
#1377
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,781
Apr 25, 2021, 11:10 am
#1379
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,734
There are countless examples of cash and points pricing being based on the origin/destination pair. For example, last night I booked YOW-YVR direct for just over $100, and I'll take the ferry over to Nanaimo instead of paying $496 to fly the exact same aircraft to Vancouver and then add a 12-minute flight to YCD.
Apr 25, 2021, 8:08 pm
#1380
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: YYZ
Programs: Aeroplan 50K/Star Alliance Gold, Accor Gold, base level Marriott/Hyatt/Hilton
Posts: 658