bcard519

New 35K this year, was a 1k with United in the past, just wondering about a couple things with AC.

Is there a special phone number for elites to call? If so where do I find it

Also, I tried using Eupgrades for the first time. Seems like a joke, 8 open seats in FC on a 737, 8 days from departure, kinda expected my upgrade to clear. I assumed it would clear since I bought a full-fare ticket. Assuming the would rather sell a $90 upgrade to someone on a standard ticket then use an elite's Eupgrades?

YOWgary

Phone number's in the app. Go to the "Aeroplan" tab at bottom right, then tap the image of your membership card, priority contact number should be at the bottom of the page under the QR code and your account number.

As for the eUpgrade, it really depends what route you were flying and when. As a 35K you'll often have trouble clearing on routes like YUL-YYZ. When you say "8 open seats" do you mean you saw 8 unoccupied seats on the website seat map, or an ExpertFlyer search showed the flight as J8, or that your flight left with most of the Business cabin empty?

Also worth noting that AC's upgrade policy is very different than AA/DL/UA. They won't just keep upgrading Elites of any tier until the J cabin is full, if they think the flight is likely to sell then they'll keep seats available for purchase (but not upgrade) right up until departure, at which point a 35K who's been waitlisted for a week might get bumped down the gate-upgrade list by a SEMM who requests the night before.

canadiancow

The phone number is available on in the app or on the back of your physical card.

If you give us flight information, we can take a look, but AC tends not to clear upgrades i n advance nearly as much as UA. Though AC also does not sell TOD upgrades, so it's common to see 10 people clear at the gate with eUps on domestic narrow-bodies.

yyznomad

What was the fare family/class that you booked? What's the flight number and date? Did you mean that you purchased a Standard fare?

Yes, a full-fare (coach) ticket on an Air Canada 737 would have your upgrade clear, provided it's within the E35 clearing window, and there is availability.

bcard519

Comfort W. Seat map shows it as half full upfront
Feb 11th
Last flight of the day, which is 16h15. AC459

Ottawa to Toronto use to have 40plus flights a day, it’s now down to 4. YOW has 6 passenger flights depart yesterday. Crazy times

mileageking

Flight shows J7/C3/D2/Z2/P1/R0.

RangerNS

So the seat map doesn't mean anything. Even if it is a reasonable first pass approximation of the (J) business cabin (not first class), as anyone in J can select seats, not everyone does.

More importantly, an empty seat, a sellable seat, is not an upgradeable seat.

Per:

While there are 7 seats available to be sold, there are 0 upgrade seats available, as upgrades draw from the R bucket. The size of these buckets is influenced by.... reasons... down to right at the gate where R would become equal to the number of actual seats left.

(Not 100% true. AC could, in theory, be willing to oversell J (though unlikely), and upgrades might come from a hidden bucket almost only exactly equal to R)

YOWgary

I thought policy was never to oversell J?

Jebby_ca

FYI - Comfort W isn't a full fare ticket.

Latitude is what Air Canada considers to be a fully flexible economy fare family - if you bought a latitude ticket, you'd have been able to upgrade at any time after purchase, assuming there is upgrade space available. Otherwise, you'd have to wait until the window for upgrades opens up, which is 8 days (192hrs) before the departure time of your flight, based on your Aeroplan status:

https://www.aircanada.com/content/da...rements_EN.pdf

As others have already mentioned, open seats on a seat map doesn't necessarily mean upgrade space is available.

Only AC's revenue management team would know the answer... but I have seen J "oversold"... could have been for many reasons, such as cancellations and equipment swaps. During the initial 7M8 grounding, most of the YVR - YYZ flights I was on were oversold in both cabins.

Adam Smith

That's quite rare though. I can't think of a time where they've ever deliberately oversold J on any of my flights, as far as I can tell, i.e. not counting cancellations/last-minute downgauges (and the initial MAX grounding was basically just that, writ large).

YOWgary

And "overselling" J is not the same thing as having to disappoint a couple of eUpped passengers when a MAX or 321 gets swapped to a 320, or up to a dozen when a 333 gets swapped to a 319.

canadiancow

Is it not the same? Once you're confirmed, you're confirmed.

YOWgary

"In the event of irregular operations, Air Canada will always try to rebook travellers on the best available flight. While we will always attempt to maintain the status of their eUpgrade on their new journey, this may not always be possible. In the event an eUpgrade is lost, members will be able to re-request an eUpgrade via aircanada.com, through Air Canada Reservations or with an Air Canada agent at the airport."

canadiancow

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Anything involving a new flight is orthogonal to this.

Your quote is basically the same as cash bookings. They're not going to rebook you in J if the new flight is already full in J. They'll put you in Y, on the upgrade list.

Downgauges overbook flights in J. Deadheading pilots overbook flights in J. A flight getting cancelled is not going to cause another one to be overbooked in J. A misconnect is not going to cause another flight to be overbooked in J.

YOWgary

If a mainline flight with a full J cabin is downgauged from a 321 to a 320, two eUpgraded passengers will lose out before revenue-J passengers, is all. Obviously, if all 16 seats on the 321 were occupied by paid-J passengers, that's a different situation.

"Upgrades are never guaranteed, subject to space availability for the number of upgrades permitted per flight, and subject to operational considerations which are at Air Canada’s sole discretion."

An eUpgrade is "confirmed" in the sense that if you eUp as a 50K at T-7, you can't be bumped out of that seat just because a 75K requested an upgrade at T-5. However, your reservation remains in the original fare class, you haven't suddenly been rebooked in J.