Adam Smith

Yes, it depends on percentage on AC metal. If it's >0%, it's priced dynamically.

That doesn't always mean the price will be ridiculous. Sometimes an itinerary involving an AC metal segment can be booked for the same price as the partner price, or even less. I've had a few recent good experiences where adding an AC segment cost me very little.

But as soon as you add any AC metal, you're at risk.

YOWgary

The 'trigger' is the presence of any AC metal at all; all AC flights are subject to dynamic pricing.

...but that doesn't mean that the presence of AC metal will *automatically* blow up the price of your award, if the AC flight in question is priced at base-level.

The other thing to know here is that when a routing includes dynamically-priced AC metal, that dynamic pricing is pro-rated against the distance flown on all carriers, rather than stacking the whole dynamic-priced AC cost on top of the fixed-price partner segments.

For example, looking at YUL-ORD-GRU next May, with the first leg on AC metal and the second on UA. Lowest-J pricing ranges from 58,700 to 60,000, which the published chart shows as pretty much the least you should ever expect to pay for YUL-GRU.

If you bought the YUL-ORD flight on its own, you'd pay about 19,000 points; same as the whole trip, this falls at the very bottom end of what AC considers the price range for a North American award of 501-1,500 miles. So, in this case, the AC leg adds little or nothing to the cost of the United leg.

...meanwhile, if you want to fly ORD-YUL-GRU in the same date range, on all AC metal, dynamic pricing *starts* at 375,000 points in lowest-J.

...one-way.

zam

If there is X or I class availability on AC it will price like a partner reward but may still be subject to AC routing rules and you will still get credit card/elite discounts. That has been my experience.

Hoogaar

I guess that is what is not making sense to me - like on my April 10 example:

JFK - IST (TK), 70K in J

AND

YQM-YUL (AC), YUL-LGA (AC), JFK-IST (TK), also 70K in J.

Smiley90

I'd say consider yourself lucky that it's pricing like this. Maybe a consolidation for the airport transfer from LGA to JFK...

Hoogaar

Nah - I've seen the same thing going to VIE, ATH and a bunch of other European cities. 35K/70K either direct from YYZ/YUL with the partner airline, or with the AC YQM-YYZ/YUL segment added.

Anyway - thanks for the replies. Seems it's just a matter of searching and booking it when I see it

ahchiu

Is this an already planned route shown in cowtool, or something you pieced together?

YQM-YUL (AC), YUL-LGA (AC), JFK-IST (TK)

I'm assuming it's an already planned route shown in cowtool, since you said it was priced at 70k in J.

I'm piecing together my own routes, and some leg will require AC metal, so I'm not sure how it'll price out. Is the way to find this out, just to call and book, even though I'm not ready to book?

Hoogaar

Nah - just searched this one on ac.com. I've seen many examples of it over the last few months booking my honeymoon trip, so just went looking for a real example.

canadiancow

Well uh one of the best agents I've ever talked to got it ticketed for the correct price. I'd actually called to drop the unticketed segments and move to a better LAX-SFO. But 1A still shows it as SFO-FRA. So I'm not looking forward to my next call when J/F opens up.

YOWgary

So, in the end what WAS the correct price? What did they decide the overall routing was on this, SFO-BKK?

canadiancow

Hmm... looking at the price, I think I'm paying for something cheaper than my end goal.

I paid 215k. It's J there (really long, highest band, should be 105k) and F back (8700 miles, should be 130k).

It's not flyable right now because of all the Y. I don't know how they priced it. I was thinking SFO-FRA in Y (40k), FRA-BKK in J (80k), and BKK-SFO in F (130k), with a stopover (5k). But that's way more than I paid.

I can't find any reasonable way to break it up that comes out to 215k. I can't find any way to break it up at all that gets that low.

copperred

Multicity to the US from the US looks like it works for me currently but I know I can't do a strictly US to US via Canada normally on AC. I want to do SFO-YVR with a considerable layover and then YVR-YYZ-DCA. I'd obviously have to clear customs and baggage claim and then check back in to go to DCA. Will AC ticket this? It's actually cheaper than my options with United because of the exchange rate and I can use my soon to expire eUpgrades.
AC563 SFO to YVR 0900-1125 and then the red eye at 2225 on AC126, arriving 0555 at YYZ and AC8780 at 0715 from YYZ to DCA.

The question too is whether the domestic lounge at YVR is one I can use a voucher for or not.

There's also AC565 that would put me at YVR at 1425, for a shorter layover.

Is it all too risky given how things are?

YOWgary

- There's a time limit on North American stopovers, that I believe has now reverted back to 4 hours maximum unless nothing shorter is available, and in this case there are two such flights.

- AC can't issue a single ticket SFO-WAS due to cabotage laws, you'd have to build it as separate segments that break at either YVR or YYZ; if you break at YVR then you can have the stop you want, you'll just be buying separate segments SFO-YVR and YVR-YYZ-WAS. You may find you get questioned for the odd routing - I have been in past - but presumably you'll have no trouble providing a good reason for needing to fly this unusual routing.

- Yes, you should be able to use a pass at the YVR domestic MLL, unless of course it's full.

copperred

Awesome, thanks so much for the clear and quick response! Would I be correct in my thought process on arrival in YVR, customs and baggage claim and then re-check? I hit the time window more easily at YVR and the alternatives with a longer window at YYZ aren't as appealing. I have Global entry so I'm less concerned about the tighter connection at YYZ but if it happens, it happens.

allbrosca

I thought that was the case too (4 or 6 hours?), but I just booked a trip a couple of days ago with a 13 hour layover in IAD between YYZ. A shorter layover was available (4 hrs and 14 minutes) but it was on an AC flight to IAD rather than UA and would have cost me another 33,000+ points. There was also another AC flight that would have given me a 9 hour layover. No mention was made of a time limit when I booked,