TechnoTourist

Sounds like something that could be croudsourced in this forum to see how predictable it is. For SQM earning only the UA fare class to AC fare family mapping matters and that's easy to determine based on the accrued points.

canadiancow

I think booking something and then seeing how AC.com treats it would be a good starting point. Don't put the FF number on and then see if you can select a seat, etc.

That is not true when it's operated by AC, which is the case we're discussing.

TechnoTourist

What's not true? The ability to croudsource or that UA fare class to AC fare family is what matters?

I must be missing something if it's the latter, because if UA V always posts as AC Flex, the AC fare class isn't relevant for earning.

Just for fun I checked UA 8639 (AC 1037) and made 2 bookings one in L and one in H. With L I had to pay for both regular and preferred seating on ac.ca with and without my FF#. With H I had free regular seats but had to pay for preferred until I added my FF#, and had free preferred seats after. This small sample seems to indicate that L would post as Standard with 50% SQM and H would post as Flex with 100%. SQM which is what the partner accrual page indicates would happen for flights on UA metal.

canopus27

I have now flown this flight, so I'll share what happened.

To recap: I had an old UA flight credit, and I used it to purchase a ticket on a flight operated by AC. I don't think the fact that I used a flight credit (as opposed to cash) had any bearing on anything .... but I can't prove that. When I booked the flight (by calling into UA), I explicitly asked that they book me into a UA fare class which had 100% EQM. The agent told me that was 'W' class, and so that's what I was booked into. The ticket number was 016.

• When I did my online check-in, the option to request an earlier flight (there was an earlier flight that day which was wide open) was not available.
• As expected, I was unable to request an upgrade in advance. I visited the YYZ concierge office on the day of the flight, and they were initially unable to put me on the upgrade list. After much work, they eventually figured out that they had to cancel my check-in, then put me on the upgrade list, then check me in again.
  • This appears to be key - in fact I was told that most upgrade requests go better when they are made before you check-in, even if you're requesting on the day of the flight
• The upgrade "price" included both points and add-on dollars - in numbers which indicated that AC considered my ticket to be a "standard" fare class ticket
• For the return flight, I spoke to the concierge by phone before checking in, and they had no problems getting me on the upgrade list. The "price" was again consistent with a "standard" fare class
• After getting on the upgrade list, the online check-in process then failed for me - both the web and the AC app. It looked like it was working, but then reported an "unexpected error" at the very last step. I have no idea if the upgrade list or UA ticket number contributed to this problem.
• I then phoned the concierge back, and asked them to check me in by phone. They did, and said that I was now checked in but (they said) that an error was preventing them from issuing my boarding pass and I would have to pick it up at the airport
• I actually checked the mobile app first ... and lo-and-behold, I now had a boarding pass in the app. So good
• My upgrade for the outbound did not clear (cabin was full) but the return upgrade did clear, so I can confirm it is possible to upgrade these tickets
• Once the SQM posted, it all came in at 100%. Which is good, although oddly inconsistent with what they charged for the upgrade

Overall, the ticket seemed like a bizarre mix of a standard fare class ticket (certainly for the upgrade costs) but it did result in 100% SQM