jashah

I am looking to book a trip to London (LHR) from YYJ via YVR in August, The PE fare advertised on the way there is $858 on the AC website, but $2348 on the way back despite PE being empty according to the seat selector. Any explanation as to why there is such a discrepancy in price?

Thx

The Macker

If your return is near the end of August, it is a peak time for trips back to Canada , the end of summer holidays. Air Canada knows the flights will eventually be full and charges accordingly to maximize their revenue. Same with the period around Christmas.

cedric

What dates are you looking at? Google flights shows $2088 roundtrip on pretty much all dates in August.

arf04

If you are looking at LHR, check out WS as well as their PE is much better than AC's is. They fly LGW from YVR, but have LHR out of YYC on the schedule if you are married to LHR.

I am seeing decent fares on both for August returns, so you may need to play around with your times and dates. Google flights, as suggested above, will be helpful. The other thing is that nobody has any idea what loads will be like in August so AC may well be pricing high right now and drop as time goes on. I have been looking at FRA for July and I have never seen PE fares as high as I am seeing on AC ($3500 from YQR), but I do not think they will stay up there if things open up more as AC and LH will add more flights to more places in Germany. So, I am waiting to book.

ChrisA330

N is zeroed out on many of the flights I'm seeing which is resulting in the flights being priced in either E or O hence the higher cost. Likely for the reasons The Macker highlighted.

jashah

Thanks. Dates are August 13 to 26.

The J fare on the way back is $3100. Probably worth upgrading to that for only ~ $700 difference.

rankourabu

How much are the flights with Aeroplan? Buy 200,000 points = $3500 this week.

terencelai

ChrisA330 is correct, never look at how many empty seats on a flight ✈️, seasonality and date 📅 determine the price, it could no inventory for lowest N class, or simply there is no such lowest N fare for that date. The basic, is if I could sell for more, why should I sell less, Revenue Management has computerized system to analyze and generate fare table to max out the potential revenue.

Tax Dude

In the Before Times, I had good luck booking PE on BA and then upgrading to business with Avios points (transferred from Amex or Starwoods, no status required.) I've no idea what their service is like these days, but I seem to recall they're starting A380 service from YVR which might be cool.

jashah

I just checked Google flights and the exact same dates/flights I was looking at on the AC website are ~ $2100 return in PE vs ~ $3200 on the AC website. Strange.

ABG

The return date is pushing your fare up from N to E class
You need to either route via YYZ/YUL and then link up with a Rouge flight (probably a bad idea but you'd be in rouge premium) or do a bit of a lengthy connection at YVR

cedric

I suspect it's a question of the flights that you're selecting.
Here's an example of the $2100 return, directly from AC's website for your dates:

jashah

Yes, I’m trying to connect in YVR to avoid Rouge.

ChrisA330

I definitely appreciate that sentiment. As mentioned up thread, be aware that booking a PE fare will put in the front cabin on rouge. It's not a replacement for a lie flat, but it's not nearly as bad as rouge economy. If the cost savings (and flying AC) is important to you, it is a potential alternative.

cedric

Nothing wrong with Premium Rouge. It's nearly identical to AC Business, minus the TV screen. Also gets you into the MLL.
I would be much more comfortable spending my layover in the MLL and then flying Premium Rouge than Y on the Q400 with no MLL. Trade off is less time in the lay flat, but since it's a daytime flight that is of questionable importance.