After Burner

That's a 47% increase, which seems modest compared with Hawaii sun passes. I have a currently active 8-credit Western Canada-Hawaii pass which I purchased for $7392. Replacement cost now, for the same pass, is $13036. That's a price increase of 76%. At $1629 per credit it's still better than the typical one-way fare of ~$2200. But these passes are not the good deal that they used to be.

dr_torch

Thanks for that post. Just bought one in the last month at $3612.

At $563.75 per credit it may not be worth it for me anymore. Usually use them to fly YOW-YYZ-PVR in peak periods but I often book a while in advance. It's always been cheaper, but I see that UA has not bad prices sometimes too so I may have to shop around next year.

I have had very good success with upgrades on this pass though and the flexibility of changes was nice.

Bohemian1

Maybe there's suddenly a lot of interest in Flight Passes and it's driving up the price. Dunno what would have stimulated such demand though...

Or it's just AC getting greedy.

Nitehawk

Ya, the price increased so much I thought it was a mistake (even if they divide the price by 2, it's still higher than the last time I bought one, which was in October). I wrote to the flight pass desk a few days ago asking if it was, and no response yet.

somedude3210

The BC Energy pass used to be a good deal for flights to/from YPR/YXT/YXJ. In May I paid $936.60 all in (flex). My cousin paid the same in August. Today: $1,995 for flex. I think it's actually gone up twice since August. I seem to recall seeing ~1500/1600 for the 4 credit pass late Sept/early October.

expert7700

Perhaps everyone who used code 'canadiancow' and enjoyed the travel summit presentation has caused a surge in demand

The price rises are rough. AC was really a wolf in sheep's clothing when begging for Covid bailout $.

EdmFlyBoi

The BC and Alberta Energy passes have become almost unbuyable based on the new pricing. The Western Commuter covers almost all the same destinations for almost half the price. Yes the Energy passes can be purchased as 4 credits, but as stated, unless one is flying last minute, they really don't make sense anymore.

I would assume AC keeps track on the uptake - curious if they could be repriced downward if they are no longer purchased.

Adam Smith

Even flying last-minute, I think they only make sense to the outstations. The Flex version works out to $577.50 per credit. It's incredibly rare for YYC-YVR/YYJ/YCD to be that high unless it's like Y1 B1 M0, in which case you couldn't use a Flex FP anyway. That price is also higher than the East-West Connector cost. So not only could you buy a Western Commuter for something like YYC-YVR for less, you could also use frigging EW Connector credits and still be cheaper than that AB Energy pass. I can understand paying a bit of a premium for only needing to commit to 4/8 credits, but that's just stupid.

I can understand AC not wanting to lose out on $800 last-minute YQU-YXS fares, but it would be nice if we had a sort of Rapidair West pass for those of us who just wanted to fly around the western triangle.

ABG

AC suggested to me that the lack of Rouge to Florida markets for this season is part of the new pricing..... they also clipped our TA comm a few months back on pass product
Still love the passes for peak season trips

Diabeetus

I would love a Rapidair West flight pass. Would buy many.

annehamnitz

Just used the last of a Florida plus flight pass bought in February 2020....

nomadic.relief

Even for the outstations, that's pretty brutal. I loved the option of waiting to the last minute to lock in flights (though I usually knew months out when I'd be flying), and at the old rates, it made sense. Now it's a really tough call for *me* to lock in at those prices and forward on to employers when at a month and a half out it's $518 RETURN for Flex, or $623 RETURN for Comfort (aka refundable). Guess it's RIP Flight Passes for me.

RZR

Can you eleaborate on the "flexibility of changes"? what benefits compared to a regular fare is fare beneficial exactly? Much thanks.

aircrashsurvivor

Another advantage of the passes was they booked into a great bucket. M class I think which allowed much less eupgrades credits to be used for upgrades. We often got J to Florida for 1 credit as opposed to 5 for flex or comfort fares
Maybe the increase in flight pass costs will now decrease their usage (less people using them, buying them) and further makes the status benefits of eups more useless

Nitehawk

Something I find interesting is that while the Alberta and BC Energy passes have more than doubled in price, the Ontario and Quebec mining passes haven't, I wonder what the logic is there? Too bad I don't really need those passes.