An AC C-fare internationally is not the same as a C-fare on other STAR carriers, as they use C for their full-fare Business Class, while AC uses C for their discounted and upgrade Business Class. That in itself should render the argument for the 25% COS void. Afterall, it is the airline you fly and pay that buys Aeroplan miles from Aeroplan, so they are the one who decide which fares they are willing to offer full, COS or discounted miles for.

For competitive reasons, AC has adjusted its domestic/transborder fare structure, and for various competitive reasons offers the COS on fares booked and paid for in C [when available] or upgraded by elite certificates.

BTW, FGII, does this mean rather than pay AC $2500 on a discounted C transAtlantic fare, you'd rather spend $6000 for LH's non-discounted C fare just for an extra 25%? Wow, no wonder the drug companies charge us so much for their wonder drugs!

I am fully aware that AC C is not the same as say LH C, but if you have a look at the fare list on one of their major European routes FRA-YYZ-FRA you will easily find out that AC "CRT4" is exactly the same price as LH "DCAW" - why would one book the AC flight in C if there is no price advantage compared to LH and you do not get the 25% cos?

I do not care much about the transborder adjustment AC made (I happily take it though), but if you include for example AC 16 HKG-YYZ in a RTW booked in C we are talking about almost 2000 status miles you do not get.

AC also credits the 25% COS for LH's Z Class which is even more discounted business class than AC C Class - where is the point?

On a Bus class * RTW the flights are booked in C on AC and D on most other carriers. All are considered as discounted Business, but AC is the only airline that doesn't give the 25% COS. That's why I would fly LH to FRA rather than AC.
And SH, there really is no reason for your gratuitous ad hominem insults towards FGII. He asked a question about COS bonuses, he didn't talk about what he was willing to spend on a fare or who might be paying for it.

Absolutely true, but I would prefer to fly AC instead of other *A carriers on the same route if I have the choice because AC does recognize my SE status, for all other carriers I am one of many many *Gold members (leaving a major difference in seat comfort like SQ's Space bed aside).

AC used to credit the 25% COS before internationally, so I do not get why they "force" people keen on miles (like the majority of us :) ) to choose other airlines when AC on the other side give the COS for even lower fares like LH's Z class. SH wrote that the airlines buy the miles from AP and that determines which booking class earns what miles, however I do believe that AC ultimatively loose passengers because of their policy. AC C is not an expensive coach fare, it is a discounted business fare absolutely comparable to D on other *A carriers and if only because of this same price we pay we should get the miles. The argument that the COS is not credited because C is also AC's class for upgrades does not count because they credit the additional miles for all other routes also when using upgrade certificates.

One of the reasons for no COS bonus on AC international C is because it's relatively cheaper to get international C than domestic C. (You could get C to LHR for as low as $900 if upgrading, while it'll cost you almost the same to get a YVR/YYZ upgradeable. Base miles you earn on LHR is already double what you earn on the YVR/YYZ.) The crap about there being competition so AC offered COS bonus on domestic/transborder isn't true, other major NA airlines don't even offer any extra miles in upgraded class. If they want to be competitive, they would have fixed that 50% thing since that affects 95%+ of their customers.

On my ticket the other day under class was YJ, this was a full fare, does the J mean upgrade if available ? J was full anyway so I didn't get to find out. Managed to talk my way into the MLL though which was nice :cool:

Also, what does "hospitality" on the boarding pass mean ? Is this just Air Canada's way of saying Economy ?

I don't think the J after the Y signifies anything except the fare code, but "hospitality" is just AC lingo for steerage.

Was it a paper ticket with a flight date in JUN or JUL by any chance?

It was a paper ticket, but August.

As indicated by a couple of responders to your post, the discounted business class fares (booking code D) on the Star Alliance carriers are similar to the discounted business class fares (booking code C - less than 7 day stayover) on AC. For example, I got a quote of about $4600 for a trip from YOW to VIE late next month on AC (including codeshares), and about $4800 on LH on a slightly different routing (including codeshares). I suspect that the two airlines' fares would have been virtually the same on identical routings.

Yes, in this scenario, a discounted business class with LH gives the passenger the 25% COS bonus, but that is not the case with AC. I would certainly pick LH over AC, all other things being equal. Last year, I made 2 business transatlantic trips; these extra miles were important to me, as I accumulated (the reduced SE threshold of) 85,000 miles, with a dozen Aeroplan miles to spare.

FYI...

FUN: Changes are permitted for a 30 CAD/ 22 USD fee per direction, plus taxes and any fare difference, subject to availability and advance purchase requirements. A higher fare could apply in addition to the change fee. Changes/cancellations can be made to an existing reservation. Value of unused tickets can be applied within a one-year period from date of issue of the original tickets to the value of a new ticket subject to a 30 CAD/ 22 USD cancellation fee. Customers who no-show for their flight will forfeit the fare paid. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Yeah, not only for FUN, it's up to $30 for TANGO too.

I should know this, but I wasn't able to find the information in a search. Are there any UA fare classes that don't earn AP status miles?

According to Empress, it depends, especially on transborder travel which fare class rules change for each city pair. For example, a recent trip I did on UA stock but AC a/c ORD YYZ was UA S class and that equated to Tango on my statement. But this does not imply that all UA S class for all transborder city pairs will be AC Tango.

Just make sure the flight is operated by UA, then all revenue booking classes will earn you Q miles. Otherwise, it gets complicated if you book a UA fare but operated by AC.