I am sitting on a UA flight from IAD to YYZ and I'm miffed to say the least! I was scheduled to fly out of DCA tonight and since my meetings finished early I checked with the SE desk to see if there was space on the 3:45 UA out of IAD.

I was told that both DC airports were common rated so I couls stndby sameday with the paymenbt of the change fee. No big deal if it gets me home 3 hrs earlier. Well you guessed it. after a $60 cab ride to IAD I was told that the standby rule does not apply to a code share.

What gives??? Since AC only uses code shares out of IAD to YYZ you'd think that some consideration would be given. Is codeshare only there to sewrve the airline and not the pax?? Shheesh what braqiojn surgeon thinls of these policies.

Now I'm $300 lighter

DF

You got it!

With codesharing, airlines can brag about how many destinations they fly to.

Lufthansa, now serving London.... ONTARIO!

Codeshares serve the pax as well -- airlines can offer direct services to other destinations that they would not otherwise serve, more complex but seamless interlining, improved marketing of services, and most importantly for the consumer, fare rules that are uniform and typical of the carrier. Otherwise, you could be subjected to different terms of carriage and fare rules as you continue to change carriers, even if it's on the same ticket.

In reality, codesharing is a glorified way of doing interlining, with benefits.

Well, the "offer direct services to other destinations that they would not otherwise serve" part is debatable, since virtually any IATA member carrier can sell flights on another IATA carrier (as long as there is an interline agreement in place). As for the uniformity of the "terms of carriage", that's true in a formal sense (i.e. only the tariff/contract of carriage of the marketing carrier would apply if it came down to a legal claim), but, in practice, the check-in agent for the operating airline will, in most cases, treat the 'codeshared' PAX the same way as it would treat a PAX travelling on a 'normal' flight number -- many agents are not fully familiar with their own airline's "terms of carriage", let alone some others' ...

So what's left is marketing, and the perception of Joe-the-traveller that the marketing carrier "flies" to cities, when in reality it doesn't ...

And what does an unsuspecting PAX get?:

• Inability to use upgrade instruments;
• Having to check-in at a different desk, or even terminal;
• Inability to earn FFP mileage (e.g. flight on *A carrier XX, operated by a non-*A carrier YY, cannot be applied to a *A carrier ZZ's FFP);
• Inability for the marketing carrier to apply the procedures that are "typical of the carrier" (as demonstrated in the OP's case).

I guess the bright side of this is that for my $300 I managed to have dinner with my wife, and attend a jam packed Bob Seeger concert at the ACC last night! So I guess it could be worse

It seems to me that codeshares are negotiated on an individual basis and they all seem to behave differently so it makes it virtually impossible for a pax without a tariff book to figure out how a specific codeshare arrangment works, For examply I've flown on AC-Alitalia and AC-MX code shares and received the full AE Q miles including COS, And I've flown on AC-UA codeshares on 016 ticket stock and was able to get Q miles and still use my AC certs by virtue of flying on AC metal.

IN my situation yesterday it was AC who called all of the shots. I was told that DCA and IAD were common rated and that there would be no additional fare other than the stndby charge if I showed up at the counter. If I wanted to confirm my seat in advance, then the ticket would need to be reissued and I would have to pay the change fee plus the difference in fare. So far I am completely clear about what my options are, and since the flight is wide open, I pop the $60 and head for Dulles.

It was only on arrival at IAD that things started to unravel. I went to the UA counter as is normally the custom in a codeshare situation, and I was sent to the AC counter. At 2:45 in the PM the AC desk was deserted, so the UA agent in the adjoining UA Intl. desk offered to help. She listened to my situation and called AC sales for instructions on how to handle my file. After a somewhat lengthy conversation the upshot was $300 or I could fork over another $60 and go to DCA for the later flight. Of course AC sales was very helpful and just added the $300 to my existing ticket because no new ticket was issued.

Where does it say that sameday stby does not apply to codeshares, and if it exists is it written anyplace in pront large enough to viewed without an electron microscope?? AC you got my $300 this time, but I can tell you that the rest on my annual $70K + spend is hanging by a thread.

DF

Unfortunately AC does not make their full tariffs available on-line. Nothing I could find readily says sameday change doesn't apply to codeshare (but then it doesn't mention standby change at all on-line that I could find, only confirmed changes). You could contact AC and ask for the official rule or stop in at any AC ticket office/airport and ask to see their tariff book, which they must legally provide.

The non-simplified version of the 'simplified' fare grid does:
http://www.AirCanada.com/en/agents_n...re_options.pdf

Good advice, but it should also come with a disclaimer that the requestor should be prepared that agent will probably look at him/her like (s)he has two heads ...

I've had a few bad experiences with this sort of thing, and the simplest solution here is if you're going to be flying on a United plane, buy a United ticket. If you're flying r/t and one will be a codeshare, don't by it as a r/t but as two o/w tickets -- which may even be cheaper because of lower taxes on the return. But most importantly you won't get screwed... and if you're flying United standing by will actually be free, rather than $60!

That said, I think you should write AC and request a refund of the $240 difference. You were told one thing on the phone. According to the rules of the fare you bought -- widely publicized and posted on the web site -- the change should have been only $60. You should simply explain that they evidently charged you the extra by mistake. Paying it was the only way to get home, but now you would like a refund.

Finally, with all due respect to my friend YOWKid, uniform fare rules are decidedly NOT one of the advantages of code shares: I think Doc Fraud's experience illustrates that quite well!

Another well-hidden web page. Now explain why AC's on-line faq pops-up nothing on the term "standby" other than they don't sell standby fares.

I was thinking about adding some comment regarding the response from an agent upon requesting the tariffs but that would spoil the experience.

This seemed a good place for this note about *A partner airlines:

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/cha...2/daily32.html

A code-sharing agreement between US Airways Group Inc. and Singapore Airlines is slated to begin in June.

At Christmas, I also notice they serve...Moncton, N.B!

On the topic of code sharing, why does AC codeshare with LH but not LX? Same family, owned by the same company (LH). Just curious...

AC did and may still codeshare LX to India (BOM?) And they may codeshare on the North Atlantic out of YYZ and YUL. Codesharing involves commitments. Typically, on international movements, the host carrier on whose metal the passenger travels will make available capacity and certain agreed prices to the codeshare partner. The codeshare partner may decide not to take capacity on some/many routes so as not to spread itself thin. AC, I presume, wants to funnel as much business as possible to partners through LHR and FRA and even MUC because it serves those airports from multiple places in Canada. If LX does something unique that LH doesn't, that would make sense for AC to codeshare, but it would not necessarily make sense to commit to LX capacity to Moscow, for example, if it has adequate capacity available on LH or SK.

It's been one year since the takeover, IIRC, so maybe LH busy intergrating the two companies. Despite the merger, some things about the two airlines are being run separately so I would guess separate codesharing agreements would need to be signed between AC & LX.

AC has codeshare deals with many, though not all, of it's *A partners.