Shareholder

No, you can put the file in abayence and book the space at a later date, subject to availability and non-expiry of the now open ticket. I have one of these that I will likely use in a few weeks, so will call to book flights in a day or two. However, I did notice when I cancelled the original booking, I did not get a refund of my fees/taxes, nor was I charged the change fee yet. Also note that the routing does not have to be the same either, as long as the class and travel area is the same as the original award: i.e. An original trip from say YYZ-LAX-YYZ in D-class now becomes just an open Canada/USA business class award that can be booked to any appropriate destination in the two countries.

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Update: Just booked my new flights and was told that the value of the ticket could be put towards a new award to any destination, which does seem to make it somewhat more flexible and not all that different from a redeposit. However, did run into a problem. While the agent was able to find my original ticket under the locator from the cancelled booking, and it did show it was cancelled, she's not been able to issue the new ticket and had to refer it to a supervisor. Four hours later I still don't have my eticket confirmation, though I'm sure it will all work out in the end.

kersie

Thanks - that's great news. I was a little surprised by the 22 day rule -- it's a lot less flexible than other frequent flier programs. We're not AC flyers ordinarily but transferred the miles in because they had the direct flight we wanted to YVR.

ryan182

So I read this thread and must admit I am confused as it didn't seem like the OP posted the result of trying to change to >22 days then cancel.

Will this trick still work? I have a friend that would need to cancel an award ticket that he booked and it's less than 22 days.

thanks

Braindrain

Probably, but you'd have to pay a $55 change fee followed by a $135 cancellation fee.

ryan182

Sweet its a C award to Asia so that's worth it.

thanks

Guy Betsy

Sorry... I wasn't even sure if my friend understood what I told him in the end. But last I heard was that he did manage to change the ticket but as the person decided not to travel at all, he basically lost that ticket. Well, that grandson won't be invited to anywhere else anymore !

chovaz

Did we ever get a clarification on which facts are true in regards to valid dates?

Reward booked Jan 1 for travel April 1 returning May 1.

Is it possible to change that reward on Mar 1 to departing April 1, returning Feb 1, the following year?

Basically, is the ticket valid for a return flight 1 year AFTER departure as long as departure takes place within 1 year of the original date of issue?

BlondeBomber

real world experience this week.

Last May, I had booked a couple of my NGO friends from China for an official visit in Canada. Due to the earthquake in SW China (where one of them lived in the extremely hard hit area at Dujiangyan), one of my friends was unable to travel. Aeroplan wouldn't recognize any hardship created due to the earthquake (less than 22 days before travel) and I figured he would come on another trip within the year so I just cancelled his trip but kept the ticket open hoping he could come later.

I rebooked him for May 2009 in March 2009 for a ~$98 fee but his travel just wasn't possible so I cancelled his travel on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week and asked for a redeposit of miles (for the $94.50 including GST fee). Without any special request or additional prompting, the agent happily did that and said that the miles would be redeposited (happened in my account overnight that night) and that any taxes paid originally would also be refunded (happened in my credit card account last night--3/4 days later--lightning speed compared to past refunds.)

I must say I don't like the 22 day cancellation refund rule and haven't since it was implemented. I had 75000 points on the line which I was doing as a favor and no acknowledgement of disaster was even possible by Aeroplan. In the end the system came through for a total cost of about $190. For 75000 points that would be worth it, but for a short haul or North American one, I might consider it marginal to do this.

So there you have it. To answer the original poster's questions:

1. If he has less than 22 days to reinstate an Aeroplan booking on AC, can he change the booking to a later date, and THEN try to get the miles reinstated then?

YES--provided that there is more than 22 days before travel PLUS that he rebooks for the $90 change fee PLUS that he cancels for another $90 change fee

TOTAL Cost: slightly under $200 but you get any taxes on original ticket refunded

2. Or if he is SOL, can he change the date for future travel, or cancel the ticket to decide when to use the same award at a later time so that he doesn't have to keep paying for the date change fee?

YES--change date for $90 change fee at the time you rebook, ie. cancel trip first but keep ticket open--no payment required until you rebook--must be done within one year

TOTAL Cost: slightly under $100 but no taxes on original refunded (but are applied against new ticket)

3. Or can he reissuse the ticket for another destination, with same number of miles? He said he redeemed 55K miles for Hawaii but I can't find that award level for Hawaii. Can he reissue it for something like Europe instead

NO--well not unless you do it like in step 1 or 2--this I am a bit unsure about, ie. rebooking to a different destination via 2 above; certainly possible using 1 above, but that is the most costly

NOTE TO AEROPLAN: You are making out like bandits using method 1--a $200 change fee basically. Don't make this any more punitive than it already is. I can live with this and see some sort of fairness in it but believe rebooking fee/change fee should be lower to mirror current rates (e.g. $40/50 for typical Tango Plus domestic booking). If you try to close this avenue to get legitimate refunds (it is allowed in current rules), it will be just another reason to look at other programs.