I full realize that AC is the culprit. Just hoping the the poster didn't actually book it without checking here first.

I would never dare to do anything so foolish :)

Not having traveled much lately I wasn't prepared for such a steep price increase. Following your advice I looked up itineraries not using AC and prices are much cheaper. I feel cheated and value my 300k + points a lot less.

Is this situation temporary or will prices for other airlines also come up (the possibility of AC/AP prices coming down isn't on the radar...)?

I used to love my points...

Aeroplan n00b question
 

I need an overview on which destinations or itineraries or practices are going to be the best use of my Aeroplan points... including fees, of course.

In this forum, I see lots of cautionary tales and lots of great deals (thanks!), but I'm not sure what the underlying factors or causes are.

I want to know what routes to target or avoid BEFORE :D my wife and I decide where & when we're going to go for a vacation.

If there's already a good primer on this, could someone please point this n00b to it? Thanks all.

Jerry, we need some more information - where do you live, how many points do you have, where in the world do you want to go etc.

Thanks, DaveTO.

We're in YWG. 75K AE points each now. We're looking for 2-week sun destinations in January.

For example, we'd like to do FL, for 25K AE points, in January, but that never seems to work out. If I pick other sun destinations, are there ways to save hundreds of dollars in fees, that aren't apparent to an infrequent flyer?

Thanks!

You can go around the world ("mini-RTW") for 75k in economy, or get some more miles and do it for 125k in business.

Or you can go to Mexico, Central America or Caribbean for 40k in economy or 60k in business, but this is not the best use of miles when you can just buy a packaged tour for very reasonable money.

I paid a whopping $715.36 on my recent AP booking. It's insane. The largest charge was for fuel ($500):

YYZ-PVG
PVG-MEL

BNE-SIN
SIN-PVG
PVG-YYZ

This is an understandable complaint. Which class, which airline, but furthermore: did you check before?

I booked this a few weeks ago. About a month before than I swear the charge was only ~$500 when I was checking, but I may be making that up.

It's on AC, Singapore Airlines, and Air China.

you chose to fly AC - YYZ-PVG-YYZ - that cost you $500 extra - thats as simple as it is. Shouldve booked a different airline. And for it being $500 few months ago - thats not any better!!!

YUL ZRH (LX F)
ZRH BKK (TG F)
BKK SIN (TG J) POT
SIN PVG (SQ J) STOP
PVG FRA (LH F)
FRA TXL (LH J) STOP
TXL ZRH (LX J)
ZRH YUL (LX F)


$274.79 taxes/fees + $30 AE donation + $90+tx change fee due to segments becoming available.... Still a pretty good deal for 120k points. :D

Just for fun, I thought I'd post my AA redemption.

YYZ-LAS, 25K miles + $61.52 in taxes.

NO FEES!

Looking at booking EZE - YUL - EZE:

AC = $880.53 in surcharges

CO = $143.89 in surcharges

Now that's nuts!!

Yep, that's why those wanting to $ave don't book Air Canada segments when using their Aeroplan miles. :)^

We are all complaining about the level of ac fees but, for clarity, just who is charging (benefiting) from the fees collected . . . . . ac or aeroplan ?