There has been a lot of discussion of late about the merits of posting "deals," or alternatively circulating them in some less public fashion. In another thread, I used the "Mexican Hat Dance" (or MHD, see Air Canada forum) situation as an example of what could happen.

In that thread, there was some doubt as to why AC cancelled the MHD. Some suggested it was just the airline doing business as usual. This morning an article appeared in the Globe & Mail (roughly the equivalent of USA Today in Canada) noting the MHD's demise.

In that article, an AC spokesperson makes it clear that the changes in the fare rules were explicity made to prevent MHDs. Amusingly, they refer to the MHD as an "abuse" of tariffs, even though we fastidiously followed every rule, even flying segments beyond home then taking the train home, so as not be be "throwaway ticketing." (Of course, anything that involves not giving them money is pretty much considered an abuse by AC. Working in your office when their is an Air Canada flight in the air that you could have been on falls into this category.)

Anyway, here's the article: Airlines knock sombreros off high-flying Mexican Hat Dancers

It's interesting to note that Air Canada "blamed" Mexicana for an "error" in Mexicana's rules. Up until a few weeks ago, Air Canada's rules contained those same "errors." Air Canada just quietly changed their own rules without telling anyone.