Cannot get any flight with AC segment to book
Mar 5, 2025 | 6:05 pm
#1
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Cannot get any flight with AC segment to book
I am trying to go LAX - YYT ultimately. I have tried every routing I can think of and every YYZ-YYT or YUL-YYT segment available, but none of them are actually "there" when I go to select one. Originally I was building some options on google and then clicking through and then would just get an error message about not being able to complete at this time. When I go to put them together on the UA site directly, everything is good until I click on the YYT segment on AC and it has a pop up saying it isn't available anymore. Has anyone had any luck booking a mixed UA/AC itinerary?
Mar 5, 2025 | 8:17 pm
#3
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The options do show up as normal, but if I do say LAX-YYZ on UA and then YYZ-YYT on AC, the error will pop up when I pick the connecting flight. Or it will let me go all the way through the process to buy and just say it cant be completed at this time.
Mar 5, 2025 | 8:44 pm
#4
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Are you trying to book a stopover in Toronto? If so, UA would not be allowed to sell the YYZ-YYT segment (even if operated by AC) due to cabotage laws. You would have better luck booking on aircanada.com.
Mar 6, 2025 | 12:43 am
#5
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It definitely isnt true with AC codes; anyone can go in and buy a domestic AC flight with MileagePlus miles with no cabotage issues at all.
UA is acting as an agent for AC, and AC can operate the flight legally.
Mar 6, 2025 | 7:12 am
#6
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why do you want to book it as 2 segments? If you search separately that is causing a lot of potential with pricing that fails at the validation stage
Mar 6, 2025 | 9:42 am
#7
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That's because the port call in Juneau is not a stopover. They would not be allowed to sell a cruise that goes from Vancouver to Juneau and then a separate cruise from Juneau to Anchorage.
Mar 6, 2025 | 10:25 am
#8
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That… isn’t true. It is possible that it couldn’t be purchased with YYZ-YYT UA codes, but even then I doubt it. Alaska cruises that depart Vancouver are allowed to transport people from a stopover in Juneau to a stop in Anchorage.
It definitely isn’t true with AC codes; anyone can go in and buy a domestic AC flight with MileagePlus miles with no cabotage issues at all.
UA is acting as an agent for AC, and AC can operate the flight legally.
It definitely isn’t true with AC codes; anyone can go in and buy a domestic AC flight with MileagePlus miles with no cabotage issues at all.
UA is acting as an agent for AC, and AC can operate the flight legally.
Mar 6, 2025 | 10:58 am
#9
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Mileage flights are treated differently from revenue fares. Domestic US-48 and US-Canada fares do not allow stopovers, so it's not possible in this case. You can potentially book stopovers in EU on TATL fares, but cheapest fares often do not permit stopovers and you may have to book both a higher class fare that allows stopovers and pay a stopover fee. In many cases, it's cheaper to simply book intra-EU flights on separate partner tickets.
Mar 6, 2025 | 12:04 pm
#10
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Yes, UA could potentially sell an AC fare on intra-CA segments (UA does not have their own fare filings on intra-CA routes, so in addition to being CA metal, it would need to be a CA fare and CA coded flight), but it's not something you can do on website. This thread has some more backstory -- Booking partner only cash flights on United.com / app
UA currently allows for connections of up to 12 hours for Canada destinations before a stopover occurs (at which point, separate intra-CA segment would need to be on a separate AC fare instead of a single UA O&D fare from US).
UA currently allows for connections of up to 12 hours for Canada destinations before a stopover occurs (at which point, separate intra-CA segment would need to be on a separate AC fare instead of a single UA O&D fare from US).
Last edited by xliioper; Mar 6, 2025 at 12:11 pm
Mar 6, 2025 | 12:48 pm
#11
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Yes, UA could potentially sell an AC fare on intra-CA segments (UA does not have their own fare filings on intra-CA routes, so in addition to being CA metal, it would need to be a CA fare and CA coded flight), but it's not something you can do on website. This thread has some more backstory -- Booking partner only cash flights on United.com / app
I just priced out AUS-YYT / YYT-YZF / YZF-AUS on United.com. It came up with two UA flight numbers for AUS-YYZ-YYT (both AC codeshares, obviously); AC flight numbers for YYT-YYZ-YZF, and then an AC flight number for YZF-YVR followed by UA codes (on UA metal) to DEN and AUS. It appears to have broken the fare at YVR (I get four fare components).
Bottom line: there is no cabotage issue at play here. Whatever is causing OP to have issues booking this itinerary, it has nothing to do with illegal cabotage.
Mar 6, 2025 | 2:34 pm
#12
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Since when? AFAIK, Transborder fares have always had the same rules as domestic fares via-a-vis layovers - with a max of 4 hours (or next available flight) for a layover, with anything more becoming a stopover.
Mar 6, 2025 | 2:46 pm
#13
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UA has been playing around with the "next available flight" language. Note what was posted: you have 12 hours provided that you take the next flight. On domestic fares you'll currently see 4 hours posted and no mention of the next available flight at all.
Mar 6, 2025 | 2:55 pm
#14
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Last edited by xliioper; Mar 6, 2025 at 3:10 pm