Air Canada sale

[Senga]

If you have a cruise coming up over the winter/spring, worth checking out the latest sale.

[bebe08]

Absolutely!  I was able to reprice airfare for a spring cruise and saved over $200.  

[everbeentoseabilly]

14 minutes ago, bebe08 said:

Absolutely!  I was able to reprice airfare for a spring cruise and saved over $200.  

How do you do that?

[bebe08]

We booked our flights with Flight Ease through Holland America.  You don't pay for your flights until cruise final payment and can reprice your flights as many times as you want up until final payment date.  We typically book flights as soon as they become available and keep watching for price drops.  We do the same thing with Celebrity cruises as well.

[everbeentoseabilly]

2 hours ago, bebe08 said:

We booked our flights with Flight Ease through Holland America.  You don't pay for your flights until cruise final payment and can reprice your flights as many times as you want up until final payment date.  We typically book flights as soon as they become available and keep watching for price drops.  We do the same thing with Celebrity cruises as well.

Oh ok. We booked our own flights. 
thanks

[Bobpell54]

I booked flights yesterday through the AC website because of the 25% sale. 

I had to then talk to an AC agent due to a name change.

I asked her if the price I booked at on the website included the 25% savings and she said yes

[Middleager]

Those AC advertised sales have never provided any savings to us.  Similarly for many people on flyertalk.

 

One time I was following flights to west coast.  Then came a AC advertised sale.  None of the prices went down during the sale, and some even went up.,

 

Yes AC can say the prices are dynamic and can change any time.  But those AC sales, were never any good to me.

[Senga]

When I first checked prices for YYZ to FLL for March 19th it was $1300!  Next time I checked it was $900.  This time $750.  

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Senga said:

When I first checked prices for YYZ to FLL for March 19th it was $1300!  Next time I checked it was $900.  This time $750.  

Like buying stocks, trying to time your buy before the price starts going up again can be challenging. 😇

[Senga]

We have always booked our own airfare; A/C and Air Transat, and usually book well in advance.  The secret to peace of mind is NOT to check after booking.  😂 This time we’re using Princess EZair since we’re flying March 19th (one day early) and the weather could be iffy.  They’re using WestJet and the price is $318.74 each return which is better than any A/C offer.

[Middleager]

1 hour ago, Senga said:

We have always booked our own airfare; A/C and Air Transat, and usually book well in advance.  The secret to peace of mind is NOT to check after booking.  😂 This time we’re using Princess EZair since we’re flying March 19th (one day early) and the weather could be iffy.  They’re using WestJet and the price is $318.74 each return which is better than any A/C offer.

You started this thread about AC sale.

But wanted to share experience of checking airfare booking through cruiseline (Princess, not AC) which uses Westjet (not AC).  Ok.

[lx200gps]

10 hours ago, Middleager said:

You started this thread about AC sale.

But wanted to share experience of checking airfare booking through cruiseline (Princess, not AC) which uses Westjet (not AC).  Ok.

 Air Canada is definitely bookable through Princess EZ-Air.

[Senga]

13 hours ago, lx200gps said:

 Air Canada is definitely bookable through Princess EZ-Air.

Thanks for that.  WestJet was the only option I saw.

[lx200gps]

15 minutes ago, Senga said:

Thanks for that.  WestJet was the only option I saw.

I suppose it depends on the route, timing etc. Perhaps for some itineraries AC may not be available, but whenever I search for a flight to FLL or LAX Air Canada usually show as options.

[Oceangoer2]

On 9/16/2024 at 3:42 PM, everbeentoseabilly said:

Oh ok. We booked our own flights. 
thanks

We buy refundable ....then watch if/when they come down in price.

[lx200gps]

30 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

We buy refundable ....then watch if/when they come down in price.

What is your experience in changing/re-faring once a price drop happens? AFAIK you have to call in to cancel/rebook with a refundable fare, you can't do it on-line? The experience of dealing with AC by phone is just annoying enough that I don't even bother unless the fare difference is quite substantial, which it rarely is.

[Oceangoer2]

2 hours ago, lx200gps said:

What is your experience in changing/re-faring once a price drop happens? AFAIK you have to call in to cancel/rebook with a refundable fare, you can't do it on-line? The experience of dealing with AC by phone is just annoying enough that I don't even bother unless the fare difference is quite substantial, which it rarely is.

I go into my booking, choose 'change my flight', book the same flight, and go to payment, then the reduced price appears, I book it, and the refund comes in a few days.  Check your seats that they stay the same as they may disappear with the change.  If so, I just rebook 'my' vacant seats just cancelled.  I've re-fared this way a few times.

[lx200gps]

4 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

I go into my booking, choose 'change my flight', book the same flight, and go to payment, then the reduced price appears, I book it, and the refund comes in a few days.  Check your seats that they stay the same as they may disappear with the change.  If so, I just rebook 'my' vacant seats just cancelled.  I've re-fared this way a few times.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll be looking into it for sure. In our particular case, it's probably not that easy, as half of our trips are on Aeroplan points, and the other half, the refundable ones, are "almost" half-price bookings using our annual Buddy Pass. I do know from experience that anything involving a BP booking has to be done through a separate Air Canada department, which seriously increases the complexity and time spent on the phone. It's too much to hope that I could make such a change to one of those bookings on-line but I'll look into it.

[Oceangoer2]

Just now, lx200gps said:

Thanks for the heads up, I'll be looking into it for sure. In our particular case, it's probably not that easy, as half of our trips are on Aeroplan points, and the other half, the refundable ones, are "almost" half-price bookings using our annual Buddy Pass. I do know from experience that anything involving a BP booking has to be done through a separate Air Canada department, which seriously increases the complexity and time spent on the phone. It's too much to hope that I could make such a change to one of those bookings on-line but I'll look into it.

Good point....I've not used points to fly, just to upgrade after the chance of price change has passed.  It does appear you would have to call and that's a challenge in itself.  Have you used the 'call back' feature?  I find they do call close to the expected time.

[lx200gps]

5 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Good point....I've not used points to fly, just to upgrade after the chance of price change has passed.  It does appear you would have to call and that's a challenge in itself.  Have you used the 'call back' feature?  I find they do call close to the expected time.

Quite honestly, the last few times I've called in I was connected very quickly, much better than in the bad old  pre-Pandemic days. In my case, I would forget to mention that I was calling about a Buddy Pass booking, spend 15+ minutes talking, explaining, on hold etc, then get told that since I was calling about a Buddy Pass, I had to speak with that department, so the whole process is then repeated, after occasional disconnections etc. I've since learned my lesson and now make sure to mention it right up front, but given the number of times I've been disconnected and have to start all over, I sure wish it could be on-line or over a chat function like with Princess

[K32682]

Air Canada prices are still comparatively good. An itinerary booked this year was $400 less than the same itinerary booked a year ago.  

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, K32682 said:

Air Canada prices are still comparatively good. An itinerary booked this year was $400 less than the same itinerary booked a year ago.  

Unfortunately those sale prices are for only a small number of flights and in our case, don't give any relief to our existing bookings. I'm also looking at a short trip from Montreal to Halifax for this coming June, again not subject to the Sale. It's actually much cheaper to fly to Fort Lauderdale than it is to fly the one hour to Halifax, and it's only a bit more to fly all the way to LA from Montreal than it is to fly from here to Halifax. Air Canada's pricing never fails to amaze me.

[Middleager]

7 hours ago, K32682 said:

Air Canada prices are still comparatively good. An itinerary booked this year was $400 less than the same itinerary booked a year ago.  

Air Canada prices are higher. An itinerary booked this year was $400 more than the same itinerary booked a year ago.

[K32682]

1 hour ago, Middleager said:

Air Canada prices are higher. An itinerary booked this year was $400 more than the same itinerary booked a year ago.

 

Destination matters. My experience is international flights on Air Canada are lower. Domestic not so much.