Booking Flights for a Cruise

[gubby]

We have saved Aeroplan Miles in order to book a business class seat to Europe to take a cruise next year. How many days ahead can we, or should the seats be booked? Is there a way to book economy and use Aeroplan to upgrade or do I book using 60K miles per seat? Never have done this before. I appreciate any insights.

[LHT28]

I believe you can book as soon as the seats are available  & you should book early like 330 days out   if using points 

 

[Jack1]

Gubby..LHT28 is right.  If you want business seats it is often best to look and book as soon as seats come available.  Just know you may run into schedule changes booking that far out

 

Upgrades do not seem to be available for all economy seat fares.  It's been our experience that we get better bang for our aeroplan miles by getting business seats as opposed to economy seats.

There is a website called flyer talk that can provide lots of information..find the air Canada posts and there is lots there if you search...there are some very kind people who will also answer questions if you need help.  Kind of like cruise critic but for air travel.

[gubby]

Thanks for the info. I will start looking in October when we are 11 months out. I am unable to find useful info on Aeroplan site. Is there a better place as flyèr talk won't accept my request.

[Quarterly_gules_et_or]

right now Aeroplan is, how to say, subject to market prices [in my case 4x the nominal value for Vancouver to Sydney] but as LHT28 said - they have few seats per flight and they go fast. Hopefully by October things will be closer to normal. Good luck and fair skies.

[Camelia-]

5 hours ago, Quarterly_gules_et_or said:

right now Aeroplan is, how to say, subject to market prices [in my case 4x the nominal value for Vancouver to Sydney] but as LHT28 said - they have few seats per flight and they go fast. Hopefully by October things will be closer to normal. Good luck and fair skies.

I haven't used Aeroplan miles for a while (last time was to purchase business class seats from Vancouver to Sydney Australia..worth ever point!)..I was lucky to get them because I know that they go fast..since it's so far out what happens if the cruise gets cancelled..are the miles refunded and is there a penalty? I'm hoping to go back to Australia next year and should start looking for those seats!!

[sunviking90]

I find I can actually book 360 days out (on the website, not the app), so don’t wait until 330. I don’t have any special status, just an Aeroplan CC.

Not sure where in Europe you’re flying to but flexibility is your friend. Be open to Premium Economy too. It is very nice on AC. I haven’t seen any 60K business seats to Europe in a long time. I booked our business seats 360 days out for our cruise in the fall, and got them for 60k each, but haven’t seen them for anything nears since. 

[gnome12]

8 minutes ago, Camelia- said:

I haven't used Aeroplan miles for a while (last time was to purchase business class seats from Vancouver to Sydney Australia..worth ever point!)..I was lucky to get them because I know that they go fast..since it's so far out what happens if the cruise gets cancelled..are the miles refunded and is there a penalty? I'm hoping to go back to Australia next year and should start looking for those seats!!

See the section on Flexible changes and cancellations, which has a link to the Flight Reward Policy just below it.

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/aeroplan/redeem/air-canada.html#/

[Tango99]

23 hours ago, gubby said:

We have saved Aeroplan Miles in order to book a business class seat to Europe to take a cruise next year. How many days ahead can we, or should the seats be booked? Is there a way to book economy and use Aeroplan to upgrade or do I book using 60K miles per seat? Never have done this before. I appreciate any insights.

With the changes to the plan you can sign in to Air Canada, and then select the method to pay by Aeroplan reward. By then you’ll have entered your account #. Then you find your preferred flight/routing, and you will see the various options that are available … by class … and what your points will buy you. It’s all on one page for each flight. Take lots of notes for now. Include flight number and airline and time in transit. You can get an idea of what airline might work better. Once you select the class and go on to seating preferences, you will be given the option of using all points, or various combinations of cash and points.  This will be for just 1 passenger, so remember to double it. Some business class are not offered short haul, so buy that for the longest flight segment. Trouble with that in real time MAY be baggage allowances for smaller connecting flights. Check out the airlines in the Star Alliance partners. Be careful though if you stop or layover in let’s say Portugal - TAP airlines are often least expensive but have fewer options, and covid status is still iffy (but of course that can improve). Another lovely option was Singapore Airlines when they had a stop in Munich. Not sure if that’s still available. Swiss Air never applied a fuel surcharge when it was introduced in the 80’s so that was a massive saving for a long time, even when using points. Mind you that’s likely going to change. You’ll see the differences when you check out the routings. It’s all about your preferences and ideals about value for money.  If you decide to book now, be prepared to look at options if there are changes to the flight schedules. That’s usually September. Sometimes it’s a 20 minute difference, sometimes more. 

[cdn_tbird]

On 6/5/2022 at 5:36 PM, gubby said:

We have saved Aeroplan Miles in order to book a business class seat to Europe to take a cruise next year. How many days ahead can we, or should the seats be booked? Is there a way to book economy and use Aeroplan to upgrade or do I book using 60K miles per seat? Never have done this before. I appreciate any insights.

 

11 hours ago, gubby said:

Thanks for the info. I will start looking in October when we are 11 months out. I am unable to find useful info on Aeroplan site. Is there a better place as flyèr talk won't accept my request.

If you're flying to Europe in Aug 2023, that's considered high season so it could take a lot more points than 60k for a business class seat.

 

I did a mock booking as far out as possible on Air Canada's site (May 2023) and a direct AC flight from Toronto to Barcelona, a non-refundable ticket was 231k points +$60 per person for business class. Economy was 45.8k+$60 and Premium Economy was 94.5k+$60.

 

Keep in mind that you can also book a ticket through their site on a partner airline as well. For example, with a 2hr stopover in Lisbon, you can book business class on TAP Portugal for only 70k+$121.

 

Good luck and happy planning.

 

 

[gubby]

So much to think about. The thoughts on here are so welcome, and I really have lots of notes to check out. Thanks everyone.

[em-sk]

12 hours ago, gubby said:

So much to think about. The thoughts on here are so welcome, and I really have lots of notes to check out. Thanks everyone.

 

You do also have Premium Economy as an option.  That has a seat similar to domestic /North America business class.  Not as nice as International Business Class but also cheaper.

 

They open up a number of seats with classic aeroplan (that is usually the best deal).  The market seats will very in the number of point required.  

 

Air Canada historically opens up seats one year out.  The other star alliance partners are all over the map.  

 

What you do have going for you is Barcelona is not a major business destination so they don't generally sell a lot of paid business class seats on that flight.  

 

TAP Air Portugal is also a star alliance partner, so their flights will be available to you through Aeroplan.   Good product, and does in involve backtracking through Northern Europe.