EZ Air, Air Canada and Buddy Passes

[lx200gps]

I'm looking at EZ Air for a flight from YUL to LAX early next year. EZ Air is actually a few hundred less than direct with AC for the same flights, and EZ Air's  flexibility etc is excellent. I have a $99 Aeroplan Buddy Pass I need to use/book before mid-July and would like to apply it to this flight to save about $600 over the AC price. Has anyone used a Buddy Pass in concert with EZ Air and if so, how was it applied. Booking directly with AC there is a box to select using the Pass, but of course not on EZ Air. The cynic in me says if I call EZ Air they will say "No idea, talk to Air Canada, and if I call AC they will either say "No idea, talk to EZ Air", or more likely "What's EZ Air".

[Rick&Jeannie]

Highly unlikely that you can use your pass...

[PacnGoNow]

25 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

I'm looking at EZ Air for a flight from YUL to LAX early next year. EZ Air is actually a few hundred less than direct with AC for the same flights, and EZ Air's  flexibility etc is excellent. I have a $99 Aeroplan Buddy Pass I need to use/book before mid-July and would like to apply it to this flight to save about $600 over the AC price. Has anyone used a Buddy Pass in concert with EZ Air and if so, how was it applied. Booking directly with AC there is a box to select using the Pass, but of course not on EZ Air. The cynic in me says if I call EZ Air they will say "No idea, talk to Air Canada, and if I call AC they will either say "No idea, talk to EZ Air", or more likely "What's EZ Air".

I would call AC.  EZAir is completely separate from using a buddy pass.  
Is it that one of you wants to use a buddy pass and the other, EZAir?

 

I would book the buddy pass, if it is positive space.  Standby, that’s a whole different issue.  
 

Call AC…EZAir will have no clue.

 

If this is the AC credit card buddy pass, then you book one and the other is 0 due.  You can book on the App or call the call center to book.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[Steelers36]

My bet is that AC will not allow this.  They are expecting customer to book an AC revenue ticket and then they allow the Buddy Pass to be used.  I imagine the same issue exists if customer was booking via a third party travel site.  AC website should have documentation on full T&C for the Buddy Pass usage.

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

I would call AC.  EZAir is completely separate from using a buddy pass.  
Is it that one of you wants to use a buddy pass and the other, EZAir?

 

I would book the buddy pass, if it is positive space.  Standby, that’s a whole different issue.  
 

Call AC…EZAir will have no clue.

 

If this is the AC credit card buddy pass, then you book one and the other is 0 due.  You can book on the App or call the call center to book.

 

 

No, it would be both of us using EZ Air, or me booking direct with AC and we apply the buddy pass for SWMBO.  Either way, it would be a guaranteed, paid for seat, no standby. The buddy pass is through my Aeroplan card, one per year and expires soon. The fare with the buddy pass is technically $0, but  by the time we add taxes, surcharges etc, it ends up "costing" $99. Still one hell of a deal, especially for a long-ish flight to LA.

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

My bet is that AC will not allow this.  They are expecting customer to book an AC revenue ticket and then they allow the Buddy Pass to be used.  I imagine the same issue exists if customer was booking via a third party travel site.  AC website should have documentation on full T&C for the Buddy Pass usage.

I'm pretty sure you're correct. The Buddy Pass Ts and Cs on the AC/Aeroplan site are not very helpful in trying to link their usage with something like EZ Air.  We'll probably use the pass and forego E Air, as it does save quite a few hundred dollars. The loss of some of the EZ Air perqs like easy cancellation, change etc are offset by us booking AC Flex fare, our Visa Infinite Privilege card and our Aeroplan status.

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

I'm pretty sure you're correct. The Buddy Pass Ts and Cs on the AC/Aeroplan site are not very helpful in trying to link their usage with something like EZ Air.  We'll probably use the pass and forego E Air, as it does save quite a few hundred dollars. The loss of some of the EZ Air perqs like easy cancellation, change etc are offset by us booking AC Flex fare, our Visa Infinite Privilege card and our Aeroplan status.

Yep.  I’d probably go for the buddy pass too. 

[Steelers36]

26 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

.......Aeroplan status.

Ahhh... something I wish I still had.

[lx200gps]

14 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Yep.  I’d probably go for the buddy pass too. 

My big concern now is that AC seem to have cut way back on the YUL to LAX flights. We have one for this October and there were, IIRC, at least three non-stops available to choose from. Now, there only seems to be one per day around that date and it's not well timed for a cruise disembarkation, leaving LAX at 8AM. Folks living near the center of the known universe, the GTA, have a LOT more options.

[cruisequeen4ever]

No, you can’t use airline-direct offers with EZ-Air. 

[lx200gps]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

Ahhh... something I wish I still had.

Yup, since we retired 8 years ago and stopped flying the world, our account has slowly inched downwards. All to frequent credit card spending, and the churning of credit cards, has kept it alive, but it is slowly dwindling. Between SWMBO and I  we are down to little more than 400K points between us. I see an AMEX Platinum card with a 100K signing bonus in my horoscope ;o)

[PacnGoNow]

11 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

My big concern now is that AC seem to have cut way back on the YUL to LAX flights. We have one for this October and there were, IIRC, at least three non-stops available to choose from. Now, there only seems to be one per day around that date and it's not well timed for a cruise disembarkation, leaving LAX at 8AM. Folks living near the center of the known universe, the GTA, have a LOT more options.

Recheck those flights LAX YUL, I see a noon flight, Oct.  IDK your actual date, but recheck. May not be late enough?

 

 Possible flight cancellations, they should

protect you on their partner, United/United Express, of course if any flights are available.  

I can see where this would be a concern.  Just have to weigh your options.  
 

Even those In the middle of the universe, have to think about our options too these days.  😂

 

 

[lx200gps]

12 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Recheck those flights LAX YUL, I see a noon flight, Oct.  IDK your actual date, but recheck. May not be late enough?

 

 Possible flight cancellations, they should

protect you on their partner, United/United Express, of course if any flights are available.  

I can see where this would be a concern.  Just have to weigh your options.  
 

Even those In the middle of the universe, have to think about our options too these days.  😂

 

 

I've checked AC's PDF timetable and it does show three flights a day between YUL and LAX, but when I look for our dates in Feb on the booking site, only one shows as available (our flights for our trip in October are long since booked, no issues at all). I doubt  that the other two flights for Feb are not showing up because they are sold out 8 months in advance, that seems a bit extreme. When I check numerous other dates in January and February, only one direct flight per day shows up, so perhaps they simply haven't populated the schedule with the other flights yet.

[PacnGoNow]

6 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

I've checked AC's PDF timetable and it does show three flights a day between YUL and LAX, but when I look for our dates in Feb on the booking site, only one shows as available (our flights for our trip in October are long since booked, no issues at all). I doubt  that the other two flights for Feb are not showing up because they are sold out 8 months in advance, that seems a bit extreme. When I check numerous other dates in January and February, only one direct flight per day shows up, so perhaps they simply haven't populated the schedule with the other flights yet.

 

That might well be a reduced schedule for next winter.  IDK.

 

Could you please get rid of those fires up North?  😳  TIA

 

[Fortunate 2 travel]

To the OP, if you use EZ Air be aware that the flights you think you have booked with them may not be the flights you get.  We had our flights booked and saw that the outbound flights were ticketed but not the return flights.  I called to get them ticketed and they wanted to change our return flights (probably because they were less expensive) even though we had paid in full.  After almost 2 hours on the phone with the Princess air department, we got the flights we were holding ticketed.  Just something to keep in mind.  Happy cruising!

[Steelers36]

41 minutes ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

To the OP, if you use EZ Air be aware that the flights you think you have booked with them may not be the flights you get.  We had our flights booked and saw that the outbound flights were ticketed but not the return flights.  I called to get them ticketed and they wanted to change our return flights (probably because they were less expensive) even though we had paid in full.  After almost 2 hours on the phone with the Princess air department, we got the flights we were holding ticketed.  Just something to keep in mind.  Happy cruising!

IDK why EZ-Air would care how much guest pays for a flight.  I might elect to book the most expensive flight offered on a particular route because maybe I prefer that airline or cannot stand the other.  I wouldn't expect EZ-Air to intercede due to the price I booked at.  They aren't the ones paying after all.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, lx200gps said:

Yup, since we retired 8 years ago and stopped flying the world, our account has slowly inched downwards. All to frequent credit card spending, and the churning of credit cards, has kept it alive, but it is slowly dwindling. Between SWMBO and I  we are down to little more than 400K points between us. I see an AMEX Platinum card with a 100K signing bonus in my horoscope ;o)

When I retired, I decided I wasn't interested in maintaining Aeroplan because I was never going to have FF Status like I had before which made sense to be loyal.  Now, I prefer general travel point accumulation and am free to spend on any airline if AC doesn't suit.  The last points basically went on Business seats between YYZ & SYD back in 2018 for a 2019 trip.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

IDK why EZ-Air would care how much guest pays for a flight.  I might elect to book the most expensive flight offered on a particular route because maybe I prefer that airline or cannot stand the other.  I wouldn't expect EZ-Air to intercede due to the price I booked at.  They aren't the ones paying after all.

EZ air had not paid the airline for the return flight.  We booked Delta One.  We wrongly assumed that the flights EZ air booked for us were the flights we would have ticketed.  When I requested that the return trip be ticketed the air desk wanted to change our return. I had no idea that was something that would even be considered.  Being Delta, the flights were on our App and we had our seat assignments.  Next time, I will book directly with the airline.  

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, lx200gps said:

I've checked AC's PDF timetable and it does show three flights a day between YUL and LAX, but when I look for our dates in Feb on the booking site, only one shows as available (our flights for our trip in October are long since booked, no issues at all). I doubt  that the other two flights for Feb are not showing up because they are sold out 8 months in advance, that seems a bit extreme. When I check numerous other dates in January and February, only one direct flight per day shows up, so perhaps they simply haven't populated the schedule with the other flights yet.

Why not use the AirCanada.com website or Air Canada App?  That will have the most up-to-date info.  Those PDF's are kind of old school and have limited 3 month timeframes. 

 

I would say the extra flight is a summer route only and in winter, you have to connect at YYZ.

 

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

 

That might well be a reduced schedule for next winter.  IDK.

 

Could you please get rid of those fires up North?  😳  TIA

 

I would say yes.  There probably isn't a lot of demand between YUL and LAX to justify two non-stops.

 

[lx200gps]

15 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Why not use the AirCanada.com website or Air Canada App?  That will have the most up-to-date info.  Those PDF's are kind of old school and have limited 3 month timeframes. 

 

I would say the extra flight is a summer route only and in winter, you have to connect at YYZ.

 

I would say yes.  There probably isn't a lot of demand between YUL and LAX to justify two non-stops.

 

I certainly have been using the AC website, I was only checking the PDF Timetable to confirm that, at least June through September, there are three flights a day. Unfortunately, that doesn't help me with next Feb, and I suspect that you are correct, there may only be one flight a day during the winter. Sadly, our only option to make this cruise is to endure the joy of a transfer through YYZ. At least our NEXUS and Aeroplan status will help with some of the lines, however little it will help.

[lx200gps]

15 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

When I retired, I decided I wasn't interested in maintaining Aeroplan because I was never going to have FF Status like I had before which made sense to be loyal.  Now, I prefer general travel point accumulation and am free to spend on any airline if AC doesn't suit.  The last points basically went on Business seats between YYZ & SYD back in 2018 for a 2019 trip.

Having been Elite or SE for decades, it was a big letdown to drop down to "lowly" 25K status when I took Freedom 55 retirement, but Aeroplan continues to a HUGE benefit even now. My Infinite Privilege card confers 25K status, which is still enough for many of the perqs, like priority checkin and Zone 2 boarding, free bags, lounge access, Buddy Pass, eUpgrades etc. The outrageous cost of the card is more than offset by the benefits is confers. Even long after retiring, we still never pay for airline tickets beyond the surcharges, the only caveat being that we have to usually fly in the back, as Business or Premium is an inefficient use of valuable points. We also limit ourselves to North America, which makes the use of our points most efficient, If we do travel to Europe, it will be on paid tickets.  I agree that general points accumulation from other methods works, but for us, AP is fine as Air Canada almost always is our preferred way to go.

[Steelers36]

@lx200gps, thanks for input.  I might look at it again, but 25K level was always pretty useless to me.  Yes, the SE days were nice and it seems you did more travel than I.  I was often creative to get the SE each year, such as booking some cnxns.  I would think 25K would hardly ever get eUpgrade after SE and E have first dibs.

 

Anyway, better set this aside as into hijack mode now.  

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

@lx200gps, thanks for input.  I might look at it again, but 25K level was always pretty useless to me.  Yes, the SE days were nice and it seems you did more travel than I.  I was often creative to get the SE each year, such as booking some cnxns.  I would think 25K would hardly ever get eUpgrade after SE and E have first dibs.

 

Anyway, better set this aside as into hijack mode now.  

Actually, our upgrade success rate isn't great, but isn't bad either. We're seeing maybe 30% success rate on getting bumped up to either PE or Business using eUpgrade points, and that's on pretty popular runs like YUL-FLL, always going down, never coming back. Yes 25K is lame but the perqs like priority everything are wonderful in these trying travel times.  Gotta love getting Zone 2 boarding and having our choice of overhead bins ;o)

 

Good point about the hijack, signing off. Let's get back to cruise talk ;o)