Air Canada sale

[Senga]

I had been watching the prices for YYZ-Amsterdam, LHR-YYZ for May/June and received an email today from A/C about their Black Friday sale.  Surprisingly the dates actually work for us and we saved over $500.  Usually doesn't work but, nice for a change!

[d9704011]

Also, there is a promotion on for the purchase of Aeroplan points;  it's not particularly attractive from an overall price perspective unless you buy 100,000 points or more @ 3¢ per point and get the 100% bonus i.e. 200,000 points for 3,500 CAD (plus taxes).  Handy if you're planning on traveling with Air Canada.

[Tango99]

14 hours ago, d9704011 said:

Also, there is a promotion on for the purchase of Aeroplan points;  it's not particularly attractive from an overall price perspective unless you buy 100,000 points or more @ 3¢ per point and get the 100% bonus i.e. 200,000 points for 3,500 CAD (plus taxes).  Handy if you're planning on traveling with Air Canada.

That’s a much better price than the earlier sales. And even less per point than the 4c value years ago. 

[david,Mississauga]

2 hours ago, Tango99 said:

That’s a much better price than the earlier sales. And even less per point than the 4c value years ago. 

 

Unfortunately, Air Canada has devalued Aeroplan points, i.e. they have raised the points fares considerably in the past year or so. I normally pay about 24,000 for Toronto-Vancouver Business Class but most flights are now three, four or even five times that.  A few years ago I got Toronto-Halifax for 16,000 points and it is now 42,000 on most flights.

 

Occasionally there is a really good deal and I accepted a friend's advice to only book after midnight when the best deals appear. For a flight from Toronto to England to board the Queen Mary 2 next year we managed to get Business Class for 58,000 points each and only $60 in taxes. That is about one-quarter the usual fare.

[Tango99]

31 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

Unfortunately, Air Canada has devalued Aeroplan points, i.e. they have raised the points fares considerably in the past year or so. I normally pay about 24,000 for Toronto-Vancouver Business Class but most flights are now three, four or even five times that.  A few years ago I got Toronto-Halifax for 16,000 points and it is now 42,000 on most flights.

 

Occasionally there is a really good deal and I accepted a friend's advice to only book after midnight when the best deals appear. For a flight from Toronto to England to board the Queen Mary 2 next year we managed to get Business Class for 58,000 points each and only $60 in taxes. That is about one-quarter the usual fare.

Exactly. It’s a deal for new Aeroplan members but I’ve been collecting since 70’s when Nordik air operated!  And that’s a very rare and sweet deal to England. May I ask the routing you found please? and if you booked with an agent? I’ve family and friends in England and Wales but we don’t get over there enough. 

[david,Mississauga]

1 hour ago, Tango99 said:

Exactly. It’s a deal for new Aeroplan members but I’ve been collecting since 70’s when Nordik air operated!  And that’s a very rare and sweet deal to England. May I ask the routing you found please? and if you booked with an agent? I’ve family and friends in England and Wales but we don’t get over there enough. 

 

I booked it myself on the AC booking site.  It is a direct routing from Toronto to London Heathrow. I booked it about 11 1/2 months in advance on what would be the first day that bookings became available. Every day the booking period extends by one day, so timing is essential. There are usually four overnight flights from Toronto (no day flights unfortunately) and the cheap fare is usually available on the last flight of the day which is 23:45.

 

I did notice that it was easier to get a cheap flight with a change in Montreal. I see you are from Ottawa so that would be better for you.  You will notice that most flights cost over 200,000 points per person and that is one way. I would never have enough for that. The fare in $ is absurdly high. My travel agent who books my ships says the Cunard Line (and others) can often get us a good deal for a one-way flight, but I am pleased with what I got for free.

[Tango99]

21 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

I booked it myself on the AC booking site.  It is a direct routing from Toronto to London Heathrow. I booked it about 11 1/2 months in advance on what would be the first day that bookings became available. Every day the booking period extends by one day, so timing is essential. There are usually four overnight flights from Toronto (no day flights unfortunately) and the cheap fare is usually available on the last flight of the day which is 23:45.

 

I did notice that it was easier to get a cheap flight with a change in Montreal. I see you are from Ottawa so that would be better for you.  You will notice that most flights cost over 200,000 points per person and that is one way. I would never have enough for that. The fare in $ is absurdly high. My travel agent who books my ships says the Cunard Line (and others) can often get us a good deal for a one-way flight, but I am pleased with what I got for free.

Thanks for the tip David. Yes Montreal is an option though not as good prices as Toronto. We used to have direct flights to/from Ottawa as well at similar point:$ cost.   Since the end of the pandemic, YOW has only one international flight a week with Air France that began in July. Nothing since then. It drives me nuts. 

[Senga]

The thing about changing flights in Montreal enroute to Toronto is you have to pay for BOTH seats and the inconvenience of transferring through the airport.

[Middleager]

Agree the aeroplan redemption has really devalued in the last couple of years.  It's so bad for many AC flights we usually purchase tickets (from AC or others) rather than redeem.

 

The best aeroplan redemption values are with partner airlines that are still on fixed points, especially in Europe, Middle East, and Asia.  In Asia, Eva airlines is the best.

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, Middleager said:

Agree the aeroplan redemption has really devalued in the last couple of years.  It's so bad for many AC flights we usually purchase tickets (from AC or others) rather than redeem.

 

The best aeroplan redemption values are with partner airlines that are still on fixed points, especially in Europe, Middle East, and Asia.  In Asia, Eva airlines is the best.

Great minds think alike, I guess I'm not the only one who does that. I've been a very active AP member since its inception, and I actually had high hopes for it when they made the big change a few years ago. At the time, despite the general hike in redemption points, there actually was a very good sweet spot in medium-haul North American trips, where the points for trips from here in Montreal to, say, Florida were quite a good deal compared to other destinations. That has gradually eroded away, though those trips are still a "decent" value compared to others. Last time I checked, it took more points for us to fly to Halifax than to Fort Lauderdale for example. It's gotten to the point now where about half our trips are done with points and the other half done by purchasing tickets, though having a yearly AP buddy pass has been VERY helpful, with SWMBO only paying $99 within NA.

[david,Mississauga]

On 11/18/2023 at 5:59 PM, Senga said:

The thing about changing flights in Montreal enroute to Toronto is you have to pay for BOTH seats and the inconvenience of transferring through the airport.

 

For the transatlantic flights I was booking, the same number of points were required for a non-stop Toronto-London  flight as for the ones that involved a change in Montreal. The Toronto-Montreal portion was on a local narrow-body flight with the usual Business Class seating.  It was the same for westbound flights, although the taxes are much higher because of the UK's air passenger duty which is considerable especially in premium economy or Business class.

 

The airport fees/taxes were the same - a mere $66 - even though two airports would be used for the one with the change.  

[Fairgarth]

59 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

 It was the same for westbound flights, although the taxes are much higher because of the UK's air passenger duty which is considerable especially in premium economy or Business class.

 

Oh my, are they ever!  We flew back from Heathrow last month.  Taxes were $405.  Each.

[dawnvip]

On 11/23/2023 at 4:37 PM, david,Mississauga said:

 

For the transatlantic flights I was booking, the same number of points were required for a non-stop Toronto-London  flight as for the ones that involved a change in Montreal. The Toronto-Montreal portion was on a local narrow-body flight with the usual Business Class seating.  It was the same for westbound flights, although the taxes are much higher because of the UK's air passenger duty which is considerable especially in premium economy or Business class.

 

The airport fees/taxes were the same - a mere $66 - even though two airports would be used for the one with the change.  

 If you fly business class out of Dublin, the fees are 1/10th the cost Heathrow's

Edited December 8, 2023 by dawnvip
added info

[david,Mississauga]

1 hour ago, dawnvip said:

 If you fly business class out of Dublin, the fees are 1/10th the cost Heathrow's

 

According to the UK government's site the Air Passenger Duty applies to flights from all UK airports with a few exceptions, such as Northern Ireland and the north of Scotland. It varies by distance and class of travel.  For example. the total taxes collected by Air Transat from London, Manchester & Glasgow to Toronto are almost $400 in economy and almost $600 in Club class.

 

With Dublin not being in the UK, that might be a good airport to fly out of to save a lot of tax. I know someone who took the Eurostar train to Paris to fly to Toronto from there. He saved hundreds of dollars.