Souvy

Those nice people at Air Canada have sent me a load of upgrade certifcates. They are only valid for certain types of ticket.

Latitude: Y & B
Tango Plus: M & U

Any ideas what those codes mean?

bodgerx

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...g-classes.html

Souvy

Thanks for that. It's not exactly transparent, is it?

Cdnshaz

I never used mine, they are pretty useless unless you do alot of flying, you have to pay more on the flights so you "might" get an upgrade a day or so before you fly.

Souvy

That was my thought. I do fly fairly frequently but not that much. This sudden promotion to "Prestige", along with all sorts of promises and goodies seems a little iffy. I'll use the upgrades if I can but I won't base my ticket purchase around them.

Cdnshaz

the lounge certs are good tho, nice to sit in peace before a flight, that's if you opted for them...they are worth it..

Souvy

Didn't go for them. I went for the N. Am and system-wide certs, along with points. I'm not fussed about lounges. A bar is all I need. I do like points, though. I nearly have enough now to take the pair of us somewhere. New York is looking favourite. We've never been there.

Cdnshaz

we had enough miles for hub and I to fly home in March in exec class....one way..as we r moving back then..

lmartin999

AC have improved their upgrade system this year and the certs are excellent as they now allow you to upgrade from a cheaper fare (Tango Plus). If you book the more expenisve Latitude fare, you can UG instantly so get a business seat for the price of an expensive economy.

However, for the cheaper 'Tango Plus' ticket, a few key things:

Your tango plus fare needs to be booked in the correct booking class (M or U). Presently you cannot do this on the AC website though that is coming. Even if you put in that you only want to see upgradeable fares it will not yet give you the cheapest ticket available to do this. For your route you need to call AC and ask for the cheapest M or U fare available. (I can let you know this as well if you have a route in mind). For example from YYZ to LHR the cheapest M fare is currently £489 before taxes.

You can only upgrade your ticket 2 days (as Prestige) before departure and there has to be upgrade space available. This can be a bit of a lottery but choosing flights carefully and having some advance information makes it quite possible. AC allocates so many seats on each flight as available for UG - though this changes. It goes down as the business cabin fills up, however, more seats are sometimes available. If there is no availablity 2 days before when you call, you go on a waitlist. If you dont get the UG by the time you check-in, you go on a further waitlist at the airport and may get the UG at the gate if a seat is available. (This is the brief version!)

If you are thinking of flying before the end of Feb the situation is actually much better - but it will take too long to explain here. PM me if you are and I will tell you. Essentially you can UG right when you book your ticket.

I fly a lot with AC, and have upgraded using certs for the last 8 years with minimal problem. I am going to the UK in Feb for about £700 in business - all confirmed. Excellent deal. These certs are great and not that hard to use, especially at the moment as business class is far from full!

PM with any questions.

BTW if you are goign to use miles at some point, use for business class, a much better deal than economy!

lmartin999

Rubbish. I use all of mine every year. The fact you have not used yours does not make them useless.

Cdnshaz

Up grade certs do not guarentee an up grade tho, depends on how many paid J fares there are.

if there is space avail, then great, but that is not always the case...

I fly AC for a reason, status isn't it, I pay to fly in J as I want to be comfortable.

Souvy

Ta for that. I'll file it away for future use. I don't fully understand your last point. Can you explain?

Souvy

You can be comfortable in economy, too, even on a charter. It's just a matter of shelling out a few bucks on advance seat selection.

Cdnshaz

I have very bad arthritis and bad back probs, sitting in econ is ok for shorter flights, I have np..but anything longer I am in a lot of pain..so for me it is more comfortable...as I can stretch out...and to be honest it is nice once in a while to be treated like you are special. I do everything for my family and it is nice to have somone do something for me..even tho they are getting paid to do it.

lmartin999

Nothing fancy, but if you take a route like Vancouver to New York (or any other route really), it will cost you 25,000 miles in economy. However a return economy ticket is about $540 (random dates, you may get for less).

So you are giving 47 miles for each dollar of value

However, business class will only cost you 40,000 miles (an additional 15,000), but would normally cost $4000(!)

So, you are giving 10 miles for each dollar of value.

Just much better value for the few extra miles. Aeroplan reward availability can be tricky though, plan in advance!

Best use of miles is to use 100,000 and get what is essentially a RTW ticket in proper first class on Star Alliance. Best bargain in the system