Air Deviation on Air Canada--Please Help!

[GJH123]

For those of you who have used the air deviation on Air Canada, please advise about the seat selection process. I seem to remember having difficulty in selecting a seat, but that may have been using Choice Air with Azamara. My locator number wasn't recognized and was advised that final seat assignment would be made at check-in or something like that. Would appreciate any and all advice. Thanks so much!

[ORV]

Tickets are usually just on request and not ticketed until around 35 days before your trip. If you've made your final payment then you can request for your tickets to be purchased. Then you can move your seats around and possibly purchase an upgraded seat.

[YoHoHo]

I just went through this with Air Canada (gritting my teeth) and AA (additionally annoyed.)

 

As ORV wrote you are unable to book seats until your flight is ticketed. As you experienced, until it's ticketed A/C won't be able to locate the locator. If you request O ticket your flight now then you can book seats.

 

Wait until you see A/C's prices. On the main page it read $20-$40 as I recall but when I got into the booking, the exit row seats were $117 each! At least that's in CAD and not USD.

 

Those are of course, the highest price seats I could purchase in economy and the price of those seats varies with the class of ticket that you have. Flights through a cruise line are usually a very low class so the price is higher for those seats. For someone with a higher class of ticket those same seats might be $40 or maybe that $20.

 

Even 'not premium' seats cost money with this lowly ticket.

 

What made me even more annoyed is due to a stopover in Toronto. The next leg is on A/C Rouge. A/C treats those as if it's a separate airline so they want me to purchase seats for EACH segment PLUS have to pay the checked baggage fees twice.

 

I didn't buy those $117 seats but by the time I'd pay for 2 seats for each of the two segments and then same 2 X 2 for the checked baggage, I probably paid as much is O did for one of the tickets.

 

It's my own fault. I didn't listen to my inner voice saying "no a/c for me".

 

Booking seats on AA was a different and more frustrating mess (with a somewhat happier outcome due to helpful personnel - yes, I said that) but that's OT to your thread and too long.

[StanandJim]

The short answer is that the flights are ticketed after final payment because the cruise is still cancel-able until final payment and Oceania does not want to be caught with unwanted tickets in the event the something untoward happens.

[Sopwith]

I have flown extensively with AC but only once with O's deviation. It is correct that you won't be able to select a seat until it is ticketed. Then the cost of the seat depends on your fare class (which is low with a cruise line), and which seat you want. Preferred seats, which include bulkhead and exit rows and a few rows near the front are more than standard seats. Longer flights cost more. Typically the first 6-12 rows are blocked out for status customers until check-in opens.

 

Most important: I would avoid Rouge at all costs. You might be okay on a B763, but definitely avoid the A319/320 aircraft, which have a 29" seat pitch. Horrible!

 

You don't say what your routing is, but my inclination is to save the deviation fee and book my own flights directly with the airline. The exception is if you need a one way TATL or TPAC flight, since you won't be able to get a decent one way fare on your own unless you go with a discount airline, which puts you back into the Rouge ilk.

[GJH123]

Thanks, everyone for the valuable info. I received an email "deal"only applicable to O Choice pricing and amenities with the $99 premium economy upgrade available. So here's my thinking, please correct me if I'm wrong. I pay for the cruise, PE upgrade and Air Deviation and then I can select our seats. With the limited availability of PE, I'm wondering if there will still be an additional charge for seat selection of aisle /window vs the dreaded middle. I just despise the 3-4-3 economy seating that the bean counters have seen fit to install. I'm guessing they will next initiate an additional charge for restroom privileges. Anyone else remember a time when flying was an experience you dressed for?

[StanandJim]

Thanks, everyone for the valuable info. I received an email "deal"only applicable to O Choice pricing and amenities with the $99 premium economy upgrade available. So here's my thinking, please correct me if I'm wrong. I pay for the cruise, PE upgrade and Air Deviation and then I can select our seats. With the limited availability of PE, I'm wondering if there will still be an additional charge for seat selection of aisle /window vs the dreaded middle. I just despise the 3-4-3 economy seating that the bean counters have seen fit to install. I'm guessing they will next initiate an additional charge for restroom privileges. Anyone else remember a time when flying was an experience you dressed for?

 

Your question is dependent upon the policy of the Airline involved, and here is why.

 

Even with a Deviation request in play, Oceania reserves, not purchases, the Airline Tickets until such time as the Cruise is paid in full.

 

If your Airline allows seat selection based on a reservation, then you are in; otherwise not.

[LHT28]

When we have done Oceania air on AC we had seats assigned ..not good ones but have been able to call AC & have them moved N/C

But we did not select the premium seats like bulkhead or exit seats so they may charge extra for those

Have not done PE yet via O

[pinotlover]

Will be doing Air Canada for the first time to Copenhagen this summer. Did not use O's air and booked early. We are going over BC and coming back PE on 787s. We are flying in both a couple of days early and after the cruise. My only comment is that the A/C 787 only has 3 rows of 2-3-2 PE seats, and for my flights those PE seats all sold out long ago. If you waited until final payment due date to get O to book you a $99 special PE seats, it wasn't going to happen. I experienced this on Qantus going for our Oz cruise likewise. PE was long sold out before O's 270 day window even opened. Even on my upcoming A/C flight, all those "2" side PE seats were gone before O's 270 day window, leaving the middle 3s.

[GJH123]

Thus far, PE shows availability. Paid for cruise this morning before due date and gave TA selected flights, authorizing a deviation if required even though we'll be flying on the days that are typically included. We'll see where it goes from here.

Edited March 3, 2017 by GJH123

[ORV]

Thus far, PE shows availability. Paid for cruise this morning before due date and gave TA selected flights, authorizing a deviation if required even though we'll be flying on the days that are typically included. We'll see where it goes from here.

 

The days that are included are the day of the cruise and the day the cruise ends. Frequently on overnight long flights of course you will leave the day before. Anything else is a deviation, unless you book your hotel through them, which is not a good deal. Transfers and deviation are included in the hotel cost.

 

On my most recent flight through O I told them the dates I wanted to go and looked at what they picked. It was much better than what I had picked out. It cut out 1 stop each way. I didn't look at that option.

[Sabbycat]

Rouge is only to vacation destinations. So think Barcelona during summer time. Never to Rome, Frankfurt etc. Additionally your ticket will always tell you that your flight is either a full AC flight with both PE & BC or a Rouge flight with EC and RBC.

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4

[LHT28]

Rouge is only to vacation destinations

 

 

HMMM I do not consider Houston a vacation destination for most people but who knows maybe AC Rouge think it is

[Sopwith]

Rouge is Air Canada's version of a Low Cost Carrier. Note that "Low Cost" refers to the cost of operating the airline, not necessarily to the cost of buying a ticket. While they originally tried to pass it off as being targeted at routes frequented by price-sensitive leisure travellers, the way it has actually rolled out is that AC will "Rouge" any route they think they can get away with. It really depends on the competition they face on any particular route. Many of the Canada-US routes have been Rouged.

[YoHoHo]

When we have done Oceania air on AC we had seats assigned ..not good ones but have been able to call AC & have them moved N/C

But we did not select the premium seats like bulkhead or exit seats so they may charge extra for those

Have not done PE yet via O

When was this that you got seats at no charge? Things have been changing in general. I have only once flown A/C in many years (and was happily surprised on that one) so this trip was new to me. If your booking was recent then you did a lot better than I did.

 

I had to pay for any seat. Premium seats were very costly. But we had to pay for YVR-> YYZ and then again on Rouge YYZ->MIA for just a "mere mortals" seat.

 

This seems to be a newer trend on the airlines in an attempt to encourage passengers to "buy up" the class of their flight. By paying more you get the privilege of booking seats well in advance (so paying more in order to pay more.)

 

For example UA's new lowest class, like the class that is provided through O, does not allow any upgrades. And in that low class one can not even purchase seats at a time of booking but must wait until 48(?)hours, hopefully I will be corrected, to access any seats. By which time maybe all that is left is in the middle of a middle. Loyal business travellers who used to use their gazillion points are now unable to use them as their employer might require them to only purchase the cheapest fare.

 

That's apparently is what I ran into at AA for the return flight home which is a new policy of theirs (and their computer system is not configured properly to handle it which caused me problems.)

 

Consequently, no fault of O's, but because of this further falling to the lowest common denominator business model of the major airlines, I will no longer be using O's included air for domestic flights. It's bad enough being stuffed into economy seats but not being able to book a seat location until 48 prior makes it not suitable for me.

[LHT28]

When was this that you got seats at no charge? Things have been changing in general. I have only once flown A/C in many years (and was happily surprised on that one) so this trip was new to me. If your booking was recent then you did a lot better than I did.

.

 

 

You could be right things have changed

 

I think it was a couple of years ago we had seat in 2 different rows in the middle seats

 

not happy campers

 

Last year I did book my own & with the Flex fare there is no charge for regular seats

 

I watch for cheaper Bus class fares sometimes it is worth the extra $ for seats etc

 

Flying is no longer a nice experience

 

they charge for seats, baggage & substandard food

 

but I am not ready to give up travelling YET so we pay the price & grumble :D

[Earl Rosebery]

We booked A/C Vancouver to London for the June 2 cruise. It was supposed to be a 787 but they switched to a 777 which is the worst plane in the air (even in business) So i changed my route to YVR- Calgary- London to get back on a 787. This is one advantage of doing your own flight arrangements. BA even has the nerve to charge big bucks for seat selection in BC