When Air Canada Aeroplan offered a status match last year, I took it. But I still had to fly two segments on Air Canada to actually keep it. I ended up with four segments…and four aircraft types.
My Air Canada Mileage Run…Four Segments, Four Aircraft
I could have done a cheap round-trip from Seattle to Vancouver for $178, but that would have required re-positioning to Seattle…not ideal. Plus, Los Angeles to Vancouver was only $240 r/t. But as much as I love British Columbia, I did not want to go to Vancouver….I wanted to go to Toronto.
That was for two primary reasons. First, I wanted to review the Air Canada Cafe in Toronto Pearson, a lounge-café concept including barista-made coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and cold pressed juices. Second, I wanted to review the renovated Park Hyatt Toronto.
So I booked my trip to Toronto, traveling via Vancouver on the way out in order to fly the Boeing 737 MAX 8 and Boeing 787-9, then returning home nonstop on the Airbus A321. I booked during a 25% off promotion, securing the journey for about $360 r/t, which I saw as a suitable investment to be able to review these products and keep my Aeroplan 75K Elite status for another year. That status gives me access to United Club lounges whenever I fly United, a tremendous benefit.
I fully planned to do the trip in economy class. But after booking, I discovered that as a 75K Elite I had eUpgrade vouchers, including 20 that expired at the end of January.
Because I booked the cheapest fare, a “standard” fare, I was asked for a co-pay in order to upgrade. I crunched the numbers and it actually turned out cheaper to cancel my booking and rebook a “flex” fare for about $120 more, which eliminated the co-pay (and required fewer eUpgrades) and earned more miles. I’ll detail this in a future post.
The upgrades cleared at my 75K window, which is 12 days prior to travel.
Then I discovered that Ontario, which includes Toronto, went into a partial lockdown. That meant the spa, restaurant, and fitness center at the Park Hyatt were closed. A hotel review without those elements is far less helpful, so I decided to eliminate my 1.5 days in Toronto and ended up booking a same-day return via Montreal. The whole trip would be about 24 hours.
Why Montreal? That allowed me to fly the older A321 from Toronto to Montreal while letting me fly the new Airbus A220 from Montreal to Los Angeles. Upgrades confirmed on both segments.
And here’s the kicker: I could have upgraded from Vancouver to Toronto (operated by a 787-9) all the way to business class: there was plenty of space and I had eUpgrades that were expiring (and that have now expired). But for you, dear readers, I wanted to review Premium Economy so I only upgraded one cabin…and this was a redeye flight.
I look forward to sharing about this trip.
You are the best, dear Matthew. Sending you best wishes from all of us 🙂
Thank you Lukas!
My Air Canada adventure involved 3 aircraft types, including a 787 and a YUL connection too! I’m sure you had fun. I really enjoyed my time on AC (and in a non locked down Toronto). One major ask of you… can you give us some detail on how to access United Clubs using AC status without having to change your FF# to AC. 3/3 uses so far they’ve wanted me to change to AC in order to admit me.
I’ve only had to swap out numbers 1/12 times thus far. You notice the screen when you walk into the lounge with all the Star Alliance carrier logos? That’s an alliance-wide lounge admittance system. Just tell them you are an Air Canada elite and will use that to enter the lounge. Tell the lounge agent to click on Air Canada, then click on 75K (or whatever your status is), then manually add your nine digit number (I also hand the agent my phone, which has my digital card on it in the Apple Wallet), once that is added, scan your boarding pass (with the UA MileagePlus number on it) and you’ll get the green light – good to go.
Great tip! I have noticed the screens at various *A lounges. I’m now eager to give it a try. Thanks!
Hi Matthew – I have air Canada super elite status and am wondering if any US based carriers offer any status matches…
Great article btw!
Hi Stephen,
Yes, carriers do offer status matches at various points. Your best bet is probably Alaska Airlines, which would get you oneworld emerald status.
Thanks for the quick response Matthew!
Hey Matthew – do you know for sure that the Air Canada Cafe has reopened? The landing pages still displays the banner: “For the well-being of all our customers and employees, some of our lounges are temporarily closed until further notice.” (aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/fly/premium-services/accafe.html#/). Can’t seem to find anything that indicates it has reopened.
As a second reference point, the Signature Suites page has a very similar banner: “For the well-being of all our customers and employees, our Signature Suites are temporarily closed until further notice.” (https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/fly/premium-services/signature-suite.html#/)
Indeed it has! I greatly enjoyed six hours there. I agree the Air Canada website is not at all helpful.
Matthew you had a great run and thanks to you so did I.
I was a cheapskate. I just flew a two sector trip for $197.15 from LGA – YUL -YYZ and that got me 75K through the end of next year brilliant.
I was on the first part of my AA mileage run to requalify for EXP by spending $2K EQD. Flew CLT-LGA-YUL-YYZ-PHL-LAX-BOS-JFK-CLT in 48 hours. Flat beds transcon 789 and A321T, plus the connection BOS-JFK also on A321T.
Sounds like a fun run!
Hi, Matthew, I, too, took advantage of AC’s status match offer to earn 75K status for the first time. I did a Denver-Vancouver RT in Nov. It was dark when I arrived and dark when I left the next morning. That’s okay as I am looking forward to reaping the benefits all this coming year.
Congrats Alison! Enjoy your newly-minted status.
OMG, I forgot to do do this. I am such an idiot. In the midst of everything with work and the holidays I completely failed to remember to fly a quick back and forth to keep the status. Oh well.
Stuart, you are forgiven! 🙂
Thank you for your commitment but in the future, please do not ever refuse an upgrade to business on a 787. We would have understood.
Let’s put it this way: better premium economy from YVR-YYZ than YVR-LHR! 😉
So I have to ask, did the CBSA hassle you at all? I once had a rather nasty border agent that was less than amused that I flew JFK-YVR to spend the night, then planned to continue to YYZ the next afternoon before returning to DFW the day after that. Luckily her colleague laughed at me and sent me on my way, but I decided then I’d never do a boondoggle like that to Canada again…
I’ve been detained and interrogated in Montreal before, but this was easy. The agent in YVR was probably my age or younger and thought it was very cool what I was doing.
I took the de Havilland turboprop SEA to YVR route. The Hyatt regency was not enticing in its location surrounded by other buildings so I stayed at the venerable Westin bayshore. Now out of season, I was kindly granted an upgrade to the enormous lanai suite. The rooms could use a refresh but that’s a fantastic location and suite.
Check out the Fairmont Pacific Rim next time – simply sublime! (but expensive)
Thanks, I will. I’m looking forward to my next trip to Vancouver. While I’m not convinced I could live year round in the Pacific Northwest all my visits there have been memorable.
My 140.00 areoplan miles was cancelled,= because I didn’t fly; the partner airline didn’t send my airmiles,
Really bad because I never got an email telling me my miles was going to expire.
I really enjoyed the Air Canada Cafe concept in YYZ when I got to try it pre-Covid. It had a great modern decor, I loved the barista and juices as I don’t really drink alcohol any longer, and the grab and go items felt innovative. I was impressed at how Air Canada was experimenting with what a different type of lounge could be.