AC flights not earning points/SC

[liamsal]

I’m booking some domestic flights in Canada and have noticed that pretty much all economy flights are a fare class that is ineligible for points and status credits. Had no issue when booking USA - Canada (in J) however all combinations of domestic flights I’ve done are in either L or T fare classes which earn no SC’s or velocity points. I’ve tried basic, standard and flex economy fares and none of them make a difference on the fare class.

Am I missing something or is this common for domestic AC flights?

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[AustraliaPoochie]

Join SQ KF, put enough flights to that over time, before it expires in 4 years, and transfer the KF points to VFF.
You do lose some in the %.
As those 2 (SQ and AC) are in *A, their earning classes between the 2 probably earns more/have more benefits in *A.
Not so bad if VFF joined *A, but that will never happen according to most.
AC sets the classes of travel, and VFF just agrees with what they will take.
If I were flying (in your position), I would put the AC points to KF, yes, no VFF SC earn, but at the least I (if I were flying), but more so you, would earn something.
You can try to claim the points in VFF after the trip, but that is probably too late, as VFF would say, contact AC, and AC would probably say contact VFF.

 

[serfty]

Am I missing something or is this common for domestic AC flights

It is what it is. A bit like almost all online MH sale fares being in O which doesnt earn in many other oneworld FF schemes.

Try wheretocredit.com

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[GDale]

Can't remember if AC is one of them, but a number of airlines use the same fare classes across all of their economy options (basic, standard, flex, comfort) and just differentiate them by their fare basis (which you can see using something like ExpertFlyer or Matrix- e.g. basic is TBASECA, standard is TSTANCA, flex is TFLEXCA, etc - completely made up those codes to illustrate, but hope that makes sense in that all of them book into fare class "T").

Usually, when that booking class sells out, it sells out for all of the economy fare variants and moves into the next class, e.g. from T to S, S to W, so on and so forth - and it's not until you get to "W" that you can earn any points for domestic AC flights.

So, if you really want to earn points:

• On the airline and OTA websites, find the flight options that are generally more expensive in every fare variant, and it'll more likely to be a points earning fare class.
• If your particular flight is only showing class T but you want a higher class, you'll need to call in to book or otherwise talk to a travel agent who should be able to arrange that for you. Alternatively, you can wait for lower fare classes to sell out over time, but that's somewhat risky as you never know when that'll be, and fares could jump more and faster than expected.

For reference, the fare classes on the Velocity website are displayed from high to low: Y, B, M, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K, G - Y being the highest, K being the lowest (I believe G is typically reserved for special group fares). If you're seeing T class for the flight you want, you'll need the fare to go up two notches.

 

[liamsal]

Join SQ KF, put enough flights to that over time, before it expires in 4 years, and transfer the KF points to VFF.
You do lose some in the %.
As those 2 (SQ and AC) are in *A, their earning classes between the 2 probably earns more/have more benefits in *A.
Not so bad if VFF joined *A, but that will never happen according to most.
AC sets the classes of travel, and VFF just agrees with what they will take.
If I were flying (in your position), I would put the AC points to KF, yes, no VFF SC earn, but at the least I (if I were flying), but more so you, would earn something.
You can try to claim the points in VFF after the trip, but that is probably too late, as VFF would say, contact AC, and AC would probably say contact VFF.

Can you credit to SQ but still access AC lounges as a VFF Platinum? Boarding pass would have SQ FF number but I could show my physical FF card.

Thanks for the replies too.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Re: lounge entry, see my reply below from a read on google, via Point Hacks.
Looks like its a give and take, ie, gain on one hand, loose on the other so to speak.
My comments are more so in the sense of getting SQ KF points, and then after taking it down by a % in the KF to VFF transfer, still earn in a way.
KF has a 3 year life span of their points, so its quite a while to be able to amass some points, and then in the end, also gain by transferring to VFF.
You could join Aeroplan, but then you would be stuck with the points, as that one can't be transferred to anything.
Ignoring the KF side, on google search, PointsHacks says, "Air Canada adds lounge access for Velocity Gold and Platinum", but as to the class of travel is in a non earning subclass, you lose out there.
Its hard when VFF is in an ad hoc/liaision agreement with AC, and only takes the pick of the bunch, and not a total full alliance, like if (lets say), if VAd and VAi joined *A.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

One last one from me on this, looks like only V, K, N, Q sub classes earn any KF miles while flying ACd, so its not only VA that "has it bad" points earning wise.
Thought that the airlines in *A would have it a bit/lot better.
So putting in sub class L or T into KF # into an ACd booking/flight, in LT will also not earn any KF miles!