How to Choose the Right Air Canada Fare

Air Canada offers a number of fare options for travellers. Some fares are cheaper, but don’t include many benefits, while others are more expensive, but come with more flexibility and perks.

In this article, let’s explore the different fare options for flights with Air Canada, with a focus on shopping for fares with Aeroplan Elite Status in mind. While the majority of the discussion will be on cash fares, we’ll also go over some considerations to keep in mind when booking with Aeroplan points.

Air Canada’s Fares

When shopping for flights on Air Canada’s website, you’ll notice that there are a number of different options at your disposal for tickets. You’ll pay a different price for a flight depending on which fare you choose.

For example, let’s say that you’re looking to fly from Halifax to Calgary, and you pull up a search result. Initially, you see two different prices for the direct flight: one for economy, and one for business class.

When you click on the economy fare, you’ll notice a number of different options, with the lowest priced at $261 (CAD) and then incrementally higher prices with each different fare.

Under the “Features” column, you’ll see a list of various factors that you’ll want to consider when shopping for a fare. This includes aspects such as refundability, included baggage, Aeroplan-point accumulation, and earning Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) towards Aeroplan Elite Status. 

There are a number of factors to consider when shopping for an airfare, and it’s not always a straightforward process. Indeed, you’ll want to consider any or all of the following when looking for a fare:

• Credit card benefits
• Aeroplan Elite Status benefits
• Aeroplan Elite Status qualification
• Number of eUpgrades required
• Amount of eUpgrade add-on fee (if any)
• eUpgrade waitlist ranking considerations
• Fare flexibility

As we’ll show below, the cheapest fare isn’t always necessarily the best deal, but there’s also no point in paying more than you absolutely have to. 

For the purposes of this article, we won’t be focusing on the different fare classes within each fare. Rather, we’ll describe each different fare type, and then weigh the pros and cons of choosing to book each one.

Economy (Basic)

Economy (Basic) fares are the least expensive but most restrictive fares that Air Canada offers. You can find Economy (Basic) fares on domestic,…