How to Use Air Canada Same-Day Airport Changes

If you fly with Air Canada, one feature available to many passengers is same-day airport changes, which lets travellers take a different flight than the one you originally booked without paying a fare difference.

Unlike same-day airport standby, Air Canada same-day airport changes are confirmed seats on different flights that can be before or after your original flight.

Fortunately, same-day airport changes are available to all passengers with eligible Air Canada fares, and they can provide you with greater flexibility with your travels at a very reasonable cost.

What Are Air Canada Same-Day Airport Changes?

Air Canada same-day airport changes are a feature available to Air Canada passengers on most fares sold directly by Air Canada.

If you confirm a same-day change, you’ll fly on a different flight than the on one which you were originally meant to travel, without paying a difference in fare. However, most fares charge a nominal fee for same-day changes, which we’ll go over in detail below.

If available, same-day changes result in a confirmed seat on a new flight on the same day of departure, but the new flight can be earlier or later than your original flight. If you confirm a same-day change to a different flight, you are no longer confirmed on your original flight.

The following rules summarize what you can and can’t do with Air Canada same-day airport changes:

• There must be available seats on the new flight(s) in the cabin class that you originally booked, and the flight(s) must not be oversold
• If your original flight was direct, you must change to another direct flight (you can’t add connections)
• If your original flight has connections, you must change to a routing with the same number of connections (you can’t change to a direct flight or to one with more/fewer connections)

When you request a same-day change, you need to keep your origin and destination the same. This means that you can’t use a same-day change to fly out of a different city, or to a different destination.

To be eligible for Air Canada same-day changes, you must have a ticket that was issued by Air Canada, with a ticket number that starts with 014. If your ticket doesn’t start with these numbers, you aren’t eligible for same-day airport changes.

Eligible tickets booked with cash, Aeroplan points, or Flight Passes are all…