Air Canada eUpgrades: When Things Don’t Go Your Way

In the current context of travel, we’ve been hearing about many instances of someone with a confirmed eUpgrade to business class being downgraded to premium economy or economy.

It’s important to note that such downgrades are comparatively rare to the number of confirmed eUpgrades that work out. By and large, passengers with a confirmed eUpgrade complete their itinerary in a higher class of service than the one originally booked.

While we’ve touched on this phenomenon in previous articles on eUpgrades, let’s have a closer look at the handful of situations where you might lose your eUpgrade through no fault of your own.

When Can You Lose Your eUpgrade?

Before we look at some specific situations, it’s worth reiterating that the only way to really guarantee a seat in business class is to book in business class to begin with.

At the same time, using eUpgrades with Aeroplan points is one of the best ways to avoid nasty dynamic pricing with Air Canada.

We’ve received numerous success stories from readers who either flew in business class for the first time ever, or who saved a tidy sum of Aeroplan points by using eUpgrades with the “Latitude Attitude“.

With the above in mind, let’s look at some of the situations where an eUpgrade might turn into an eDowngrade.

Accommodating a Deadheading Pilot

As with any airline, Air Canada has to shuffle its resources to fulfill operational requirements. One very important consideration is ensuring they have enough pilots to fly the airplanes that we all love to be on.

When on duty, pilots take priority for a business class seat. Note that this same privilege doesn’t extend to when they’re flying for leisure.

Therefore, if Air Canada needs to move a pilot from Toronto to Vancouver so that the pilot can operate a flight based out of Vancouver, the airline will want to ensure that the pilot arrives rested and ready for duty. I’d certainly hope that the person in charge of a gigantic flying tube of metal is well-rested and ready to attend to any matters that arise.

The exact terms of how pilots are prioritized for business class space are less clear.

We’ve had reports of passengers with confirmed eUpgrades being downgraded to make space for a deadheading pilot. Such a situation would suggest that pilots flying for duty are more-or-less guaranteed a spot in business class, and…