Aeroplan redemption help?

[Tower]

Ok, we're set to go this November for a week. We planned for a Monday to the Wednesday of the following week, but the Aeroplan site screwed up and we had to go through the reservation process again. Unfortunately, I clicked on a Wed to Wed trip this time, rather than Mon to Wed. The following day I double checked the reservation (We reserved close to midnight) and realized my mistake. The Aeroplan gal told me it would be a $90 change fee plus tax, and I agreed. We went through the process of changing it and then she said the total cost was $500! Apparently it was $90 PER PERSON and there are 5 of us! Well, we were flying out of Buffalo because it was only $138 to fly out of there rather than $500 to fly out of YYZ. I told her I could not afford that, she checked with the manager on duty and said that I electronically agreed to the schedule when I paid.
So, we're now stuck on Wed to Wed, which is not the end of the world, but we'd still love a Mon to Wed. Does anyone know how to get around this extremely high change fee???

 

[toesmom]

Ok, we're set to go this November for a week. We planned for a Monday to the Wednesday of the following week, but the Aeroplan site screwed up and we had to go through the reservation process again. Unfortunately, I clicked on a Wed to Wed trip this time, rather than Mon to Wed. The following day I double checked the reservation (We reserved close to midnight) and realized my mistake. The Aeroplan gal told me it would be a $90 change fee plus tax, and I agreed. We went through the process of changing it and then she said the total cost was $500! Apparently it was $90 PER PERSON and there are 5 of us! Well, we were flying out of Buffalo because it was only $138 to fly out of there rather than $500 to fly out of YYZ. I told her I could not afford that, she checked with the manager on duty and said that I electronically agreed to the schedule when I paid.
So, we're now stuck on Wed to Wed, which is not the end of the world, but we'd still love a Mon to Wed. Does anyone know how to get around this extremely high change fee???

Sorry no way around it, pricey change fee, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

 

[Tower]

Sorry no way around it, pricey change fee, but sometimes you don't have a choice.

Thanks Toes, we choose to not pay and save some money then Wed to Wed.

 

[damo]

Ok, we're set to go this November for a week. We planned for a Monday to the Wednesday of the following week, but the Aeroplan site screwed up and we had to go through the reservation process again. Unfortunately, I clicked on a Wed to Wed trip this time, rather than Mon to Wed. The following day I double checked the reservation (We reserved close to midnight) and realized my mistake. The Aeroplan gal told me it would be a $90 change fee plus tax, and I agreed. We went through the process of changing it and then she said the total cost was $500! Apparently it was $90 PER PERSON and there are 5 of us! Well, we were flying out of Buffalo because it was only $138 to fly out of there rather than $500 to fly out of YYZ. I told her I could not afford that, she checked with the manager on duty and said that I electronically agreed to the schedule when I paid.
So, we're now stuck on Wed to Wed, which is not the end of the world, but we'd still love a Mon to Wed. Does anyone know how to get around this extremely high change fee???

With normal Air Canada reservations there is a 24 hour free cancellation period. I don't think that this is this rule with Aeroplan as well.

 

[Tower]

With normal Air Canada reservations there is a 24 hour free cancellation period. I don't think that this is this rule with Aeroplan as well.

One of the reasons why I don't like dealing with Air Canada as a rule. Unfortunately, with the demise of the former Canadian Airlines, there is nobody out there to really compete with this monopoly and we're forced to live by their rules.
The thing that bugs me is that there are openings on the Monday, it's an easy keystroke switch that is not nearly worth the $500 change fee. I was willing to pay $100, but not that much. There won't be any money left for the kids!

 

[ChisJo]

One of the reasons why I don't like dealing with Air Canada as a rule. Unfortunately, with the demise of the former Canadian Airlines, there is nobody out there to really compete with this monopoly and we're forced to live by their rules.
The thing that bugs me is that there are openings on the Monday, it's an easy keystroke switch that is not nearly worth the $500 change fee. I was willing to pay $100, but not that much. There won't be any money left for the kids!

The thing is...with Aeroplan redemptions, they confirm 3 times with you BEFORE you agree to your credit card charges. I can understand that mistakes are made, but it would be the same as booking an airline ticket online and booking the wrong dates. You check and recheck before you agree to everything. I cannot see another airline being any different. I made a mistake once with WJ, and they charged me the change fee and the difference in flight cost. A costly mistake for me, but I learned from it. Consider this a lesson learned.

 

[aristocat65]

From what I've read on other forums about Aeroplan redemptions, there are really no options once the tickets are issued. If you had been able to call right away, and the tickets had not been issued yet then they might have been able to help you. Aeroplan is no longer part of Air Canada so the 24 hour window doesn't apply.

 

[murcor]

I booked our tickets through aeroplan a couple weeks ago and was told $150.00 change fee + $25.00 fee per ticket

 

[minnie56]

'Sometimes' if you send an email to Customer Service they are a little more accomodating. Some months back I booked DH and I to Switzerland and back from Frankfurt. I wanted Executive class...and got it outbound and ONE seat on the return. I kept calling and looking online for another to be released to no avail. Meanwhile-I still had to redeem the full points for Executive class for both of us. I sent an email to Aeroplan and Air Canada explaining my dilemma and how disappointed I was. Air Canada actually called me..they released one more seat to Aeroplan and gave us 2 in Executive class. You never know..sometimes when you ask...they come through!!

 

[mmacneil]

I had a Aeroplan screw up once, my fault. I went to the airport during a downtime and the ticket agent fixed it at no charge. Admitting my mistake helped.

Having booked 5 Aeroplan flights recently, I can tell you that their system was totally at fault during this process. We punched our depart and arrival airports, the transaction for taxes went through on our credit card and then the system gave us an error message saying that the flight itinerary was to close, we didn't select these flights to start with, their system did. The booking didn't go through , so we tried again, only to find out that Aeroplan charged our Visa twice and was holding the funds for days and we still didn't have any flights booked. We had to call Visa to have them reverse the charges.

The good news is that eventually found 5 flights together but played it safe by calling the 1-800 # to book.

Good luck!