Air Canada Rouge

[Gigi22]

Anyone else trying to book tickets to MCO with Air Canada? Just had the positively scary experience of seeing AC economy class tickets for Montreal to MCO virtually triple in price in less than an hour. It seems to have stabilized now, but I am still not happy with AC.

My favourite non-stop AC flight from Montreal to Orlando (AC 944) no longer exists. We used to treat ourselves to business class tickets, but since the flight has just been replaced with a Rouge flight, bye-bye business class!

Serving you better, oh yeah.

 

[5Dreamers DH]

I don't know if you are close to an airport in the USA but I have found that the price of flying out of the states is worth it for my family. We are a family of 5 and we have flown out of Buffalo ( we are just north of Toronto) for several trips. We use Southwest mostly but are using JetBlue for this trip because it was WAY cheaper than Air Canada or WestJet. Air Transat was not a viable option for us either as they did not fly on our dates.

Our flights (including parking and hotel) are less than $1300 US where on Air Canada it would have been over $2900 not including getting to the airport.

We have a formula. If we can get a flight out of Canada for around $700 more than the flights out of the states then we book a Canadian flight. That has not happened in a LONG TIME.

I would say come up with a price you would be willing to pay to fly out of the states and see if you can find it.


I just checked Allegiant and they fly from Plattsburgh NY (which is about 1 hour and 20 mins south of Montreal) to Sanford airport just north of Orlando for $1282 US.

 

[5Dreamers DH]

I also looked into Albany NY and southwest flies direct to MCO and they are at just over $2100 for five people. I have been looking at the dates that I have my vacation for both Allegiant and Southwest. Albany is about 3 hours away from Montreal.

 

[grantclaire]

Hi, I have AC flights booked for next March, recieved an email stating the flights are now Rouge flights and they would be refunding my seat selection fee and are now rebooked in different seats. Nice to get some $ back!. I went online to see our new seats and were in the back row of the plane. I was able to change seats for no cost. These flights are 400.00 return so I got a good price. Am flying out of Buffalo as well in Aug and they were cheap at 200.00 return on Southwest.

 

[Gigi22]

I don't know if you are close to an airport in the USA but I have found that the price of flying out of the states is worth it for my family. We are a family of 5 and we have flown out of Buffalo ( we are just north of Toronto) for several trips. We use Southwest mostly but are using JetBlue for this trip because it was WAY cheaper than Air Canada or WestJet. Air Transat was not a viable option for us either as they did not fly on our dates.

Our flights (including parking and hotel) are less than $1300 US where on Air Canada it would have been over $2900 not including getting to the airport.

We have a formula. If we can get a flight out of Canada for around $700 more than the flights out of the states then we book a Canadian flight. That has not happened in a LONG TIME.

I would say come up with a price you would be willing to pay to fly out of the states and see if you can find it.


I just checked Allegiant and they fly from Plattsburgh NY (which is about 1 hour and 20 mins south of Montreal) to Sanford airport just north of Orlando for $1282 US.

-----------------------
Thanks for the suggestion, but driving to the U.S. is just not an option for us. (We don't travel more than an hour from home by car any more). I am willing, however, to spend a lot of money to avoid going through Pearson Airport--known in some circles as a genuine travel disaster! If you want a real scare, look at the reviews of Pearson on Trip Advisor.

 

[mkmommy]

How do you book Rouge flights, I was looking last week and all I could find was info on their hiring?

 

[Gigi22]

Rouge seems to have been rolled out last week. Rouge flights are all over the Air Canada website now. What I object to is the utter lack of choice in the matter, and the loss of Business Class on itineraries that previously had Business Class.

 

[grantclaire]

They are there now! At aircanada.com highlighted in red or Rouge I guess!

 

[MikeyNS]

Not looking forward to not having a choice with AC from YYZ/YUL to MCO. Thankfully I think I'll be taking whatever direct flights from YHZ I can find.

From what I've read the Rouge planes are a bit more cramped without the inflight entertainment.. you need to stream everything to an app on your device for a cost as well.
..I think..

 

[hcortesis]

Rouge seems to have been rolled out last week. Rouge flights are all over the Air Canada website now. What I object to is the utter lack of choice in the matter, and the loss of Business Class on itineraries that previously had Business Class.

Yes, I agree. I spent hours yesterday morning on the phone with Aeroplan. We had booked and paid (aeroplan points) for four flights to Orlando and one to Las Vegas, all in business class. We are now in Rouge, economy. One agent was willing to refund 1/2 of my points while on the phone. The process took a long time so I decided to complete a couple of transactions and then hang up and call back later to complete a few more. The next agent refused to refund any of my points until I after my trip. I asked for another agent and a supervisor and they are honouring my request.

 

[Gigi22]

I am now considering flying Delta to MCO out of YUL, even with a stop in Atlanta. At least I can get Business Class flights that way. What AC seems to have forgotten is that if their prices are competing with WestJet, if you don't feel AC is giving you an adequate product in terms of quality--there's no reason to stick with them.

Had a horrible scare about the status of a transatlantic flight I booked in Business Class using Aeroplan points, but it seems to be secure.

 

[mom_rules]

Rouge seems to have been rolled out last week. Rouge flights are all over the Air Canada website now. What I object to is the utter lack of choice in the matter, and the loss of Business Class on itineraries that previously had Business Class.

I agree! We had 4 bus class flights on AC-they sent emails that so far 3 of the 4 have changed to rouge. No refund and to top things off they put my husband in row 30 and me in row 12. Our first flight in the morning was cancelled and rebooked to later in the day. I spent almost 2 hours on the phone with them trying to sort things out. What a mess-needless to say we are not happy flyers right now. Will definitely seek an alternative airline now

 

[Lizziejane]

Please excuse my French...but...***? I have spent hours today searching for an aeroplan reward seat to MCO from Winnipeg in early May, 2014. Just one lonely seat.

If I want to complete my travel in one day, I have to be willing to leave here at the crack of dawn; sit in Toronto for something like 10 hours so that I can arrive in Orlando at midnight. Almost all of the choices were NOT AC - there was one single option for Rouge. I tried to break the trip up, figuring I'd spend a couple of days in Toronto visiting family, then get an early morning flight to Orlando. Think again. Not only do all the flights arrive late in the afternoon, but there was only one direct flight option, arriving close to midnight. The rest of the options had a stopover in Cleveland, Washington, all over the darn place! And to book business class would be a waste - at least one of the two flights down is economy only.

Can someone please explain the point of Rouge? I thought they were supposed to be a cheap alternative to regular AC flights, serving the western part of the country primarily. Obvioulsy I have that wrong. Well no wonder they are offering reductions on their reward flights next year - they have to do something to soften the blow. I was frustrated with Aeroplan before (at 11 months, could not get 4 reward seats on the same flight) but now am seriously contemplating switching to Avion or something similar to accumulate rewards.

Sorry for the rant. Please go back to what you were doing before I blew a gasket...

 

[mom_rules]

Please excuse my French...but...***? I have spent hours today searching for an aeroplan reward seat to MCO from Winnipeg in early May, 2014. Just one lonely seat.

If I want to complete my travel in one day, I have to be willing to leave here at the crack of dawn; sit in Toronto for something like 10 hours so that I can arrive in Orlando at midnight. Almost all of the choices were NOT AC - there was one single option for Rouge. I tried to break the trip up, figuring I'd spend a couple of days in Toronto visiting family, then get an early morning flight to Orlando. Think again. Not only do all the flights arrive late in the afternoon, but there was only one direct flight option, arriving close to midnight. The rest of the options had a stopover in Cleveland, Washington, all over the darn place! And to book business class would be a waste - at least one of the two flights down is economy only.

Can someone please explain the point of Rouge? I thought they were supposed to be a cheap alternative to regular AC flights, serving the western part of the country primarily. Obvioulsy I have that wrong. Well no wonder they are offering reductions on their reward flights next year - they have to do something to soften the blow. I was frustrated with Aeroplan before (at 11 months, could not get 4 reward seats on the same flight) but now am seriously contemplating switching to Avion or something similar to accumulate rewards.

Sorry for the rant. Please go back to what you were doing before I blew a gasket...

Rant on! I'm right there with you and Toronto IS my home airport....I've already made the switch to Avion-at least you get a choice of airline....

 

[hcortesis]

Please excuse my French...but...***? I have spent hours today searching for an aeroplan reward seat to MCO from Winnipeg in early May, 2014. Just one lonely seat.

If I want to complete my travel in one day, I have to be willing to leave here at the crack of dawn; sit in Toronto for something like 10 hours so that I can arrive in Orlando at midnight. Almost all of the choices were NOT AC - there was one single option for Rouge. I tried to break the trip up, figuring I'd spend a couple of days in Toronto visiting family, then get an early morning flight to Orlando. Think again. Not only do all the flights arrive late in the afternoon, but there was only one direct flight option, arriving close to midnight. The rest of the options had a stopover in Cleveland, Washington, all over the darn place! And to book business class would be a waste - at least one of the two flights down is economy only.

Can someone please explain the point of Rouge? I thought they were supposed to be a cheap alternative to regular AC flights, serving the western part of the country primarily. Obvioulsy I have that wrong. Well no wonder they are offering reductions on their reward flights next year - they have to do something to soften the blow. I was frustrated with Aeroplan before (at 11 months, could not get 4 reward seats on the same flight) but now am seriously contemplating switching to Avion or something similar to accumulate rewards.

Sorry for the rant. Please go back to what you were doing before I blew a gasket...

To make you feel worse, they really are not "offering reductions on their reward flights next year". They are reducing their "Classic Plus" rewards which had absurd points costs in the first place.

 

[Lizziejane]

To make you feel worse, they really are not "offering reductions on their reward flights next year". They are reducing their "Classic Plus" rewards which had absurd points costs in the first place.

LOL...seriously? omg...what is the point of this program? I'm thinking of cashing my points in for American Express cards. I know the value is far less than booking flights, but if ya can't book flights, then that option is kind of useless.

 

[joanjett1976]

Anyone else trying to book tickets to MCO with Air Canada? Just had the positively scary experience of seeing AC economy class tickets for Montreal to MCO virtually triple in price in less than an hour. It seems to have stabilized now, but I am still not happy with AC.

My favourite non-stop AC flight from Montreal to Orlando (AC 944) no longer exists. We used to treat ourselves to business class tickets, but since the flight has just been replaced with a Rouge flight, bye-bye business class!

Serving you better, oh yeah.

Oh you had me worried, because we're always on the 944. I'm booked on it in November. What date will it stop being offered? That would be such a bummer... We,re always on the 944 going to MCO and the 945 coming back.

I've had luck with the Jetblue flights out of Burlington in the past. But I do believe they have stopped offering the direct flight to MCO.

 

[mom_rules]

Oh you had me worried, because we're always on the 944. I'm booked on it in November. What date will it stop being offered? That would be such a bummer... We,re always on the 944 going to MCO and the 945 coming back.

I've had luck with the Jetblue flights out of Burlington in the past. But I do believe they have stopped offering the direct flight to MCO.

If you're in Montreal so far you've escaped their radar. The only place Rouge flies from Montreal currently is Athens.

 

[Gigi22]

If you're in Montreal so far you've escaped their radar. The only place Rouge flies from Montreal currently is Athens.

If you check the Air Canada website for Montreal-MCO flights next spring, you will find all sorts of Rouge flights. AC944 has morphed into a non-stop Rouge flight, with no Business Class. By next spring the remaining AC and Rouge flights all seem to go Montreal-Toronto-MCO. This kills our main reasons for flying out of Montreal in the first place.

Looking at flying Delta now--at least there is Business Class available, and they don't fly to Toronto!

 

[joanjett1976]

Ugh! Such a bummer. Looks like my only option as of next year for a direct flight will be AirTransat.