How can expedia.ca sell a flight when the airline does not sell it themselves?

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The wheels have already started on my families December vacation to WDW & Clearwater Beach. We have the Polynesian confirmed, our hotel in Clearwater is already confirmed, however we have not booked a flight yet. We tried to go Air Canada to Orlando only because my Dad said he had enough for 3 tickets in economy on his points, so he would save a lot of money & only pay the Airport fee's + the other costs. However he found out Aeroplan jacks up the points needed for Florida in the month of December & he does not have enough. We want to go Westjet because the flight would be a lot cheaper then Air Canada if we purchashed 3 seats & not tried to use my Dad's points, also we had a great time on Westjet in December 2006, in fact it was perefct. However on the Westjet site you can only book flights up to November 4th, so I would guess next month or so we can book December with them. The weird thing is for fun I was looking at Expedia.ca & they had the flight we wanted with Wesjet to Orlando & with the return home from Tampa. I am thinking to myself if Westjet is not selling the flight on their website, how can Expedia sell it now? My Dad calls Westjet & is told what Expedia is doing is wrong & went on to say you should not be able to book that flight with them, since Westjet has not started selling it.

Anyway what are your thoughts about this situation?

P.S. No suggest going threw Buffalo because my Dad will not want to fly out of there, because he see's it as to much of a hastle despite how great their prices maybe.

 

[Lewisc]

Online sites like travelocity and expedia will sometimes show a fare (or even flight) that isn't available for sale. You won't know until you try to make a reservation. You can try to make the reservation but even if you can it's possible the fine print will let them cancel it.

Occasionally websites, such as cheapfares, act as consolidators and have a block of tickets that might not be available at the airline's website.

For US flights the airlines own website almost always has the best prices and the best service. I suspect, but I'm not sure, that the same applies in Canada.

 

[Amberle3]

If it isn't in the Westjet system, then it isn't available. Expedia is selling what it thinks will be available but it does not in fact have the seats in its inventory.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

If it isn't in the Westjet system, then it isn't available. Expedia is selling what it thinks will be available but it does not in fact have the seats in its inventory.

The thing is what Expedia is selling are the exact same flight times we had last December with the same flight numbers & I assume will be the same times for this December because they keep the same schedule of flights.

 

[Amberle3]

There's a good bet that the schedule will be the same, but there's no guarantee at this point. The reason it's not in the Westjet system is because they don't have their schedule set yet. Westjet does update and change their schedule from time to time, sometimes because of changes they want to make and sometimes because of changes and restrictions at the incoming or outgoing airports. My point is that Expedia can't possibly have the flights in their inventory, so if you book through them right now they're taking your money for something they don't actually have authority to sell.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

There's a good bet that the schedule will be the same, but there's no guarantee at this point. The reason it's not in the Westjet system is because they don't have their schedule set yet. Westjet does update and change their schedule from time to time, sometimes because of changes they want to make and sometimes because of changes and restrictions at the incoming or outgoing airports. My point is that Expedia can't possibly have the flights in their inventory, so if you book through them right now they're taking your money for something they don't actually have authority to sell.

After my Dad was told the info from a Westjet coustomer service agent he said that if Westjet claims Expedia is wrong, then he will wait to book the flight on the Westjet site. Besides like I said before I was only looking for fun at Expedia & had no idea they even did something like this which is obviously wrong.

 

[FreddyBeach]

Air Canada doesn't jack up the required points in December. They have a certain # of seats available with the "Classic" # of points (25,000) and then when they are used up, then you start getting into the seats that cost more points.

December would be a popular month so the seats would go more quickly than usual.

We are using points to go to Orlando in May this year. I booked those seats in June 2006. Even so, I had to split us up (Son and I on 1 flight, Wife and daughter on another) so that we could still only use 100,000 points.

Mike in the Maritimes

 

[bavaria]

FreddyBeach is correct - AC does not 'jack up' the points required for flights during certain time periods. Aeroplan redemption seats are based on availability, and December is a popular time for flights to sun destinations. If you review the terms and conditions and program rules, you may better understand how the program works.

With some flexibility and proper advance planning, one may be able to book flights for December using award points.

Frankly, I have never had a problem using frequent flyer miles for my vacations, despite all of the alarmist (and misleading) media reports. I clear out 100,000-200,000 miles a year from my accounts and manage to travel last minute to desirable destinations by being somewhat flexible and understanding the program.

 

[amw]

Air Canada doesn't jack up the required points in December. They have a certain # of seats available with the "Classic" # of points (25,000) and then when they are used up, then you start getting into the seats that cost more points.

I agree. We've always booked with our aeroplan points. My husband travels to the US on a weekly basis so we accumulate a lot -- and I've booked quite a bit.

It seems that most flights have a cap of five 25,000-point seats. When those are gone, the remaining seat values go up. If your Dad was trying to book 4 or 5 seats, he probably had a problem getting the basic ones. Like the previous poster said, you may have to split them up. The last time I went with my parents, we were able to book 6 tickets (one at the higher rate) on a flight down, but we had to book 2 on a seperate flight back.

Keep in mind that the seats do become available a year ahead of time, and most people grab the cheaper seats at that point. I'm an anal pre-planner, so I've never had a problem booking all my tickets at the lower rate One of these days the tag fairy is going to put THAT on my list

One thing to do is be flexible when leaving and returning. It's easier to book the "aeroplan" tickets mid-week to mid-week. Their website allows you to see when the seats are available if you can be flexible.

You do have to pay surcharges and airport fees on top of the "free" ticket. I usually allow $150 per ticket for that.

If all else fails, you can use the aeroplan points for WDW passes.

 

[Amberle3]

Normally the airlines allocate 4 seats for frequent flier seats. Now that Air Canada has gone to a multi-tiered frequent flier point system they might have changed this. They're not my preferred airline anyway, I'll fly Westjet any chance I get rather than take AC. And AC's a pain in the butt to deal with too (I'm a travel agent).

Which is also why I know that if Westjet says the flights aren't available yet, then they're not available no matter what Expedia is selling.

ETA: BTW Westjet seems to have their December flights in the system now.

 

[FayeW]

You do have to pay surcharges and airport fees on top of the "free" ticket. I usually allow $150 per ticket for that.

If all else fails, you can use the aeroplan points for WDW passes.

So, if I am booking 4 return tickets Ottawa-Orlando, I can expect to use 100k
points AND spend approx $600 out of pocket for fees?

With the great fares I can get on JetBlue out of Syracuse, it might STILL be cheaper to fly from there! I guess I will have to save my aeroplan miles for a trip to Europe instead, no sense wasting them on a trip to Florida if I can get it cheaper elsewhere.

To have the fees in Canada cost more than the whole flight out of the US is a sad testament to the cost of Canadian air travel.

 

[amw]

So, if I am booking 4 return tickets Ottawa-Orlando, I can expect to use 100k
points AND spend approx $600 out of pocket for fees?

No, those are the fees for Pearson (Toronto). Pearson has the highest airport fees in North America (if not the world ). These are tacked onto all flights, although Air Canada seems to have higher fees.

I don't know what the fees are for flying out of Ottawa. Try looking at the airline websites, and total what the costs would be -- it'll show what the additional fees/surcharges are. You have to pay those regardless if the ticket is free or not.

EDIT: I just checked Air Canada website and it did look like the fees were around $100 out of Ottawa. Not sure what aeroplan would charge. You can call them directly and find out the exact amount.

In the past, I checked flying our of Buffalo. It would cost $500 US to fly 4 tickets -- includes $30 per person airport fees. For $600 Cdn, I get "free" flights out of Pearson. It's basically the same price but I don't have to drive to Buffalo and stay overnight.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

My Dad was looking at Expedia because Westjet is now selling their flights for December & on Expedia the flight was a lot cheaper then the Westjet site. So again my Dad called Westjet & once again they said Expedia was wrong, however my Dad was also told the flight home from Tampa on January 1st only had 9 seats left. I could not believe that so because we wanted to fly them & not Air Canada, he went to the Westjet site & booked 3 seats to Orlando on Dec 15 & 3 seats returning from Tampa on January 1st. So we are all set for December with our hotel & flight reservations. The only thing left to do is a rental car from Avis, however the rental is the least of our problems, so we can wait to do that.

PS: Because we are now booked on the Tampa - Toronto flight, there are now 6 seats left lol.