# Air Canada & WestJet websites?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

Da wife is convinced that if you get up in the middle of the night & book flights online, you will find lower fares. She even says some of her friends have told her they've done it. Any truth to this? Do the airlines have little gremlins operating at night offering cheap fares???...zzzzzzzz....


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

You got me curious here jargey.
I'm really curious how their fee structure works, and how why the fees seem to change (beyond the obvious reasons like seat sales).
I'll try this, because I've been shopping for airfares to get my son home from university - all the fares are sky high in late December (not a big surprise), and I'm looking for a break on fares.

someone once told me that if you remove the "cookies" from your computer's cache that you'll get different prices when you login. It didn't work for me.
My hypothesis goes a little like this - the website is able to gauge how many users are either on, or shopping for airfares at any given point, so they keep fares high during these periods of time. The only way to test the hypothesis would be to go online at 3 or 4 am when it is really late, or early everywhere in Canada, and few people are shopping.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

in the same boat dubby ... trying to get airfare to visit daughter around xmas...
one time before, i was searching & searching, and i did strike a lower fare around 11pm on a friday night - which i booked. 
got up sat. morning -and lo & behold , price had jumped back up again


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

kinda wish I had this conversation yesterday...I booked a flight for him using sunwing airlines (a charter), which was 20% cheaper than the others.
also - there is a new airline, called "Flair" that is available to and from major airports in canada. http://gonewleaf.ca/. they're out of Kelowna.
%^$#^ airlines...they drive me nuts.

also..just checked AC flight leaving Dec 21.
on AC website - 7 am flight leaves costs 431. 
on expedia site - same 7 am flight costs 508!

sheesh


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

With the AC site, there is a somewhat hidden promotions section where you can browse the different promotions and deals. To find it, go into the site and first click any one of the deals that are shown (any random promotion). Next, near the top of the site, click Special Offers.

Or try this link
https://www.aircanada.com/content/aircanada/ca/en/aco/home/book/special-offers.html


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

thanks james -i'll have a look
meanwhile re dub's comments above:
just now on AC website , the one-way fare from YYT to YHZ on Nov. 16 ranges from $185 to $986!
duh..I wonder which I'd book????

update: james, i'm on a email list for AC "special offers" & i think maybe those fares are the same as on that link?


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

dub - why would anyone EVER use expedia (or similar sites) to book flights? 
I've NEVER found a cheaper fare -for the same flight- on any of those sites


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

I don't use them - but they do have a use.
They will include airfares from charter airlines that can be used as a comparison - then I go directly to the vendor, and do not book through expedia or travelocity sites


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Kayak is an excellent site to check pricing for flights. It will show you tons of options you have never thought of. I pretty much always start at Kayak, look at my flight options, and then leave Kayak and go directly to AC or whatever to buy the ticket directly.

Hipmunk.com is also interesting because it does a really good job of showing you the "best" / most comfortable flight route. They calculate a score based on "Agony" which combines price, length of travel, and connections. You should try it out, Hipmunk usually quickly shows you the best flight option.

However, Hipmunk's pricing is often out of date so after you find something in Hipmunk, you should go and check it again directly from the airline. Kayak is pretty much always up to date, so it's more reliable that way.

When I have to rapidly book a flight, here's how I usually do it: I start at Hipmunk and let it tell me what it thinks my best option is (and usually it's right). Then I go to kayak and do the same search, just to see if I can spot something that is more desirable than Hipmunk's option. Finally I go directly to the airline web site, double check the price, and buy there.


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## PrairieGal (Apr 2, 2011)

I have occasionally found better prices on Expedia, but it's rare. 

The airline industry is all about supply and demand. Demand during the Christmas season is high, so prices are outrageous. 

If you are on Facebook, follow West Jet and Air Canada and you will get notifications of their sales. Sometimes they will run a sale for only one or two days, and for only a certain number of seats, so it pays to get on it as fast as possible.

Sometimes I will book a ticket one way on WJ and return on AC. Just depends on who has the best price and schedule. I do prefer WJ though.


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## Numbersman61 (Jan 26, 2015)

PrairieGal said:


> I have occasionally found better prices on Expedia, but it's rare.
> 
> The airline industry is all about supply and demand. Demand during the Christmas season is high, so prices are outrageous.
> 
> ...


Being from Calgary, I may be somewhat biased. I only fly WestJet because they now fly to all the destinations I want to visit. WestJet has a simple reward program that offers significant benefits when you achieve certain milestones. If you spend $4,000 in a qualifying year, you get one free WestJet Companion flight anywhere WestJet flies in Canada plus you receive 3% WestJet dollars for each future WestJet flight. When you reach Gold status ($6,000 qualifying spend), you receive receive one free WestJet Companion flight anywhere WestJet flies plus you receive 5% WestJet dollars for each future WestJet flight. Coupled with the benefits of using the WestJet RBC credit card, I find it best to just fly with them. For the record, I’m a Gold member.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

re above thread - pls. clarify?:
can you receive a free companion flight by spending X amt. with WJ, AND receive an annual $99 companion flight thru the WJ Mastercard?


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

^ makes sense. good advice.


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## Numbersman61 (Jan 26, 2015)

jargey3000 said:


> re above thread - pls. clarify?:
> can you receive a free companion flight by spending X amt. with WJ, AND receive an annual $99 companion flight thru the WJ Mastercard?


The answer is yes. You get the $99 Companion flight through WaJ Mastercard plus you receive a free Canada wide companion flight upon reaching the $4,000 spend. In addition when reach the $$6,000 spend, you receive a free companion fight anywhere WestJet flies. One important thing I do is never use my WestJet dollars to pay for my flight since by using them, I reduce my qualifying spend amount. Instead, I use my WestJet dollars to pay for my wife’s ticket cost.


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

^
DOH!!! wish you'd told me that yesteday!!


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

jargey3000 said:


> dub - why would anyone EVER use expedia (or similar sites) to book flights?
> I've NEVER found a cheaper fare -for the same flight- on any of those sites


I book on Kayak occasionally to find hacked itineraries where you are flying different segments on different airlines. Simple example is outbound on WS and return on AC but we occasionally book flights with 3 to 4 legs. You might not be able to get a one way on WS as cheap and you don't want to book your WS segment only to find that your AC return leg is now no longer available.


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

I've read there used to be specific days that airlines update their fares and therefore it was more advantageous to search on flights that day but I've also read that it's more dynamic now and you can't rely on a particular day. 

I would also advocate searching for flights and hotels in Private/Incognito mode as some sites use cookies to track your searches and possibly adjust pricing according. Although, I don't think WS and AC do that.


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