r/aircanada • • Sep 20 '25

[Megathread] Meal Review/Choice Thread

39 Upvotes

Hey all - some of you have expressed frustrations with respect to the numerous threads created whereby posters ask for advice on what meals to choose.

In an effort to cut down on these posts, we will be referring people to this megathread on a trial basis, potentially for permanent adoption. Unfortunately, with reddit not acting like traditional forums by bumping threads to the top whenever a new comment is made, there isn't really a great solution we can offer aside from this.

We would certainly appreciate if people could post/review their meals as well, to keep the thread somewhat active.

Appreciate the understanding - thanks.


r/aircanada • • May 24 '25

Everything you need to know about UPGRADING

174 Upvotes

Welcome to the Upgrade Megathread!!

This is a new thread under development. The goal is to have all the FAQs posted by the end of May or early June. Feel free to post comments with specific questions in the meantime. Your brilliant questions will help us develop a meaningful FAQ for the community.

Contents

  • Some acronyms & definitions
  • Upgrading for Newbies – 5 ways to snag that seat up front!
  • 5 Tips and Tricks You Need to Know
  • General FAQ – coming soon
  • Bid Upgrade FAQ – coming soon
  • eUpgrade FAQ – coming soon
  • Last Minute Upgrade FAQ - coming soon

Some acronyms & definitions

Term Description
AP Aeroplan
Cabin vs fare Cabin is economy, premium economy or business. Fare family is the “brand” AC assigned (Business Flex; Business Lowest, Latitude, Comfort, Standard, Basic, etc.). Within each family, there are “fares” which are letter codes that essentially designate the price of the ticket within that family. And no it is not alphabetical!
Y Used generically to refer to the economy cabin.
PE Used generically to refer to the Premium Economy cabin.
J Used generically to refer to the business class cabin.
R A fare class that is used for upgrade availability. It can only be viewed through a travel agent or paid subscription services (such as ExpertFlyer).
SQM/SQD Status qualifying miles or dollars –that count towards achieving AP elite status.
LMU Last minute upgrade
IRROPS Irregular Operations – when flights are delayed, overbooked, etc and there are changes to the processes and procedures for things like rebooking.
Metal Who is operating the plane. For example, AC metal is an AC operated flight. It may be a united or Lufthansa issued ticket – but the “metal” is the plane you are flying on.

Upgrading for Newbies

No shame in being new to AC or to the upgrade game. Some SE status members could even benefit from reviewing this post 😊. Here are all the possible way to snag yourself a comfy seat.

1) Free upgrades: Ask nicely and get an upgrade….NO, not on AC!

  • AC does not offer or allow upgrade as a courtesy. They will fly with empty seats in business class.

2) Ops-up: An unrequested upgrade to PE or J based on operational requirements

  • When a cabin is overbooked; for weights and balance; aircraft change (larger J cabin and smaller economy cabin); standby economy passengers and seats in PE or J
  • AC will select passengers to upgrade.
  • Occurs last minute at the gate. Only inflight benefits (no lounge, etc).
  • Passengers typically selected based on status and then fare. You cannot “ask” for this upgrade, but you may refuse the upgrade if you want. In some cases, no PE or J meal will be available on IRROPS upgrade

3) Upfare: Paying to formally change the class of the ticket

  • Formally changes the ticket to the new class.
  • The fare rules of the upfared class will apply (i.e. if you upfare from Latitude to J lowest you will lowest the refundability) - except for refundability.... You CANNOT upfare to gain refundability from a restricted fare (Standard for example) to a flexible fare (such as Comfort and Premium Flexible) to gain the better change/rebooking rules. BUT the inverse is true - if you upfare to a more restrictive fare you LOSE the flexibility. Therefore - you cannot "game the system" - so don't ask and don't try. Note that if you upfare ONE direction or one segment - the most restrictive fare rules will apply to all segments and all directions.
  • Access to the Signature Suite at YYZ or YVR (for J, on a destination that qualifies)
  • The cost is based on the actual price difference between the desire class (PE or J) and what you paid for your ticket. This will count as SQD towards earning status.
  • This is often used by business travellers who want to upgrade beyond what their corporate policy allows. You may use any credit card to make this change.
  • This is done by calling AC to purchase the new fare. It can be done at the airport as well up to 2 hours before departure.

4) Bid Upgrade: Customers can bid in cash or points

  • This is accessible to all passengers regardless of status. Only applies to AC operated (metal) flights.
  • Your fare restrictions remain as per the original fare.
  • The bid amount varies based on the flight. In some cases an “instant upgrade” price is offered in the bid upgrade process flow. This is not always offered.
  • People often value business at around $150 an hour and PE at $50 an hour when determining “is it worth it”
  • The system will only charge the credit card if the upgrade clears. You may use any credit card or even AP points to bid upgrade.
  • You will know 48 hours before the flight (not earlier unless instant upgrade). Once it clears, you can select seats. So this has the advantage that multiple passengers have better luck sitting together over LMU or eUprades that clear at the gate.
  • There is a very thorough FAQ on the AC website for bid upgrades: AC Bid Upgrade – FAQs

5) eUpgrade: Upgrade system based on using “eUpgrade credits” that are earned through AP status

  • Upgrade requests are made via the AC App, website, calling customer service or at the gate.
  • When you can clear the upgrade and the number of credits (and an add on cash fee) varies based on status, flight destination and fare.
  • AC has a great tool to help you determine these details: eUpgrades and clearance windows.
  • Although the clearance window may be open, eUpgrades only clear into a fare bucket called "R". The available of R is very limited in advance of flights and can be verified only by using paid tools such as ExpertFlyer. See the note below regarding "Latitude Instant Upgrades".
  • Approximately 55 minutes before scheduled departure, the system will clear all remaining eUpgrades (based on priority of cabin, status, fare and check in time as the tie breaker). The majority of eUpgrades clear at the gate....only a few will clear in advance based on the planned availability of R space (which is greatly influenced by the loads on the flight and AC revenue management strategy to maximize sale of those seats).
  • Strongly encourage you to review the details on About eUpgrades. It includes all the information on who can upgrade; how many people you can upgrade; etc.
  • You do not access the signature suite.
  • You do not get the class of service bonus for SQM. If there is an add on payment it does count toward SQD.
  • Only applies to AC operated (metal) flights.

6) Last Minute Upgrade: Pay to upgrade offered when you check in for your flight

  • Offered during the check in flow (on App or website) when available.
  • The cost varies based on the flight. The amount does NOT count towards SQD for earning status.
  • Once you upgrade you can select your seat, get airport and inflight benefits of the new class (PE or J).
  • Do not get additional SQM. Do not get access to Signature Suite lounge.
  • AC has a great FAQ on the LMU purchase process: Air Canada - Last Minute Purchase Upgrade. Read this before posting questions.

6 Tips and Tricks You Need to Know

1) Basic economy: Cannot upfare, bid upgrade, LMU or eUpgrade. You chose that fare…live with it 😊

2) Seat map does NOT equal available seats: Seat map are seats not selected. Seats available for sale are only available through other tools. Never (ever) use the seat map to estimate how many seats are available for sale (or available to upgrade).

3) Latitude does NOT equal guaranteed upgrade: Latitude paid fares will instantly eUpgrade if “R” space is available (or even sometimes from a hidden fare bucket – but not P and not known to the public). Latitude Reward space, is believed to only upgrade from “R” space.

4) Probability of upgrade clearing? Please don’t ask!!! Even 1 or 2 days before a flight you can see a cabin go from 9 empty J seats to 0. And this is NOT unusual. If the bid upgrade amount high enough? Well, the closer to minimum the lower the probability. There are as many good news stories of minimum bid winning as there are bad news stories of near maximum bids failing. When you are 24 hours before your flight check the number of passengers on the upgrade list (on the App), your position, and the number of available seats. That is when you can guess the probability….

5)  Multiple passengers on ONE booking (PNR): For LMU and Bid Upgrades it is all or none. Those channels will not offer or clear upgrades for partial passengers. You need to split the booking (by calling AC) before you make the request. For eUpgrades, you may request for more than one (based on the rules which you can read on the AC website) and some of the passengers may clear and others will not.

6) Sitting together and declining upgrades: You are not guaranteed to sit together. In PE it is often middle single seats left and you may be separated. And after an upgrade clears - your original seat is gone. You cannot then ask for that seat back, for example if your party is not all upgraded. You may be stuck in the last row in economy.


r/aircanada • • 6h ago

Giveaways! Traveling today in Canada or US?

15 Upvotes

Drop me a note, I have a Maple Leaf Lounge pass that expires today and I can't use.

Condition is that you will do something to support your local animal rescue or humane society.


r/aircanada • • 6h ago

AC Wallet and AC Companion Pass

3 Upvotes

Trying to pay for a companion pass booking with AC Wallet but system doesn’t allow it. Call AC and they tell me their internal policy documents say that AC wallet cannot be used to pay for companion pass booking. When I look at a number of AC website pages there are many AC wallet restrictions but none that mention companion pass

Anyone else face this issue before? I’ve escalated an am waiting for a phone call back but thought I’d ask in the meantime in case I missed something.


r/aircanada • • 19h ago

Giveaways! I have an extra ML Lounge Pass

19 Upvotes

I have TD infinite privilege card so I already have enough lounge access and 35K. I have one extra pass that expires on Dec 16 and only for use on domestic or US flights.

I’m giving this for free on the caveat that someone promised they’ll do a good deed in return. I know I have no way to verify you do the good deed so I’m really using the honour system here and just think of your conscience if you ultimately don’t do the deed. So please do it if you say you will.

DM me your deed by 10 pm EST. The deed that I think is the nicest wins.

That said, I’m 35F. Live in Toronto by myself. If anyone also loves travel as much as me, I’m always looking for friends or more 😊 ✈️ my companion pass sometimes goes to waste so always looking for a travel buddy willing to fly out of Pearson or Billy Bishop and is status obsessed as I am.

Edit: I found someone who lost a parent and they will be seeing their grandparents on a last minute flight so I gave my pass to them. I lost my mom earlier this year and my grandma, her mom and lady living grandparent, two months later so the story touched me.

I am getting through the 75 messages but thank you for all your deeds! I am so happy to see how great humanity is.


r/aircanada • • 1d ago

Will a transit visa need verified at the check-in desk?

6 Upvotes

Flying LHR - YUL, London Heathrow to Montreal

  • The passenger has never connected or been to Canada before.
  • Travelling on a Guatemala passport as a Guate national.
  • Guate passports don't have the NFC chip (RFID)

They are required to, and have fully obtained a successful 2-entry Canada transit visa, now a big sticker on their passport. No previous bad travel history. No checked luggage. Full itinerary BHD-LHR-YUL-GUA.

Any staff or experienced people have a good idea if the Air Canada online check-in service will issue a full boarding pass with QR code? OR will they be instructed to visit the desk? or

Anyone with a history of travelling to Canada with a visa want to let me know if they could check-in online completely without visting the desk?

Thanks a bunch for any input! :)

(Addtional context: they are flying from Belfast to LHR T5, then transfering to T2 for the LHR - YUL flight. (Separate airline tickets/self-connecting. 1h 35ms connection, little tight.) I've heard there's an Air Canada service desk airside/post security in T5 which they could check-in with.. hmm is that true or reliable I wonder?)


r/aircanada • • 1d ago

Follow up on liquids from MXP-YUL-YWG question

22 Upvotes

I asked a question a while ago about whether I would need to go through security again connecting in Montreal, as Milan Terminal 1 allows liquids up to 2L bottles in carry-on.

The responses were that if I had OSS ITD on my connecting boarding pass (which I should, and I did), then I would not need to go through security again in Montreal. I should therefore in theory be able to take excess liquids in carry-on without them being confiscated in Montreal.

What actually happened in Montreal
was that customs and immigration required all passengers on the MXP-YUL flight connecting to Canadian destinations to not only re-go through security and also pick up their checked baggage in Montreal and re-check it — overriding both the OSS and ITD codes on the boarding pass.

AC informed passengers that this override had happened only shortly before landing in Montreal. I don’t think they knew before-hand.

As the flight was already 2.5 hours late from Milan due to a significant air traffic control problem in MXP, this decision added to the immense unpleasantness of the flight.

None of the issues were AC-controlled.

I don’t know if it was a random selection to have everything re-searched, or if immigration was responding to some kind of threat.

By chance, although I flew with only carry-on, I did not bring in excess liquid, so I had nothing to confiscate. But if I had brought anything in, it would definitely have all been confiscated.

Until all the connecting hub airports in Canada are upgraded to allow more liquids in carry-on, this will always be a risk.


r/aircanada • • 1d ago

3 MLL domestic/US passes expiring TODAY

7 Upvotes

Giving away 3 passes. DM with flight #, confirm that your flight is departing today, and # of passes required. FCFS.

Edit: all gone


r/aircanada • • 2d ago

News Feds Reviewing Air Canada, United Airlines Expanded Joint Venture

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53 Upvotes

r/aircanada • • 2d ago

Change Seats With Family - Biz to Economy

8 Upvotes

I was able to eUp myself and wife to Signature. My parents are on the same flight in economy on a separate booking.

Is there any way to formally or informally change seats to give my parents the Signature experience? Ask check in agent, gate agent, in-flight attendant during boarding, etc? Or calling in advance?

To add a bit more complexity, I’d have a lap infant that would be moving back with me too.


r/aircanada • • 2d ago

New YUL-IND Route

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10 Upvotes

r/aircanada • • 2d ago

AC Ramp to Pilot?

11 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I'm a AC ramp agent and I'm doing my flight training (I'm no where close to finishing). Just a random thought crossed my mind; has anyone ever went from ramp to pilot at Air Canada? Is that even possible? I know AC has a pilot program so I'm guessing they just get these people instead of hiring other employees?

Thanks!


r/aircanada • • 4d ago

Is Anyone Else Sitting at YHZ waiting for flight 2043?

Post image
266 Upvotes

Delay and after delay and gate change after gate change has kept us on our toes.

Meanwhile at Gate 20 we saw this bold little guy cleaning up crumbs on the carpet. :)

All one can do is smile and deal with it. And hope we get out of here tonight.


r/aircanada • • 4d ago

General Question Air Canada appears to ignore cookie consent — I recorded the evidence

125 Upvotes

Title:

I was looking for flights on Air Canada's website and decided to check what actually happens when you reject optional cookies.

So I recorded my screen and captured the entire network traffic using Chrome DevTools (HAR).

Here's what I found:

  • Before I even confirmed my cookie preferences, tracking events were already being sent to TikTok, Meta, Google/DoubleClick and other advertising platforms.
  • I explicitly left targeted advertising cookies disabled in OneTrust and clicked "Confirm Selection."
  • Immediately afterward, Adobe's consent state changed from pending to in, with the server responding collect: "y".
  • Air Canada's analytics payload then reported cookieConsent: ",c0003,c0001,c0004,c0002," — including C0004, the targeted advertising category I had disabled.
  • Within milliseconds, advertising ID synchronization requests were sent to multiple companies, including The Trade Desk, AppNexus, PubMatic, OpenX and BidSwitch.
  • Tracking continued afterward, including the transmission of flight search details such as origin, destination and travel dates.

This wasn't just a few tracking scripts loading. Actual tracking events and advertising identifier synchronization requests were observed.

I have the screen recording, full HAR files and a technical audit documenting the sequence.

Under Quebec's privacy legislation (Law 25), this raises serious questions about consent requirements, particularly sections 13 and 14 of the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector.

To be clear, I'm not claiming to have proven a legal violation or that Air Canada uses this data to manipulate individual ticket prices. But the discrepancy between my explicit cookie preferences and the consent state transmitted to Adobe is difficult to explain.

What's the point of offering a "Reject" option if the advertising ecosystem continues operating anyway?

Has anyone else investigated Air Canada's consent management implementation?


r/aircanada • • 4d ago

Baggage How does a dog from a domestic Air Canada flight end up at international arrivals at Pearson?

65 Upvotes

My dog is okay, thankfully, but I am still trying to understand what happened.

  • I flew YVR to YYZ on October 1 with my dog travelling as AVIH in the baggage compartment. After landing, I waited at the oversized baggage collection area, but she never appeared.
  • Over the next 60+ minutes, I went back to Air Canada Priority Baggage several times. At first I was repeatedly told she should be coming out shortly. Eventually staff started trying to contact the baggage operation, but could not reach anyone. They also could not locate a duty supervisor.
  • Nearly an hour later, I was told my dog had somehow been sent to international arrivals, despite arriving on a domestic flight with Toronto as my final destination. One of my oversized baggage items was sent there as well.
  • I finally got her around 2:05 a.m. outside the international arrivals doors.

What I find hardest to understand is that Air Canada seemingly could not determine where a pet in its custody had been sent. Priority Baggage staff themselves were concerned, and even an airport porter I spoke with seemed baffled by what had happened.

I was told to contact Customer Relations and was specifically reassured that, because the incident involved an animal, I would hear back by the time I woke up.

That was October 2. It is now October 14 and I still have no substantive response or explanation from Air Canada.

For anyone familiar with YYZ baggage or ramp operations, how can an AVIH pet from a domestic arrival end up routed to international arrivals, and is this a known type of handling error?


r/aircanada • • 3d ago

General Question Gifting a 25/35K status and their existing SQC

4 Upvotes

I have 25k and 35k status to give away. Both of the friends I would like to gift them to already have 18k & 23k SQC in their accounts.

What happens to the existing SQC if I gift them a status? Thanks!


r/aircanada • • 3d ago

New Route: YUL to SVQ (Seville)

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42 Upvotes

Interesting that they chose Seville instead of Malaga, but I'll take what I can get.


r/aircanada • • 4d ago

AC165 YYZ to YEG diverted to YWG

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57 Upvotes

AC165 YYZ to YEG diverted to YWG
Runway 18/36 closed
No evacuation


r/aircanada • • 4d ago

General Question Missing 2nd Surname on ANA ticket vs passport

3 Upvotes

How difficult is ANA with names?

Hi! Hoping to get some insight from anyone who may have had a similar situation.

I booked an award flight (10 months ago) with Aeroplan points to fly from YYZ (Toronto) to HND (Tokyo) in Jan 2027.

There are two legs YYZ>JFK (operated by AC business), then JFK>HND (ANA first class), and return flight HND>ORD (ANA), ORD>YYZ(AC).

I have 2 last names and a middle name on my passport so AA BB CC DD. I don’t usually use my second last name and have had no issues travelling internationally in the past with various airlines including AC using only AA CC on the ticket (but not to Asia and not with ANA). When I purchased the award tickets, I used AA CC as the name on my ticket.

My concern is that I’m not sure if the name on the ticket has to match 100% with the name on my passport (AA BB CC DD vs AA CC) for ANA. A lot of posts mention that asian airlines and ANA are particularly strict about names and that your name must match 100% or you will be denied boarding. I am not able to cancel and rebook because there is no more award availability for the dates I booked.

I spoke to an Aeroplan agent and they recommended to cancel and rebook (which is not an option given no more award availability-we booked a year out to be able to find availability in First and business class at a decent award rate). I am also travelling with my spouse so rescheduling to a different date is not possible.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be amazing.

Thank you in advance!


r/aircanada • • 4d ago

General Question Bid Upgrades not Processing

3 Upvotes

Has anyone had issues processing bid upgrades/instant upgrades in the past 24hours? Wife and fly on Saturday and we both have bids in and wanted to amend. We noticed she had an instant upgrade available for PE but when we click proceed it says the transaction failed and to contact our bank. Wouldn’t even let us amend the bid. We’re using separate aeroplan logins and entirely different cards. Cards working fine otherwise.


r/aircanada • • 5d ago

Giveaways! I have 3 Maple Leaf Lounge passes that expire on 14 Oct. Anyone travelling today or tomorrow?

36 Upvotes

*Update* All passes have been given out


r/aircanada • • 5d ago

General Question Is accepting a compensation e-Transfer considered full settlement?

8 Upvotes

I travelled to Europe this past June with one checked bag for two passengers. We made it; the bag did not. Because we were travelling through different cities, I had to make regular updates on where the bag could be delivered once located. Because we were told the bag was found and would be delivered to our hotel, we changed our itnerary to spend an extra day waiting for it. It never showed up, and two days later Air Canada emailed to say they'd lost track of it completely. (In fact, it arrived back at home a day later, and the courrier service refused to hang on to it until I got back, but that a different gripe altogether.) We filed our expenses once we returned home in July, and today-ironically, just as I was completing a complaint with the CTA, I got an email telling me Air Canada had sent me an e-Transferfor roughly 2/3 of the amount we'd claimed. No details, no explanation what was dropped from the claim list or why. Following up on the AC site just gets me a message announcing the problem as resolved.

Is accepting this e-transfer tantamount to accepting their decision not to refund me for whatever they decided I wasn't owed, and is there a way to find out details of their decision?


r/aircanada • • 4d ago

eUpgrades No Seat Selection

2 Upvotes

I purchased a cash upgrade on a leg of my upcoming trip to business class but I can’t pre select my seat.
When I called they said that I have to wait until I get to the airport but this has never been the case in prior paid upgrades.

Is this a new thing or is something possibly broken?


r/aircanada • • 5d ago

eUpgrades 25 eUpgrades Expiring - How to Optimize?

9 Upvotes

Hi - I have 25 eUps that are due to expire Dec 31st. Bit stuck now wondering how I can optimize them

In case relevant / helpful, I’m 35k Aeroplan with a Visa Infinite Privilege CC. I’m 6k SQC away from 50k, which I think will be important for me given 2x Asia Travels next year in 2027, 1x Europe and 1x Hawaii for Honeymoon. Most of these would be with my Fiancée. I really struggle to sleep in planes, so for me Business Travel has tonnes of value. Total of 60 eUps available (incl. the 25 expiring, and exl. any that I’ll be picking up this year)

I’m leaving LHR to YUL tomorrow morning, but booked Economy Standard so 21 eUps + 900$ to upgrade to Business tomorrow doesn’t seem optimal use (although given my situation might be the best case scenario…) I also have two more trips planned for the remaining of the year: 2x Round Trips YUL-YVR to visit my Fiancée who is working there for a year and which I’m visiting one week per month. All rest above is 2027 travels

As I see them, options are as follows
(1) Use it for my LHR -> YUL leg tomorrow. Going straight to work and then have a cocktail event in the PM, so the extra sleep to get back on EST timezone would be good. 14/31 Business Seats booked and nobody on Upgrade list, so likely clears 100%

(2) Don’t use it tomorrow, and use it for the two YVR trips upcoming (which maybe opens the door for redeye and spending an extra day in Vancouver). Would need to get a better fare than Standard here, I assume?

(3) Not sure if possible, but would be to book my Asia/Europe/Hawaii trips with Fiancée between now and Dec 31st, and eUpgrade automatically to business for these trips (I assume would need to be automatic eUp, as regular eUps would expire by the time these clear in 2027? Or can I earmark them and “freeze” them from expiring by associating it to a pending eUp?) If this is the best option, what fares do I need to book to get the automatic eUp? Latitude, correct?

(4) Anything I’m not thinking of?

Thanks for your help in advance!!


r/aircanada • • 4d ago

When is AC going to fix their website to let me change my booking?

2 Upvotes

See, I am going from TPE to HKG on Eva Air on November 21st and then SQ from HKG to DPS via SIN on November 22nd. I need to change my flight but, due to the phone system not allowing a call back and having me wait a few hours to speak to someone, what can I do?. This is for an Aeroplan booking