Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Johnny199r]

To the surprise of no one, Air Canada announced today they are following Westjet's lead and are banning carryon baggage for basic fare tickets next year. Note: You still get one personal item.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10901245/...-fare-changes/

Obviously overhead bin space is at a premium, and this is one of their solutions. It would have been nice if they just enforced the rules over the years, but they didn't seem interested in doing that.

[chedder]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

To the surprise of no one, Air Canada announced today they are following Westjet's lead and are banning carryon baggage for basic fare tickets next year. Note: You still get one personal item.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10901245/...-fare-changes/

Obviously overhead bin space is at a premium, and this is one of their solutions. It would have been nice if they just enforced the rules over the years, but they didn't seem interested in doing that.

Wonder if that will be in effect for an already purchased ticket that flies after Jan 3?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by chedder

Wonder if that will be in effect for an already purchased ticket that flies after Jan 3?

They usually grandfather in any tickets already purchased.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

Obviously overhead bin space is at a premium, and this is one of their solutions. It would have been nice if they just enforced the rules over the years, but they didn't seem interested in doing that.

The overhead bin issue is a byproduct of checked bag fees, so the solution is, of course, to apply another fee to carry-on. Even though it is "included" in all but the lowest fare, it is effectively a fee to carry-on.

They'd rather advertise an eye-catching low fare and cash in on the up-sells.

I used to feel a bit of loyalty to Canadian companies, but I'd love to see the markets opened up to foreign competition. We've created a bubble in which duopolies and oligopolies are able to operate in a competitive vacuum without repercussions. Airlines, grocery, telecommunications, etc. Screw 'em all and open the market up. We're getting played.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

The overhead bin issue is a byproduct of checked bag fees, so the solution is, of course, to apply another fee to carry-on. Even though it is "included" in all but the lowest fare, it is effectively a fee to carry-on.

They'd rather advertise an eye-catching low fare and cash in on the up-sells.

I used to feel a bit of loyalty to Canadian companies, but I'd love to see the markets opened up to foreign competition. We've created a bubble in which duopolies and oligopolies are able to operate in a competitive vacuum without repercussions. Airlines, grocery, telecommunications, etc. Screw 'em all and open the market up. We're getting played.

"open the market up" suggests foreign competitors would be happy to come here. When it comes to the airline sector anyway, I'm not sure that's true.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

"open the market up" suggests foreign competitors would be happy to come here. When it comes to the airline sector anyway, I'm not sure that's true.

I think it absolutely is, at least for the major trunk routes. Would there still be service to Deer Lake and London, ON though...

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

"open the market up" suggests foreign competitors would be happy to come here. When it comes to the airline sector anyway, I'm not sure that's true.

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think it absolutely is, at least for the major trunk routes. Would there still be service to Deer Lake and London, ON though...

We have three and in some cases four competitors on most of the major domestic trunk routes in Canada now. That's not bad for a country of 40 million.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

We have three and in some cases four competitors on most of the major domestic trunk routes in Canada now. That's not bad for a country of 40 million.

I agree. I wouldn't open up aviation to foreign competition except in the case of reciprocal access as part of wider trade talks.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

To the surprise of no one, Air Canada announced today they are following Westjet's lead and are banning carryon baggage for basic fare tickets next year. Note: You still get one personal item.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10901245/...-fare-changes/

Obviously overhead bin space is at a premium, and this is one of their solutions. It would have been nice if they just enforced the rules over the years, but they didn't seem interested in doing that.

I can get a free meal and a free checked bag on regional airline Bangkok Airways for a cheap flight that's less than an hour in duration, but if I fly across North America on a Canadian airline I have to pay through the nose for the fare and then more for baggage and a meal?

I'm really glad I don't have to travel within North America often.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by icarus

I can get a free meal and a free checked bag on regional airline Bangkok Airways for a cheap flight that's less than an hour in duration, but if I fly across North America on a Canadian airline I have to pay through the nose for the fare and then more for baggage and a meal?

I'm really glad I don't have to travel within North America often.

I took Bangkok Airways earlier this year and agree with you, it was great.

I recently booked a flight with United from Europe to Chicago. They are doing even more piece-meal add ons than the Canadian airlines. I'm sure the Canadian airlines will follow suit.

[BlackArcher101]

Going to start making the premium credit cards that provide baggage etc with every flight look more economical now.

[Ryan Coke]

Keep in mind the Canadian government has far more fees and taxation on the aviation sector than most countries, including the US. If they wanted air travel in Canada to be more affordable they could easily reduce the burden on their end to make it comparable to the US and it would make a substantial impact. It’s also why if a US airline that wanted to compete on Canadian routes they would have to incur many of those same additional costs; though not all which is why it would be an unbalanced competitive field.

And to hear Anita Anand talking about meeting with airline CEOs because of “all the fees”, meanwhile ignoring the massive amount of fees that the government places on airlines and travellers, it is laughable.

Having said all that, I totally get the annoyance with the new and increasing fees. It sucks. But it is in response to trying to offer the lowest fares on search engines, because that is how many people book.

It’s like all of us buying from Amazon and Walmart, then being upset that Mom and Pop stores are closing down.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Keep in mind the Canadian government has far more fees and taxation on the aviation sector than most countries, including the US. If they wanted air travel in Canada to be more affordable they could easily reduce the burden on their end to make it comparable to the US and it would make a substantial impact. It’s also why if a US airline that wanted to compete on Canadian routes they would have to incur many of those same additional costs; though not all which is why it would be an unbalanced competitive field.

And to hear Anita Anand talking about meeting with airline CEOs because of “all the fees”, meanwhile ignoring the massive amount of fees that the government places on airlines and travellers, it is laughable.

Having said all that, I totally get the annoyance with the new and increasing fees. It sucks. But it is in response to trying to offer the lowest fares on search engines, because that is how many people book.

It’s like all of us buying from Amazon and Walmart, then being upset that Mom and Pop stores are closing down.

Reducing these would mean spreading those costs out over the entire tax base, including the non-fliers. Maybe that is reasonable, maybe it's not.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Reducing these would mean spreading those costs out over the entire tax base, including the non-fliers. Maybe that is reasonable, maybe it's not.

It's the only way other countries keep costs for flying down. If that's what people want then that's the way to do it

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Reducing these would mean spreading those costs out over the entire tax base, including the non-fliers. Maybe that is reasonable, maybe it's not.

It is beyond that however….air travel is used for general revenue generation, beyond just the cost of flying. So it isn’t the tax base subsidizing flying, it is air travel subsidizing general government spending.

The US is closer to a revenue neutral setup, also with the mindset that affordable transportation (of all types) is a net benefit to the economy.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

It is beyond that however….air travel is used for general revenue generation, beyond just the cost of flying. So it isn’t the tax base subsidizing flying, it is air travel subsidizing general government spending.

The US is closer to a revenue neutral setup, also with the mindset that affordable transportation (of all types) is a net benefit to the economy.

Is it? Genuinely asking.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Is it? Genuinely asking.

Yes. In particular the airports pay a very significant amount of rent to the federal government.

[activeStick]

Snagged a bunch of amazing deals to China earlier this week. Under $900 return to YVR each! Got tickets for myself and mom and dad to visit relatives back home together in 2025! Love YVRDeals/YYZ Deals! Thank you Chris Myden! Haven't seen these price levels to Asia since pre-covid.

[cmyden]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Snagged a bunch of amazing deals to China earlier this week. Under $900 return to YVR each! Got tickets for myself and mom and dad to visit relatives back home together in 2025! Love YVRDeals/YYZ Deals! Thank you Chris Myden! Haven't seen these price levels to Asia since pre-covid.

No problem, I'm glad they helped! Yes, prices to East Asia (and Southeast Asia) remained extremely high after covid, while most other regions eventually came back down to earth. So it's been well over 4 and a half years of very expensive flights.

Between 2022 and November 2024 the Chinese carriers were capped at 6 roundtrip flights per week. Then in November 2024 the caps were removed, and the airlines wasted no time dramatically increasing the number of flights and adding routes.

This extra capacity can help with not only prices to China of course, but the surrounding regions like SE Asia. Hard to say if we'll ever see crazy deals from YVR to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malayasia in the $400s, $500s, and $600s roundtrip again. After all, inflation is still a thing. But there have already been some in the $800s lately.

-

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by cmyden

No problem, I'm glad they helped! Yes, prices to East Asia (and Southeast Asia) remained extremely high after covid, while most other regions eventually came back down to earth. So it's been well over 4 and a half years of very expensive flights.



Between 2022 and November 2024 the Chinese carriers were capped at 6 roundtrip flights per week. Then in November 2024 the caps were removed, and the airlines wasted no time dramatically increasing the number of flights and adding routes.



This extra capacity can help with not only prices to China of course, but the surrounding regions like SE Asia. Hard to say if we'll ever see crazy deals from YVR to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malayasia in the $400s, $500s, and $600s roundtrip again. After all, inflation is still a thing. But there have already been some in the $800s lately.



-

It definitely helped! It's funny, my mom literally just got back home to YVR yesterday from a 5 week trip to China and when I told her I was getting these tickets for me and dad to go and I had assumed she wouldn't be interested, she told me she wanted to go with us too, and you can't say no to mom lol, but my 3 tickets cost less than her ticket which she got at a normal price.

I'm waiting for sales to Japan. I love that place, so hopefully we'll see some deals there soon. With their economy crashing so badly, I would have expected some pretty big discounts from ANA or JAL to lure tourists over to spend money.