These new “simplified” one-way fares are not without their complications, however. For starters, all the silly names (mentioned above) are hard to keep track. So confusing were they, apparently, that Air Canada has just “simplified” things a bit more (effective April 1), by renaming Fun fares as “Tango Plus” and renaming “Freedom” fares as “Latitude Plus.” In addition to the semantic confusion, there are some important new issues to be aware of.
Here is a summary of the new one-way airfares that Air Canada now sells for travel in Canada and trans-border. The first two are their premium fares—“Latitude” and “Latitude Plus (formerly “Freedom.”) Both offer free changes and are fully refundable. “Latitude Plus” fares are the most expensive economy brand. They come with some perks, including access to the Maple Leaf lounges (in Canada only), executive class check-in, and 25% bonus status miles (ie. what you need to earn Prestige, Elite, and Super Elite status). “Latitude” fares also offer considerable flexibility, but no perks. Both fares qualify for upgrades if you have upgrade certificates.
The second group of airfares are the non-refundable ones. They have restrictions and penalties. The higher-priced of the two is called “Tango Plus” (formerly “Fun”). Changes are cheap at $30, but this is misleading. First of all, because these are classified as one-way fares, the change fee applies to each part of your trip. For example, if you want to change a roundtrip ticket completely, you will wind up paying double—ie. $60 ($30 per direction). On top of this, the rules state that you have to pay any fare difference when changing to a new flight. This means that you will often be paying for a higher airfare, since prices climb the closer you get to the departure date. Generally, the more last-minute the change is, the higher the cost. This can easily add up to hundreds of dollars. So much for the $30 change fee! Like the two “Latitude” fares, these qualify for upgrades, but only if you are Elite or Super Elite and have certificates.
Finally, we come to the most controversial of Air Canada’s new airfares—the “Tango” fares. Named after the airline’s big embarrassment, Tango Airlines, which quietly disappeared after a couple of lackluster years, this airfare is designed to compete with WestJet, CanJet, Skyservice, and other low-cost airlines in Canada and trans-border. It is Air Canada’s cheapest line of airfares. So, what’s the problem? For starters, it offers no status miles. For the business traveller, this is a big deal. One of the perks business travellers enjoy is high tier status with their favourite airline. This entitles them to upgrades, preferred seat selection, priority waitlists on sold-out flights, and VIP treatment. When a frequent traveller learns that he/she is not going to earn status miles on these cheap fares, the conversation can get pretty “intense.”
Another irritant is that “Tango” fares only earn 50% “flown” miles on Aeroplan. And, finally, unless you pay $15 per direction (ie. $30 roundtrip) extra there’s no advance seat selection! Apparently, Air Canada’s rationale for this is that it is the same treatment you would get (or rather, not get) if you flew WestJet or one of the other low-cost airlines. Air Canada claims to be just offering a comparable product. This is not technically correct. WestJet, for instance, offers Air Miles in most cases. And some of the discount airlines do offer free advance seat selection. Furthermore, although WestJet does not offer advance seat assignment, they also don’t oversell their flights. Provided you get to the airport at a reasonable time before departure, you’re likely to be able to get a decent seat. This is not necessarily true with Air Canada, on the other hand. They do over-sell their flights, and since they offer advance seat selection on all of the other airfares, guess what seats are left for the Tango passenger? The dreaded middle seat. For this reason, and the danger of being “bumped” from an oversold flight, we strongly recommend you pay the extra $15 per direction for seat assignment when you buy a Tango ticket.
So, are these new fares a good thing or bad? Over all, I think they are a great improvement over the old style “stay-over-a-Saturday-night” roundtrip fares. They recognize the reality of the new world populated by low-cost, “point-to-point” carriers like WestJet, SouthWest, and JetBlue. For business travellers, who have never been happy with the idea of spending their weekends away from home just to get a reasonable airfare, these new fares are a fantastic development. Generally, we have found that the cost to make changes is lower now than in the old days. So, in spite of some concerns, especially about the Tango fares, Air Canada’s new brands of airfares are a good development. For more on Air Canada’s new “simplified” airfares, go to:
Air Canada Simplified
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