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This Air Canada Hack Allows You To Get A Seat Upgrade Without Paying Full Price
Nov
Have you always wanted to fly first class with an airline and enjoy all the perks of luxury travel? With this lesser-known travel tip, you could get a seat upgrade on your flight without having to pay full price.
Air Canada offers passengers the chance to bid on a seat upgrade, meaning that you can choose what you want to pay to upgrade your seat to a higher cabin class.
With the AC Bid Upgrade, when you purchase a flight in Air Canada’s economy or premium economy class, you can make an offer before your flight to be upgraded to a higher class.
Following economy (the lowest class) and premium economy (a mid-range flight class), Air Canada also has business class and its luxurious Signature class cabins, where fliers can enjoy things like lie-flat beds in personal pod-style seats, extra space and legroom, and priority services.
If your flight is eligible, you can place a bid on Air Canada’s bid page for how much you want to pay to upgrade.
How to get an upgrade on an Air Canada flight
At least 48 hours before the departure of your flight, you can go to Air Canada’s bid upgrade page and enter your flight details (including your booking reference) to see if you’re eligible for an upgrade.
Once you’ve determined this, you can place your offer by moving the slider to select how much you want to pay for the upgrade and enter your payment details. It’s worth noting that your bid price doesn’t include the original airfare.
You’ll only be charged if your offer is accepted. If your offer has not yet been confirmed, you may cancel it up to 48 hours before your departure. If your offer is accepted, you’ll be notified about two days before your departure time.
Your offer includes all applicable taxes and fees, Air Canada says. To have the best chance of getting your offer accepted, the airline recommends submitting the highest price that you’re willing to pay
It doesn’t cost you anything extra to make an offer. If your offer is accepted though, you can say hello to some seriously luxurious travel.
Is it worth it to upgrade to business class on Air Canada?
Air Canada’s business class comes with perks like larger seats, access to the airline’s swanky Maple Leaf Lounges and an all-inclusive meal tray on flights longer than two hours.
Passengers in this class also get to enjoy priority services like an exclusive check-in space, a dedicated boarding area and priority baggage handling.
In Signature Class, which is offered on select routes, passengers can enjoy lie-flat, pod-style seats, complete with a pillow, duvet and mattress pad in addition to an amenity kit and a CleanCare+ kit.
They can also take advantage of concierge and chauffeur services, and enjoy complimentary meals and premium amenities like Molton Brown skincare products in Air Canada’s exclusive Signature Suites.
While you might think Air Canada’s highest cabin class rings up at quite a pretty penny, on some flights, the cost difference between premium economy and business isn’t very much, meaning it could be worth your while to try for an upgrade to the luxurious cabin.
While not all flights are necessarily eligible for an upgrade, as an example, a flight from Toronto to Vancouver in December with Air Canada could cost you $312 one-way in economy, while flying in business class would only cost an extra few hundred dollars at a total of $849.
If you could bid on seats in this class, there’s the possibility you could pay even less!
