When I first discovered this hack, I was a little disturbed. For the exact same Air Canada flight and ticket condition, there was a price difference, depending if you purchased your ticket on Air Canada US Dollar or Air Canada Canadian Dollar website.
In the world of ticketing, the point of sale is an important factor that determines ticket price. It is hard to believe, but there are many situations, where the location where you buy the ticket matters in addition to the route flown. Some tickets can only be issued by travel agents in certain countries. In the world of online ticketing, most of our customers prefer to purchase tickets in their local currency. However, there are instances where we have no choice but to purchase in a foreign currency because it is cheaper to purchase the ticket in a foreign currency.
I find airlines in North America have stopped pricing tickets differently depending on where you purchased your ticket. I recently discovered; however, Air Canada might still change the price of the ticket depending on which country you purchase your flight ticket.
Other posts about saving money include:
- Save Money by Purchasing Two One-Way Ticket
- Save Money with Air Canada Same Day Change
- Save Money by Searching on Several Travel Portals
- Save Money by Checking Air Canada US Dollar and Air Canada Canadian Dollar Website
- Save Money by Checking WestJet US Dollar and WestJet Canadian Dollar Website
- Save Money by Buying Porter Airlines Gift Cards from Costco
Buying a Los Angeles to Vancouver ticket
I searched on September 19, 2023, for a flight from Los Angeles to Vancouver on October 4, 2023.
I used the currency converter at Exchange-Rates.org.
Air Canada CAD
When I searched on Air Canada CAD website, these were the pricing options:
| Ticket Condition | Price (C$) | Price (US$ Converted) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 130 | 96.69 |
| Standard | 177 | 131.65 |
| Flex | 265 | 197.10 |
| Comfort | 313 | 232.80 |
Air Canada USD
When I searched on Air Canada USD website, these were the pricing options:
| Ticket Condition | Price (US$) | Price (C$ Converted) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 85 | 114.28 |
| Standard | 123 | 165.38 |
| Flex | 193 | 259.49 |
| Comfort | 230 | 309.24 |
You will notice, while Flex and Comfort were likely just currency exchange rate differences. The Basic fare was nearly 12% more expensive on Air Canada Canadian Dollar website. The Standard fare was 7% more expensive on the Air Canada CAD website.
Conclusion
Even if you pay the 2.5% foreign transaction fees charged by most credit cards in Canada, it can still make sense to purchase your flight tickets on Air Canada US Dollar website to save a bit more money.
