I first discovered the hack with Air Canada. I was a bit disturbed, but I did not think I would be able to re-create this hack with WestJet, under very similar circumstances. That’s right, for the exact same WetJet flight and ticket condition, there was a price difference, depending if you purchased your ticket on WestJet US Dollar or WestJet 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, WestJet might still change the price of the ticket depending on which country you purchase your flight ticket.
Saving Money on Travel
I am one of the few full service travel agents who helps people with their end-to-end itinerary planning. As part of my work, I often come across different opportunities to help customers save money. I hope to share some of my findings with the wider public. As usual, in the world of travel hacking, not everything will be shared publicly. Too much public exposure can often undermine the deal we work to get for our customers.
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 Las Vegas to Toronto ticket
I searched on December 30, 2023 for a flight from Las Vegas to Toronto on January 16, 2024.
I used the currency converter at Exchange-Rates.org.
WestJet CAD
When I searched on WestJet CAD website, these were the pricing options. C$114.19 for Basic, C$206.19 for Econo and C$305.19 for EconoFlex.
| Ticket Condition | Price (C$) | Price (US$ Converted) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 114.19 | 86.09 |
| Econo | 206.19 | 155.46 |
| EconoFlex | 305.19 | 230.10 |
WestJet USD
When I searched on WestJet USD website, these were the pricing options:
| Ticket Condition | Price (US$) | Price (C$ Converted) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 74.03 | 98.19 |
| Econo | 149.28 | 198 |
| EconoFlex | 229.90 | 304.93 |
You will notice, EconoFlex was likely just currency exchange rate differences. The Basic fare was nearly 16% more expensive on WestJet Canadian Dollar website. The Standard fare was 4% more expensive on the WestJet 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 WestJet US Dollar website to save a bit more money.
In January, Air Canada had a one day discount code but the code was different on the US versus Canadian website. One code was for 25% off, the other was for 10% off.
Canadian companies like to rip us off. That is why cross border shopping exists. Gas cost $1.919/litre, which is about US$5.75/gallon, way more than in the US where it is at least US$2.50/gallon cheaper.
Wow, I totally missed the different coupon codes for different sites. Ultimately, Air Canada and WestJet both know, there are very few people optimizing at that level of granularity.