Air Canada Same Day Change (SDC) policy is incredibly generous, and I often use it to save money on revenue tickets and elevate my travel experience.
For more of my experiences, tips and tricks about using Air Canada Same Day Change, check out the following posts:
- Everything you need to know about Air Canada Same Day Change
- Save Money with Air Canada Same Day Change
This article is based on my experience and my client experiences as I help them navigate the Air Canada Same Day Change policy to their advantage.
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
What is a Same Day Change?
I encourage you to read this article to know everything about Air Canada Same Day Changes.
Walk-Through of How to Save Money with an Air Canada Same Day Change
In the picture below, I can purchase a Business Class ticket for $757 to $2,485. The price variation is a reflection of the product offering and available seat options.
If I had flexibility on day of travel, I would purchase the cheapest Business Class ticket for $757 departing at 1.10pm. That would be just a $226 premium over Premium Economy. Assuming there are open seats available at time of check-in, I can always SDC to the 9.05am flight. The morning departure flight would have costed me $2,485. By leveraging the SDC, I saved $1,727 for my customer.
In general, you will find, that the Business Class fare on Air Canada is dependent if your flight has lie-flat seats. Air Canada charges a significant premium for Business Class that have lie-flat seats. Alternatively, if your aircraft has domestic Business Class, it is not significantly more expensive than the Premium Economy option. In those situations, it makes sense to book the cheapest Business Class option and then do a SDC to a cabin with lie-flat seats.
Conclusion
As part of my travel agent work, I have leveraged SDC all the time to help my customers save money and allow them to maintain dynamic day of departure plans.
All savvy travelers should be aware of this trick, that will often allow them to save hundreds of dollars if they were buying Premium Economy regardless.
For some of my customers, I do not think of this as a way to save money. Rather, I consider using Air Canada SDC to get a complimentary upgrade from premium economy to international Signature Class instead.
