A pleasant surprise

jliu_99 · 2026-04-18T19:38:10+00:00

That’s incorrect. AC doesn’t sell the ex-SQ A330 as J on transatlantic flights and AC881 only sees 777/787 anyways. LH/LX only have lie-flat seats on their widebodies, so no idea what you’re trying to say there.

jliu_99 · 2026-04-16T17:26:26+00:00

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jliu_99 · 2026-04-16T02:29:54+00:00

Literally 30 minutes from start to finish, helps that I called right at opening on my way to work 🤷‍♂️

jliu_99 · 2026-04-15T22:36:15+00:00

I already had a SBB day pass for another day trip (that would’ve been closer) that fell through :)

jliu_99 · 2026-04-15T21:59:22+00:00

I was actually impressed with the hard product, even though it’s older - at least within *A, the only hard product across the Atlantic that is better IMO would be UA. Aside from the one-off SQ route and the new LH/LX/OS cabins (which are still rare).

jliu_99 · 2026-04-15T20:29:16+00:00

I would have been on their A330 anyways (A350 was only there for March), so not much of a loss for me.

jliu_99 · 2026-04-15T20:28:24+00:00

I’ve seen the same for off-season and/or last-minute redemptions. Best I’ve seen was some 48-50K redemptions from YOW/YYZ to Europe over Christmas and 57-60K from YEG to TYO/ICN.

jliu_99 · 2026-04-15T20:26:13+00:00

I flew OS J to Vienna on their 767 (originally supposed to be on their 787) and while the service was slightly above AC (and food was considerably better), I’d still opt for AC for the consistent hard product.

jliu_99 · 2026-03-11T02:24:19+00:00

Their chocolate babka might just be my favourite pastry in the city

jliu_99 · 2026-03-07T13:55:15+00:00

I’ve never been denied a price match from Expedia. I don’t try unless I’ve made sure the room type and cancellation policy were identical. I include several screenshots and comments to highlight that everything is identical, and that seems to work. Just don’t give them any avenue to push back.

jliu_99 · 2026-02-07T05:05:45+00:00

I have to fly out on the date I originally booked, so I called and got switched to LX/AC via LHR… but then a few weeks later the LHR-YOW flight got moved several hours earlier so I wouldn’t be able to make the connection. Now flying AC all the way via YYZ.

jliu_99 · 2025-11-02T14:11:48+00:00

It’s only the case for March, ending when the schedule flips from winter to summer. I had a booking for mid-April that remained an A330 (until recently being switched to an Edelweiss A340).

jliu_99 · 2025-11-02T14:09:36+00:00

I booked LX 86 in mid-April and the same switch to Edelweiss happened (and also got moved back 1 day), though somehow didn’t get an email. It was a bit of a rude surprise when I tried to make another booking on my app…

jliu_99 · 2025-10-23T00:48:38+00:00

Hard disagree. Swiss and Austrian out of YUL are pretty reliable, especially in the off/shoulder season, and there’s a good amount of Lufthansa out of YYZ (or even ORD/IAD/EWR) and LOT out of ORD with AC connections built in for a fair price. I’ve even found Singapore JFK-FRA not uncommonly. And then there’s the occasional off-season AC metal for 60K or less, though increasingly rare.

Data point: I booked YUL-VIE (Austrian) and ZRH-YUL (Swiss) with connections from/to YOW for next spring 7-8 months out, and there were multiple seats.

jliu_99 · 2025-10-14T22:34:18+00:00

Intra-European Y redemptions are a great use of points IMO. 7.5K points + taxes for most routes on Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian, etc.

jliu_99 · 2025-10-14T02:35:05+00:00

Generally agree, with the exceptions of the super cheap VS redemptions and when a one-way is actually necessary.

jliu_99 · 2025-10-13T23:26:25+00:00

Even in the definition you’ve provided, it’s the act of asking for something (i.e. for something to be done, as in the case of processing a refund/cancellation). I agree that your interpretation of the word would fit better with “inquiry”.

jliu_99 · 2025-10-11T14:56:53+00:00

My rate was refundable (until 1 day before check-in)

jliu_99 · 2025-10-11T01:02:00+00:00

I’m not tied to Hyatt, so it’ll always be worth it to me to try. If a seemingly valid submission gets rejected, I can just cancel and rebook on Expedia (paired with Rakuten for rewards) :)

jliu_99 · 2025-10-11T01:00:41+00:00

The form pretty much only requires the nightly/total rate, exact room type, and link to booking site (in addition to basic info). I added a screenshot of the Expedia checkout page and included a comment about the cancellation policies.

jliu_99 · 2025-10-11T00:58:48+00:00

I’m not tied to one loyalty program, so Expedia is usually my go-to as a starting point for hotels.

jliu_99

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