Ac Guarantees Lowest Fares Or............

[Kip Powick]

Air Canada is promising customers who book tickets on its website that they’ll get the lowest possible fare — guaranteed.

If a passenger finds a better rate at any other Canadian travel website — with the conditions that the flight be at least $5 cheaper, the same flight and same fare class and within 24 hours of making a booking — Air Canada promises a $50 credit toward future travel, plus the difference in price.

Ben Smith, Air Canada’s chief commercial officer, said in a news release that the lowest price guarantee, previously available for flights in North America, now extends to all its flights originating in Canada. That includes Air Canada Express operated by Jazz Aviation and Sky Regional as well as Air Canada Rouge, the discount carrier that launches in July.

“With the proliferation of travel websites the market can be confusing, so to make it easy for customers and give them confidence they are getting the lowest price available online we are expanding our existing North American fare guarantee to cover our entire global network,” Smith said, noting the website must be an accredited Air Canada vendor.

The move is a way to draw customers to Air Canada’s own website, so the company doesn’t need to pay any commissions to other online retailers, said Seth Kaplan of Airline Weekly, a U.S. based industry magazine.

“Airlines love it when people come straight to their site, first,” Kaplan said in an interview, noting that companies can also sell additional services on its website that may not be available on other travel sites.

“It’s a low-risk way to provide some additional assurance to customers that there’s no point in spending time to look for a better deal.”

http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/02/12/air_canada_guarantees_its_website_has_lowest_airfares.html