On occasion, I make a decision to pay for a revenue fare rather than use my precious points. This is often because the revenue fares to the city I want to go to are so cheap that it doesn’t make sense to use my points.
On those occasions, I am still going to look for the best possible price for my flight and because Air Canada often provides coupons to redeem for flight discounts, I am always on the lookout for these codes.
Today, I will share with you the three primary resources I use so that you too can find a discount on your flight. While these resources are for Air Canada flights, you can put on your thinking cap to extrapolate these methods for your airline of choice.
RetailMeNot
My first stop I make before I click on the Pay button online is RetailMeNot. RetailMeNot is a site that compiles coupon codes for various retailers including airlines. While I haven’t had a bunch of luck with it, I always check in case there is a simple coupon code to take money off my ticket.
As an aside, I also use RetailMeNot for online purchases with vendors that don’t offer cash back on purchases.
FlyerTalk Forums
FlyerTalk is a forum for people that want to talk about miles and points and it can sometimes be an unfriendly place for newbies but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a tresure trove of information there.
Chief amongst the treasures is a thread dedicated to Air Canada Discount Codes. Please note that FlyerTalk’s rules forbid the solicitation of discount codes so it’s not okay to ask people for them. The thread I linked to is the Discount Code Thread for 2017 so anyone that is willing to share codes will do so on that thread. Within the wiki of that thread, there are links to past discounts.
Air Canada Altitude Student Program
Air Canada has a program called Altitude Student which allows for any “student” to sign up for an account in order to receive the following benefits:
- Code for a discount off the base fare (10% for domestic and 15% for international routes)
- Code for a discount off Air Canada Vacations (depends on the package chosen)
- Code for free food onboard
- Code for 1 hour of free wifi onboard
The best thing about this option is that you receive your discounts immediately upon sign up. There is a requirement for you to tell the program which school you go to and to upload a picture of your student ID but it’s not verified.
Conclusion
Of the three options, your easiest solution that is most likely to yield results is the Altitude Student program but you should keep all three options in mind the next time you have to pay for a revenue ticket.
H/T to Matt McLean of A Whistle and a Light for sharing the Altitude Student tip!
