Aeroplan: Has anyone been able to book a flight out of Nanaimo using Air Miles?

[prairieboy]

Hi everyone,

I was trying to book a flight to the UK yesterday using Air Miles (I've been saving up for years and finally have enough for the trip). So having selected the flights I wanted, I tried to book the trip, only to discover that there were no seats available on one of the flights. I was a little surprised by this, as my trip is not until next Spring! I phoned Air Miles and a very helpful agent was able to tell me that the problem was with the Nanaimo/Vancouver flight. The airline hadn't released any seats to Air Miles. We tried every flight out of Nanaimo for the date in question and the result was the same. No seats available!

So this got me thinking ... could it be possible that Air Canada doesn't allow Air Miles travellers to travel on short haul flights such as Nanaimo/Vancouver? Of course, I could book the Vancouver/London flight using Air Miles and travel to Vancouver by ferry or seaplane, but I would really like to book the entire journey using Air Miles in order to save $$$'s.

Has anyone had any similar experiences?

Your comments, as always, are much appreciated.
Cheers,

[MarkP]

I have used both Airmiles and Aeroplan points to and from Nanaimo airport.

In April I used Airmiles to travel from Nanaimo to Miami and later in the month I came home using my Aeroplan points travelling from Toronto to Nanaimo. I booked both of them in March, just a month earlier.

The return from Toronto was a few days later than the dates I would have preferred but for less money than paying for a flight with cash I rented a car and stayed in a hotel for a couple nights. Actually the car was also on Aeroplan.

Come to think of it, the flight to Miami was the same thing. In order to get a seat with Airmiles I had to travel a day earlier than I actually needed to travel, but once again, a hotel room was cheaper than paying for a flight with cash.

Have you tried booking two separate tickets. One from Nanaimo to Vancouver and another booking from Vancouver to London?

[prairieboy]

Hi Mark,

Your comments are very encouraging. It may be that Air Canada haven't released any seats yet because the dates are so far ahead. I guess I'll have to be patient. I did consider booking 2 separate flights, but unfortunately I don't quite have enough air miles to do that. Good suggestion though.

Thanks.

[Ichy]

I used Aeroplan miles for a 3 segment flight, since it was under the 20,000 required. But the tax you will pay is high by going through the airports, especially YVR with their many extra fees. Avoid YVR if you can! Or just find a way Nanaimo to YVR then start your flight from there.

[nza]

I've flown from YCD to YVR to YYZ and back on aeroplan a few times. Usually booked within 6-4 months though. But they were separate segments. Although...most of the time, its seaplane or ferry out, I'd rather save my shorthaul points for places that are greater that 2 hrs travel time.

[prairieboy]

I was finally able to book my flights, in case anyone was wondering. It's worth noting that airlines designate a maximum no. of seats per flight, based on a percentage of the total seats on an aircraft, so obviously on a smaller plane, like the ones that fly out of Nanaimo, there are going to be fewer seats. Anyway, persistence paid off, and I can look forward to spending some time with my Dad on his birthday.
Thanks for all your comments.