Moving to the United States for college or medical school might not seem like a big deal. Canada and US share many characteristics: food, culture and language. Still, if you’re like most students there will be countless reasons to return home.
I’m a Canadian citizen, an MD student in the United States and self-proclaimed airline aficionado. During my first year living in the United States, I was able to visit home for weddings, events and more – thanks in part to Air Canada’s Student Flight Pass product.
Air Canada Student Flight Passes
One benefit of being a student is your eligibility for Air Canada’s Student Flight Pass product. A downside of being a student is that you have to work around your class schedule to travel – this often means having to buy more expensive weekend or holiday flights. With Air Canada’s flight pass product, you’re essentially pre-paying a set amount for each trip – regardless of the date.
While the flight passes aren’t always the cheapest way to fly, if you’ll be travelling between certain cities it can be an incredible deal – saving you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Example Trip: Raleigh to Regina
To explain, let’s walk through a fictitious student’s trip home for American Thanksgiving.
Let’s say you’re studying in Raleigh, North Carolina and want to travel home to Regina, Saskatchewan see your family over the American Thanksgiving weekend. Your weekend starts on Thursday, with class resuming on Monday the 28th – so you have to be sure you’ll be back in time.
You open your laptop and search Google Flights.
A quick search shows the cheapest flight without an overnight layover to be over $1,500 CAD – ouch!
Even after exploring other itineraries and airlines, it still seems like this flight is the best option. But is it?
Well it turns out for almost the same price, you can purchase a flight pass from Air Canada that would allow you to travel between North Carolina and Saskatchewan three times over. Because Saskatchewan is considered Eastern Canada, you’d be eligible for this $1,858 CAD, six flight (or three round trip) credit “Eastern USA Schools” option. That works out to just over $600 CAD per trip.
If you use Flight Pass credits to book this trip, you’d save just under $900 CAD!
There must be a catch, right?
Well, sort of.
For one, there’s always less availability with Flight Pass flights. This means that if you’re booking a flight at the last minute, your desired itinerary might be sold out and you’ll end up on a less-than-desirable flight with an overnight layover.
For instance in our current example, while the outbound flight is available to book with a flight pass, the return flight is not.
So what are our options?
Well you’re certainly not stranded. There are other options, but these include an overnight layover in Toronto – and might mean missing class on Monday. Still, you’d be getting a Thanksgiving trip home for $600 CAD total.
If your schedule requires, you could decide to use one flight pass credit for your outbound trip and purchase your return ticket with cash for an eye watering $919 CAD.
The neat thing is that even if you choose this option, you would still end up saving hundreds of dollars by using a Flight Pass credit on your outbound trip.
Instead of $1,519 CAD, you’d save almost $300 CAD and only spend $1,229 CAD – $309.67 CAD for one flight credit and $919 CAD for your return ticket.
However, in my experience there has always been availability on the best (and usually most expensive) flights if you book your ticket at least a few months in advance.
Other Benefits
Besides the obvious cost-savings, there are a few other perks that come with purchasing a flight pass.
For all students, you receive complimentary seat selection as soon as you book your ticket. This usually costs ~$30 per individual flight – so it’s a steal when you consider how much less you’re paying for your ticket.
If you fly frequently and have or are working towards Aeroplan Elite status, flights on a Student Flight Pass also count towards status (including SQS, SQM and SQD) and can be upgraded to business class with eUpgrades in the same way a Standard fare class can be.
When Air Canada’s Student Flight Pass Doesn’t Make Sense
While the Air Canada Student Flight Pass is a great deal for most Canadians studying in the United States, there are some situations where it makes more sense to purchase your flights with cash.
- If you live in Toronto, Vancouver or another large city where flights are less expensive, a Flight Pass probably isn’t for you – and might actually cost you more on a per-flight basis. Remember that a one-way trip costs exactly 1 credit, regardless of how many connecting flights that involves or how expensive the ticket would be to purchase with cash. For instance, if you’re from Toronto and go to school in Boston – you’d be losing money by using a flight pass, even during a holiday weekend like Thanksgiving.
- If your school is located in an area better served by WestJet or another airline, a Flight Pass might complicate your trips. Flight Pass can only be used on Air Canada, and WestJet unfortunately does not offer a similar product.
- If you don’t plan on travelling at least twice a year, Flight Pass isn’t for you. You have to use all credits from your pass within 12 months, so if you don’t end up flying enough to use them up the price benefit will be greatly diminished.
Holiday Travel
A final negative you should be aware of before choosing to go all-in on a Flight Pass: travel around Christmas (from December 15th to January 8th) is subject to a $100 to $200 surcharge per-flight. As flights are generally more expensive around this time anyways, it’s likely still a better deal to use a flight pass credit – but this is still something potential customers should be aware of.
Buy the Right Pass
If you choose to go ahead with purchasing a Flight Pass, be sure that it’s the correct pass for your city pair. Double check the eligible cities to ensure both your home and school cities are on the list. It’s also a good idea to preview flight availability before you make the purchase, too. Depending on the pass, some cities can be considered in either Eastern or Western Canada – so it’s a good idea to be sure it’s the right pass before you buy.
Check Google Flights
You’ve likely already heard of or even used Google Flights before, but I’d be remiss not to mention it here. Google Flights makes it easy to explore prices and itineraries from different airlines – or even trips that combine flights from multiple different airlines. While using a Flight Pass credit is often the best deal, if your goal is to visit home affordably, it’s always a good idea to check for cheap flights on all airlines – not just Air Canada.
While I’ll always advocate for booking your flights directly with the airline, Google Flights is an indispensable tool for ensuring you choose the right flight for the best price.
In Summary
The Air Canada Student Flight Pass can save you thousands of dollars on flights over the course of your degree, especially if you live outside of Canada’s biggest cities. As long as you plan ahead, you’ll be able to book expensive flights that fit your schedule for a fraction of the cost.
Note: This is not an ad or sponsored post, and I have no affiliation with Air Canada, Aeroplan or any related companies.