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Return Flights to Vancouver Mar-Apr 2025: SYD $1348, BNE $1375, MEL $1287 + More Canadian Cities & Dates @ Air Canada

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First post, hopefully format is OK!

Been looking at flights to Vancouver and this bargain has just landed. Looks like there are a variety of destinations, but IMO the bargains are to Vancouver (YVR), Calgary (YCC) and Edmonton (YEG). Certainly not ATL compared to last year, but I've been watching for a few months and the lowest direct flight from BNE I've seen for my dates was $2090 (now $1509).

Scroll down in the link for the lowest fares with the departure range or select "My dates are flexible" when entering dates to get a nice grid view with pricing.

StudentUniverse appear to be offering the same flights for slightly cheaper (~3-4%), but I preferred booking direct with the airline.

NB: Checked luggage is not included with "Basic" fare. It will be an additional +$60 each way for 1 checked bag and free seat selection.

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Comments

  • +4

    Yeah but didn't Air Canada change their fares to not include checked baggage?

    How much do you need to add on to the price above to have a fare with checked bags?

    • +3

      Good callout. I'll add this to the description.

      I travel light so didn't need it, but it is +$60 each way.

  • +2

    Not 100% on sale fares, but if you want to fly onward to a smaller destination like Kelowna or Kamloops from Van, the extra flight at the end is usually free.

    • Oh really? This sounds great, I'll have to look into it. Thanks.

      • Just had a quick look at some random sale dates, and looks like that extra flight is still a freebie.

  • +5

    An opportunity for the OzBargain HSBC cardholders to fully use their Air Canada upgrade certificates.

    • Can you explain a bit more?

      • +5

        Most of us who took up HSBC Star Aliance chose Air Canada status (because of a generous points bonus), which gives a bunch of Air Canada specific benefits in addition to Star Alliance Gold, one of which is cerficates for upgrade, or even status that can be gifted for individual journeys.

    • +2

      Also 3x32kg bags for Aeroplan 50K members.

  • +1

    Prices seem upside down considering BNE is closer than SYD and MEL?

    • +2

      more demand

    • A one way is $1800 from MEL-YVR but return $1300. They do what they want.

    • +7

      The routes are all priced according to competition, not cost of operations - like most things in life. They also know that enough people will pay a premium to fly direct (e.g. QF has said that SYD-JFK or SYD-LHR as part of Project Sunrise will cost more than the existing QF1-4 via AKL or SIN respectively because they know people will pay a premium), so it's all priced accordingly.

      BNE-YVR is a monopoly route - only AC run it.
      SYD-YVR has only some competition - QF also runs it, but only 3 or 4 days a week
      MEL-xx-YVR has a lot of competitors on it (there isn't a direct flight, so they compete with a lot of carriers on it - the most direct are either QF via SYD or LAX with a AS or AA connection, NZ via AKL, UA via SFO or LAX, FJ via NAN, and to a lesser extent CX via HKG, JL via NRT, PR via Manila)

      • It's not just competition. Longer flight → more fuel in the aircraft → more weight → more lift needed from the wings → more drag → higher throttle position for the engines to cruise → higher fuel consumption → less economical. At some point the fuel saved by not taking off and landing an extra time is overtaken by the extra fuel needed to avoid refueling.

        • +1

          It's not just competition

          It's almost always competition. It's the same reason a flight from Sydney to Bali cost less than a flight to Darwin.
          A dollar in your pocket is always worth more than a dollar in your competitor's pocket, even if sometimes you have to pay $1.50 for it.

        • -1

          That's only fuel costs.
          You also haven't considered that a MEL-SYD/BNE-YVR will have a VA/QF operated MEL-SYD/BNE leg as well, which, whilst they would pay a discounted price to VA/QF for, would still include a margin for VA/QF. i.e. QF/VA would be charging AC more than it would cost AC to operate a YVR-YYC flight (which is only 9mi shorter than MEL-SYD).

  • +6

    If you fly to USA from Canada will you get 25% more?

    • You need to pay a 25% tariff, so if you have a family of four maybe take along an elderly family member you don't need any more to use as the tariff. If you're travelling alone, consider which limbs and organs you don't use very much.

      • going anywhere with our australia dollar is going to be shit unfortunately. not that it won't stop you, just factor your initial budget and times that by 2

        • +1

          The Canadian dollar has been sinking alongside the Australian one, it's actually higher than it was a year ago (I used to live there, still have funds there that I figured I'd bring back while the aussie dollar was low. Hasn't really moved much).

          Granted, to pay for accommodation in Vancouver you need to take a budget and times that by two. They make Australian housing prices look downright reasonable.

        • +1

          Not entirely. It's only the USD and pegged or closely linked currencies that have strengthened so much. We haven't lost a lot of ground to the CAD, as their fundamentals are as close to ours as exist, nor habe we lost much ground in other popular tourism spots like Japan or Indonesia.

    • Went there a few months ago. They don't list tax so between 5-15% extra plus tipping at sit down restaurants and another 10% for currency conversion.

  • +2

    How comfortable is this flight? I've been flying to HNL with Jetstar (horrible) and onward to NA with Hawaiian (lovely). I've been thinking of breaking up SYD to HNL with a stop in NAN. A direct flight would certainly be convenient, but not comfortable for me.

    • I've only looked into the BNE-YVR, but is flying a Boeing 787 Dreamliner which I've flown before and is quite nice :)

    • +4

      I've flown basically every option to the US from Sydney. I would say Air Canada is on par with American or United for economy. Not great but tolerable for the right price.

    • +3

      It's pretty basic compared to Middle Eastern airlines, but even compared to Fiji Airways or Hawaiian as well. It's probably on par with United and slightly worse than American or Delta. Their hard product is good, they operate new 787s, but service is pretty basic, I got 1 hot meal, a sandwich and some breakfast on a 14 hours flight. Also, I am not a tall or a fat person, but the space just felt a bit too cramped. Overall, it's bearable for a decent price, but I was pretty hungry once I reached Vancouver, so I would pick a different airline next time if I have the choice.

      • I got 1 hot meal, a sandwich and some breakfast on a 14 hours flight.

        Really? I did 2 long haul (10h, 6h transit in Toronto, then 14h flight) with AC around 3 weeks ago, and got 2 hot meals on each flight

    • +1

      I’ve decided anything over 10 hours in economy needs to be broken up.

    • +1

      Air Canada is a bit like Qantas.
      There overall service is average at best
      Most of the staff are entitled.
      I did recently Syd-Haneda-Vancouver-calgary
      Did all legs on ANA and air Canada
      For me it worked out better for this route
      The ANA had a much better 787-9

    • +1

      AC is better than Jetstar for the international leg BNE - YVR but do be careful with some of their domestic routes… some aircraft are super crammed like Jetstar (YVR - YUL). Smaller aircraft tend to be okay.
      If you can find extra leg room on the long haul flights I definitely recommend paying extra… heaps more tolerable without paying for premium economy or business prices. I couldn’t find any cheap long haul flights with VFF or AC points.
      Some of AC’s domestic lounges are pretty ordinary (YVR and YUL). Calgary’s was nice and the international YVR lounge was nice. Couldn’t get into YQB third party lounge with AC 50K membership.

    • +1

      Like most 777s with 10 seats abreast, the seats won't be very comfortable, but the planes on this route (777-200LR) are not Air Canada's worst. Some of their 777-300ERs have a small business section and pack almost 400 economy seats in. Your Hawaiian flights on the A330 (8 seats abreast) would likely be better than these.

  • See the 51st state

  • i wanna go at Christmas I doubt I will get those prices lol. but at least I have my 160,000 velocity points to help me this year thanks to the point hacks website :D

    • +1

      We went for Christmas last year. $1380 return with Fiji airways via Nadi (3 hr stopover) from Brisbane.

      Dates were Nov 30 to Dec 23.

  • plus 25% tariff.

  • +2

    Couple of months ago I booked a return flight BNE to SEA on AC (via VC) for $1,040 return

    • That's a bargain. What were your dates?

  • There should be a better sale. We flew Air Canada to NYC with a Vancouver stopover for $1200

    • I noticed the same thing in my research, but going to LAX. Didn't make sense to me that an extra flight worked out being cheaper.

      The problem is if you just want to go to Vancouver, you'd need to find your way to LAX/NYC for the return flight (can't board from YVR) which worked out being more expensive and a pain.

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