Air Canada: Codeshare Flights

Whenever they want to travel by plane, the most common tickets passengers usually buy
are issued by only one airline. But, there might be some cases in which customers
buy their tickets and these correspond to flights that were issued by one
airline and that were, at the same time, advertised as a flight by another
airline. This is what is known as Code sharing. The name comes from the fact
that Air Canada, through its partnerships, puts a designator number (code) on
the flights that are operated by its associates and they keep that code as a
reference. This system creates a network of flightconnections, which is very
useful to customers because it prevents them from making multiple reservations.
Instead, they have to book only once and they are able reach the destination in
which they are going to stay at. This can be done thanks to the agreement among
several airlines from different countries worldwide.

It is very easy to identify a codeshare flight when trying to book online. There is a
number that goes right below the flight, and there is a note at the bottom of
the page stating which one is the airline that operated the flight. The same
reference applies to interline flights. At the web page of the airline there
are some examples for customers to have a more clear idea of what the code
looks like.

As regards how many codeshare partners Air Canada has, there is a wide list of more than
25 partners around the globe, including Air India, China Airlines, and SAS
Scandinavian Airlines. The list is available at the Air Canada web page, so
passengers can learn who the partners are and also get some information about
their own policies so as not to have future inconveniences.



As stated before, passengers could experience inconveniences because there are different
airlines involved in this system, so they could have differences as regards
each company’s terms and conditions.
Some examples are those related to travelling with pets, or check-in times.
Some other areas in which the airlines differ are baggage policy, and optional
products and services. It is adviced checking the partners’ web pages. It is
pretty easy: customers just click on the links, they will be directed to each
partner airline and there they will get all the information they need to know
beforehand right away.

The code sharing system has brought many advantages for both the airline and, of course,
passengers. Because of the code sharing system, there are many new routes
offered worldwide by Air Canada. This airline is always striving to provide new
and better services to its customers and now there are more flight options for
them . One of the most popular new routes recently is a daily service between
Montreal and Toronto, with 15 flights a day. Among other benefits, Code sharing
provides better flight connection services among lots of international cities,
giving customer more freedom when planning their trips, and other perks like
Air miles given to them.
Image: Wikimedia