Every once in a while, the universe tips in your favour.
Let’s be honest. Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, “I really love the airlines.” Between ancillary fees, shrinking seats, questionable food, and on-time percentages that seem more aspirational than actual, the airlines have earned a special place in our collective frustration. And yet, here we are. We keep flying. Because travel enriches us, opens our eyes, and occasionally โ just occasionally โ gives us a story worth telling.
The Setup
In early 2026, Meg and I booked our main flights for an 85-day trip through Europe. Flying from Victoria to Porto, Portugal was straightforward enough. But the return trip was a different beast entirely. We needed to get from Copenhagen, Denmark to Moncton, New Brunswick โ not exactly a major hub-to-hub route.
Air Canada offers what’s called a multi-city fare, which lets you fly into one city and out of another without paying the punishing rates of two one-way tickets. WestJet and most U.S. carriers are generally more reasonable on one-way pricing. Air Canada? Not so much. But a multi-city booking was the workaround, and we took it.
The Routing… Oh, the Routing
The only way Air Canada could get us from Copenhagen to Moncton involved three flights: Copenhagen to Toronto, Toronto to Montreal, Montreal to Moncton. Layovers at each stop, up to three hours each. A very long day by any measure. But there was no better option in sight, so we held our noses and booked it.
We paid a little extra โ about $100 Canadian โ to arrive at 9 PM instead of 11 PM. For the sake of our health and general will to live, it was worth it. The total for that return leg came to $850 CAD.
Getting “Rouged”
About a week later, Air Canada sent us a cheerful email. Our Montreal-to-Moncton flight had been transferred to Air Canada Rouge โ their discount carrier. This phenomenon is so common among Canadian travellers that it has its own verb: getting rouged. And to add a little extra sting, the flight would now arrive an hour later than originally scheduled.
Since the change fell within Air Canada’s three-hour window of allowable schedule adjustments, there was nothing we could do. Had we waited another week to book, we might have made a different choice. We did not wait. We noted this information and carried on.
It Gets Worse (Temporarily)
Fast forward to mid-April. Another chipper email from Air Canada. The flight had been pushed back another hour and a half, now arriving at 11:30 PM. Arriving in Moncton at nearly midnight after a transatlantic travel day stretching back more than 24 hours is not what anyone would call a good time.
Interestingly โ and this is where things got curious โ Air Canada noted that this time the flight was eligible for a full refund.
The Search Begins
Armed with that information, we started looking for alternatives. Direct flights between Copenhagen and Moncton are, shall we say, not a crowded market. We explored flying Copenhagen to London, spending a night there, then continuing to Halifax. The math worked out to roughly the same price as the Air Canada flight, even with the extra hotel. But the logistics โ fly, check in, check out, security again, fly โ felt brutal.
Then Meg had an idea. What about Copenhagen directly to Halifax?
I hadn’t even thought to check. I assumed the flight options would be the same thin pickings as Copenhagen to Moncton. I was wrong.
Enter WestJet
It turns out WestJet launched a brand-new route for summer 2026: Halifax to Copenhagen, four times a week. Direct. We’d have to spend one extra night in Copenhagen โ not a terrible hardship, though hotels there are eye-wateringly expensive โ but the flight itself was something else entirely.
Premium economy, Copenhagen to Halifax direct: $150 Canadian less than coach on Air Canada’s routing. Flying coach with WestJet would be half the price of Air Canada. And the timing? We’d leave Copenhagen an hour earlier and arrive in Halifax at 2 PM local time โ a full ten hours earlier than the Air Canada itinerary.
Let that sink in. A better seat. A direct flight. Ten hours earlier. For less money.
Where do we sign up?
The Art of the Transaction
I confirmed with Air Canada that the refund was indeed available and, the moment I had that confirmation, I went to book both WestJet seats. This is where things got even more interesting.
One premium economy seat: $750 CAD. Two premium economy seats: $4,500 CAD. That is not a typo.
Now, some people might have paused here to question the logic of airline pricing. I simply adapted to it. Chivalry, as I explained to Meg, is not dead. I encouraged her to book the one seat at $750 for herself and I would fly in the back of the plane with the other peasants. She protested. I pointed out that we could get her into premium economy for less than our original coach tickets cost. The second seat at $2,200 versus $400 for coach was not a real decision. Reluctantly โ and with some justified scepticism about the wisdom of travelling on separate booking numbers โ she agreed.
With Meg’s seat secured, I went back to book mine. I carefully confirmed the same flight number, same date, and sure enough: one seat in premium economy was still available for $750. I backed out. Tried to buy two seats. Back to $4,500. Backed out again. Bought one seat at $750.
So there we were. Two premium economy seats on a direct flight to Halifax, both purchased individually at $750 each, for a grand total still less than what we had originally paid for coach on a three-stop itinerary arriving at midnight.
We chose our seats. We’re sitting together.
The Scorecard
Air Canada: Lost our business. Issued a refund. Will, I imagine, survive.
WestJet: Sold two premium economy tickets โ via two separate transactions โ for less than the price of one coach seat on their competitor’s routing. Whether their pricing logic made sense to anyone is a separate question. It made sense to us.
Cam and Meg: Flying direct. Arriving in the afternoon. In premium economy. Ten hours early.
And airlines wonder why people are sceptical of them.
Quote ” It only takes two things to fly: airspeed and money.”
Thanks for reading! Do you have a story where the airlines did something that made you go grrrrrrrr? Or maybe you managed to pull one over on them? We’d love to hear it โ drop a comment below or reach out to us via the link above.
โ Cam and Meg
