Does Air Canada not support free seat selection at check-in, even for standard economy?
Note that this is NOT regarding basic economy fares.
Booking flights within Canada and noticed a wording discrepancy. Waiting on AC support, but looking for real-world data points in the meantime.
WestJet Econo says "advance seat selection for a fee" — implying check-in selection is free. AC Economy Standard just says "seat selection for a fee" — identical to their Basic fare, with no distinction on timing. In my past experience, basic economy doesn't offer free seat selection even upon check-in.
So either AC charges for seat selection even at check-in on Standard (making it genuinely worse than WestJet Econo at a similar price), or the wording is just sloppy and free check-in assignment applies anyway.
Has anyone flown AC Economy Standard recently? Did you get a seat free at check-in, or were you charged even then? It's weird I can't find much discussion about this online.
https://www.reddit.com/r/aircanada/comments/1sjrg0f/state_of_seat_selection_at_check_in/ seems to align with my hypothesis, but there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. If true, the restriction makes Air Canada economy standard fares less competitive IMO.
