DFW to Athens Flying Air Canada questions

How I wish there was any rhyme or reason to pricing. You can, however, compare directly what premium means on different airlines with a chart like this one: https://www.seatguru.com/charts/premium_economy.php
I did see one article that said Air Canada's premium was worth the expense--all aren't!
With ten months, I'd hold off a bit longer--good luck!
I go by schedule as well as price, not usually by airline or location (except I try to avoid London layovers--never heard anything bad about those Canadian airports).

I fly Air Canada regularly. Those flights are on 777’s, so premium economy will get you a little mini cabin and a bigger seat, more luggage, a better meal, an anmenity kit and some priority services. From their website:

Features
Greater recline (17.8 cm/7 in) and a larger seat compared to Economy Class
50.8 cm/20 in (between armrests) on Boeing 777-300
49.53 cm/19.5 in (between armrests) on Boeing 787-8
45.7 cm/18 in (between armrests) on Airbus A330-300
A comfortable 96.5 cm (38 in) seat pitch with ample room to stretch out
A next generation entertainment system* featuring your own personal touch-screen TV
28 cm (11 in) screen on the Boeing 787-8
26.4 cm (10.4 in) on the Boeing 777-300
Hundreds of hours of top-rated on-demand entertainment
A single-pin audio jack for your own headset or complimentary earbud headset, yours to keep after the flight
A USB port for charging
In-seat power at every seat
An adjustable headrest, a comfortable pillow and blanket, as well as a CleanCare+ kit, containing a mask, hand sanitizer, and antiseptic wipes, in addition to an amenity kit when flying internationally.
Ambient mood lighting and an individual reading light
Two free checked bags
The following priority services: Priority boarding, check-in and baggage handling

Also good exchange rate for US citizens which is a reason to fly Air Canada.

Air Canada's international flights (excluding U.S.) are usually quite good. The last time I flew internationally with Air Canada was in 2019 on my Australia & New Zealand trip. There was lots of free food on both flights (two meals plus snacks). I also flew Air Canada on my 2011 Europe trip and both flights were good.

If you decide to do this, make sure to allow lots of time for connecting and check the airport websites for recommended connection times. When flying from the U.S. to Europe via Canada you'll have to go through passport control/customs on arriving in Canada and I think as part of that you'll have to collect your luggage, possibly check in again, and go through security again. When flying from Europe to the U.S. via Canada you'll have to also go through U.S. customs/passport control in Canada.

On my 2011 trip to Europe my return flight was Munich to Vancouver via Toronto (my flight over was nonstop to London). In Toronto I had to go through customs/passport control which included collecting my luggage, dropping off my luggage after clearing customs/passport control (I didn't have to check in again), and going through security again.

I would definitely wait. They could even go down depending on the day of the week that you look. Just keep checking every day.

About two weeks ago, we booked business class from LAX to Amsterdam for under $2000 each RT, for next April, 2024.
I had set up Google Flights price alerts for several dates. An additional feature is being able to see the monthly daily prices, for every month thru about June now. Sometimes just changing the dates slightly reduces the price greatly. The Searches are across most airlines, and in all price classes.
Since we booked our fare, I have watched the price double, then trickle back down, and up.
We took advantage of the AARP discount, going into the AARP site, then it allows you to book directly with the airline. Any age can join AARP, for about $15 a year.
We also had a discount for charging the flights on our British Airways visa. We didn't use any airline rewards points.
iMHO, fares will be jumping around a lot still, so don't despair.
Do conduct some research and play around with Google Flights. It's a great tool.
Good luck!

I just did a quick Google Flights search and found $2690 on United for your dates in Premium Economy. Not as good as Air Canada, but better than your AA flights. Also, there was a $2184 on Alaska, but it had a long layover.
Keep the faith, hopefully you'll find some good prices. Good luck!

Air Canada does a very good job on flying internationally. We used them twice from IAH to Dubai and from IAH to Beijing. We would fly them again if the opportunity arises.

I flew Pr. Econ. YVR to Montreal, then same on to Rome this past April.
It was great.
Very comfy, pretty good food, and lovely service.
Coming home was Lufthansa P. Econ., not nearly as good.
Both airports are good and easy to navigate, though I do believe that someone else was correct in saying you must claim your bags and recheck them in either one.
You’ll need enough time to do that between flights.
You will still be in the secure areas, you’ll just have to walk to a different area.

If you know whether airfares for next May will go up or down, please tell the rest of us....

Having said that, $1480 for RT premium economy seems pretty decent to me. If that
fare offers some level of cancellation option, I'd consider it. As for Montreal vs Toronto,
I'd consider connection time as the major concern. Toronto is a pretty large airport.
Perhaps English being more likely in Toronto vs French in Montreal.

If that fare is gone by the time you get around to it, then I agree with everyone else, AA will
prob come down from $3900 at some point.

The fact that you wouldn't have to connect in a major European airport such as Heathrow
or CDG can be considered addition by subtraction.

At Black Friday last November, SAS offered a more or less 1/2 price premium economy
sale that was good through April, so anything is possible. However, PE is much less likely
to go on sale USA-Europe than economy fares.

The AC fare seems pretty darn good for an international flight in PE. Their PE sections are generally very comfortable, in my experience. When choosing between Toronto or Montreal, I agree that your connection time is important. I wouldn't want one under 2 hours. Between the 2, I'd opt for Montral. It's a bit smaller, with less traffic. Language is definitely not an issue there.

But it's still early days. You might want to just monitor the flights for a while

Just for fun I popped your dates into Air Canada's Canadian website, return from Toronto. $3600 CAD for the lowest premium economy fare.

Your fare sounds great to me.

We flew Air. Canada from Marseilles to Montreal to San Francisco pre Covid. We were very late leaving Marseilles which caused us to miss our connecting flight to SFO which caused us to miss our connecting flight to Redmond. Everything that had to be dealt with after an 8 hour flight did not leave me with warm feelings about ever flying AC again. Sometimes you get what you pay for or if you’re looking for cheap you may have to deal with the consequences that come with cheap.

Margie, what was the reason for your late departure?

Well, first off, thanks for all the advice coming in. Air Canada still might be the choice but, I really screwed up. In looking at fares on AA, Delta and United they list round trip fares but AC listed it by leg of your trip so when I was seeing $1480 it was for one way to Athens only. I kept thinking that was crazy cheap and indeed this morning it all became clear. Sigh. So round trip is $2987, not 1480.

AA has been $3981 for a week now checking twice a day. I can do much better with Delta $2416 or $2701 depending on how much layover I get and JFK vs ATL. I feel like I shouldn’t wait too much longer in case seats in PE start getting sold. Right now there’s only 2 or 3 gone. I’m still in sticker shock mode but I’ve got to swallow hard and make a decision.

PS, Dang, that price clearly wasn't real...it's jumped back to $3800, dang! so sorry. This is what I saw first before refreshing the page - 'I just plugged your dates May 9 - 24 in on Kayak, it's showing AA via LHR (UGH) for $1879, 'Premier Economy" 3:15 PM departure, return via ORD on May 24th. I didn't go to AA, their website looks like it's having problems so maybe double check this price.' Good luck!

As Pat said, plug your dates into Google Flights and see what comes up.

For May 9-24 DFW-ATH I see just under $2600 RT using either BA or Iberia in PE.
Even ~$2400 or so if you are willing to go a day or two earlier, BA/AA or LH.

Make sure you check the refundability options for the fare if you decide to pull the
trigger. This far out, there are lots of things that can change, although I understand
the desire to have something in hand.

Ah shoeflyer, the catch is a 36 hr return flight for both of those $2400 flights. 17 1/2 hr layover in Madrid. Why do they do that?! Yeah I keep checking googleflights.

Lyndash,
Make sure you check business class fares also, and set up those alerts. When we found our great business class fare, Premium Economy was actually more than business class, and Economy was the same price as Business Class. Crazy and illogical, I know. Good luck!