Silvercity

+1^ Concierge is the #1 SE Benifit.

FlyerGoldII

What tasks or benefits can the concierge not be able to provide these days, compared to 5 or 10 years ago?

ylwae

I rarely ask the concierges for anything, but until recently, my experience was that they were helpful and unhelpful/non-existent in equal measure when I have run into a problem. But a couple of weeks ago, for the first time ever, I had a concierge assist me with a close connection--there were a couple of them waiting with carts and signs at the arrival gate to take SEs to the connecting flight. Granted, I could have walked and the plane was being held for a number of other passengers anyway, but I appreciated the gesture.

It's nice knowing that there are concierges and that they might help, but I can't offer the glowing praise that everyone else has offered.

NAJetSet

how long is a piece of string...

i don't think there is a enough space on whatever server FT is hosted on to store that kind of data

hjohnson

Well, one more thing the Concierges will do... After > 48 hours of travel to get home, I managed to forget my passport on the aircraft on my flight home. I hadn't even noticed, when about an hour ago, the concierge office at YVR called me up and told me they had it in their hands. The bonus here is that I stupidly hadn't filled out the contact details in the passport, so they must have looked up my status.

ac777

If you haven't used the concierge service it was:
a. Your loss
b. You really did not need them
If you needed them--consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously, they'd have been there helping out--you wouldn't have to go looking for them--yes even the ones in yyz. It is still the best service AC offers the SE's and J's. They tried to cancel this and I remember the letters I wrote. If they try it again I'll write again as will a lot of others.

jdebeer

So in the last few weeks since posting this question, I'm happy to say I know the answer: Anything. The concierges I've encountered (at YYZ, YOW, and YVR so far) are among the most wonderful people AC employs. Cases in point:

- I was arriving last minute for a 6am departure from YOW. For some reason I forgot to check in online the night before. The concierge called me at 5:30 just to make sure things were ok. Yah, she called me! I was in the cab, just outside the airport, when I got the call. She had my boarding passes printed and waiting in hand while I breezed by on my way to the Nexus security line.

- My sister was flying, on my points, through YYZ on the way to MCO to meet me. She never flies anywhere, so I was a bit worried when I saw her flight was delayed and she'd miss her connection for sure. I called the concierge who then made sure she was identified coming off the delayed flight, and re-routed with an even better connection to MCO (no stop at EWR, as originally scheduled). Amazing. My sister thought I was a king. I told her it was the concierge, who we can't forget next Christmas.

- I was arriving last-minute (yes, a pattern of behaviour) for the red-eye from YVR, and because of some upgrade glitch, couldn't check in online. I had a similar issue on the outbound, and it took them about 10 minutes to figure out the coding error at the counter. I wanted to avoid that happening again. This would have taken me 20 minutes calling in, even the SE line, and probably still wouldn't have resolved the issue. Called the concierge, who answered immediately, figured it out in 2 seconds, and had my boarding passes waiting for me.

mendy7511

From this months en route. (sorry about the quality, we are about to take off)

getaround

I dont know what they do, Ive only really needed them this year I email them three times for issues and each time fobbed off to AC web help. I think when you email they only deal with Ap issues? and not AC issue?

Then last month I was on a FRA/YOW flight with a YUl connection. We landed and the gate wasn't really they had some issue with loading an electric wheel chair. We sat around for about an hour limited updates from the Captain and when he did give updates the information was opposite to what I saw out the window. We then deplaned and about 6 agents met the aircraft and I asked to you have on gong boarding pass for folks that have mis-connected. I was told loudly "Do you see a printer here"? I could have told her to basically go shove it up her .... I then needed to collect my bags go back upstairs and then try and work out my new boarding pass with check-in. I asked for a concierges though was told to just head to re-check in. I was bitter for another week.

cooleddie

Any other recent stories about using the concierge?

hearna

There is an entire "thank the conierge" thread on here.... updated every other week usually....

HerpaYvr

These angels of the skies with their God like powers are the reasons we do not mind forking out the bucks we do to become SE as when we need help, they are there! Sure there are those who use them so much, that you are in family photo's, but for the rest of us who only use them when really needed, they are great. Until you expereince the service and help they provide, you cant truly appreciate what they do. ^

bimmerdriver

They aren't as visible as they used to be, but they are very helpful.

Most recently, a concierge at yvr gave me a hand to get my phone back in time for me to catch my flight after I left it in a taxi. I didn't notice it was missing until I sat down in the MLL. She provided me with a loaner phone so I could talk to the driver (luckily I know him) and then went out to get it for me. There is no way I could have gotten it in time without her help.

Another time at LHR, a concierge met me at the gate, escorted me through a immigration and looked after my luggage while I went into London during a long connection.

Transpacificflyer

After an equipment problem that cancelled my NRT-YYZ flight and significant bungling by AC, I was rerouted via YVR. The YVR concierge met me and other J pax, provided new luggage tags and boarding passes and sent me on my way. It wasn't much, but she was professional and organized. My appreciation and gratitude for her was enormous. I was fuming for a day full of hate for AC because of the time lost, meetings missed, inability of AC to communicate in a timely manner and anger at being put up at a crappy hotel. This magnificent woman, blunted my frustration, with her smile. She put on a human face and fixed some connection issues that the AC reservations should have taken care of when they did the rebooking. It is the first and only time I have used the concierge service in almost 20 years of premium class flying. I wouldn't have known about the service or taken advantage of it without the guidance of the experienced people of FT.

GJS - yow

Rather than adding to this thread, I suggest following the advice in post #8 and read the THANKS Concierge thread.