yyccdg

Currently sitting in the lounge at FRA, flying YYC-FRA-TXL on economy Aeroplan reward ticket. When checking in at YYC, I checked in two bags, the AC agent charged me $100 for the second bag. Here is the steps that occurred.

1. I asked for my A3 *G number to be entered, but she wasn't able to change then number.
2. I told her to put my number in the ft benefits field but she said that didn't exist.
3. Told her I was *G and entitled to up to 3 bags. She said only if my A3 number was being used, so I told her I shouldn't be punished if the system permits the change.
4. Still no go, so I asked for a supervisor
5. Supervisor arrives, tries to change numbers and can't do it. Tells me that my benefits as A3 *G don't apply because it is a reward ticket.
6. Tell her that Aeroplan purchased the ticket for me so it is revenue fare to AC and that we have done this numerous times in the past. No go.
7. She tells me that the reward ticket has terms denying benefits and I pull out the lengthy Aeroplan ticket that says *G gets two bags. She says that doesn't matter, the system says I have to pay
8. Pay $100 fee so I can catch my flight.

What did I do wrong or has something changed that isn't disclosed on the 10 page Aeroplan ticket? Did I miss something? Not a great way to start your trip and I get to look forward to paying it again 9th the way home when I think I am entitled to my benefits. Lufthansa had no problems changing the FL number.

Air Rarotonga

Claim a full refund of the baggage charges inclusive a compensation on top for the troubles...

Send the employees at YYC a copy of the Star Alliance Reference Guide for Employees.

IluvSQ

To get the benefit, there is NO NEED for your *G number to be on the reservation,
You simply have to present your valid *G card, which you did.

Claim a refund from AC Customer Service, and request that they educate their
check-in staff. You might suggest that some additional compensation in warranted
in addition to the refund.

Jasper2009

If the story happened as you describe those agents needs some serious retraining:

1. *G benefits of course apply on award tickets

2. Since the AE/AC booking system is broken, even a SE using his own AE miles on an AC operated flight needs to have his SE# manually entered at chek-in for the status to show up on the BP - this should happen frequently enough for the agent to know how to change/enter the FF#

3. *G benefits apply regardless of whether the *G status is displayed on the BP - showing your *G certainly is sufficient

jerryhung

Did you present your physical A3 Gold card?

I had no problem on my recent YYZ-ATL RT short-haul award flight to check 2 carry-on each way. YYZ-ATL was done easily while ATL-YYZ required agent to type in more stuff, after I showed my A3 Gold card

IluvSQ

Just re-read your original post.
One thing is not clear - did you present your physical A3 card?
If so, you are entitled to all benefits.
If not, you can be refused - the number alone is not sufficient.

jlionw

I have used the following email:
[email protected]

And I have yet to receive a response. They state it will take up to 3 weeks, and it has been months

Sigh

canadiancow

Not in my experience. When using my own miles to book AC operated flights, it's always shown up on the BP without me having to do anything special.

Sean Peever

This happens to me ALL the time, especially if I am trying to take more than 1 bag, online checking and initial checkin at the airport deny it and want to charge me. Usually they need to call the supervisor over to input the SE number to allow the bags etc.

yyccdg

I had my A3 card with me and gave it to both the agent and the supervisor, it didn't help me. No, communication seemed to help. I will try to claim it back but certainly a frustrating start to my trip. But now in Berlin, the liter beers have soothed me.

yvr76

When situations like this occur I always discreetly make a note of the agent's name. Not to get them in trouble, but to make sure the retraining is directed at the right person.

If you don't have the names, include the terminal, check-in position and exact time of day, so they can track down the supervisor on duty you talked to.

hearna

Perhaps PM'ing Ben Lipsey on this issue; when you hand over the tariff to the agent and they say no it doesn't apply; this shows a massive lack of knowledge and courtesy towards the customer....

*G benefits apply to all *A members on all flights, regardless of the fare class.

hearna

If they still have the boarding pass, that info is on it under Airline Usage

yyccdg

Good idea, I still have my boarding passes. Thanks for the suggestion.

itsOL

I had this happen to me a few months back as well despite having my A3 *G card and no amount of convincing would get the agent to give me the proper free checked baggage allowance. I ended up claiming a refund online and received an apologetic reply a few weeks later offering a full refund as well as a 10% discount code.

Not sure if it'll hold any weight with the check-in agents, but I later found a baggage allowance calculator on the AC website: (https://www.aircanada.com/en/traveli...e/checked.html)
Inputting *G shows a clear confirmation of free checked bags even on Aeroplan reward tickets; it might be worth printing out to take to the airport?