longtimeflyin

I was a SE a little over a decade ago and have been home bound the last decade or so raising my young family. My new role means I'll be all over N. America on Air Canada. I've read about eUpgrades and how that has changed over the last few years - I also see something about route bidding for upgrades now which will impact Altitude fliers I bet.

I have a few questions. Can anyone help?

1) Are there AC status challenge programs? E.g. if I fly a lot within a 90 day period will AC then give me Elite 50?

2) Once I get the TD and CIBC Visa Infinite Privilege, how long does it takes so that I can board in zone 2? Is it right away? What happens for tickets already booked before I get the card? Can I call AC to get AC*CC on my boarding pass so I can take advantage of priority boarding or can I just show my credit card?

3) With the American Express Aeroplan Reserve credit card - do I get priority boarding? If not it sounds silly that it's $899 a year and a $399/year card gives me more perks than a $900/year card.

Thanks

Bohemian1

For me, it was almost immediate. I'd say maybe three days after getting approved. I didn't even have the card yet, so they must link it to your Aeroplan account.

quantumofforce

​​​​​​air Canada is pretty good for status challenges if you are transferring Airlines. I'm sure if you send a nice letter saying your new roll involves a lot of flying and request a challenge they will likely allow you to challenge for E35K. Although that is just a conjecture on my part.

yyznomad

Welcome to FT!

kwflyer

Have you bin flying lately?

Symmetre

Indeed, welcome to FT.

No one has said it yet so I will - be prepared to be underwhelmed.

rankourabu

If you are flying all over North America for work - does it have to be Air Canada?

The 3 US programmes work much better for work flyers (ie. you earn more miles), offer status challenges, more upgrade options, and better redemption options.

longtimeflyin

I am open to exploring the US3 programs however I am fairly certain that it is easier to earn Aeroplan miles as someone who resides in Canada and does not have US credit. I'm fairly certain I can transfer membership reward miles from American Express to one of the US3 carriers but I am not 100% certain. AC is also a devil I used to know however I am open to learning more about the other programs from a Canadian perspective - as opposed to just learning on FT with the other sub fora due to the mainly American viewset as to how the program works for them.

Am I reading this right on the thread? Air Canada allows someone who does not have status to execute a status challenge for Altitude status? (similar to United which I read is that a newbie has to fly x segments within a fixed period of time and they get status early?)

jc94

I believe AC don't officially status match. But contacting them may reveal unoffiicial options. Based on other reports.

Have you flown AC or others in he last 10 years? If not you may be in for a shock on the delights of 10 across HD planes and Rouge.

How much flying you doing? Once you hit 35 segments or 35k miles with $4k AQD you'll get early E35k recognition with priority services, dom and tb lounge across, cheaper preferred seats, eUps, baggage allowance and so forth. If you are likely to do SE in 9-12 months you might hit E35 pretty quick.

quantumofforce

in the last 18 months or so I have known about a half dozen people who have successfully status matched on air Canada. They all had status with another major airline.

I do not know if they would do a status match if you did not have status with another airline.

flybit

if you are not flying much in Canada there is no need to use aeroplan, its not competitive.

longtimeflyin

I reached out to a contact at Air Canada a few days ago that I have known (friend of a friend) for a while who confirmed there is no fasttrack program for elite status. There are offers at times where they will allow status matches from other programs.

I received a very helpful PM from one of the individuals in this thread. Thank you - I received what I needed. While Air Canada may have devalued the program, the helpfulness shown by many on here is humbling.

Wpgjetse

The only problem, if you don't fly AC into the States, you end up wasting a lot of time the majority of your trips. I know flying is a sport for some on FT, but to me, it's about getting from point A to point B the fastest way.

karachi

Welcome .. and there is now the joy of Tango fares which earn you 25% miles in Canada and 50% elsewhere.

Sean Peever

Elite 10 years ago = SE now.

Also you can no longer access the lounge unless you are flying that day (although I've lost track of time, this might be more than 10 years ago)