As an SE, I noticed this year that my benefits have diminished relative to Elite and Prestige. This relates mainly to ALL being able to upgrade anytime on Latitude fares.

A couple of ideas that could help and not cost AC much if anything.

1. Late upgrade at boarding.

Though it happens every so often that gate agents upgrade me to J when rear is quite full and i have a lousy seat and J is wide open, it would be a matter of policy that SE's get bumped up at the last minute to J if there is open space up front. THis is a benefit that wouldn't cost anything (food service may or may not be available) and I know I am very appreciative when gate agents do this for me without asking. It CREATES LOYATLY. One point - this has happened to me often, but NEVER in YYZ, where they constantly nickel and dime and generally don't care about SE's.

Though not entitled to it, on a recent 40 minute flight, I was stuck in a lousy seat way in the back, and J was wide open with only AC employees occupying a few seats. I don;t begrudge them those seats, particularly the pilots, but I can;t help feeling a little p*ssed when that happens.

2. Free same day change if available

When I go Tango PLus or Latitude on short haul, it is usually for an in and out meeting somewhere, They sometimes end early, and if I arrive at the airport 3 hours before my scheduled flight, as an SE I would hope they would put me on an earlier flight if it is wide open. Again, this happens sometimes, but NEVER in YYZ, and you would think, particularly if your original flight is busy they would not mind shifting you earlier. Instead, they try to get $50 out of you and in effect encourage you to go to lounge and gorge yourself.

3. SW U/G valid North America for more fares.

Seems to me that most of us would never or rarely use a SSW cert to upgrade a short or medium haul flight in NA, but rather for longer haul. We would tend to use SW for long haul international. Why couldn't SE's use SW certs for shorter routes for Tango Plus fares on some basis when room is available? Maybe it would cost 2 certs for other than short haul, but this would represent less "cost" to the airline than a valuable upgrade on international.

Just a few thoughts...

I am thinking of things that the airline could do at minimal cost for its best customers to show some loyalty to us and encourage us to remain loyal.

When gate agents do as noted in first point, it really does build loyalty and costs the airline nothing.