Be careful he does not die on you! Not sure where to post this but from today's Toronto Star there is yet another AE horror story.
I've heard that the concept of a brand if best defined as: A promise.
AC and AE have destroyed their respective brands by not living up to promises of their corporate-speak. Read the story's comments.
http://www.thestar.com/article/620518
Aeroplan's loyalty goes only so far, readers find
Apr 18, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (12)
Ellen Roseman
When Joel Landis died last August, he had collected more than 180,000 frequent-flyer points on his CIBC Aeroplan Visa card.
His widow, Judi, was hoping to take her grandchildren to Disney World a few months later.
She didn't book the trip using his points, despite having his account number and password. "Wanting to do the right thing, I called Aeroplan to officially advise them of my husband's death," she says.
Joel's account was shut down within 48 hours. She opened her own account and submitted a request in writing to have her husband's points transferred to her.
Only then did she find out she would have to pay $1,897.06 to transfer the points.
"Aeroplan miles or rewards are personal and cannot be assigned, traded, willed or otherwise transferred," the loyalty program's terms and conditions say.
"However, reflecting its desire to express compassion, Aeroplan's practice is to allow the transfer of miles."
But compassion only goes so far. The transfer cost for surviving spouses of a deceased member is 1 cent a mile, plus a $30 administration fee (and GST).
Another Aeroplan member, a recent widower, thinks the policy is unfair.
"Most of the points we accumulated were through a joint CIBC Aerogold Visa account," he says.
Since his wife was the primary cardholder, all the points were credited to her. But most of the charges were on his credit card, because he handled the accounts