Originally Posted by MillionMile

What is $122 really worth?

So I come to this board to ask the simple question of my fellow FT members, Air Canada, Star Alliance and Aeroplan, What is $122 really worth? While it is true that I have not weighed in on all the threads about who’s leaving AC, the devaluation of status, IKK, add on fees for Aeroplan redemptions, non personalized luggage tags etc. etc. I had still remained loyal to AC while reading all these posts. But today I find myself totally disillusioned with Air Canada.

A bit about myself:
I’m Super Elite. I’ve racked up some 1.6 million miles on Star Alliance planes since Canadian folded. This year I’ve accumulated 112,000 miles as of June. I have 160 e-upgrades as I only buy Z or J, and the tickets purchased this year so far are worth $40K. During those 1.6 million miles I’ve never had a claim for lost or damaged baggage. Nor have I complained to Air Canada about any past issues or asked for any compensation.

The History:
In June I had a flight to Bangkok. AC01 to NRT and AC6241 to BKK. My flight is delayed from 2:05 to 3:45 then 4:45 with an eventual departure of 5:30. I never received a call from AC telling me my flights were delayed, even thought I thought as Super Elite I would have and I would have at least expected a call from a Concierge regarding my flights, but no call was received at home, work or cell. So I end up with a 4 hour wait in the lounge and I arrive in Tokyo 25 minutes after my second re-booked connection UA837 has departed. I’m greeted at the door of the plane by a Concierge, who whisks me off to a Delta flight DL283 leaving in 20 minutes. I arrive in Bangkok, but my checked luggage does not make it. I receive my luggage next day at 8pm, but it has been opened, riffled through and the Intercompany package is opened and $122 in money has been stolen, most likely by customs.

I call the SE desk and they inform me that there is nothing they can do as it is the last carrier that is responsible, so I call Delta. Delta denies any responsibility. I then e-mail the Super Elite e-mail and receive an e-mail saying they are aeroplan and I need to Fax or e-mail Calgary Air Canada Customer Relations. I e-mail Air Canada and they again say speak to Delta, Delta again denies responsibility and says speak to Air Canada, Then Air Canada says speak to American Express, American Express says it’s Air Canada that should handle the complaint, Air Canada finally says that it can at least credit my status miles for NRT to BKK on Delta, then Aeroplan refuses to credit my miles after Air Canada asks to have them credited saying I was not on the flight. I e-mail Air Canada and finally aeroplan credits the miles. American Express says It will investigate the missing money and I come to the conclusion that this triangle of finger pointing is not worth my time and they are using each other to avoid dealing with a very simple issue.

The one and only other time that Air Canada has delayed my flight I ended up being bumped to an Air France flight in Paris and my baggage was delayed 30 hours in getting to Zurich and I made no claim. So why would a business not pay out $122 as a good will gesture to appease a loyal customer?
So I started to ponder the universally known theory that it costs 10 times more to acquire a new customer than to keep a current customer, so I assume that Air Canada has chosen to lose a $70,000 plus annual revenue customer for $122
Then there is the other theory that a satisfied customer tells three friends, angry customers tell 3,000. So to that end, Air Canada has succeeded in started this post for $122.

Finally I read about how Transport Canada has ruled
“The Canadian Transportation Agency released a decision Tuesday declaring Air Canada's international baggage liability rule unreasonable, and ordered that Air Canada replace it within 10 days.
Gabor Lukacs, 29, an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Manitoba, had asked for a review of a policy which said Air Canada couldn't be held liable for valuables such as money and jewelry in passengers' checked baggage on certain itineraries.
The agency found it was unreasonable for Air Canada to have a blanket exclusion of liability.”

So what is $122 really worth?

Well I now realize that after a month’s time and not a single phone call to discuss my issues with only e-mail rejections and finger pointing that I am not valued for my loyalty. That unlike my industry where we talk to our best customers and try and resolve issues, none of these companies care about my history with them and have basically said they do not value my business or my loyalty. And finally that this $122 dollars is worth the rest of this year’s $30,000 dollars worth of travel plans that will now go to another alliance.

So in closing I would like to say, Congratulations and good work to Air Canada and Aeroplan. That $122 is the straw that broke the camel’s back, and now you and everyone knows what $122 is really worth, $70k in lost annual business. I’ve now flown Cathy Pacific and while I prefer the pods, the cost was more than 1K less. I still get Lounge access because I’m flying J, I still get priority boarding, I get somewhat priority check-in due to J class, the FA’s were friendlier and by December I will have Emerald Status.

Bye Bye AC