FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM(S)
For many years Air Canada has operated a frequent flyer program called Aeroplan. Originally it was us, but now it’s them. The original intent was to create loyalty to us, but now that it’s them, they try to get you to be loyal to them rather than us. That wasn’t working for us, so to correct it we recently created another frequent flyer program called Altitude. Altitude is us, but Aeroplan is still them. We think. We haven’t actually told you that because you don’t need to know.
A popular misconception is that the Frequent Flyer programs are Loyalty Programs. While this was once the underlying intent, it is no longer the case. We actually don’t care about your loyalty, because for every disaffected customer we lose, we gain one back who has become disaffected by another airline. The only reason we continue with this foolishness is because everyone else is doing it and we don’t know how to get out of it.
Points are often referred to as Miles. That’s because sometimes the points you receive approximate the number of miles you flew. Or some fraction of the number of miles you flew. Or how many dollars you spent on gas. Or some multiple of how many dollars you spent on gas. Or some other formula, depending on what you bought, where you bought it and when you bought it. In most cases the points you receive have nothing to do with Air Canada or flying. Suffice it to say that you can obtain points by flying or buying, or both if you’re clever. To avoid confusion we will henceforth refer to points obtained by flying as Miles, and points obtained by buying as Points.
Collecting Miles
Historically there have been two kinds of miles you can collect. That was the case when there was one program, but now that there are two it’s still the case. There are Status Miles and Non-Status Miles. They care about both Status and Non-Status miles, but we care only about Status Miles. If you accumulate enough Status Miles, we will extend to you an enhanced status when you fly with AC. Usually. The enhancements you receive depend on your level of status, and how much we have enhanced the program. Generally, the more we enhance the program, the less status you will have.
You can also obtain status by flying a whole bunch of short hops, but this is not the recommended approach.
Until this year there were four levels of status: Super Elite, Elite, Prestige and everyone else. We found it terribly burdensome to keep track of who was who and what they were entitled to, so when we created Altitude we increased the number of status levels to six. This will make it easier to reduce the number of levels when we introduce future enhancements.
The only way to receive Miles (not Points) is to sit on an aircraft operated by AC or one of its Star Alliance Partners. The aircraft must be airborne at the time. Whether your miles are Status Miles or Non-Status Miles, and how many Miles you receive depends on how much you paid for your ticket and how far you flew. You will only retain your status from year to year if you fly a minimum number of Status Miles or flight segments exclusively on AC, so you must keep track until you cross the threshold.
If you have entered your Aeroplan number when you purchased your ticket we will automatically credit the correct number of Status or Non-Status miles to your account. Usually.
Collecting Points
You can collect Points (not Miles) in a variety of ways: using certain credit cards, and making certain purchases at certain businesses. Since this really has everything to do with them, and nothing to do with us, we will not discuss it further here.
Redeeming Miles
For purposes of redeeming Miles and Points, they are the same, so we will call them points from now on. When redeeming points, you will be dealing with them, not us. So we don’t want to hear about it.
One of the most common uses of points is to purchase travel on AC or one of its partner airlines. There is a common misperception that points can be used to obtain free air travel tickets. Let us assure you that this is not the case. Points may sometimes be used as partial payment for an air travel ticket. There is a multitude of other fees and taxes for which you must pay cash and only cash.
We have an arrangement with them to allow points to be used as partial payment for a certain number of seats on a certain number of flights to a certain number of destinations at certain times. But the numbers of such seats are tiny, the times are often inconvenient, and the connections may not make sense. Unless you are prepared to pay huge numbers of points, or in some cases throw the weight of your status around. Or go somewhere else. At a different time. With a different number of people. And sit in the economy cabin.
Alternatively, we encourage you to redeem your points with them for things other than flying. This is better for us, but possibly not for you or them.