Dear Mr. Rovinescu,

Over the past year I have grown increasingly frustrated with Air Canada and Aeroplan, to the point I have moved almost all of my travel spend to other airlines. Today, as I look into booking a late fall business trip to Amsterdam, I am reminded why I made that decision to begin with.

The client paying for my trip doesn't have a lot of budget, so I'm booking an economy class ticket. Where once upon a time I would just automatically book it with Air Canada, I now comparison shop. Here's what I found:

Air Canada, Flex fare, one connection, $1,532.90. It's the dates I want, and gives me 100 percent Aeroplan status qualifying miles. It also gives me the chance to upgrade to Executive Class, but let's be honest, as an E50 on a Flex ticket, my chances of success are basically zero. But at least the opportunity does technically exist.






Now for comparison, here's what I found with United. It's a standard economy seat, on the same dates, also with one connection, but it only costs $953.26. Why is that one-third less than your airline charges for essentially the same thing? On this ticket I have zero chance of getting upgraded to business class, but per personal experience the odds of getting a free upgrade to E+ are excellent. Even if I had to pay full price, that's just a $120 upgrade on that itinerary.






Let's look at Air Canada again, this time pricing a Tango fare, again with one connection. Look, it's $963.76. Still the same dates, but now zero chance of any kind of upgrade, it only gives me 50% status miles, and it still costs more than United!!! Please tell me how on earth you can justify this???? Why can I earn 100% Aeroplan status miles flying on United, and for less money??






For what it's worth, here's the winning itinerary:






This is a standard economy fare on KLM, offering a direct flight each way for just $932.34. It's the same dates, it's non-stop, it is three hours less travel time in each direction and it's the best price yet, so my client will be thrilled. And since I now collect Skyteam miles, I still earn 100% EQM.

So Mr. Rovinescu, let me ask you straight out. In view of what I've shared with you today, why on earth should I give you my business? What is my incentive to pay more for the same thing (when compared to United), or pay more when I can get an even better deal with another competitor (i.e. with United or KLM) ??

Is Air Canada even listening ??