Originally Posted by
pitz
Altitude is just the AC specific component of Aeroplan. I basically am advocating the cancellation of Altitude altogether so that AC can focus on providing a consistent and high quality customer experience for everyone, based on their paid class of service, instead of being overly fixated on frequent customers.
AC's been degrading the 'benefits' to elites for years, yet load factors are better than ever. There's a pretty good argument to be made that loyalty programs add no value whatsoever, and for what customer goodwill is gained through the loyalty program, may very well be lost on the balance when service to non-elites is sacrificed.
I think that many of us basically place little to no value on the Aeroplan points we get. There is some value but many of us have lost the desire to get even more of them. Some of us probably have a 7-figure aeroplan balance and could never easily use all the points. Thus, it is the Altitude program that still has some value and causes us to fly AC. Because of all the difficulty in accessing seats and the international fuel surcharges (for us people below SE100), aeroplan is not as valuable as it was when these programs were introduced 30 years ago. Also - many of us are likely past our 30's now and can basically purchase the tickets we really need and so we don't have to wait to redeem for a "free" flight to fly where we want.
So - From my perspective - it is mostly about Altitude - but for the non-Altitude travelers, it is more about the aeroplan points.