Originally Posted by
24left
I'll assume the ancillary revenue part is the main reason AC signed with AIMS....and maybe the system will help ensure AC gets paid for those other *A pax who stumble into an MLL.
Exactly! Altitude status strictly grants a measurable and quantifiable economic benefit on the customer. And from what I can tell, AC MLL has been using AIMS for over 10 years. It appears to be the anchor customer for IEG. And since it collects data, it is subject to freedom of information requests and further, must maintain an audit history of changes as well as accesses.
Originally Posted by
24left
"The company making the software helps airlines sell memberships and lounge access, as well as generate ancillary revenue from the lounge. They system helps airlines bill partners for access. They’re in 89 lounges at this point."
This leads to an interesting question: What if one purchases MLL membership and buys/refunds? Delta/AA/UA specifically permit members in to lounge without flying on respective airline/alliance, but the MLL membership has similar wording to MLL general admittance.
None of them say you must subsequently fly, nor do any of them say you must intend to fly. No tariff or CoC I've seen states you must intend to fly, nor is it implied. In fact, airlines attempt to profit from the likeliness a pax will not show by overselling in many cases.
Originally Posted by
24left
And today, Gary Leff offered tips. (Does anyone know if AC reads his site?
)
"It seems to me that if you’re going to buy a refundable ticket just for the lounge access, you should:
1. Not use that airline’s frequent flyer number (or any frequent flyer number) associated with the ticket. For a one-off that’s probably sufficient. But if you’re the type of person looking to eat free for a year in a lounge you probably don’t want to use a credit card associated with your mileage account. You may even want a separate boarding pass to clear security from the one you use to enter the lounge so that even more information can vary from what’s in the airline’s records about you.
2. Not refund the ticket until you leave the lounge.
3. Not use the same lounge over and over on tickets you’re cancelling day after day.
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....access-cancel/
Despite the access to alcohol, I am not sure that people are clamouring to get into AC's Dom & TB MLLs for the pickle buffet.
For me, it's just a defacto habit. Many times I just sit... look around... check the phone... and off to the gate. Some times (rare) I'm in there for extended periods of time. But as any FF will attest, unless socializing, the airport is hardly a place to spend extra time.
I still visit every time I'm rightfully entitled to enter (J/F AC or *A fare)... Now it's just an experiment to see what the agent(s) will do in response to attached picture, despite never being informed by AC of such barring.
I will not talk about my personal situation further at this time, nor in this thread, but I post this to confirm that AC, at least in one case, has used this ability to join data to perform analysis of lounge access data. I suspect it was done by hand, but perhaps AC made a feature request of AIMS and now this is a new "weapon" in the arsenal of cop-wannabie types.
Problem is, when chicken little gets a hold of it... Data is good. Misinterpreted data is dangerous. Misconstrued policy is insubordinate. AIMS has data, that's it. Xmas is near...