Originally Posted by
N1120A
Actually, a program that discriminates against a certain group of Canadians would almost certainly be found illegal. Further, Quebec represents the second largest provincial market in Canada, and is nearly twice the size of the next largest (B.C.). A program like Aeroplan simply cannot ignore Quebec in that respect.
I'm not worried about Aeroplan - like I said, they have too much at stake to just ditch Quebec. I'm worried about all the non-Canadian based programs - Marriott/SPG, IHG, British Airways, Accor, just to name those I personally have points with. Do you honestly think any of them will care one whit about one province of a small market (for them)? They'll just follow what apparently Alaska Airlines has already done, which is pull out of Quebec. This could be totally disastrous for us Quebec-based points accumulators.
To put this in perspective: what would you think of a government that outlawed stores from putting up the prices of their merchandise? It's
exactly the same principle.
Originally Posted by
rickg523
But, do you really want to participate in programs that hide how you can collect or redeem awards, that expire points you rightfully collected, and can change the rules mid-stream?
Aren't those the restrictions placed on programs by the Quebec regulation?
If a program chooses to limit Quebecois from participating, doesn't that imply the program wants to be run that way?
I'm not sure any program actively hides collection or redemption of awards. Now, I will put the caveat of AE's ridiculous website making it highly difficult to redeem awards, but the well-informed have workarounds. However, this particular regulation does nothing to counter that.
I'll give you points expiry; I personally like the activity-to-keep-points-from-expiring rules, but certainly a regulation that would outlaw points expiry I think would be implementable, without risking companies' pulling out.