Originally Posted by Transpacificflyer

The disconnect between some super elite status plan participants and everyone else, reminds me of a Ponzi scheme. An effective ponzi scheme pays out a high return for a select few. These few beneficiaries talk up the ponzi scheme or the lottery, offering a validation of sorts for the scheme. They do well and want it to continue because of their vested interest. They have no empathy or care for those who gain no benefit and feel ripped off.

The Madoff scheme was the most recent example of this, with its windfall returns for a select few, while everyone else had paper returns that they could not redeem. Madoff got away with his game for decades and people thought he was a good corporate citizen subject to strict regulation. As soon as the redemption rate and expenses exceeded the infusion of new money, the scheme collapsed.

My understanding is that a majority of Aeroplan participants are consistently unable to obtain the redemption they seek. This suggests that the "program" has unraveled. There are some who will say, but wait, people can get seats - they are doing it every day, so it must work. And to that I say, if Mabel Black-Label is seeking a J class redemption to LHR, or FRA, because that is the route she flies 2-4X a year, and cannot obtain her option without a surcharge of points, or an exorbitant additional fee or a portion in Y, or can only obtain a redemption of Toronto to Regina, which she sadly accepts, then something is wrong with the "loyalty" program. IMO, it is designed to deliver the least value to a customer.

I am not claiming Aeroplan is illegal, but the over exaggerated advantages of this jazzed up trading stamp program leaves many customers with the feeling that they have been exploited. Yes, some benefit quite nicely. It unfortunately, comes on the backs of people like me and Bootsie Jablonski, who has been collecting points for years so that she can get to Santa Banana for her 50th birthday celebration.