Alright, I'm definitely overthinking this one but it's a half-serious/half-joke post so I won't edit my post above speculating what factors might have triggered the review...but my nerdy passion for this issue doesn't want it left unsaid
It's also not really a knock on the "Elite Team" for not covering this scenario in their sweep because it sounds pretty niche
But two of the four people I've talked to who received the e-mail exclusively use their physical Elite status card and have not remembered a reason for when they'd used the one in app
- They needed to be physically present at their US (home!!) address to pick up this card, and if they forwarded it, USPS only does so domestically
- The physical card includes the BIN number and last digit checksum that the scanner accepts and records, the Aztec code in the app, or your boarding pass barcode doesn't and includes more strings of information. Surely AC can distinguish the two when invoiced by Star Alliance partners for lounge access...
- no data points on the use of the card's mag strip but i assume that's just a way for retail partners like Home Hardware to invoice Aeroplan anyway