Originally Posted by
YOWgary
You seem *really* upset about this whole concept, and I love that that seems to have turned into going after ME about it, but my earlier question stands: what "indie cred" do you think PoT gave up to do this? Did you seriously think they were running a not-for-profit community service until this came along?
- because there's only a handful of third-party sites out there - or Canadian writers, period - who (A) understand this stuff in enough detail, (B) can explain it in a way regular people can comprehend, and (C) still give enough detail to satisfy readers at a variety of interest and experience levels.
- because a third-party site can explain a lot more informally, and in greater depth, than an official corporate communication is going to.
- because AC benefits from having somebody dig into the details in a format much more readable than Flyertalk or Reddit threads that 99% of regular people find to have an unusable signal-to-noise ratio.
IDK, I feel like you're digging around for a conspiracy here when the whole thing seems pretty straightforward.
Air Canada's Altitude Program has been around since, what, 2014? They didn't need PoT to announce the changes, unless, I guess, they wanted the Sydney Sweeney angle without any of the sex and glamour.
One has to wonder why they chose this route. Oh well, I guess no one cares. They've certainly earned an unsub from me even though their content as of late has been poor.
Originally Posted by
robsaw
Mutual promotion - you scratch my back/I'll scratch yours. PoT seems to have a chummy relationship with some level of AC exec's and may be enjoying (and monetizing) the role of influencer on both sides of the Aeroplan coin (consumer/retailer).
Exactly. Reminds me of the ones people used to have with Ben Lipsey and with those of us who had ones with Ben Smith. That said folks in both of these camps weren't paid to shill for AC.