I wonder though about whether this will hurt AC more than it helps because these are 'free samples' or gateway drugs. I know a lot of middle class people with good jobs (e.g. family income $250k-$400k) who barely know lounges exist and have never been in one. They fly maybe 3-4 times a year, a couple times for work and a couple times for vacation. They book Y, at best PY. It would never cross their minds to try to get airline status, get a premium credit card, etc. They know nothing about this world. But if you give them a lounge pass it's great marketing for AC. Sure, the MLL are pretty weak. But if you've never been in a lounge before, they seem great. I could imagine lounge passes serve as good marketing tools to draw these people into the AC ecosystem. They'll never hit high status levels but they fly enough and have enough disposable income that the profits AC gets from them have lots of room to grow.

A mistake AC made I think was not linking lounge passes to giftee Aeroplan member numbers. E.g. instead of sharing a QR code or printed piece of paper, I should have had to share it via an Aeroplan number. That would have let AC track how many of these guests end up converting into higher level customers, which is info AC must lack, and also put AC in a position to market to them.