Airline employees in Canada, and to a lesser degree American Express employees, would do well to stand clear. My morning so far:
09:45 PDT Check e-mail, FlyerTalk, etc. See post about CP/Amex divorce.
10:00 PDT Call CP E/P desk to inquire. Am told the story is "under verification" but probably not true.
10:15 PDT Call Amex to attempt automated points transfer, but instead get agent. Amex agent advises that CP, without notice or warning, unilaterally began refusing points transfers.
10:30 PDT Start firing off e-mails to journalists around the continent.
12:30 PDT Call CP E/P desk again, primarily on other business, but also ask again. Am told that that effective 90 minutes ago (11:00 PDT) you can no longer transfer MR points to CP. [This is particularly vexing to me, as the first thing on my to do list today was transfer some points and book one last BA First award.] CP agent advises that Amex without notice or warning, unilaterally decided to pull out of the CP program. CP's attempts to negotiate a graceful exit were rebuffed.
My guess -- they're both lying. But it appears (combined with the new "amenity" kits) that we're well on our way to a "world class airline" in Canada. (See my next report on "loyalty.")
With regard to Amex MR, it's now a virtually useless program, with no airline affiliation (in Canada) and they're so called "awards" being of essentially no value (see Hsi above.) Apparently Amex thinks FFers are as studid as the airlines do.
Nevertheless, as I've stated elsewhere, I always have options. So in a few days, my CP account will have enough points from other sources that I'll still have plenty of time to book the BA award. But now I have 100K+ "orphanned" MR points.
I'm advised that tommorow's "Report on Business" (Globe and Mail) will have a story, and most likely so will the National Post.