<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by digbyamb:
Super-Elite Status is changing!! I am an Air Canada Super-Elite member, a privilege that required 100,000 miles of travel in a one year period. I was an Elite member for three years running and look forward to the extra perks that came with the rise to the upper echelons. I achieved my status in early summer 2001 and to my astonishment the “shiny new box” arrived with my “shiny new card” and my “shiny new perks” and a letter advising that my status was effective immediately to allow me to take advantage of my new level. No more Rodney Dangerfield, now I get respect!! My first trip was to Germany with all of the perks, with the exception that I had to upgrade my ticket to “V” class before the new System-Wide UpGrades would work. By the end of they year I had traveled 226,000 miles and in December I began to receive my new UpGrade certificates and a nice message from Air Canada. UpGrades now require Y,M,B,H fare tickets, gone are the lower cost “V” class and to insult to injury the qualification for Super-Elite status has changed from 100,000 miles to 88,000. The marketers at Air Canada have done their homework as the net effect is to promote more people to the “UpGrade-able” levels and increase the cost of the potential UpGrades. When will they ever learn? Frequent flyers at the Elite and Super-Elite levels keep the Air Lines in the black, thanks to the Government of Canada we have little choice in who we use for international travel, or do we? Puddle jumper to the boarder and Red, White and Blue to Europe!</font>
I left AC a couple of years ago after they purchased Canadian. Canadian and American always would allow you to upgrade at the gate regardless of your fare type. After the purchase of Canadian, AC would only allow you to use the stickers on a Y class ticket. When I complained at the Maple Leaf Lounge I was told that I was wrong and that Canadian would have never done that only in an instance where they were trying to "balance out" the plane. Rediculous. AA and Canadian permited you to ugrade at the gate REGARDLESS of the fare type and irespective of how many people were on the flight. I am amazed how AC employees are convinced that they are always right and that the customer is wrong. Those french canadians let them break away from Canada if they think they are so smart.