I guess this realtor never heard of cibc aeroplan visa cards or tropicana juice or something.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/co...7-c7951e8eddb9

Noella Neale's persuasive negotiating skills have earned her a solid reputation as a Lower Mainland realtor, but they haven't been able to persuade Aeroplan to return her nuked points.

The single mother of three shopped and saved for years to amass more than 150,000 Aeroplan miles for vacations and a New Zealand trip for her daughter's university graduation gift.

After an unpleasant bout of illness last July, the Port Coquitlam mom went to book a trip to the Napa Valley in California., only to be told her account had been cleaned out less than two weeks earlier because she hadn't banked or redeemed miles in the prior 12 months.

This was a complete surprise, Neale said. After all, her son had flown to Montreal on her account in August the previous year.

But that didn't matter to the points police, who informed Neale that Aeroplan's loyalty program clock starts ticking the date a flight is purchased, not the day a frequent flyer travels.

Adding to her frustration was the fact Neale had tried to book her U.S. trip several times previously but had run into blackouts, meaning Air Canada didn't have available Aeroplan seats on flights that would have worked for her.

"I would expect a grace period as it's difficult booking flights because they are always blacked out," she said.

The enterprising real-estate agent wrote the company right away, confident they would reactive her points to keep a loyal customer happy.

But customer-service manager Jerry McDonnell wrote back that while the plan had once allowed accounts to remain idle for up to three years, it just so happened that as of July 2007 -- the month Neale tried to use her points -- it had been reduced to just one year.

Too bad, so sad, but if she wanted to travel to New Zealand or anywhere else, she'd have to buy back her points; one cent for every restored mile plus a $30 administration fee.

Undaunted, Neale turned to Aeroplan head Rupert Duchesne for compassion. After all, the British native had told a group of business people in late 2006 that Aeroplan "was creating a new meaning of loyalty for Canadians," and that 60,000 people a month were joining the profitable, five-million-member firm.

Neale wrote the Montreal-based president and CEO that, despite Aeroplan's claims to the contrary, she had not received any advisory e-mails that her account was about to expire.

"I would have bought a tank of gas to keep 151,027 points active," she pointed out.

"I feel like I have been robbed."

Faxes were sent to Duchesne's office on three separate occasions, but the president of Aeroplan, appointed in August 2000, never got back to her. I, too, placed several calls to the company, and left at least three messages with Gillian Hewitt, who, last time I checked, was the manager of corporate reputation for Aeroplan. No one returned my calls.

With 4,999,999 customers left, I guess they're not in any rush.

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