DDHYYZ

Looking at flying Continental a couple times in the new year. Will I get full Air Canada status miles on Continental flights regardless of the fare? I ask because I booked a couple LH flights this year on Expedia and I only got 50% status miles, thus robbing me of some potential SSWUs. Thanks!

DaveTO

Continental gets 100% status miles + 50% non-status in 2010 (if you chose that as your Elite benefit)

http://www2.aeroplan.com/earn_miles/...nentalAirlines

DaveTO

Sorry to hear about the 50% award from LH. I don't understand why the European and Asian Star Alliance airlines are so stingy with their award structure.

HerpaYvr

Yup, I got burned this summer flying LH when I found out that I received NADA for my flight. If I knew that I would of flown ir Berlin for less than half of what I paid for.

For 2010 I am avoiding LH for europe and sticking with AC,UA, or TP!

HerpaYvr

Yup, I got burned this summer flying LH when I found out that I received NADA for my flight. If I knew that I would of flown Air Berlin for less than half of what I paid for on LH.

For 2010 I am avoiding LH for europe and sticking with AC,UA, or TP!

Shareholder

No more "stingy" than AC is on its deeply discount TANGO fares. Why do you expect 100% status mileage on the lowest fares paid? Consider that the airline must purchase AE miles from AE at between 1¢/2¢ each, it adds up. If you do a cheap transAt fare, LH or any other carrier would have to take between $40 and $80 from that just to buy the mileage (x2 for return). Airline operating margins are very thin these days and this is a pretty big chunk of an $800 ticket. Even an intra-Europe flight costing Euro100 is often comprised more of fees and taxes than the fare itself. With a minimum of 500 AE miles given, that runs between $15 and $30 return, which from some of the net fares I've seen on the UA web site, is as much as the actual fare!

So just give some thought to the cost of providing AE miles before you make such statements. It is only among US carriers that full mileage is given on all fares, something that is rather expensive, though for its own program mileage a book entry and not real cash. But when they pay AE or any other carrier's program, it is real money changing hands.

The AE site contains a listing of all partner carriers and the number of miles provided by each within each fare category/code. Always check this before booking so you know what to expect.

DDHYYZ

Thanks guys! Yeah, I was a bit surprised by the 50% thing. When I book flight on UA or AC from Expedia, they always give me 100% status miles...thats why...again, thanks!

DaveTO

I find it hard to believe that LH or LX would have to purchase AE miles at basically the same rate as the average person. Surely they have to arrange some kind of bulk discount...

As for N/American Tango flights, if one decides to purchase the deeply discounted fares, the lack of status miles is a choice that must be weighed in with cost. However, the OP was referring to the TATL LH fares which are typically in the $1K+ range, and I would hope that would qualify for at least the token benefit of 100% mileage earning, regardless of class.

tentseller

It all depends on the class of fare offered at Expedia. The miles can range from full with bonus to ZERO.

Shareholder

The publicly revealed partner purchase rate when these programs started 1¢ a mile for non-status miles. That was 20-years ago and even to AE partners the cost has gone up to between 1.5¢ to 2¢ depending upon the volume contract. And that's for non-status miles. You may not believe other carriers buy AE status miles, but they do, just as AC does from them when their members fly AC.

In the off season, a TATL to Europe from Ontario on LH is still in the $800 range and covers about 8K return flight miles. This means that LH -- or any other carrier -- must come up with between $80 and $160 for those AE miles if they are given at the 100% rate. That's 10% of what you are paying. Even at your $1K fare, that's between 8% and 16% of the fare, a very hefty chunk of change. Considering full fare economy yields 100% status mileage on a ticket 3-4x the price, you can see where the margin comes from to be able to afford full mileage on higher fares.

And as my example on intra-European flights showed, it is even worse on these flights where in order to match competition, the lowest fares are only a few Euros before taxes and fees. Hence, 50% or even no mileage is now given.

Asian carriers have been on to this for a long time and have very few discount fares that actually yield mileage in other STAR programs.

quank

Does anyone know if booking the Continental flights off Expedia result in a booking class that accumulates 100% status miles? Never flown Continental before so I'm curious.

Stranger

Ah, the Aeroplan crookery.

Not an FF program anymore.

Stezo

I recently flew CO from CLE-LAX on a flight my company booked on Expedia. I got 100% AC miles in Economy - 2048 miles, not sure on which booking class it was though, doubt it was full fare, as the flight was less than half full.

B1

Let's see. Air Canada started Aeroplan as a loyalty program for its customers and the reward would be to give them as seats on flights that would not have been sold. And Air Canada joined an alliance that gives reciprocity for miles and seat awards. Then Air Canada sells off Aeroplan and keeps the money as general revenue, not to support a frequent flyer operation. Then Air Canada and its alliance partners charge Aeroplan for the tickets that they used to give away. And Aeroplan sells AP miles to cereal vendors and gas stations and Air Canada and Aeroplan buys tickets with some of the fees and keeps the difference. Then Air Canada and Lufthansa stop giving miles to all their customers, because they forget that this was supposed to be a loyalty program, the expense, remarkably, being seen as unreasonable cost to the airline. And the customers fly on other carriers and get their miles from Esso. How many bankruptcies will it take to get this back to where it should be? If you sell your house you shouldn't grumble because you have to pay rent.

Klockman

Couldn't agree more, very well said.

^