Capacity Controls for SE
 

I have to go YYZ-YUL next week, and was exploring options - revenue vs
reward. So I tried to look at flight 402 on Nov 23.
On KVS it is showing J9 C9 D9 Z9 R1.

But it is NOT available for IKK according to the AE web site. While other
flights shows as available using " priority" rewards, this one is not.

It is available for 53,000 miles classic plus reward.

To me this signifies a complete gutting of IKK privileges, and seems to
run counter to what Andrew told us about capacity control being aimed
at international high demand J seats.

Agreed. Ironically AC486 is available for IKK at 7:30AM and it's a 763!

Very disturbing and very disappointing.

There is a mountain of evidence that shows that Andrew was incorrect when he provided advice last December that the IKK program changes would only impact high demand routes during high demand periods. To Andrew's credit, I believe the details of how Air Canada was going to manage IKK were either finalized or changed between the time that he initially provided the advice and when the program changes actually took effect (March 1, 2010).

Having said that, in my experience the watered down IKK program is directly linked to R inventory. If you have 1 R spot open, you should be able to grab it. Your situation is therefore probably an Aeroplan online booking problem and you may need to call in to complete the booking. The fact that R = 1 when the business class cabin is clearly wide open is another issue entirely. Especially on the YUL-YYZ market, I cannot see the justification for limiting R space in this way. The good news is that R space tends to jump around a lot, and will probably open up at a later time (doesn't help you today).

SG

To the OP... I agree completely.

Between the unreliable and somewhat random nature of IKK and (for me) the weak 2 MM reward (gifting E) the lure of obtaining Super Elite has certainly diminished considerably.

Air Canada is losing a significant portion of my business because I would rather be middle tier on several airlines than top tier (SE) on Air Canada.

Make IKK a real benefit again and / or improve the 2MM reward (i.e. Lifetime SE) and AC would get ALL of my business.

Since September last year, I have been trying to book a YYZ-YUL flight AC414 in June 2011 for 2 pax in J.

Seat map showed an empty J cabin. R=1.

All the other flights have more than 1 R seats. I don't understand the logic behind this. Is the 14:00 flight on THAT particular day in heavy demand?:confused:

Now, the second seat is opened. I managed to get the second seat. The seat map is still showing only the two seats reserved. The demand doesn't seem to be that great.

Come on, AC. This is ridiculous. The SE IKK benefit is (almost) non-existent!

Here's an example:

AC92 YYZ-EZE on 9/1/2011 shows R=3, yet no IKK available.
AC93 EZE-YYZ on 9/5/2011 shows R=4, and IKK is available for 4.

Makes no sense....

Had my first experience with IKK capacity control trying to take my wife to LAS.

I hate to say it, but bring back the 30%. This just isn't working...

I flew paid Continental since I couldn't get IKK on YYZ-EZE. (in EZE now)

I don't agree with 30%--there were better other suggestions, i.e. only people travelling with you, limit of 6 IKK per year etc etc.

It has never been so difficult to do this. I agree 30% would be better but there are other ways.

Come on, I'm talking about YYZ-YUL, not EZE!!!

"....we will only implement it in a very small number of instances, you will barely notice at all, it really will just a small small number...."

I have over the last few months been unable to book YUL-LAX (3 different dates), YUL-FLL and YUL-YYZ (4 different times).
I agree bring back the 30%. SE provides me few benefits as I usually fly J anyway and now cannot use my miles.
Have used Cathay twice since June on HKG flights to build status on Oneworld.

I've found this sort of thing several times too. R and IKK space are definitely related, but in my experience they're not the same thing. I've never seen IKK available where R=0 though.

Overall, I'm happier with the way things are now compared to the 30% premium. I've had to pay for a couple of flights that I would rather have used points for and I've had to book less desirable times for some reward flights, but on the whole it's worked well for me this year. I've redeemed over 1 million miles since the elimination of the 30% in March!

When AC tried to sell this as a positive improvement, in response to customer feedback, I took a wait-and-see view, because despite their history of dishonest advertising and spin, I was hopeful that they were actually listening and actually going to improve it. Such a shame.

Yes, I realize that. I was providing another example where R <> IKK.

+1