yyz_atc_qq

I think the reason people are posting that they're flying other airlines instead of AC (when other airlines are cheaper) is that their loyalty to AC is not there anymore. Some people used to fly AC because of the benefits of the AE Elite program even when AC was more expensive. As the benefits change year over year the loyalty is starting to degrade.

RCyyz

This is exactly my situation.

In prior years, the Aeroplan program would keep me loyal to AC. In 2011 this has changed to the point where I will have to work to get 10K miles / 5 segments on AC metal.

kevy_boy

In prior years, loyal to what point? Would you always fly Air Canada irregardless of the price difference?

Why are you able to do without the benefits this year as opposed to prior years?

becreative

Loyal to Air Canada. It's not really that hard to understand. Let me give you an example. What car do you own? Why did you pick that car over the lowest priced car? They will both get you to where you need to go.

Some consumers stick with a certain product because of brand loyalty (regardless of the fact that those products might be more expensive than products from other brands). The reason for brand loyalty are different (maybe it makes you feel good, maybe you had a positive experience with the brand, maybe there is an incentive program that keeps you loyal)

In this case there was an incentive program that kept people loyal. The SWU and SSWU certs kept people loyal by giving them an incentive to fly with Air Canada and have a chance at being upgraded. The SWU did not just give you that chance but also enhanced revenue collection for AC as you would have to fork over extra money for atleast an M class fare (over a $500 difference for a YYZ-LHR RT). You also had customers that wanted to earn status to get these certificates so you would fly Tango + instead of Tango in Canada and maybe fly with AC over Westjet or Porter. This year AC decided to severely reduce the number of upgrade opportunities and has moved to universal credits (a lot less of them) than a two tier upgrade certificate system. This change was communicated towards the end of the year. As such a lot of the passengers, that were previously loyal to AC, felt betrayed by the company they were once loyal to.

becreative

To add to the thread:

Booked myself the lowest fare ticket for my next LHR-YYZ rt. Fare difference between an M class fare (that i would have bought before) was just over $650

Z-man

I disagree. I know this has been discussed in tons of threads already but from my example, I used to end the year with tons of unusable cerst and actually still have them from the last ten years (this year I was able to use them all and it was just luck I think). With the new e-up's, you can use them on most fares but you need more for discounted fares. I think the new e-certs are great. I would rather use 10 on a YYZ-LGA flight as opposed to sitting on SWU's that I can't use anyways. This year I will use them all and I think that is way better than the old system, plus I can sponsor upgrades, which I couldn;t do the last few years. Plus, with new 1,000,000 mile club, I'm flying way more AC.
For every single person that is upset and thinks they should fly tired US Air jets because AE pi**ed them off, there is two of us that will fly more AC based on these enhancements.

Guy Betsy

Flying to/from Canada & Europe/Asia, and if I want full *A miles, there is really no choice other than AC. I won't go through US.

Wish there are more *A carriers flying into Canada that pays full miles on all fares. Many fares on other carriers like LH/LX/OS/CA earn half and sometimes less miles.

So has AC lost revenue on me? No. In fact, I'll be doing around 50K base miles on AC in the next 3 months alone.. but all in coach!

I bank all into BD anyway. I tried to maximise the double points promo to Aeroplan but the routings just don't suit me. Ah well...

becreative

I am happy this works out for you. Please feel free to share any data that suggests that for every single person that is upset because AC pissed them off, there are two more that will fly with AC.

Dont forget that people are not only deflecting to the tired US Air Jets but also to tired European, Asian and Middle Eastern Air Jets

FF_Consultant

For it is about the marginal increase in my willingness to fly AC. I've already reached over 40K miles this year and should hit SE around mid-May. Not that I have a long history with AC (only 2-3 years of relatively heavy flying and first year as an SE), but in previous years I would have kept flying AC for the miles and the additional certs. I ended this year, as I did the last couple of years with very little wallpaper. In fact I'll end with only 2-3 certs and have used almost all my upgrades.

I will remain loyal to AC to keep my SE status through a combination of flight pass activities and will still end around 150-180K miles this year with AC. However, they normally would have received what I estimate to be another 6-10 trips TATL / TPAC in paid J which will now be directed elsewhere.

I guess my point here is that while most customers are not 'dropping AC' there will / has been a potential impact on their business. I'm waiting to see how eupgrades actually work for me personally before making drastic moves. When I look at my travel patterns (most travel conducted on M class fare or lattitude pass and international paid J) the only times I need eupgrades are domestically or for personal travel. Effectively I both like (I basically have unlimited domestic upgrades and I can upgrade my mom / family members whenever they fly AC) and dislike (the credit earn to burn ratios don't feel like they make sense, but maybe they will in practice) the new program. How it works for me in practice will take a few months to determine, especially as part of my experience will be dependant on how other people utilize their eupgrades (e.g., if my domestic eastern transborder J is empty because all of the Elites are saving their credits for long-haul personal I'll be a happy man).

Cheers,

propensityscore

I have to say that I, too, have lost faith. I don't have as many travel plans this quarter as I have had in previous but here's what I've booked so far:

1) YYZ to Montreal next week on Via Rail instead of the Tango + that I'd normally opt for to rack up a few points.
2) YYZ to ORD mid-March: for the first time ever, looked at and booked Porter.
3) Have an upcoming trip to Narita and am looking at flying Singapore Air again as opposed to racking up those points towards my regular E or SE status. (Yes, I know that these are SA points, but I could just as easily book AC metal to help qualify for status.)
4) Have another trip from YYZ to YYC and where previously I'd book a revenue ticket for the miles, instead will be using points.

I'll probably book one flight on AC this year just to exhaust my e-upgrades (why waste 'em if I'll probably not have any again?), that is, if I can't find another use for them.

And so will end my 16-year relationship with SE or E tags.

Cheers,
PS

thyeri

You guys are being soooooooo dramatic with Aeroplan frequent flyer program.
I love it! ^

kevy_boy

For me the most interesting part, is that people are finding out that they can live without the perks (priority boarding, check-in, upgrades, etc...) that they previously thought/believed they needed.

A personal analogy for me is that I used to have a Blackberry. I couldn't live without it. Since I've moved 6 months ago, I have been without a Blackberry or any other kind of smartphone. And my life is the same. I realized I don't need. Sort of the same discovery others are making by flying other airlines.

RCyyz

becreative made some excellent points in reply to this. But I'll chime in with my personal experience.

Would I always fly AC regardless of price? Of course not. Would you? Would anyone? But in past if AC was more expensive, it wouldn't automatically disqualify them. In past years there was still personal value by paying more on AC; an SWU + Latitude fare would work quite well for me for example. A Z fare on a direct, non-stop AC flight would be preferable to a cheaper C fare on some other airline that requried a connection somewhere. Down the road (way down the road in my case), Lifetime Status beckoned and it was something that was worth shooting for.

I ended the years with wallpaper - mostly NAU & SWU and occasionally an SSWU or two. But I was OK with that. I flew an airline I liked, in a seat I wanted at times that were convenient. So here's the kicker - in my personal case if I repeated exactly my flying from 2010 in 2011, I would not be able to replicate the experience. Many of my 2011 flights would be in the back of the bus as I simply wouldn't have enough credits. AC kept insisting that this was an enhancement. I disagreed.

The new 2011 program works incredibly well for domestic and transborder flyers (particularly if they fly Latitude fares). For TPAC and TATL it doesn't work as well. I'm primarily a TPAC / TATL flyer so with the enhancements to the 2011 program, I need to look elsewhere. And that's exactly what I'm doing.

But while I'm looking elsewhere for TATL / TPAC, I may as well look elsewhere for domestic and transborder too. And that's exactly what I'm doing.

And yet, AC continues to insist that this is an enhancement. I am greatly puzzled by this.

Vaclav

+1 ^^^

mkjr

i only use a BB when in meetings and urgent issues can come up. otherwise, never turn it on. used it a grand total of 4 days since Oct. 2010.

as to AC, my trip to MIA next week will be on AA - even when AC was cheaper....well, by a tiny bit.