...and so are SE*MM's :p

...and I am quite happy to say that I do not know any of the concierges anywhere!! ^:D

...and so are SE 2MMs :p


I believe I've had SE for many more years than you have, but I could be wrong. The two that I know are from when I first met them in 2003.

So I had a very poor experience recently. I feel like Concierges try their best, but in many cases still have their hands tied behind their backs by rules / resource desk / etc.

I had an IRROPS on AC into a US city, where I was connecting onto a *A partner. The AC flight was delayed several hours due to mechanical issues, causing me to miss my cnx. They initially rebooked me onto the same flight the next day (only one flight per day) since it would be very tight connecting onto any other partner anyways. This, naturally, would require a hotel, which they said would be provided upon landing. Upon landing however the only hotel that was provided was an hour away by car (no mention of being reimbursed getting to/from this hotel) and upon negotiation concierge could not provide any assurance that AC would provide any reimbursement if I refused this hotel, got my own even within a 30 minute radius (all hotels seemed in the $500 range), and asked for reimbursement. Ultimately I found myself an alternative on another *A partner and asked the concierge to rebook me and arrived at the desk within minutes of check-in closing. (AC refused to rebook myself on LX despite knowing seats were available, claiming 'there was no space', or non *A whatsoever).

TLDR, I'm very unhappy that they tried to force me into a hotel at least an hour from the airport, without transportation, and then refused to reassure that they would reimburse me any amount if I chose to get a more reasonable hotel (we know AC likes to pay $100, despite the cheapest hotel being $500USD that night - this US city is notorious for this). On top of this I was not rebooked onto the next two most convenient options, LX and BA, despite knowing seats were still being sold, ostensibly because AC is cheap and didn't want to pull from high fare buckets. Was this how it should have happened to an SE on a 014 J ticket?

I had a good experience with AC concierge recently.

I was doing my mini-rtw YVR-NRT/HND-SYD-SIN-HKG-YVR. When I arrived NRT, walking towards immigration, I figured I left my MacBook onboard.

Right away I called the Canadian 1-800 concierge number, provided the details, was told to hold. When I was put on hold, NRT concierge called, said my MacBook was picked up, and asked me to proceed to immigration, and I'll be met at the baggage pickup.

Got another phone call while in line at the immigration, the concierge also picked up my luggage. The concierge stood and waited for me for 20 minutes, hand delivered my baggage and MacBook.

There is nothing more I can ask for, and I really appreciate the co-ordination and help from the AC concierges. I would not have made the trip without my MacBook.

You had good concierge service at NRT... "Because NRT". Period.

I would say LGA, a few YYZ, HND and HKG concierge I've met so far have been fantastic. Very attentive. Even got a box of chocolates at YYZ for our anniversary, and a special card. At HKG they had agents get our luggage and a cart, and when we requested greeting at the gate they were able to do so even with another arriving airline. I must say the service has been outstanding so far.

I've noticed that lately, a lot of my requests to the concierge have been met with "We're not really supposed to do that, but I can justify it, so I will."

Some of these are pretty minor requests, but some are quite significant. I don't want to go into details (can't risk getting anyone in trouble), but the most recent was due to an issue that AC caused, though sentiment here would echo what I expected, which is that I was not entitled to anything.

But they gave me everything I could have asked for.

I know there have been a lot of complaints in the past about concierges not having the power to do anything, but I've seen quite a lot of things happen lately that I don't think would have been possible two years ago.

I wonder if the introduction of AQD has changed some of their policies about spending money to fix problems for SEs.

. . . but not nearly quite as much as they would do 10 years ago!;)


But glad they are working for you now!

I don't know if the intro of AQD has really changed it. If for example you live in SF and only spend 10k and segments to qualify now with AQD, I would imagine that's about what you'd have to spend anyways from there had there been no AQD requirement, just to get the minimum AC segments. Or at least the monetary difference would not be overly large.

I'm curious as to what they would do 10 years ago, because lately, they've done everything I've asked, sometimes suggesting other things I hadn't even thought of.

If your "example" is supposed to be me, then yes, I live in SF. And yes, I qualified on segments. But I have no issue meeting the 20k AQD.

Three things immediately come to mind.

Well--as an SE, I could nearly always get upgraded by the concierge if there was space available (not asking for this now but they did it then if asked).

It was easy to get changes made without charge (earlier same day standby) even if the changing fare rules didn't allow.

I would regularly get walked onto the plane before boarding for over the ocean flights by some concierges that knew me.

Even now, I appreciate them and have had some go beyond what I would even consider necessary but they do seem a bit more constrained--sometimes appropriately and sometimes perhaps just more constrained.

You make it sound like this was a quasi regular occurrence with your assistance from concierges. I never got any charges or fees waived by concierges unless it was outright IROPS based. I think I got walked to the plane alongside a concierge once.

Clearly, it must've been due to your refined looks. :D

(We have never met so I have no clue what you look like :p )

About 2 years ago, one of the agents in YWG called my cell to let me know my original flight, YWG-YYZ, would be delayed for many many hours (at least 6 hours, if memory serves) due to snow condition. Proactively, he gave me a few options, one of which was to take a flight leaving in 20 min. I told him that I was nearby and would take me 5 min to the airport and I had no luggage.

In fact, I was in the new Marriott Courtyard by the airport, and had everything ready to go, and of course I got there in 5.

5 min later, he called my cell again asking me to meet him at his office behind the check-in counter. When I got there, he had already had my new ticket on hand, walking toward to me, I don't know how he recognized me from at least 5 meters away...
“You must be XXX"
"Yes, I am."
"Here is your ticket, we don't have much time." He never stopped walking, rushing me to the security, then basically escorted me through it.

It was so intense that I never even had a chance to thank him properly.

It was like a movie...

The Concierges at YWG try to make all SE's feel special from what I have seen. I am YWG based and they all are amazing at recognizing SE's as they come through. I don't often need any help but they make them selves aware of routings etc to make sure nothing is delayed or cancelled. I have received calls multiple times if flights are delayed to not hurry to the airport or information that I have been protected on another route. they are epitome of what I think the concierge service is supposed to be.
Friendly and helpful to SE's and notify and protect if there are any issues..