Cam

Reaching another 10K plateau, I received two upgrade coupons a couple of days ago from AC that will expire in less than two months. When I queried AC I got the following answer:

QUOTE:As you may know, the upgrade certificates are a benefit/advantage of
being a current Super Elite member. Since the 2001 benefit period ends on February 28, 2002, all benefits pertaining/issued in conjunction with this status, such as the upgrades, must be used by the end of the benefit year. Since you received the upgrades certificates in conjunction with the 2001 Super Elite Threshold bonus offer whereby you are eligible for two complimentary upgrades for every 10,000 qualifying miles flown in 2001 (January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2001), these must be used by February 28, 2002.

We trust this information is helpful, and we look forward to serving you again. On behalf of Air Canada, we wish you and your family a
happy holiday season. UNQUOTE

I guess this makes sense (kind of) but have to wonder if this is common practice amongst that major carriers.

Any opinions from y'all out there?

Andrew Yiu

We talked about this many times lately...

Cam

Oops! Sorry - I'll go back a few days and pick up the gist of what was said.

Andrew Yiu

Basically, what we talked about is that we should be getting new ones starting in Jan or Feb based on past history. We still have 2.5 months to use the 2001 ones so i don't think it's unreasonable that they send us those. Most of us (at least I am) are just anxious to get the new ones because it'll tell us what the upgrade policies are for 2002.

AC*SE

In fairness, they front-end load us with 8 certs in Feb, so once March hits you aren't left high and dry.

Howard

Well, that may be fair for SE, but Elite's get just 4 North America upgrades in Feb, and it takes 2 upgrades each way for transcontinental flights. Thus, after one round trip, all 4 upgrades are gone. If we earn an upgrade in November, I think in fairness it should be valid well into the next year provided a member's status doesn't change.

UA upgrades are valid for one year from the date of issue. Now that's fair.

Shareholder

As I posted elsewhere, if AC emulated the US carriers and began using electronic upgrade credits, we'd really be screwed. No way to keep track of our balances since their IT is the pits. No way to pass extras on to folks here at FT, or give to friends.

Now you can still use the Y2001 upgrades during January and February, and with a bit of travelling, this should get you to 5K or even 10K. By March and April, additional travel should put you over the 20K threshold and another 4 will be on the way.

Remember, March and April are often difficult months to confirm upgrades except at the gate because everyone suddenly has them again, and wants to use them. Also, there will be fewer seats up for grabs since AC has begun to downsize their front cabins.

By summer, Elites may be feeling the pinch, but there are always surplus upgrade certificates starting to float around that can be relied on. And by the time September rolls around, there are always a few Elites who have made early qualification for SE, which means they have a whole new set of upgrades, and likely lots of surplus Elite NAmerican ones to pass around.

It will be the certificates that come with the January statements towards the end of next month that could cause concern if they are Y2001 rather than the new Y2002 ones.