cooleddie

To be honest, Air Canada never had you as a loyal customer in FY2012. You never even bothered flying more than FIVE flights with them? (You need 10,000 AQM or 5 AQS). Five flights is really, really easy to achieve.

Anyways you should give them a call and see if they can give you Prestige or something, but yeah... if you did not fly at least 5 flights from them, Air Canada earned hardly any money from you last year.

rankourabu

Careful now, this forum will tar and feather you for blasphemy

capebretonboy

Hear! Hear! Basic business practices of courtesy, service, going above and beyond, and rewarding loyalty seem to be lost on AC.

I hope OP appeals again and AC comes to their senses. Maybe they will see this thread?

iamaho

But this is in line with AC's policy of thinning the herd...
Air Canada: We're not happy till you're not happy!

Antonio8069

Welcome to how the other half of us live! My suggestion? Check out the MR forum! It's a very different slice of life! Other things of note:
- during the period of travel, all AC transborder service was T+ i.e. only your self to blame;
- United flights credit at 100 % towards AP status miles. Again, check out the other side1

ensco

That is a good rule, but a very poor exceptions policy. Anybody who says the OP isn't really a customer is missing the basic point, that last year was an aberration for this very good customer.

I fly in Canada only, and I'm stuck on AP. Sigh.

canolakid

Hotels do it right- they will comp status because it only costs them when you actually use their product. I like the AC paint minimums and would love to see them go higher to reward AC users vs the *G family members.

Neil791

This is another example of AC/AE not giving a damn about loyal customers, period! It is undeniable that the OP failed to meet the requirements set out by AC to either retain or achieve status for 2012 which he seems to accept; however what appears to be the main issue he's expressing is the fact that after 12 yrs of consecutive business where he flew in excess of 100k miles each year there is not a single ounce of interest in retaining that business.

Ignorance is no defense, but would it cripple AE to send out a reminder to those customers who might be in danger of falling off the status cliff? Does AC not want to be affiliated with a true loyalty program or just one which is most convenient for them when it comes to screwing the consumer? Threads on scam charges refer!

If you're achieving *G status on domestic travel (within Canada) it's going to be difficult to get away from AC, but if you're willing to go out on a limb and see what else is out there for both trans border and inter-cont travel there might be a few pleasant surprises waiting!

To date I've not credited a single mile to AE and will continue to let them whither away from my FF habits as they're not worth the plastic the cards are printed on!

acysb87

Nah, not in the mood to do so today

BlondeBomber

I wouldn't bother with the minions. I would talk to Rovinescu directly or Ben Smith (at least make sure they are copied). I know rules are rules but they should be interested in your business given your history . . .

Merlin666

What's the value of SE if you don't use AC - upgrades a virtually useless? Would make more sense to use the FF program of the airline the OP has actually been using to reap full benefits.

ffsim

What's the value of SE for OP? Recognition of years of loyalty. That's the value.

And what does it cost AC? Nothing, aside from 3 pieces of plastic.

ridefar

It is a business relationship. Not a dog or a best friend. Why does AC owe him anything. He has had at best a moderate annual spend (enough to fly about 50,000 miles in an average year on AC metal), and nothing at all last year on AC metal. Furthermore, if he had signed on even once to AE.com in the last 2 or 3 years, it would have been impossible to miss the qualifying criteria. AC owes him nothing.

ffsim

I've already agreed that AC owes him nothing. Your post is 100% factually correct.

Without speaking for others and fully recognizing that OP is solely responsible for missing the AC metal requirements, I feel AC's position in this particular case discourages OP's continued loyalty. It irks me when customer-facing employees tote the "company line" instead of doing the right thing. I'd have a serious talk with any one of my employees who would let a loyal customer of a dozen years walk, especially if that customer was in a position where he/she couldn't buy my products. I'd want to be top of mind so that customer buys my product next time it comes down to me or my competitor.

Spoddy

The OP dropped the ball, no doubt. However, wombat, did you fly ANY AC metal that year?

However, I agree with the sentiments that AC could at least extend an olive branch and give him a challenge to retain it. Fly those 10K and you'll get your SE100K back. If not, then there's your chance and it's been blown. Have fun climbing the ladder again.