rankourabu

it was 120k for F before the devaluations of mid-2011.

yvr76

The decent enhancements to the program (elimination of 7 year expiry and 50% 1-way rewards) are available to all members. Waived/reduced change fees, elimination of 21 day restriction for cancellation etc. are not offered for even new Distinction Diamond members.

tyberius

Also these tier names are the worst things ever. What the hell is being graduated out of marketing departments these days.

D'diamond is like a name I'd expect to come in front of an NFL nose tackle's last name.

What kind of crackhead theme goes with a precious metal, a color which is a lack of any color, and then a precious stone.

Complete mixed metaphor. Stupid and confusing, and the "D" in front just doubles up on the stupid. I mean I expect to be enhanced up the butt every year by these jackasses but this just takes the cake.

sulfur

For 2013 so far...

On Altitude I have:
- just under 35k AQM (would've been 37.5k if I had min 500 mile perk)
- 75 AQS as of last Fri

I just managed to log into Aeroplan finally. It shows I'm actually dBlack with:
- 55k miles

I do not own any mileage credit cards, so the extras must be from partners & bonuses of some sort?

Either way my chance of reaching dDiamond is not high. So I'll be the SE with 150 AQS and dBlack in 2014.

Like I said, confusing as heck to me.

danapop

But how do you really feel? Kidding, of course. I agree with the names. I wonder if people with no status will be dBag perhaps?

tyberius

And watch how many of those 1 way rewards will be available, and pay attention to the scamcharge associated with them.

Considering how many people actually need to use them vs. book a nice long haul ticket I don't see it being a net positive for utility.

What it is, is a devaluation opportunity, with the sprinkles of sugar on it to make the medicine go down. Again.

The core utility of the program is in exchanging miles for two way tickets. This has become harder and harder as availability becomes less and less, the scamcharges go up and up, and the point requirements go up and up further.

Minor give backs (which they will simply claw back again in the future on future enhancements) are just cover for the core devaluation of the program.

Every time your earned miles are harder to exchange for tickets and require more cash to do so, they win, and you lose. You can take all of the minor stuff and hug it but the program is not about cancelling tickets. That's a convenience. The program is used to book and use tickets, that's core functionality and that got another limb sliced off today. Again.

tyberius

Well a bag is a catch all, so I would expect all tiers to be grouped into one global "dBag" status. Other customers use silly outdated terms for this like "customer."

So even if you are a dDiamond, you are still in their eyes, a valued dBag member.

tyberius

And for the record I am a dBlack dBag and I don't know how it happened.

sulfur

Ditto.

Rouge => Rogue
Altitude => Attitude
Distinction => Extinction (ok I'm stretching this one a tad bit... somebody gimme a better word that starts with a D)

alc

How about depression

tyberius

The loser in this divorce is going to be Aeroplan.

Primarily we are fliers.

If Air Canada Altitude goes into competition with Aeroplan on all levels, which one of the two is going to become redundant once you can't earn Aeroplan points on Air Canada and Star Alliance flights?

You'll have your Amex Altitude card and your Amex Aeroplan card.

Which one are you going to use?

There is a place in the market for Airmiles.ca and this is going to essentially make Aeroplan a copy of that program. Their primary advantage to this point has been the Air Canada / Star Alliance relationship.

But that's going to be gone.

I don't use Airmiles.ca but I recognize its place in the market and people who use it for what it is. That means to me I don't need a clone of that program. Flying is the crux for me.

SPG is not going to be listing Aeroplan as a partner for transferring miles. Hyatt eliminated them a couple of years ago and then InterContinental did. They will likely accept Altitude.

So in my opinion, the faster this divorce gets over with the better. Maybe even with full control over the program again, Air Canada can offer some benefits. Certainly both of them independently suck now. One can hope with some unity over the features that should never have been split apart (except for corporate greed) one decent FF program can arise from the ashes.

/takes a long drink of koolaid and waits

tyberius

And oddly enough 3 days ago I posted my first redemption flight to Miles & More on a LOT flight. I thought twice about it because of the 210,000 mile redemption in first class but I wanted to get access to Swiss scamfree inventory.

Certainly I will no longer credit flights to Aeroplan as status means crap all now, eUps I can't use, and now the miles are of questionable use due to scamcharges on 50% of the flights and no availability short of United on scamfree carriers.

Who knows, maybe at the end of the divorce Air Canada will join Miles & More. Maybe this is the future, one program for all of Star Alliance, with uniform rules and redemption.

Absolute

Hmm... I was going another way than sports, with that Double-D level.

flyquiet

Aw come on, the website has been down half a day. Give them a chance to process the clawbacks!

SAllen

Does anyone know if the increased mileage levels apply by any means to Europe - Australia, NZ, Asia, Africa flights? I can't seem to find anything on the website...