Did your case get resolved? I would have tried putting in a request for mileage credit.

Distinction - not that bad
 

Ok, there is a lot of bashing about Distinction - granted it is not elite FF program, but I do find value in the discounts on market fares.

I collect a lot of points on credit card usage and have "Diamond" but due to company policy can't collect FF points on air travel and therefore do not have status on AC.

One of the benefits of market fares is that there is no YQ - you actually just pay the airport improvement fees, the Canadian security fee and the GST on these two items. There is last minute availablity on market fares, no extraneous routings and with Diamond discount, the points required are often acceptable.

Recent example - had to book last minute flight for family emergency from YXH to YYJ. Able to find a wide selection of availability and the points were 32,000 with the discount (15,000 for regular award) but the taxes were only $35. If I had booked Air Canada lowest fare was $700. So, about 2 cents a point but no YQ.

To me that is worth the "diamond" which really doesn't cost me anything.

No YQ for North America. But I believe for international flights there is still YQ.

More discussion on the following thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...ket-fares.html

I do agreed that the whole dDiamond discount on Market Fares does work out sometimes for North America routes.

And they have those "Great Deals" flights like the one they have now to Europe
-> YYZ-LHR round trip for 27,600 AP, tax is ~$700
-> YYZ-FRA round tirp for 30,700 AP, tax is ~$650
-> YYZ-CDG round trip for 30,600 AP, tax is ~$600
-> YYZ-CPH round trip for 35750 AP, tax is ~$525

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...eat-deals.html

I assume the YYZ-LHR you quote above is for just plain Y seat?

If so, I just checked ac.com and there are Tango seats for $800 and change.
I don't see the advantage of paying 27,600 plus $700, unless there is something else that comes with the "Great deals" seat

About 2 cents a point, but you would have earned 1400 points for booking on your cc, and some points for flying a revenue ticket, so after all of that it starts to look a little worse.

Agreed

We typically use AP miles to fly YYZ-YHZ where our son is at university. Market fare rewards are usually available for any flight we want for around 35000 AP miles rather than the 25000 AP miles for classic rewards where you can usually only travel on late night or early morning flights AND you have to pay a lot more in scam charges. $73 for a round trip YYZ-YHZ plus some AP miles (of which I get more in a year than I use) is, for me, a good deal. I just priced out a round trip for Dec 12-15 at around $700 at the cheapest (no Tango fares left on Dec 15 YHZ-YYZ!!)

I also used the market value for Christmas flights to SJU from YOW via YYZ...with the Diamond discount it was cheaper than priority rewards, and the scam charges were only $28 bucks a ticket.

Worked out to about 2.2 cents per point - crappy compared to a J redemption for TATL, but I have tons of points so saving $1600 bucks was good.

QUESTION - the booking shows up as a Latitude fare:
- does that mean the meal is complimentary as if it was a purchased latitude fare ?

- any experience with e-upgrade ? Is is offered at check-in because it is a latitude fare, or is it blocked because it was "bought" via aeroplan ?

Very little availability of market fare for international flights.

[QUOTE=CSW;23761260]...due to company policy can't collect FF points on air travel and therefore do not have status on AC./QUOTE]

Perhaps you should find yourself another employer. Even civil servants are permitted their FF accounts/miles on government travel. How low can a company go in screwing an employee out of a rightful benefit available to any Canadian?!

[QUOTE=Shareholder;23765808]That strikes me as a remarkably petty policy. So a company with a policy like that simply doesn't allow an employee to enter a FF# on their itinerary when flying, the points go to waste, and that's it? WOW. I hope the company has other upsides... I don't think too many FTers would voluntarily remain in circumstances like that!

I heard that a large international furniture retailer has this policy.

[QUOTE=heraclitus;23766735]I find this not simply petty but impossible to enforce. You don't put a FF# on a reservation, then retro claim the points. Which is electronic these days anyway, so no need to modify or submit boarding passes.

What else is Diamond status good for? I might just hit it next few weeks.

3000 miles short of diamond, worth it to reach diamond? Any other benefits outside of change/cancellation fees?