Distinction, Aeroplan's new member recognition program
 

Well I guess this gives something for everyone to talk about. Couldn't find any previous or current discussion on the topic so starting a thread on the topic.

Let's take a look at all the enhancements!

Press Release:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1191...lty-experience

Looks like they are removing the 7 year mileage cancellation policy as long as you have one transaction every 12 months.

I am confused though, is this Distinction program replacing Aeroplan?

1) Looks like the 7 year redemption didn't really last that long.
2) All Altitude members will be Distinction members, but not all Distinction members will be Altitude members.
3) Potential (gigantic) dilution of E/SE priority rewards.

Here's what I've noticed so far:

- 25 (dSilver), 50 (dBlack), 100k (dDiamond) levels (note: this seems to be all Aeroplan miles earned through the year, not just Air Canada flight miles - airline, travel, retail, financial card partners)
- If you have achieved the 25,50,100 so far this year you already have qualified for 2014 status
- Removal of 7 year mileage expiry
- 1 way rewards are now 1/2 of RT rewards in terms of mileage. However, business class redemptions have been enhanced, requiring 25k-30k more miles for Asia/Africa/Australia, and First Class redemptions are now 35-40k more for the same regions:

http://www3.aeroplan.com/whats_new/n...&cid=WEBUP3624

- "Distinction Flights" reserved for distinction members at Classic Flight Reward levels
- "Market Fare" flight rewards - will be replacing classic plus. All members have mileage discounts of 20%, Distinction members have mileage discounts of up to 50% (according to press release, though dDiamond says 35%). Will have access to all available seats on AC metal at mileage levels determined by fares at time of booking (read: sure you can get that YYZ-YVR flight for 300k, no problem!)
- Priority call centre
- Hotel bonus points
- Terms and conditions: http://distinction.aeroplan.com/asse...conditions.pdf


What else am I missing here?

Sounds like it is replacing "aeroplan". This I found funny:

[b] In addition to Aeroplan's ClassicFlight Rewards, which remain the most competitive in Canada [\b] is it not the only one in Canada!?!

Maybe, the executive team at Armina actually Listened? But that begs the questions, what "enhancements" will AC inevitably be announcing in the coming weeks? Based on the article, it sounds like aeroplan/distinction will still be partnered with AC (which I know a lot of people here were wanting AC to re-take over the FF program)

Needless to say, it's going to be an interesting few months.

Looks like they caught on to people booking F/J to get best value because of scamcharges...

You have written down that you're dBlack. The program hasn't even started...

LOL.

Should I be looking at booking a trip to Asia 1 in the next few weeks or months before the January 2014 date? I'll have some extra down time in July 2014.

I figure it's kind of hard to figure out where I'll want visit 1 year from now, and my friends don't have the leeway to ask for vacations so far in advance.

Looks likes an Aeroplan version of the old Prestige, Elite and Super Elite levels, perhaps to counteract the separation of Altitude from Aeroplan.


I cant help but wonder about them removing the 7 year limit - they must have found there was a significant lack of draw from the program from people who were accumulating miles for the trip of a lifetime over many years - who would be the same people making a point of purchasing from Aeroplan stores. Wonder how much damage this caused to their bottom line. I would certainly be furious if I had dumped abunch of points this year at a poor redemption value (as I almost did) to prevent them from expiring.

Really??

So now I will be Altitude SE100K and dDiamond??? What is the significance of this? Will dDiamond be recognized by *A members?

C'mon Air Canada. While it seems that the launch of Altitude may have been a first step in taking back control of your ff program, maybe you need to be acting faster and more aggressively on this.

It is getting more strange by the day....

Lol, tongue in cheek my friend. Immediate gratification of earning some bogus accomplishment I didn't even know about until dragging myself into the office at 7am this morning!

Thought it does show up on my Aeroplan profile. Counter and all. How many more miles do I need to go out and get today!?!?!

Distinction does not appear to be an "Elite Status" Frequent Flyer Program, rather Aeroplan's own Elite Status program that awards you on the miles you earn. Benefits are strictly limited to some bonus miles, discounted flight rewards, distinction flights and a couple of other items. No eUpgrades, no Star Alliance recognition, no lounge access etc like Air Canada Altitude.

I don't think #3 is going to be that bad, as an SE you will automatically be top tier on distinction which will probably have better priority rewards.

But if you're top tier in Distinction via CC spend? They will now have access to E/SE priority awards? How many of those are there?

Maybe I'm niive but I don't think that many people spend 75-100K a year on a CC...