Fed up with Altitude
 

Today was the day I finally reached my last straw with Air Canada and their new Altitude program.

I have been a loyal member with them for the last 10 years ever since I took a job that required more travel, but today I was shocked to find out that I have zero status with their airline.

Every year I fly between 35K-80K, although last year was a little light as my sister was in the final stages of her fight with cancer so I cancelled a few trips to stay home. Regardless, I still amassed 38K of Altitude-eligible miles.

Thinking I was at least going to get my Elite 35K status, I was shocked to find out that I had zero status with them today, which incidentally I found out when I checked in and they charged me for my checked luggage.

You see, unbeknownst to me, I only flew 6K miles on actual AC flights, all the rest were partner flights (Lufthansa and United). Apparently there is a 10K minimum that is required to achieve status. I am not sure if this is a new rule, or if for the past 10 years I had managed to exceed this amount without ever considering it. When booking a trip I just ask our corporate travel agent to book the lowest Star Alliance fare for the trip. I guess I have just been lucky.

Anyway, I was disappointed to hear there was nothing they would do to help correct the situation. Now I have vowed to never fly AC again (after my current trip).

I am looking to change to a new rewards program, does anyone have any suggestions. I am even willing to look at OneWorld now.

Sorry for the vent.

I'm assuming what you posted was accurate as I only fly on AC metal, but given that.

I'm not usually one to say this, but the rules to hit status are well published. If you don't hit the rules, too bad. Sorry...

As for your comment, if you fly domestically, you're stuck. If you fly to the US, maybe not. If you fly internationally, also maybe not. A lot more info needs to be provided before we as a FT community can help

PS welcome to FT.

PPS If you're flying on other airlines, it doesn't make sense for AC to pay for your benefits, just saying. :p

Welcome to FT.

Seems like you already barely flew AC :p

It's probably for the best, because this year, you'd need 50% of the miles (so 12.5k, 17.5k, 25k, 37.5k or 50k, for the different statuses) on AC metal.

10K AC metal annual flown mileage requirement has been around for almost 4 years now:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...AC+flown+miles

I doubt that Air Canada will miss you.

What's important to you in a frequent flyer program?

After years of AC-only, this year I have a lot more US travel than before, so it has made a lot more sense to pursue Oneworld status, as I end up on mainly AA/US metal.

The seating options are better - upgrades are easier to get both by stickers and by cash - but American provides zero domestic lounge access for even its top-tier passengers.

How do you not know what metal you're flying on? Also note if you're flying lowest *Alliance fare, Tango only credits 25% domestically and 50% transborder/international.

I empathise with your personal situation for last year, but the minimum metal requirement has been in place for several years now (and has gone up for 2015 to 50% for each status tier).

Take a look at this year's program (increased e-upgrade requirements, metal requirements and waived YQ (international only for SE) are the big changes. See if it makes sense for you.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BB10; Touch) AppleWebKit/537.35+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/10.2.1.3442 Mobile Safari/537.35+)

If you flew 6k AQM on AC, how did you not meet 4 AQS?

6K miles?

I get more AQMs flying to the Caribbeans once a year...

Honestly, I really believe the onus is on the flier to understand any program they are participating in. Sure, AC and other airlines can make it hard to understand...but almost anyone can surely understand the 'rules' if they read them.

"I didn't do my homework and this is the other guy's fault"

Seriously?

(Welcome to FT)

Also, best part/4 the TLDR:

Why not simply join the FFP of the airline you've been predominantly flying? UA or LH. Seems simple enough, right? You won't have to change your flight buying habits at all.
They'd be happy and appreciate your continued loyalty ... assuming you're worth more than you cost and are not easily replaced by the next passenger, of course.

Bolding by me, but this seems to the common trend here. People join the program, changes are made to the program, people don't keep abreast of the changes and then it suddenly become a life crisis. :rolleyes:

*THIS*

Why is a new thread is created every time someone decides to wake up or has the wool lifted from their eyes? :confused:

It sound like to me that you are not a FF with AC and don't deserve status. Since you mostly fly UA or LH, join their program, which will give you status with AC on your limited flights with AC.

Agree. It's like expired miles which take on greater value when suddenly lost due to account inactivity. If something is valued it deserves attention.

I will save this one :)

"If something is valued it deserves attention."

welcome to FT.. sorry mate, but you can also go to altitude website and check your progress. this shouldnt be a surprise.

so true AC does not care about most passengers. It assumes the taxpayer will always bail AC out.

:rolleyes::confused:

There's no problem with venting, but as you've seen in this thread there will be very little sympathy based on your statements.

The one that surprised me (okay, they all did) was the quote above. That you only found out you didn't have status when checking in.

Now, most of us have this confirmed by several milestones:

1. Religiously monitoring the Altitude website to ensure all our flights are posted, and re-verifying our current AQM/AQS
2. Watching diligently at EOY for the "Congrats, you're (re-)qualified for X status in 2015!"
3. Ensuring that we go in and select our privileges as soon as we're able, for next year
4. Waiting by the mailbox for our Elite packages to arrive
5. Putting tags on bags (perhaps not all) and ensuring our current Altitude card is in our wallet

Any of these missed steps usually raise alarm bells in our mind - but I'm surprised you didn't check into why you were missing your Elite card at check-in.

I find the lack of sympathy unsurprising, but the level to which FT regulars are willing to pile on to a new member is somewhat reflective of a high school clique mentality. There are a lot of people who are consumed by every twitch of their FF programs and who spend inordinate amounts of time and effort examining each word of the conditions of membership.

And there are many more who fly just as much, but are busy enough with their personal and professional lives that keeping breathlessly current with changing program rules is not a reasonable use of their waking hours. It wasn't these people, after all, who gamed the system to such an extent that the airlines have been forced to enhance the programs to their current levels.

So let's cut them some slack, shall we?

100000%

OP is not the only one on FT or this forum who doesn't know/wasn't aware/may not have the time to manage ALL the intricate details of the current state of FFPs, or Aeroplan specifically. Many others read but are actually reluctant to post for fear of appearing to not know stuff. And some days, I am one of them.

If something is valued it deserves attention.

Ya, OP made it sound like status was important to them...but ignored the requirements and just hoped.

I don't have sympathy for the OP at all.

I tend to agree.

However, there are just some loyalty programmes for which I have no time to spend, such as Hertz President club, fairmont platinum or delta gold or even CX Diamond. Therefore I have zero expectations, and don't get too agitated if benefits or points expire etc. I just can't be bothered learning all their "rules" as I am burdened enough keeping up with Aeroplan. I sleep and eat with AC more than most people stay at hotels. So it's important to me.

Yes. I paid attention the first time you wrote it. And quoted you.



Doesn't mean I'm not sympathetic to OPs vent.
Either he/she feels better now and perhaps knows what to do moving forward.

I too was very surprised that the OP: 1) Hadn't suspected that something was wrong when he didn't get his new Elite card in the post and 2) Did not know about the AC metal requirement though it had been in place for several years and 3) Didn't seem to get the contradiction of being so 'loyal' to Air Canada, but only actually flying with them for less than one-third of his flights.

That said, I've taken this is as a reminder that not all status fliers are as focused on tracking their AQMs, their renewal and following the annual rule changes to the programme.

When I first received 'status' it was with Canadian Airlines in the late 1990's and was completely unexpected and unplanned. I had flown a few trips across the pacific that year and got a status letter in the mail... I pretty much ignored it not knowing what it was, didn't get status the next year and it was another 6 years or so before I rediscovered status with AC... only then did I begin to really learn the ins and outs of a status programme.

To the OP, it is unfortunate that you had an unwelcome surprise at the airport, but the fact is that the changes to the Altitude programme are specifically designed to cut the benefits for travellers like you- those who give a relatively minimum spend on AC, but then cost AC in terms of eupgrades, lounge access etc. AFAIK, the changes in the Altitude programme are broadly in line with trends throughout the airline industry where the focus is now very much on rewarding those who actually spend the most money with the airline.

Next.

Really? I think it was people contributing near-zero revenue to the airline. For some people, that's only booking mileage run and mistake fares. For others, it means never flying that airline's metal, so their "home" airline pays for all the benefits, but receive almost no business.

This was the latter case. Whether or not you want to call this "gaming" the system, AC does not want to provide benefits to people who aren't profitable, which is very reasonable.

Forgive me, but respectfully, this is an internet board dedicated to figuring out the ins and outs of a FFP. 1) I don't see how we are piling on and 2) Of course there's a lack of sympathy...we're all FFP die hards. Whether or not we choose to play the game is one thing but...can we agree FlyerTalk is a board for diehards who know quite a bit about FFP's? (again, respectfully).

If the OP had complained to redflag something or other, i'm sure the response would have been different than FT. :)

Of course this is a site for FF program diehards. It's also a site for everybody else. There's no excuse for any of us acting in smug fashion, variously reacting with scorn and/or lack of sympathy when somebody less-versed in the intricacies of the system learns a hard lesson. Being a "diehard" does not give us license to be condescending or superior. That was my point.

Every single one of us started out as a complete newbie at one point and we have all made mistakes and suffered surprises. I myself have walked away from Aeroplan/Altitude/Whatever and am not current with the current terms & conditions. Like the OP, I no longer fly enough with AC to care.

I do not condone rude behavior, and I certainly try to be as polite as possible. I had one post about how I felt about the OP's case, in which case I have re-read just now. Please share with me how I was acting smug, reacting with scorn and/or lack of sympathy. I am genuinely curious, and I am certainly not being facetious.

We're talking about the same people. MRs, mistake fares, hidden city fares, Mexican hat dances, A3 Gold cards, cheap UA flights from SEA, BTV or BUF - there are (or more accurately, were) a thousand ways to play the system to your advantage. Websites like this one were perfect places for airline staff to lurk and let all the "smart" people boast about their exploits in one neat & tidy location, so that they may enhance the programs to prevent reoccurence.

I was most certainly not calling you out SAP, mine was a generalization about the overall tone of many of the responses to the OP, not yours specifically. All is good.

Fair point. Glad you feel that way at least about my opinions/posts. :) For me, FT can be an "interesting" place for people who are new....I've gone on many tirades with people who flame others, especially to those who are new. Let me know where my services are needed :D A great way to get flamed, ask for compensation about anything, and wow...it hits the fan. Not cool, but it happens a lot. Sigh. It's happened to me, and others. Not cool. Thumbs down. But hey, it's an internet board :)

So, with your way of thinking, if your car runs out of gas, it's the cars fault, because the driver did not look at the gauge?

perhaps you forgot Star Alliance, AC joined hoping that other airlines customers would fly with AC. So they would WIN more business than they would lose.

Also the OP did what AC was promoting flying the airlines in Star Alliance!

AC learned its value in the "Star Alliance", was minimal, and AC was the unfortunate wall flower, than nobody wanted to dance with.

Perhaps AC should be more forthcoming in its advertizing telling the customers Star Alliance is not important to AC, and benefits are going to be useless shortly :)

Trying to help the OP...
 

If you have kept your older statements from AC (you should be able to print off your 2014 results from the Altitude website), I would suggest that you apply for a status match/challenge with the airline that you actually intend to keep flying with.

There is a decent change that they will give you equivalent status and that way you are not starting from zero with another airline.

SAP you're one of the friendliest posters on this board, despite being intoxicated most of the time :p.

I remember when I first joined, I was hesitant to post because I had seen so many harsh posts towards newbies on the board. At the end of the day, it is just an Internet forum, and I don't judge any life's worth based on FF status :)