monsieurcumulus

Just received that email...

"Effective December 6, 2016, Aeroplan's flight reward fee structure for changes and refunds will be updated as per the below chart, replacing the previous flat fee of C$90 plus taxes per ticket:



What does this mean for members with flight rewards booked prior to December 6, 2016?

For any flight reward bookings made prior to December 6, 2016, the previous non-refundable fee of C$90 plus taxes applies. For members with Aeroplan diamond status, in the event that the new fee structure is more favourable, the lowest fee will be applied if the change or refund is made after December 6, 2016.

Flexibility at its best

You can still cancel or change your flight rewards up to 2 hours prior to departure. If it's 22 days before the scheduled departure, you can even get a refund and your miles will be reinstated in your account. At Aeroplan, we understand that plans can change so we offer our members the flexibility they need.

Get any seat. Fly for less.

With the choice between two flight reward options, Aeroplan members get access to any seat, at any time, on all Air Canada Flights and last year needed fewer miles to travel than they would have with other loyalty programs in Canada.1



1 Based on a comparison of 2015 Aeroplan Flight Reward bookings against actual market base fares and other leading financial institutions' proprietary travel rewards programs' terms and conditions. "

YOWgary

"updated".

pewpew

Well I'm glad I got out of that program earlier on...

segacs

Yet another "enhancement" to the program making it more expensive to use or redeem Aeropesos. So glad I got out just in the nick of time...

rankourabu

ouch .... CAD226 change fee for Ontarians....

Still CAD170 for SEs ... now thats funny.

Refunds within 22 days now up to a whopping CAD282.50 , and if its a roundtrip that needs to be changed, and then refunded - $395.50

YOWgary

So, since mini-RTWs only ever go in one direction, they're just $100... right?

rankourabu

CAD113 for changes up to the point of turnaround
CAD113 for changes after the point of turnaround
and
CAD172 if you need to cancel

CanadaDH

For those who are diamond, which is likely most of this board, I can see this change has being helpful in a few ways.

I often book my reward tickets at two one-way flights, booking the outbound when availability is first released, and the return later. With only a $30 cancellation fee, it makes it easier to book a few different outbound options on successive dates, increasing the odds that return seats will come available for the desired trip length, and then cancel the outbound options not needed.

Plumber

A friend, who is Diamond, has four AP flights next year that he needs to cancel. He was waiting to see if there was a schedule change before he cancelled (so he could cancel with no fees), but was willing to pay $90+tx per ticket ($406 inc. taxes).

This will save him $271...i am sure he is happy with the change. That is....until he needs to 'change' a future flight.

InstantElite

What are the easiest way to earn Aeroplan Diamond status ? I 2-3 times a year and I accumulate Amex MR points

24left

See this link

AEROPLAN STATUS

https://www3.aeroplan.com/status/ove..._M_Overview_EN

CanadaDH

Even changing a flight can be cheaper ($75 vs $90). It sucks that the fee is now charged per direction, but he'll be saving a bit if he is only changing one direction of the flight at a time. I've often changed my flights, switching to LH F two weeks before travel when availability opens up, where the outbound changes are being done at a different time from the return changes, so even in this case, the cost will be $75 x 2 instead of $90 x 2.

Based on my personal pattern of changes and cancellations, I should come out ahead with this fee change.

segacs

And the remainder of Aeroplan members, those without Diamond status, will further find this program devalued to nothing.

Most of us have switched to competitors. More people who may have at one point been able to become loyal status customers now won't stick with the program long enough to bother trying.

Aeroplan is flushing away its future business in the name of boosting short-term fee revenue. Typical short-sighted business model.

InstantElite

Why did they increase the fee to cancel online from $90 to $150 for regular Aeroplan members ? Did their costs for this operation increase so much ?

This is another incentive for me to accumulate points with flexible rewards programs such as Amex MR or SPG, so I that I can avoid being bound by the shenanigans of the crooks that operate Aeroplan

Jasper2009

These changes would be quite reasonable (or at least in line with many competitors) if the change fee were charged per ticket, not per direction.

And the fact that SEs need to pay any fees at all is a major downside compared to many other FFPs.