Great! I'll be flyingYVR-YYZ-YVR in a couple of weeks, so I hope for the same. I wish that I could choose 'upgrade' and get the best available.

Dr. PITUK

I disagree that AC/*A lounges are always better than PP. Even in Canada, the food in YVR and YYZ is way better in the PP lounges. The crowding varies depending on time and airport.

Dr. PITUK

Any offers out there for former SEs (who are short in 2019) to buy up to SE for 20/21?

I have a colleague who has been SE for a really long time and only hit 85K this year. He is wirting to them but not sure when he will hear back.

Where do you even write to?

He wrote to his local Concierge office, who know him very well, and they gave him a contact email at Air Canada.

[email protected]

they reply QUICKLY to emails. (not a joke)

If your colleague gets an offer I'd really like to know what it is. 15K sounds pretty short so will be curious to see the value they place on it.

I can report back.

He is at 2.8MM and has been SE for so many consecutive years.

He is expecting AC to just grant him a one-time, no-charge exemption.

"Dear eastcoastcan,

Thank you for taking the time to write in.

I regret to inform you that we are not offering a promotion to purchase Super Elite 100K status at this time. We strive to maintain Super Elite 100K status as exclusive as possible, and we are unable to offer any promotions to purchase this level until full 2019 qualifications have been completed. That being said, we would like to invite you to stay tuned for future offers. If you are selected for a SE100K offer at a later time, you will be notified by email.

Thank you very much for your business. We truly appreciate your loyalty to Air Canada.

Best regards,
Air Canada Altitude"

Ohhh I forgot about the buy up. I wonder if that's why despite making it to the next tier I have been waiting to be picked up in a sweep since December - they've been waiting for me to accept their unnecessary offer!! :rolleyes:

"I used to be SE" seems like a strange reason to grant it.

They offer three published ways of maintaining SE without hitting the qualification requirements, so I'd be surprised if they do anything for him.

1. 3MM
2. Banked year
3. Baby

Just tell him to fly 200k more AQM :)

I agree with you...but he seems to differently...

I imagine it will be something like this...

I have been SE consistently for 22 years and went through a job change. I now direct our company's budget for flying, but I personally did less flying in 2019 while I adjusted to the role.

I expect my flying to get back to normal levels (ie >100K AQM) in 2020 and beyond.

Please grant me a one time exemption for SE for 2020/21.

Of course I really have no idea, but that is what I think would be said.

Thanks for the above - I reached out to them for a E75 to SE100 step up (which I think is unlikely, but worth a try) and received an auto-reply with a link to this site. May be useful to some of you going through the process :)

https://points-ebgt.s3.amazonaws.com...faq_en-CA.html

My flying dropped off suddenly in the second half of last year, and this is my first time on this site in eight months! In 2020 I think flight frequency will return to normal, but as a P25. Yikes. Can't stand the thought of P25. A few years ago I dropped to P25 and hated it, so after a few months did some segment runs to get me to 35K in a hurry. I didn't want to do that again this year, so when the offer of a buy-up arrived I decided to go for it. $779 plus tax. In December I considered a couple of YYJ-YVR-YLW runs, but did not have the time to go. The price would have been around $800, plus parking and so on, so by paying for 35K at least I get the same benefit for the same price, more or less, without the BIS.

Are the benefits really worth it? Time will tell. Since most of my segments are YYJ-YVR, and most of my miles are YYJ-YYZ in paid business, the upgrades don't matter (I didn't use any in 2019 anyway). I have no interest in lugging three suitcases to or from an airport. It really comes down to lounge access in YVR and YYZ, plus priority boarding when I have not paid for it.

Even I look at this and wonder about the sanity of my purchase. Considering only the financial aspect, it makes no sense. Maybe my brain is rusty after so much time away. Maybe it is a better deal than it seems to be.

Time will tell.

Hi DaveObee ! Nice to see you around here!

Status buy up is for the wallet of the beholder (and the beholder themself) to decide. :) What works for one may person not work for another person. If I were in your shoes, I would also do the buy up to E35K!