DNAwizard

I received the same email recently whereas for two other international paid J flights earlier this year, I had not. So it must be a recently implemented feature.

FlyingBehr

Does anyone know if you are on a partner ticket (ie, not 014), on an codeshare flight, but the flight is operated by AC and it's paid J, do you get access to the Signature Suite?

D582

Yes.

canadiancow

Yes. I flew on a 016 ticket, UA marketed flight recently, and was allowed in.

FlyingBehr

Great to know. Thank you!

YEG_SE4Life

AC does many things to show me that they value my business. I don't feel like I am left out on anything. It's hard to say, if and when I make a trip off of the continent, I may pay for J and enjoy the Suite. Time will tell.

IluvSQ

How did you get in after an overseas flight? Access to Intl area is only with departing flight...????

threevic

My point that I was making, that was misconstrued by some, was constantly spending the money. Fliers who are year in and year our a SE, and have demonstrated a consistent loyalty. Super Elites are called the Top Tier members for a reason. Not sure SE's should be called top tier if there is a AC benefit that they are not entitled to. NOW, that said, I can appreciate that in an effort to cull the SE heard, an AQD AND 50% of miles flown was implemented, and as it should have been. AC should be rewarding travelers on their seats, not a member who only flew 20% on AC and the rest on other star alliance partners as an example. That said, if there is a member who has flow for 2 million miles on AC metal, or 1 million or 3 million, there should be a point where that has to count towards ALL the benefits that AC has to offer. Do you create another bracket (200 or 250k or higher) to recognize the ones who basically live on the airplanes and airports? Which I think isn't a bad idea (I know there will be some snarky comments on this) or do you say that 1, 2, or 3 MM get the absolute top privileges. I would say it is up to air canada to figure out the economics of that, but my point is that to accumulate 3 million miles on AC it would cost anywhere between 600k-1 million bucks. SE, I agree is not the threshold, as you can hit SE one year and never again. That is not a consistently loyal member, but one who has flown 1 million?, 2 million? I strongly believe 3MM for sure should get it.

Say what you want. but as someone who board-line spends more time on the road, it would be nice to have an ambiance where there aren't screaming kids, and over crowed lounges, and I know I'm not alone. The lounge is my office or simply a place where I can unwind and recharge.

canadiancow

Huh? Flying J is a benefit you're not entitled to at all times, unless you pay for it.

Likewise, why would you expect to be always entitled to the business class lounge if you're not paying for it?

SE has very explicitly published benefits (and some unpublished benefits, such as meal priority).

J also has very explicitly published benefits.

Some of the J and SE benefits overlap, some do not.

I don't know why you think that an SE should be entitled to everything J offers (presumably except the seat itself? though you're not even clear on that point)

The issue with SE is that there's a VERY large difference in profitability between an SE who earns 50k AQD on 67k BIS miles, an SE who earns 20k AQD on 67k BIS miles, and an SE who earns 20k AQD on 250k BIS miles. These all exist, even among members of this forum.

Not to mention that MM does not have an AQD requirement, and can easily be bought for $50k if you're flexible on time. Yes, MM means you flew a lot of AC. It does not mean you were ever profitable.

lespoir

After Burner

I'll just make a random comment here. I'm SE. I'm MM (approaching 2MM). Only about 10% of my annual air travel spend goes to AC. So SE/MM really is not an indication of loyalty. Measured by spend, I'm 90% disloyal. Should I be rewarded for loyalty?

Diabeetus

You're still MM and nearly 2MM. So you're 90% disloyal, but still a big spender and big flyer overall.

AC cares only about your absolute loyalty and not your relative loyalty.

threevic

?? I'm not sure I follow. If you have flown 2MM (almost) that means your have flown nearly 2MM on air canada metal. which means you would have spent those dollars and time on AC. If I read you reply correctly, and 10% of you travel is on AC and you're nearly a 2MM that means you've traveled nearly 20MM?

Also, to qualify as a SE 50% of your travel (minimum) must be on AC, again, don't follow.

I know a guy who has traveled 1.7 million miles in 10 years on AC only, and they are a mix of long an short haul. I know what that revenue ads up to, AC makes money on him, he's high cost Flex fares or Latitude fares pretty much all the time. what do you say about that? THAT and travelers like that , which air canada has the ability to track is the ones im talking about when I say consistent loyalty

I also have a friend who travels 110k average per year and maybe does 20-22k AQD and we were talking about this and he suggested at his level of travel, that though he would love that privilege he could see that there would be far more "deserving" members to get it.

all economics aside, if the lounge is ment for business class travelers, then someone explain this, if I use my upgrade credits to get into J class, why does't it correlate to the equivalent lounge? I read all the arguments about "its just points" etc... but fact is you few enough miles for AC to determine that you would get the ability to use that cabin, so if it is cabin specific it should extend to everyone in the j class cabins on those aircrafts regardless of if was points or bid or whatever mean aircanada allowed you to get that seat.

I have had extensive conversations with high level management who have agreed with my points.

I think there is a way to reward those who are the most loyal and profitable of economy fliers. I look it like when 75k got created everyone at 81k miles was complaining that they were closer to SE than to E, so they created something for them, and to be fare, that was the right move, pretty sure anyone with a 75k badge can agree with me. All im saying is there has to be a way to do the same with high revenue economy fliers to bridge the gap in a similar way.

I could go on, but I am going to bow out as it seems my opinion is not welcome here.

regards

canadiancow

Huh?

For one or two years, you needed 50% of the requirement (i.e. 50% of 100k, or 50k AQM) to be on AC metal. This requirement was dropped when AQD was introduced.

Also, it was never "50% of your travel". It was always 50k AQM for SE. If you earned 1 million AQM per year, you still only needed 50k AQM on AC metal.

PB53x11

Your opinion is certainly welcome here. I agree with most of what you have to say - but it all needs to be reconciled with a space constraint, unfortunately. The suite can only accommodate a certain number of guests.

I say this as a SE who doesn't generally travel paid J but often e-ups.