Jagboi

The what??

24left

Fly Once A Year To See Grandma

RCyyz

Thanks! ^ And yes, I'll still be here if I somehow (magically!) get hired. I'll just post more like @ACYYZ/SD does - useful tidbits but completely respectful of the company line.

Ha! Nope, not yet! But if it comes to it, can I use you as a character reference?

They didn't talk about this, but I certainly think it'd be kinda dumb to do fleet renewal and not do WiFi. One of the interesting comments from a manager was that AC connects people. Methinks onboard WiFi can only help do that.

As for flying AC post divorce, I'm with you. I left AC a few years back but it's obviously remained on my radar. If the Loyalty team is successful, it may be enough to reconsider and switch back to AC.

There's certainly a sense of expansion at AC. The Loyalty team has (recently?) settled on upper management. I think the Managing Directors, VPs etc are all in place now. Tonight's event was really looking to the level below that but clearly, they won't be stopping there. I would anticipate at least one more round of hiring after they've processed the attendees of tonight's event.


They actually touched on this. They said the AC cost structure was out of whack and made it hard to price compete with WS and convince the front line staff to keep on smiling at the same time. But now that things have settled, I think (upper) management is really focused on running the company and becoming successful. I don't think AC can ever truly be successful unless they become more customer focused. Tonight's event seems to indicate that they're heading in the right direction.

Bonaventure

Thanks for sharing!

Was there anything (information, hints, b/w lines) provided that would contradict AC moving to an explicit miles/$ model post 2020, as has been rumoured?

ridefar

Yes I am on iOS.

They are definitely struggling. They fact that they don’t respond to feedback mkes it worse. Anyways it is really really bad and hasn’t changed all year. Hopefully they know that. If they actually think it is working well that would be an even bigger problem.

Meanwhile the DL app just eliminated check in. You just get a BP. Just sayin’

DNAwizard

Thank you OP for sharing this valuable information here ^

RCyyz

Nothing mentioned on this.

My impression is that they are considering many options. I wouldn't be surprised if the internal discussion is about moving beyond tiers and points, even though those are somewhat central parts to a standard airline program. Obviously they'll need some way to distinguish at minimum *A Gold from the plebes.

But there was talk of making the program an experience and making it obvious where and how to use miles. I do think there's perhaps a little more focus right now on the Tangerine crowd - they mentioned for example "preferred seats" and "buying a beer onboard" with respect to mileage redemptions.

But the actual accumulation of miles was not discussed. There was acknwoledgement that many AE members have significant balances. I'm not sure AC is inclined to allow conversion of AE to Altitude, but they're likely tossing a few ideas around.

Bartolo

Adding my thanks, as well. Interesting info.

Confused by info in this post re redemption post-divorce (not inclined to allow conversion) and your first bullet point in the original post (re redemption).

24left

Interesting as DL has been doing this for a while. You can use your SkyMiles to buy a bottle of champagne in the Sky Club and one review I saw said given all the miles he had, he thought it was great fun to enjoy.

I can tell from the endless emails from a major cc provider, that they too have part of their objectives dedicated to "experiential" things - wine tasting events, dinners at restaurants, theatre etc.

I think whether it be beer for miles for the Tangerine pax or concert tickets, I would expect that AC not get sidetracked thinking everyone - Tangerine to Black - wants to use their miles for an enhanced version of toasters. People still want their miles to be used for trips.

Sopwith

This is interesting and encouraging, but totally disconnected from the historical AC culture and history. A few comments below.

Dumping Aeroplan is the best way to start. AE did exactly the opposite. A few months ago I sent an email to AC head office telling them that as an agent of AC, AE was hurting them and they'd have to take responsibility for AE's reprehensible treatment of their customers. I expect it went straight to the junk folder, but I'd like to think I played a tiny part in the decision to dump AE.

A worthy and necessary goal, but it will take a lot more than a decent rewards program. The culture of the whole organization needs to change from top to bottom. This will take a monumental effort over many years to accomplish. Most of the ground-based customer-facing staff will need re-education or in many cases replacement if they resist. They need to understand that if they want loyalty they need to treat customers as if they actually want their business. Right now the company only wants their money and the staff only want them to go away. Having said that, my experience has been that the on-board staff are generally much better.

Yah think? Each encounter with Aeroplan leaves me feeling angry and frustrated. If I actually book a flight I end up feeling like I've had an enema.

My advice is to dump AE completely, finally and now. Just get rid of the pestilence once and for all. There is no percentage in leaving it hanging around in an emasculated state.

Again, they need to look at the whole organization, not just the loyalty program.

Using Rouge and loyalty in the same sentence is an oxymoron.

I hope you're right, but again, they need some big picture thinking. There's no point in trying to create customer loyalty if they won't answer the phone when they call.

Time will tell...

Plumber

Thanks RCyyz for the great info...

I am in the once-bitten-twice-shy camp (actually given where I have seen SE go, I would say 8-times-bitten ).....meaning I will believe the positive changes when I see them.

The problem is that any 'Black Swan' event can happen between now and the 2020 launch that could change things dramatically.

RCyyz

People will still be able to redeem AE points for flights post 2020, but the # points required will change (presumably increase).

People (most likely) will not be able to convert x number of AE points to y number of Altitude points when the new program launches. AE and Altitude will continue to be completely separate programs.

I think what will eventually happen is that you'll be able to redeem say, YYZ-YUL for 25K AE points or for 15K Altitude points.

Stranger

Or more like 30k or 50k vs. 15.

Which for non-status may well be a realistic assessment of the respective values. Way too many AE miles around and for too cheap.

Bartolo

That’s what I thought you meant. Thanks for confirming. Good luck with job interview process — if it’s what you want.

Sopwith

You're making the assumption that AE will survive in something resembling its current form. I'm not so sure.