capedreamer

I'm a bit of a hoarder by nature, but I've adopted a more churn-and-burn attitude since the split was announced. Nevertheless, I don't like knowing that there is a deadline by which I need to use up my miles, especially when there is no graceful way to transition to the new AC program.

skybluesea

Life’s too short to make choices of airlines on supposed loyalty - access policy to AC Signature Suite good reminder of AC very short term thinking.

fly what works best for schedule, service, dollars - count status as incidental benefit.

good luck in your decision as in long run, well you know the answer to that phrase

KenHamer

He he he... never having heard of Signature Suites I went looking for info. I was not surprised to find that the text describing who is NOT allowed in is about 5x longer than that describing who is:

And stay out!!!

SLAM!

BlondeBomber

I think I have written that I view them as a sort of liability. I do have trouble burning them. I mostly give them away to friends, family and charities I work with which also means I incur the costs of taxes/fees (hence the liability)(and yes I have occasionally used them for taxes and fees too). I appreciate the miles and status so I can be generous to others that need to use them but don't see them as anything particularly useful for most of my personal travel (short haul last minute high cost trips excepted).

I only fly when I need to and usually gets me to 100k (more or less) and $20k AQD (more or less). If I used Aeroplan for too much of my own travel, I wouldn't get SE.

I have "wasted" tens of thousands of miles on error bookings (my mistakes), flights that couldn't be taken due to civil strife in a country etc. It doesn't really bother me anymore as there always seem to be more miles where they came from.

I have the same concerns about accumulating miles whether with UA or AC (ie. there is always risk to both the longevity of the program and to how I might or might not be able to use my miles). My prime motivations now are convenience, cabin comfort and value (fly cheap in the front cabin whether through upgrades or reasonable F/J fares).

canolakid

For OP- I have never found cheapest fare + seat fee to be a bad deal for NA flights but everyone has their own metrics. Truth be told, this is how we fly the kids, not us...

As comfort and access to tools like seat assignment is important, then some level of AC status would help you get to that goal with your travel pattern- esp if you can use the outside of Canada 50% dollar waiver to meet *G status.

YXUFlyboy

I can see this if most of your travel is international and you want to take non-AC flights, but couldn't you easily burn these miles on a "market" fare J trip?

ttyl

Hi all,

I would like some friendly advice on where to credit my weekly flights between YUL & ORD. I am based off Montreal.
Since April, I've been travelling between YUL & ORD almost weekly. Depending on pricing and scheduling, I use both AC & UA metal.
However, I have been crediting all the traveling to my UA MP account. With a few MR to asia, I just achieved UA MP Gold (*A Gold).
I'm wondering if I should switch to my AC aeroplan and credit the short weekly flights between YUL & ORD, or should I continue with UA MP and try achieving higher status? I read somewhere that I can request a fast track with AC and get Altitude 50K with something like 18.5 PQM.
Most of my work flights will be transborder, but since YUL is my home airport, I will most probably be using AC for other travels.

Thanks for any the advice

Symmetre

It depends in part what you ultimately want to use those points for. UA has historically had lower fees and surcharges on redemptions, and has often had better availability than AC. Apart from that, I'd also continue crediting to UA to achieve higher status with one, rather than splitting and having lower status with two.

Points Poppa

Also depends on the fare price, since UA MP uses a revenue-based system. As the crow flies, it's about 1500 miles YUL-ORD roundtrip so with AE you'll get some derivative of points based on that distance. However, if you credit to UA MP, as a Gold member you will get 8x the fare price. Anything above $200 USD (1600 miles) will earn you more redeemable miles by crediting to United.

margarita girl

Stick with UA. I am regularly bailing out family members who can’t use their Aeroplan miles due to no availability or scam charges (can’t bear to see them getting ripped off like that).

Plus if you you can reach 1K, the treatment is outstanding!

I was SE for 7 yrs and have been 1K for the last 5 yrs. Zero regrets about moving to UA.

vernonc

Also if you try for AC SE you need $20K AQD. Since you are based in YUL, you do not have a AQD requirement on UA. Assuming this is still the case.

margarita girl

ttyl

Thanks all for the advices.
my intention was more for status benefits vs redemption miles. But as RT fares are more expensive than 200$, then UA MP would net more miles anyways

UA MP seems to be the way to go. But getting a status higher than UA MP gold will take a long time to reach unless I do some more MR to Asia.

david_oz

AhmedF

Aye.