That’s your opinion, obviously, but Yes I expect after having already checked in that I don’t have to line up for half an hour in the special assistance line just to hand off pax to AC. The concierge could have at least tried to help with that.

This, btw, is AC’s scope of what The concierge service is about:
I can only imagine how the concierge I interacted with today would have reacted if I asked him to book my folks a restaurant. :)

Yes, based on over 750 flights on AC metal in the past 8 years, and numerous concierge interactions.

Given that "booking restaurants" is on the list while "escorting pax in wheelchairs" and "checking on pax in lounges" are not...

That being said, you'd be better off randomly picking something on Yelp or OpenTable that depending on most of these concierges for a restaurant, so I wouldn't advise trying that :p

Yes, I remember when you had first joined this forum. :) I know you are an experienced AC flyer.

I really hoped part of could potentially include the concierge at least make an effort to get the pax handed off to assistance agents faster.

Anyway, my main point was actually to not expect much if anything from concierge if only flying J and no status.

What I'm trying to say is that I don't think being SE would have changed this.

I had a concierge escort thru security at YYZ, I think the last time I was there. It was actually quite helpful as there was no priority line and she got me to the front. Still missed my flight but it was worth a shot. Not IRROPs, I just mixed up my flight time. YMMV of course.
​​​​​​@payam81, were your parents flying international?

[MENTION=117509]payam81[/MENTION], it's unfortunate to hear you and your parents had a lousy experience with the concierges at YYZ.

I did have the same question as [MENTION=155949]Nitehawk[/MENTION] about where your parents were flying and whether they were actually entitled to concierge access. You seem to know what you're talking about, so I'm assuming yes, but stranger things have happened on this board...

I think the biggest fundamental problem here is the long wait for the "special assistance". I would have thought there would be priority for J pax, regardless of concierge support. There's priority everywhere else - check-in, security, boarding, baggage (although the last is very hit-and-miss) - so why not for a wheelchair? Although I don't know whether AC promises anything on that front.

I will add that YYZ is largely useless for concierge service, in my experience. Even before COVID, I think there was some combination of (a) not enough staff, (b) poor staff (or possibly just poorly trained staff), (c) AC expecting them to do too many things, which led to consistently poor service. I have had lots of great experiences with concierges in YYC, YVR, and elsewhere. But I can't think of a single great experience at YYZ. Not even sure I can think of one I'd call "good". I've frequently had trouble getting them to help me with things that are closer to their core purpose than what you were looking for, and I'm with the cow that you may have been expecting too much.

But I do think you have a point that AC rarely seems to deliver, for non-SE pax, on what they talk about on the website. I had never heard of the concierge before I became SE, so I haven't had that experience myself, but my parents have flown international paid J dozens of times, and I'm not sure they've ever talked to a concierge. (I've gotten them concierge assistance a couple of times, but I think I've handled everything).

So I think it's fair to say that the experience on the ground usually doesn't live up to the expectation that's created for it, and I would encourage you to express that to AC. We know that they read and take seriously the comments submitted through the customer service web form, and if you were to send them your views that way, it might help create change. (You might also get a 10% off code or something as a goodwill gesture.) Not that your one experience will lead to a radical policy shift overnight, but if they start to get this feedback frequently, it's more likely to push them to either improve the service, or at least reduce the expectations.

The reason I say so is based on the reaction of the concierge. He asked if any travellers are SE. Not sure why that would have mattered, technically it shouldn’t have but it seems it might have, but I will never know for sure.

Hi Adam, they were flying paid J to DOH.

I actually asked 3 separate times if I’m doing the right thing joining the queue , from the J check in agent, the concierge and again at the Special Assistance line but somehow the flow of J priority is totally broken if Special Assistance is needed.

I might actually take your advice and reach out to AC just as a point of experience. I really don’t fault the actual concierge I spoke with yesterday, it seems like he was following whatever rules/regulation he thought was defined for him either officially or based on their own rulebook.

I have had some great experiences out of YYZ as SE in the past. Several times I managed to get to the airport after check in cut off and I would phone the office to have them print my BP and Luggage Tag which they would get to the plane in time. My best experience was at YYC though during a diverted flight accounts of which I documented somewhere here.

@payam81 hope your elderly folks were ok after going through the incident on AC58 (registration C-FGDT)?

Thank you for asking. I haven’t managed to speak to them, I believe they are just taxing at DOH right now. Was it mechanical or something else? AC’s website said maintenance related?

Edit: I just read the report of smoke/fire :(.

Yeap landed about 5 min ago in DOH. Last couple posts in following thread talks about the issue "Somewhat scary one near Winnipeg" - The AC Master Incidents Thread - FlyerTalk Forums

Unfortunately DOH does not have concierge service :(

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a33d970eca.jpg
Hard to disappointed in the service when you can get through.
I have given up after being on hold > 30 min three times in the last week. It's hard to say if there are really that many people using the service (judging by traffic in the offices when I wander by, I would say no) or A.C. has severely understaffed the department.
Either way it is quiet a disappointment and a devaluation to the advertised benefits.

Or there are a bunch of SEs who call for their daily half hour happy hour.

i had a similar experience waiting 25mins for concierge and then it just kicked over to SE desk.

Not really a "no thanks Concierge" but a "no thanks AC" as when I want to speak to Concierge for something only they can do, but get re-directed to the SE Line with limited abilities, it doesn't really help.