The Beginning of a New Aeroplan; Aimia CEO steps down
Jul 20, 2018, 4:27 pm
#106
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYC / random hotel in YYZ
Programs: Back of the bus
Posts: 922
As long as they are significantly better than Airmiles redemption wise, people will have a reason to stick with them.
We have booked flights to jamaica, switzerland, napa, and all around in Y with no issues as long as we were willing to be flexible +/- a day or two on dates, and book reasonably in advance. We've also had no issues booking in J when we had enough notice or flexibility.
The power in the program will be whether the rate of collection is better than other cards, and then whether or not availability is the same or better than current. If it's better over multiple airlines at the same rates it's a win.
One area they can't compete on is package deals. We use a PC mastercard for groceries and other charges, and PC did a cobranded deal with the old "Itravel 2000". We did a winter package deal for 2 adults, 2 kids to cuba.... $2800 (a steal)... and got an extra $200 in pc points kicked back out of the agencies commission.... can't really beat those deals, especially when you're already getting a steal of a deal anyway.
We have booked flights to jamaica, switzerland, napa, and all around in Y with no issues as long as we were willing to be flexible +/- a day or two on dates, and book reasonably in advance. We've also had no issues booking in J when we had enough notice or flexibility.
The power in the program will be whether the rate of collection is better than other cards, and then whether or not availability is the same or better than current. If it's better over multiple airlines at the same rates it's a win.
One area they can't compete on is package deals. We use a PC mastercard for groceries and other charges, and PC did a cobranded deal with the old "Itravel 2000". We did a winter package deal for 2 adults, 2 kids to cuba.... $2800 (a steal)... and got an extra $200 in pc points kicked back out of the agencies commission.... can't really beat those deals, especially when you're already getting a steal of a deal anyway.
Jul 20, 2018, 4:29 pm
#107
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Mississauga Ontario
Posts: 4,105
The transfer-to-other-airlines thing is probably just Points.Com, which anyone with half a brain offers TERRIBLE redemption value.
I view this as a "Hail Mary Pass Attempt" in desperation, and will redouble my efforts to ensure all points of myself and MrsITAG are gone before the switch.
Aeroplan is dying. It's going to be prolonged and painful and then sudden. They have nothing else up their sleeve.
I view this as a "Hail Mary Pass Attempt" in desperation, and will redouble my efforts to ensure all points of myself and MrsITAG are gone before the switch.
Aeroplan is dying. It's going to be prolonged and painful and then sudden. They have nothing else up their sleeve.
Jul 20, 2018, 5:28 pm
#108
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SFO/YYZ
Programs: AC 25K, AS MVP Gold, BA Bronze, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,469
I have to wonder if Aeroplan is going to put significant investment into IT overhaul with the transition. So many problems with the program stem from the broken website, routings not showing in the limited search, reservations not ticketing property with changes, inability to book anything except basic itineraries online, website goes down for maintenance three nights a week, not properly adding TTNs, etc. United definitely isn't perfect, but Aeroplan should take a page out of their book with respect to how searching for routings should work. I know Rabe stated that they're going to launch a new website and app, but if it's working on the same broken backend it's still going to be terrible.
Jul 21, 2018, 4:15 am
#109
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Mississauga Ontario
Posts: 4,105
DESTINA 2.0!!!
All we need is thumping music.
Jul 21, 2018, 11:36 am
#110
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: AC SE100K , 1MM, Hilton Diamond, KLM
Posts: 579
The transfer-to-other-airlines thing is probably just Points.Com, which anyone with half a brain offers TERRIBLE redemption value.
I view this as a "Hail Mary Pass Attempt" in desperation, and will redouble my efforts to ensure all points of myself and MrsITAG are gone before the switch.
Aeroplan is dying. It's going to be prolonged and painful and then sudden. They have nothing else up their sleeve.
I view this as a "Hail Mary Pass Attempt" in desperation, and will redouble my efforts to ensure all points of myself and MrsITAG are gone before the switch.
Aeroplan is dying. It's going to be prolonged and painful and then sudden. They have nothing else up their sleeve.
Air Canada may no longer extend that same discount when they have their own Altitude program running. The most interesting thing is what will air Canada do for their frequent flyers as well as co-branded credit card.
With air miles WEST JET is always the first choice when trying to book.
Air Miles will not give up that connection.
Last edited by traacs; Jul 21, 2018 at 11:44 am
Jul 21, 2018, 5:17 pm
#111
Join Date: Oct 2006
Programs: Aeroplan E75K
Posts: 49
"Aeroplan is also introducing greater flexibility through the introduction of a unique points transfer program with Kaligo Solutions in July 2020." (Kaligo is used when transferring points from AMEX to airlines).
Jul 21, 2018, 6:03 pm
#112
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: USA
Programs: AC SE100K, F9 100k, NK Gold, UA *S, Hyatt Glob, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 5,195
reading between the lines, my take on this is they know routes such as, say, YYZ-YVR---will be impossible to redeem on, even in Y. So to avoid outrage Aeroplan says they will charter a flight.
i've looked into the charter thing. when are charters cheap? off peak hours & days when planes would otherwise sit.
So maybe on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month folks can travel on an Aeroplan leased rouge-like plane from Toronto to Vancouver. round trip redemption will be required. Leaving you the option of staying in Vancouver two hours, two weeks, or one month.
Good thing Canada never gets bad weather, and good thing nobody needs a connecting flight. for all the bad press AC gets, the vacation tour / charters manage to have worse recovery/irrops options.
i've looked into the charter thing. when are charters cheap? off peak hours & days when planes would otherwise sit.
So maybe on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month folks can travel on an Aeroplan leased rouge-like plane from Toronto to Vancouver. round trip redemption will be required. Leaving you the option of staying in Vancouver two hours, two weeks, or one month.
Good thing Canada never gets bad weather, and good thing nobody needs a connecting flight. for all the bad press AC gets, the vacation tour / charters manage to have worse recovery/irrops options.
Jul 22, 2018, 3:51 am
#113
Formerly known as newbie elite
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: YUL
Programs: IHG Diamond Ambassador, Accor Platinum, AC50K
Posts: 2,927
Video from Jeremy Rabe, CEO:
I can add personally, having spoken to Jeremy Rabe, that I think the overwhelming majority of Aeroplan customers will be just as well served, if not better served, by Aeroplan post-2020 as they are now.
I can add personally, having spoken to Jeremy Rabe, that I think the overwhelming majority of Aeroplan customers will be just as well served, if not better served, by Aeroplan post-2020 as they are now.
What I believe will happen is that the 5% mentioned in an other post (95% of AE will stay the same yada yada) that will get 'shafted' is probably the low-YQ long-haul/mini RTW J/F redeemers eg. a significant chunk of people here I believe. I put 'shafted' because I can see how they would shut that down given that everybody and their mother churns credit cards today and then wonder why everything gets devalued. I long for the days where most were happy with getting one J/F flight a year and staying under the radar. I believe those days are over.
Jul 22, 2018, 6:04 am
#114
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Vancouver
Programs: Aeroplan, Mileage Plus, WestJet Gold, AMEX Plat
Posts: 2,026
reading between the lines, my take on this is they know routes such as, say, YYZ-YVR---will be impossible to redeem on, even in Y. So to avoid outrage Aeroplan says they will charter a flight.
i've looked into the charter thing. when are charters cheap? off peak hours & days when planes would otherwise sit.
So maybe on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month folks can travel on an Aeroplan leased rouge-like plane from Toronto to Vancouver. round trip redemption will be required. Leaving you the option of staying in Vancouver two hours, two weeks, or one month.
Good thing Canada never gets bad weather, and good thing nobody needs a connecting flight. for all the bad press AC gets, the vacation tour / charters manage to have worse recovery/irrops options.
i've looked into the charter thing. when are charters cheap? off peak hours & days when planes would otherwise sit.
So maybe on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month folks can travel on an Aeroplan leased rouge-like plane from Toronto to Vancouver. round trip redemption will be required. Leaving you the option of staying in Vancouver two hours, two weeks, or one month.
Good thing Canada never gets bad weather, and good thing nobody needs a connecting flight. for all the bad press AC gets, the vacation tour / charters manage to have worse recovery/irrops options.
Jul 22, 2018, 9:06 am
#115
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: AC SE100K , 1MM, Hilton Diamond, KLM
Posts: 579
What options are available are charter operators, Enerjet, CanJet, AirNorth come to mind. They do oil patch charters and military charters. They some seasons fly for AirTransat etc. For all we know they may very well be less busy on weekends. They probably also need to ferry aircraft from time to time.
Jul 22, 2018, 7:18 pm
#117
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,341
Jul 22, 2018, 9:26 pm
#118
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: USA
Programs: AC SE100K, F9 100k, NK Gold, UA *S, Hyatt Glob, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 5,195
I'll bet some 60k redemptions now might cost 1MM+ in 2020
I often book my reward flights separate from my family members. I booked a one way for 60,000, and then asked my wife to book hers. She was at the last stage of checkout and the screen showed a cost just short 1,000,000 miles. (Very fortunate I noticed it before she finished entering payment for the taxes!!)
I'll be willing to keep an open mind. maybe. Depending on the answers to these ?s
1) how many planes will Aeroplan own in 2020 compared to AC?
2) If Aeroplan is so confident in their program, will they allow one time, free 1:1 eqivalent transfers from Aeroplan to Air Canada miles?
Jul 23, 2018, 7:59 am
#119
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: MEX/YVR/YYF
Programs: AS MVP/AC75K/AM Gold/UA*S/SPG-Marriott Lifetime Titanium/Accor-FPC Gold/HHDiamond/Hyatt Exp
Posts: 5,035
The key takeaway from that interview was that the new CEO has no clue that other airlines, even within Star Alliance itself, have more user-friendly booking platforms which makes redeeming easier.
I can think of award seats displaying and confirmable with LH, LX, EN, SN, OS, NH, AV, O6 and TK that are available for anyone to confirm - except for Aeroplan members.
As many of us FTers have suspected, someone is blocking those award seats and only now is Aeroplan committing to improving things. Too late in my books.
My concern now is the lack of details about new AC program before I move all earning over to another program after 25 years with the program.
I can think of award seats displaying and confirmable with LH, LX, EN, SN, OS, NH, AV, O6 and TK that are available for anyone to confirm - except for Aeroplan members.
As many of us FTers have suspected, someone is blocking those award seats and only now is Aeroplan committing to improving things. Too late in my books.
My concern now is the lack of details about new AC program before I move all earning over to another program after 25 years with the program.
Jul 23, 2018, 8:02 am
#120
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: AC SE100K , 1MM, Hilton Diamond, KLM
Posts: 579
Globe says investors still unclear about Aimia's plans
2018-07-23 07:40 ET - In the NewsThe Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that facing an existential threat posed by its closest partner, Aimia is reimagining Aeroplan, its once wildly popular loyalty rewards program. The Globe's Tim Kiladze writes that two months into a revamp led by a new chief executive officer, the company has announced changes to the program it dubs "a new Aeroplan." Notably, this week it took steps to reassure members who worried their points would be worth far less in the future. Coupled with the previous revelation that members will be able to redeem points on any airline, Aeroplan 2.0 is starting to sound enticing to members. The problem for investors, though, is that few financial details have been provided. Those specifics are what will make or break any rebound. Since its inception in 1984, Aeroplan has had a significant relationship with Air Canada. In May, 2017, Air Canada filed for divorce. Come 2020, when the current contract ends, Aeroplan would have to pay market prices for the same seats. Worse, the airline plans to launch its own loyalty program. The other major concern has been whether existing points would be worth less post-2020. As of this week, the answer appears to be no. © 2018 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.