Yukonprince

I just came across an old Aeroplan email dated May 14, 2013 ...

The email said I became an Aeroplan member in 2005 (I think after Canadian Airlines folded) and earned 1,324,958 Aeroplan points since joining.

I figure less than 100,000 were earned through flying, 300,000 were from a deal I made with Air Canada for some old memorabilia I bought on E-Bay for $50 (thank you Charlie McKee) and the rest from buying PCs for where I worked on my own Visa card that I then expensing them back to the company I worked for (a negotiated "benefit" )....

I retired in 2010 (my wife was still working) and did three RTWs and a trip to Africa all in First Class and NZ/Perth in business. Lots of trips to Hawaii, Europe and within Canada/US in business class as well.

To this day I still pay everything with my CIBC Visa and hound CIBC each renewal date for bonus points. I am down to about 265,000 now. Likely use them for some business class tickets to Hawaii, San Francisco and visit friends in Whitehorse.

Not too many complaints about Aeroplan from me .....

rankourabu

No complaints from me either.
I've maybe credited maybe a handful of flights to Aeroplan over the years, and to date have spent around ~1,150,000 Aeroplan miles out of my personal account.
At close to zero acquisition cost, Aeroplan has been amazing over the years, even without 3 stop RTWs in F for 120,000 miles devalued ~eight years ago

Highlights of course include the J for Y price "promotion" and the longhaul for intraregion pricing "promotion" of 2014 (did HKG-GRU RT for 30,000 miles!)

Bohemian1

I just gotta ask about this:

Care to share any details? It sounds like a fascinating one-off.

YWG-RO

Sswu made for nice wallpaper back in 2013!

canadiancow

Any more so than they do now?

Yukonprince

This $50 purchase was worth 300,000 points !!Trans Canada Airlines - Memorabilia





TCA Brochures

• 1940 TCA Route Map 24 inches by 30 inches
• 1941 TCA Your Flight
  • 4 Pages of info on flight, stewardess, comfort, fountain pen trouble, sleeping, uncertain stomach, smoking etc
• 1946 TCA Airlines Map brochure
  • 32 pages maps, TCA vital statistics, growth, advantages of air travel and lots of photos
• 1948 TCA Fly to Canada, USA and Britain
  • 12 pages of info, maps, photos, North Star schematic and fares etc
• 1951 A bulletin from your captain
  • Fight details on speed, route, distance etc
• 1951 TCA Souvenir flight portfolio
  • Photos and facts about TCA
• 1952 Fly TCA to Europe
  • Cover letter, 8 page brochure, When work is done fly TCA brochure, Information Request Card
• 1952 TCA Horizons Brochure � Large format
  • 36 Pages history of TCA, facts, plus about 100 photos
• 1954 Your TCA Souvenir Flight Packet
  • Luggage labels, Winged facts about TCA brochure, Rent-a Car brochure, Bermuda brochure, Viscount Brochure, Super Constellation postcard, Comment Card, Maple Leaf Route Map
• 1954 � Winter is the time to fly
  • Six page TCA sales brochure
• 1954 Captain�s Bulletin
  • Signed by Captain, First Officer and Stewardess
• 1955 TCA Air Route Maps (2)
  • 28 pages of Maps, photos and info
• 1955 Facts about flying
  • 24 Pages preflight preparations, cockpit check, meteorology once aloft etc
• 1956 Fly together and save on TCA�s Trans Atlantic Family Fare Plan
  • $2,167 First Class for a family of four
• 1956 Fly TCA the most direct route to Europe
  • 12 pages Maps, photos and info
• 1957 Winged facts about TCA
  • Facts about the fleet, telephone reservations, TCA flying record and cargo services
• 1962 TCA When a lady travels � 24 pages
  • What and what not to take and how to pack
  • Travel tips etc

TCA Time Tables

• April 1939 (2)
• June 1941
• June 1943
• September 1943
• February 1945
• June 1948
• July 1963

TCA Airline Tickets

• 1942 Ticket Winnipeg � Toronto
• 1945 Ticket Tacoma - Vancouver
• 1946 Ticket Edmonton � Grand Falls
• 1955 Boarding passes (3)
• 1957 Ticket Toronto � Montreal
• 1960 � Ticket Hamilton � Montreal
• 1961 � Ticket Vancouver - Edmonton

TCA Luggage Labels

• 1952 Bermuda Services (2)
• 1952 Trans Atlantic Services
• 1952 Gold
• 1952 Silver (2)

En Route Magazine

• 1958 In Flight Vol 1, No 1 FIRST ISSUE
  • Belgium and Switzerland, Super Constellation �4 classes of service� across the Atlantic, Fly now pay later, maps and flight facts
• 1964 In Flight February issue
  • Lourdes, Ladies of the airlines, Sample trans Atlantic fares, New Toronto terminal
• 1965 January issue
  • Barbados, fishing in Europe, Bermuda Golf, Holiday on Skis and flight facts

Employee Newsletters

• 1961 January Between Ourselves
  • 20 pages official opening of Dorval, official opening of Edmonton, Place Ville Marie project update, tribute to C D Howe and lots of photos

Magazine Articles About TCA

• 1936 August - Macleans
  • Wings for tomorrow article mapping out the trans Canada route including fuelling stops in such places as Narina, Scotia Junction and Megantic
• 1937 June - Macleans
  • Creation of Trans Canada Airlines
  • Vancouver � Halifax in 23 hours at 200 MPH and at a cost of 6 cents a mile
• 1938 Canada Official Handbook
  • Facts and figures on TCA
• 1939May � Aviation Magazine
  • Salute to Trans Canada Airlines
• 1946 Canada Official Handbook
  • Facts and figures on TCA

Official TCA First Flight Covers

• 1939 First Flight � Calgary to Toronto
• 1954 TCA Super Constellation � First flight Toronto to London
• 1960 TCA DC-8 Jetliner Service � First Flight across the Atlantic
• 1961 TCA DC-8 Jetliner Service - Inaugural Flight Montreal to Paris (2)
• 1966 Vancouver to London - Inaugural Non Stop
• 1966 Toronto � Frankfurt � Inaugural Non Stop
• 1968 Last Flight of Lockheed 10A -TCA from Montreal to Ottawa

Official TCA Post Cards

• 1951 TCA North Star over Toronto
• 1951 TCA North Star � Cabin View
• 1951 TCA North Star - Schematic
• 1956 TCA Viscount
• 1957 TCA Super Constellation (2)
• 1962 TCA DC-8

TCA Annual Reports

• 1948
• 1954
• 1956

Miscellaneous

• 1953 December 17 - 50th year of flight certificate
  • Certificate given to all passengers who flew TCA on 17/12/1955 signed by the captain
• 1954 Four page TCA Employment for Stewardess letter
  • Must be between 21 and 26, weigh between 100 and 130 pounds, single, graduate nurse etc � starting salary $234/month
• 1955 �Specially packed for TCA� State Express 555 metal cigarette package
• 1941 � 1960 About 20 loose leaf pages from magazines with TCA advertizing

Stranger

I might have some SWUs (no SSWU then, or maybe SSWUs) from 1999 or 2000? 2013 is like yesterday...

Shareholder

Recall when Yukonprince's "donation" was made to the AC archives and the "reward" was given to him.

The merger/takeover between AC and CP was 1999/2000.

Before the final absorption of CP into AC, such mileage/points accumulation/redemption breakdown statements could be obtained from both airline programs. They'd include miles/points (CP used points through each point was equivalent to an AC/flight mile) earned from flying their own metal, partner metal, hotels and car rentals, credit card earnings, other bonuses (promos and route). However, once CP points were merged into AE accounts it appears someone at AC or AE "wiped the tapes" and all details of CP accounts were lost. That's why when AC re-introduced its lifetime million mile (and x2, x3) program, it was unable to factor in CP metal flight mileage. (Or at least that's the story I was told by an AC exec.). AC did have an informal lifetime/million miler program prior to the merger but it was suspended until the current one was introduced.

yyznomad

I think most people just (reasonably?) assume that people just throw them away during or after the end of the benefit year.

Bohemian1

Interesting.

I always thought that the reason AC didn't account for my previous mileage on CP (probably about 300K miles) was simply out of meanness.

I frequently tell those prone to conspiracy theories to never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence. I guess I should practice what I preach.

Stranger

Agreed with the latter part. However meanness is not the same thing as incompetence. :-)

This said, I would argue that it was not meanness, only reason. Why should flying CP be rewarded as loyalty to AC? I was flying AC before the merger, and I fell it's only proper that my miles counted. :-)

BTW I don't believe in the fairy tale about tapes being accidentally deleted either...

canadiancow

I heard a very different story about CP MM miles, but I can't remember where I heard it, so I'm reluctant to post it.

yyznomad

just post it with a disclaimer
just for bits and biggles

canadiancow

Disclaimer: I heard this somewhere, don't remember where. I don't know if it's true, and I have nothing more I can add than this short statement.

I heard that they made very individual decisions about specific passengers on whether to count CP miles for MM, basically based on whether they liked you.

hazcaddy

CP points were redeemable on American Airlines so as soon as the AC takeover of CP was announced, my wife and I burned up our points on travel with CP and AA. What I lost to the tape-erasing fairy was fairly minimal.

Got an e-mail from Aeroplan last month congratulating me on 20 years of AE membership with all the stats related to that.