24left

Indeed. I saw the announcement earlier on the DL News Hub site. Some interesting wording here plus details. I am including the link because I'd like to have it as comparison when AC decides to do something and how they communicate it. https://news.delta.com/delta-extends...-future-travel

Other airlines had already decided to do this a month ago, with different extensions. But we are now in April. Q1 flying was affected for some. Q2 flying will be affected for everyone and no one knows what capacity or routes with AC will even be operating in Q3. There are many who are saying 2020 is done and recovery will start in 2021, others say 2022.

YWG-RO

Let’s hope that AC steps up and follows DL’s lead.

Current AC status until 2/28/22.

AQM / AQS / AQD accrual combined 2020 and 2021 for 2022 status.

capedreamer

United following Delta's move:

CanadianMike

What are people's thoughts - the more airlines that do this, the more pressure there will be on AC? Or nah because they're not AC's direct competitors in the Canadian market

marke190

When the big US airlines relaxed their change/cancellation policy at the beginning of March, AC seemed to follow suit pretty quickly so I don't think it'd be unrealistic to see a similar reaction in the near future (hopefully).

rankourabu

I dont think Delta is counting 2020 MQD for anything (just MQM) - and from the looks of it neither is United in terms of PQP earned in 2020?

YUL_Around_The_World

Will Air Canada follow suit? Delta just announced it the wording is : "The airline says whatever Delta Medallion status travelers earned for 2020 — including those gifted — will be automatically extended for the 2021 Medallion year, which ends January 31, 2022."

https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-...-elite-status/

It would be the logical thing to do for Air Canada as well.

24left

I thought these words say it clearly. I am sure someone at AC realizes this.

QUOTE:
.

• Customers can’t travel now
• They can’t redeem their points for travel
• They can’t earn with travel partners
• Many have lost their jobs

Loyalty programs will need their program members again soon. These are the people who can be incentivized to fill seats and rooms. They’re the ones who will either be chased away by a program which treats them poorly during this challenging time, or lured away by a program who treats them well."


Source: https://viewfromthewing.com/two-prog...avirus-crisis/

mapleg

I received an e mail from Accor with the theme that Loyalty is a 2 way street..which obviously it is. They credited me with some points and 1/2 the hotel stays I would normally need to reach the same level of status I did last year. Thought it was a reasonable gesture.

Transpacificflyer

Although I expect the airline to do the same, I don't believe that there is any pressure on Air Canada to make an announcement at this time since the air travel market is dead and the airline is not at risk of losing its FFs. With the travel restrictions expected to continue into the summer peak travel season, I fear the prediction of very reduced travel activity until Q1 2021 (at the earliest) is valid.

I have a supply of toiletry bags, slippers, pajamas, and kimonos from various airlines to imagine I am in the air and have status.

Adam Smith

Why? Who knows how long this will last. If it has a dramatic impact on flying for only, say, 3-4 months, is a full year's extension of status really needed? They could reduce the thresholds, offer a bunch of bonus promos for flying once travel has (somewhat) normalized, credit everyone a certain amount of AQx, etc.

They may well do a one-year extension, but there are a number of perfectly logical solutions; no one thing is the solution.

theBeachBoy

AC could do the same.
e.g. If restrictions are 3 months you reduce all thresholds by 25%

YEG USER

I can only speak for myself, but I sure hope that if they do anything they'll reduce thresholds instead of granting 1-year extensions (unless they do both).

Last year I was essentially grounded and started the year without status. So far in 2020 I'm almost near E35 and was on track for SE, so I'm currently at P25. I commute for work and about 1/2 of my travel is on my own dime. I'm hesitant to make any bookings at the moment because of AC's current policy of not refunding money when they cancel a flight, and I keep getting change notices on my future flights that I do have booked.

If AC comes out and announces that they're only going to grant status extensions, I'll have to reconsider my flying patterns. I might shift a significant portion of my travel to WS (might be better to have mid-tier status on 2 different airlines than top on 1). Heck, if Flair survives I might even consider flying with them. At the start of they year they had their unlimited flight pass - IIRC $700 for 3 months, includes 1 free bag and some other items (IIRC you had to pay the surcharges/taxes/fees for each booking though), but if I decide to book solely on price they could become an option too.

I do hope that whatever they decide, that they'll announce sooner rather than later, so that I can make a more informed decision when my travel starts again...

IMHO, AC should be looking at status from not only the perspective of having people retain their status, but from having people gain status. Last year was an anomaly for me, but prior to that I'd been either SE or E75 for many years. I'm not going to pretend that I'm one of AC's high revenue fliers, but I'm also hardly a bottom feeder. For the past 15 years I'd typically book AC flights by default and hardly ever shop around. How AC handles this going forward will either ensure that I continue the same behaviour, or shift my purchasing patterns to fly others more frequently.

Adam Smith

Which is why they might want to reduce the thresholds or do bonuses once things get better. It's also possible they could do some combination, e.g. lower the thresholds, but also guarantee no one will drop more than 1 status, for instance. So if you were E35K last year but hoping to be SE this year, maybe you could still get there, rather than be stuck with another year of E35K.

I think that will depend on their data on how many people shift categories in a given year. If there's a really high rate of people retaining a status once they have it, a simple extension might make the most sense, even if it disadvantages some people like you (or gives an advantage to people who were going to drop categories). But if people bounce around the tiers a lot, something to do with reduced thresholds or bonuses might make more sense. Of course, only AC has the data that would be necessary to figure that out

172pilot

I would expect bonus promotions. I recall after the strike in the late 90’s they offered triple qualifying miles. I went to Europe in J and earned 36,000 miles. That was the first year I hit SE.