I have just booked reward tickets with AC. I mentioned these NavCan surcharges and Booking fees to the SE agent handling my request and he had just heard about these changes this morning. He was against these additional charges and encouraged everyone, particularly SE, E & P members, to write both AC customer solutions and Aeroplan to complain about these changes. He suggested that this might have an effect if enough of the top tier members responded. I have one SE and two E in my family and we will all write letters. I would hope that everyone will follow suit.

I think you guys are missing the big picture.

The point is to raise fees on "free" tickets until they match the cost of purchased tickets. Then they will be able to justify charging 25,000 (only 15,000 for short haul) points to purchase a regular ticket.

Very good Ken. AP still thinks these tickets are "free." The miles have been paid for already either directly(flights) or indirectly(Visa).

Ironic that they should announce a fuel surcharge on "free" award tickets at the same time as oil prices are starting to retreat and stabilize.

And notwithstanding the claim that they will review and adjust the fuel surcharge in the future, I wager that in our lifetimes, none of us will ever see the day that the "temporary" fuel surcharges disappear.

Unless of course the airline goes with them.

Aeroplan has to be inundated with a tidal wave of FF indignation. Write, fax, e-mail Aeroplan and give them heck. !

I'm going to sound defeatest here, but we'll probably see Aeroplan move more and more in the direction of "Air Miles" as a conventional crappy 'loyalty' marketing program not really tied to the actual business of flying.
The reason, of course, is that high yield travel is almost 'dead' in NA markets and it is for these travellers that the conventional aeroplan model is designed.
So, might as well 'milk' the points savers and accumulators, while collecting some cash from those of us who use the program in the most economically rational manner.
Trouble is, the airline industry is going to be defined by new blood not the old dinasours. Westjet, for sure, realizes that loyalty is gained by treating customers right, not by a complex and arcane 'loyalty program' that insults its best users the most.
My advice: If you have surplus points sloshing around in your account, spend em! and unless you have a practical business need and can quickly burn through the points you accumulate quickly, get a much cheaper visa card than Aerogold!

Very disappointing. You'd think that right now they would be trying to build public support.

Also, why is the fuel surcharge only being applied to flights within Canada? - bizarre, as indeed all fuel surcharges are. And with the website saying $25 "per flight" does this mean $100 on a 4 segment trip?

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Saturday nights should be spent with family.

And of course, this is yet another step in the long road to make Aeroplan a frequent shopper program, by making award flights all but unavailable, and by making the few available seats ever more expensive.

Toasters, anyone? I mentioned a long time ago that there would come a day when points for toasters might seem like a good deal. I'm guessing that others are beginning to think likewise.

Ken: I hate it when you are right. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Make that toaster a Braun.

Or at least get one that earns miles on a different airline.

I wonder how CIBC is going to react when some of us change cards to an RBC avion.

These fees also make one-way awards less attractive as well. Not only do you pay a mileage premium, you effectively pay double the booking fee as well.

Anyone notice that effective next January 1, the booking fee also applies to bookings made on line? I guess the computers will be demanding a raise.

And for the vast array of tickets that must be booked by phone due to the limitations of "North America and Canada's best airline website" there's simply no way to avoid fees. I suppose one could argue this is an incentive not to make the on-line award booking engines more capable.

And of course, along with the fact that the temporary surcharges will last forever, you can start to see just how bogus break "surcharges" out of the real cost of the tickets allows for some pretty slimy accounting.

Like I also said, shouldn't be long now before all flights are charged at $0.01 per mile, plus seat surcharge, plus meal surcharge, plus air surcharge, plus toilet paper surcharge, plus lighting surcharge, plus bin storage surcharge, plus, plus, plus.


Just think, Vancouver to Toronto for only $20.78, plus taxes and fees.

I agree that the best plan for us is to talk to the places we earn miles - VISA, primus, etc. They are paying good money to Aeroplan for the miles they distribute, and these miles have just become less valuable.

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Student from Ottawa/Toronto, Canada!