canadiancow

You're missing something, which has been discussed over and over in this thread

SE and 75K can create a 50K and 35K every year.

boomerfss

Yes they can and I am sure some do. I don't and none of my collegues do either. We take other benefits like double points.
And I would bet the premium credit cards add more false 50K's than status gifts.

escape4

Even if SEs could not create 50Ks, I would argue it will nonetheless increase the number of SEs.

Let's say everything was stable (no covid), and travel volume was stable, number of travellers stable. Then in any given year, the number of SEs is also constant because the number of new SEs exactly offsets the number of SEs who drop off.

But now with the credit card it will cut down on the number of those who drop off without affecting the number of those who will newly qualify.

The end result is more SEs.

boomerfss

I agree with what you are saying. I disagre that this will have a big impact. And I still think it pales in comparison to the false 50K's from premium credit cards. But we're entitled to differing opinions. Have a good day.

Bohemian1

"False 50K" - that's an interesting term.

I get it, but I doubt AC would agree with that perspective.

RZR

OMG !!
AC is really really really starting to @%&) me off !!!!

FlY2XS

It may be splitting hairs, and I haven't done the comp to recent Amex offerings, but when I did the analysis a while back, the Premium Cards are really more equivalent to 35k without the eUps, discount Preferred seats, MLL guest passes or Priority rewards. MLL, priority baggage, priority check in are all equivalent to 35k. One little exception that scratches 50k is international MLL access. Just quickly checking on the TD website, it doesnt list free baggage for Infinite Privilege that I could find which is interesting - I thought it had that. With status, never had to test it.
CC don't get the *G lounge access, or free guest access. Granted, the latter is really the only difference in the flying experience anyway between 35/50k in Canada if upgrades are already out of the picture. We ran into this with my wife and daughter. Had read T+C saying can bring a guest, but missed the "for a fee" part.

Bohemian1

Good point. Unlike 50K status, my CIBC VIP fine print states the following:

Like you, not something I've ever had to test.

PB53x11

But it isn't stable. That's the whole point. I'm sure there are lots of people like me for whom travel hasn't ramped back up - my first business trip will be in mid-June, and volume of trips thereafter will still be a lot lower than pre-covid. (I'll have more than normal paid personal trips, including a couple to Europe, but I'll still be short of SE.) I had resigned myself to 50k status next year, perhaps regaining SE for 2024. And it's not like there are a lot of new people hitting SE, are there? I'm sure there are some, but no where near those otherwise dropping off. I know a lot of people travelling less in 2022 than pre-covid. I don't know anyone who is travelling more. (Yes, I know it's anecdotal.)

Perhaps AC sees that the number of SEs (and 75k, etc.) are likely to otherwise drop significantly for 2023, and this is a response to that.

If everything was stable, then, sure, I agree. And I would think they wouldn't launch this promotion in that case.

c224488

Tbh, the premium cards offer even better perks than the 35K. 35K members can't access International MLL and don't get priority baggage. The premium cards are basically 50k status.

Only thing 35K members get on top of premium cardholders are eUpgrades and 2 checked bags (32kg each).

I'm strongly opposed to these wild benefits that credit card holders receive without even having to spend a dime with Air Canada directly.

canopus27

This is exactly what's grinding me. I did a TON of flying in April & May (flights almost every weekend and one TATL still to come) ... and I did that flying to take advantage of the double SQD promo. Which I appreciate ... but now it appears that instead I could have spent the exact same money buying next-year tickets ... and the points would count for this year (thus extending my status through 2023), but the SQD would count for next year (when I flew, and helping me earn 2024 status).

Personally I like the idea of making this promotion into a "banked year of current status", which you don't need to "consume" if you have already qualified for the status by normal means (meaning that for me and others actually flying, I would get a banked year of super elite out of the promotion). That doesn't address cow's concern about the MLL capacity issues, but would at least recognize the value of the ACTUAL flying that was already done.

At the very very least, AC should introduce something to the effect of an SQD rollover - recognizing those who really are flying this year.

FlY2XS

Well instead of arguing, how about we compromise and call it buying 42K status? I think it really falls down to what you consider the relative value of what you do or don't get. I think the stuff over 35k is meh, you think it is important. I only fly international every couple of years, so I have no idea what the impact to International MLL has been. To me the biggest difference is as 50k I can show up with my family of 6 and my Mum as a guest to all invade the lounge which I think is the greatest concern of folks here. Can't do that just with a CC. Thank goodness.
I think the priority award vs. companion pass are kind of comparable, again depending on your situation.
In favor of status, the missing eUps are still pretty important to everyone here and I think devalue the argument CC truly buys status, but still, all in $800 for a couple that is a minor investment for the perks you get despite what some call as overpriced.

FlY2XS

This was the thing that surprised me most regarding the various promotions over the past couple of years. I would have thought that a banked year even as an option instead of all of the other offerings would have actually promoted travel even given the constraints and rewarded those who fought through them. It would only have rewarded a small number of members, but they would have been the most dedicated to the brand. AKA showing the greatest commitment to a loyalty program.
EDIT: At the same time not diluting the benefits they actively earned.

mathemagic

I agree, in part. In addition to what you already listed, real status gives you a priority contact number and priority standby over non-status. In irrops or even just trying to call AC in general, these can make a big difference. Otherwise, I see the VIP CC as pseudo-50k (sure, 47k).

Oh, I forgot the brag tags...

But on the topic here, the CC makes a very nice supplement to status. In this case, making it way easier to maintain. It looks like with this promotion, AC is continuing to signal a shift to spend being most important to them.

Adam Smith

This thread, like some of the other recent promo threads, has gotten quite deep on whether AC has been creating too many new elites through this and other promos.

To try to keep this thread more focused on the promo itself, I've created a new thread for that discussion. I'm not going to move any existing posts from this thread, because some of them are entangled with comments that are on topic to this promo, and I don't have time for that laborious exercise tonight, but please continue any further discussion on that concept over in the new thread. I will note that if you want to reply to something from this thread in the new thread, there are two relatively simple ways to do that:

• Hit Multi Quote, go to the new thread, and hit Reply there. When it tells you you've selected posts from other threads and can include them if you want, do that.
• Hit Quote here, copy the text, then go to the new thread. When you hit Reply in that thread, paste the text you copied from here

Fair warning: I will be deleting any further posts in this thread that are broader comments about all the elites that are being created/maintained by this and other promos as opposed to discussion specific to this promo. I would ordinarily move them to the new thread, but I have too much work (the kind that actually pays me) to do over the next few days to do that (moving a post takes ~10x as much time as deleting it).

So please, use the new thread for that conversation.

Adam Smith
AC Forum Co-Moderator