blue2002

Oh, please, let's not get into the "unruly kids" discussion yet again (yeah, do a search, FT is littered with them). FWIW, the only time I ever had to summon cops at an airport was for an unruly ADULT passenger, not a kid. Anybody allergic to kids is welcome to fly GA. And, yes, if anybody wants to know, the guy spent the night in the holding cell at YYZ T3.

warrens

Yes, true, maybe they meant that. But that policy is already in effect and I think there's a general agreement that it's a step back for SE's and last-minute bookers.

yyzgigi

That's what I meant. When booking in advance it was nice when only SE and comfort and above fares had access to the preferred seating. On AC rouge there are just a handful and they go quickly.

zorn

Let's not fall down yet another travelling with children rabbit hole.

Lounge overcrowding (not just an AC problem) is because of the excess of adults in all the lounges - full stop.

InTheAirGuy

They're giving us something.

History tells us that means that they are about to take away something more.

yyzspan

Tried to pick a preferred seat at check-in as a 35K (flex fare), and it's charging me money for it (which it shouldn't according to this announcement), so I left the page without paying and then got an email my seat was changed but I need to see an agent to get my boarding pass updated.... Sometime you just wonder how AC IT test their system before it goes online

yvr76

In the FAQs for this announcement they have some examples of the SQM/SQS benefit with their sample SE flyers at 25K SQD. I don't think they'll take away, but increased SQD requirements aren't far off IMO.

I'll also throw out a guess though that once they add in more support for online booking award changes (eg priority rewards) they'll reduce /waive change fees for 50/75K

EdmFlyBoi

So then why allow children in the Cafe? There are lounge options for families and there was a lounge option for adults only (until now). While there are rude adults, I can�t recall the last time I saw an adult running around in the lounge or jumping on the chairs. It isn�t a rabbit hole at the all - based on the likes received on posts critical of this change, you�re clearly in the minority in terms of how you feel about this. I agree with the many posts that see this as a negative.

canadiancow

... no there wasn't

Kids can fly J.
Kids can have status.
And you were always allowed one guest in the Cafe. With no age restriction.

EdmFlyBoi

Whatever. 1 child and up to 5 are not the same thing.

Truckswain

The once change is the lower requalification is now a instant deposit of SQS and SQM.

I just reached 75k status and the email says to choose your benefits before Dec 2023. If I want to use the lower requalification benefit, and choose it now will the 5 SQS and 5,000 SQM roll into 2024 and count towards requalifying in 2024?

Adam Smith

With this being your first post, welcome to FT.

The change in this benefit only starts January 1, 2024, so it's not applicable to the situation you're describing.

Truckswain

Thank you!
Why did I think it was effective Dec 1? Clearly a seniors moment!

So, I guess the better question is, I choose the benefits for 75k now for the remainder of 2023 and then come January I get to select my 75k benefits again for 2024.

I have never been higher than 50k so have never faced this issue.

Adam Smith

There are well behaved children. And there are badly behaved adults. By weight of numbers, yes, adults are more responsible for lounge overcrowding than children, and yes, there are more badly behaved adults in lounges than badly behaved children.

However, the jerk talking too loudly on his conference call and other poorly behaved adults can often be shamed in to better behavior, and usually have a somewhat limited range of disruption (10 feet or so?). On the other hand, several of my recent YYZ DOM MLL visits have featured children running around shrieking, which could be heard more than halfway across the lounge. Weary parents are often disinclined to deal with said children, and tend to bristle at any remarks made about the behaviour of their little angels. So when children do behave badly, in my view, they tend to be much more disruptive than adults.

While children have been permitted into the Caf� up to now, the one-guest limitation seems to have kept their number fairly low. There are very few families out there with five kids, but it often only takes two to start causing a racket. And given how small a space the Caf� is, it won't take a lot of children to potentially have a big impact on the atmosphere. I don't think it's unreasonable for people to be unhappy at this change.

What an asinine thing to say. The cost of flying private is orders of magnitude beyond the cost of airline travel, even in J, and out of reach to all but a few ultra-wealthy people. And even they often don't want to spend the money - one Calgary billionaire is known to fly Y.

Correct.

RatherBeInYOW

No need to argue over children - anything that allows more people into the YYZ Cafe is a net negative. I've been in the Cafe what 4 weeks in a row now, and it has remained the one decent lounge in YYZ where I can get a seat, a drink and work quietly on my laptop. I'm not sure what the point of this "enhancement" is at all.