ac777

Firstly, let me wish all of you a Very Happy Prosperous and more mileage New Year!L
I debated writing this but finally gave in.
I have been SE status every year since AC took over Canadian and I was top tier there for as long as the program existed. It was a very enjoyable time, more so since the Canadian program introduced the Concierge program.
By the time AC took over I had accumulated 950 k in the Canadian program. AC gave all the Canadian million miler their accumulated status miles and they got to maintain their MM status.
I asked AC bosses to give all of us the status miles but they refused but gave us all the collected miles.
Since then a lot of times have passed but in the last few years since I retired and since Covid hit my flying has been less. I have collected more than 2 MM status miles and if credited with what I had with Canadian I would have been over 3+ MM and S100K for life.
On reflection, IMHO I have seen the AP program deteriorate and it is no more the great FF program it was. Of all the things in the program I will miss is the concierge program and the people who run it. Even though I travel Business Class on international flights and can get, in theory, the concierge service I do not know if the service will be the same. Guess I will find out. And I am not chasing the 3MM. I could have spent 20 K on my AP CC and get 100k but chose to stick to Bonvoy instead! I will make the most of my lifetime 75K !!
Once again all the best for the New Year and the years to come.

Lloydbraun1976

I too didn’t start flying AC regularly until CP/CDN demise.

But only fiction the idea AC actually purchased the remnants as fig-covering for federal politicians few months before an election, so I for one had no expectations of MM carry-over.

@2.6mm would be well over 3mm by now but so what. Have 2 banked SE years & 3 years to retire I don’t expect to fall-out before hitting permanent.

wish you well on retirement & what if any are your travel goals?

capedreamer

I also failed to re-qualify after 8 years as SE (and 10 of the last 12). As a non-resident for whom AC is not always an option and without access to the generous status extension promotions offered to CC members, and someone who starting in January 2023 has been traveling exclusively on his own dime, the newly applicable $20k SQD requirement was just too difficult to reach. I ended the year with 101,409 SQMs and $18,291 SQDs. I considered a SQD-run in December to requalify but ultimately decided 'to what end?'. If my 'natural' travel patterns aren't sufficient to achieve SE (and I expect my flying to further decline in 2024 due to personal reasons), shelling out another $1,800 SQD to requalify just seemed like delaying the inevitable.

Perhaps I'll come to regret the decision, but at least for now, I'm at peace with it. I've gotten some real value out of the program (and especially SE status) over the past decade, including multiple opportunities to fly my parents to Europe and Asia in J. Seeing their beaming faces the first time they sat in one of the 'Project XM' 767 pods on our way to Italy (with the help of my points and credits when I was only 2 years out of university)... that's something I won't forget anytime soon!

cooleddie

Same here. But that just means I get to fly Delta and Air France KLM more!

s_yvr

Same for me, and having not been targetted with any CC promotion despite channeling a lot of spend on their black card, i plan to disengage from the program in the year ahead to see what happens. Moved all CC spending to a different card Jan 1, and will be trying other airlines.

5Miles

Happy New Year to all! That's great that you'll still be 75k, ac777. I'll have no status at all to begin 2024 after having been 50K for almost a decade. Wasn't able to fly enough in 2023 after a close family member developed health problems but thankfully they are improving. Also didn't get the CC spend offer to extend status. Hopefully flying will get up to speed enough to qualify again in 2025.

Enjoy your travels in 2024, everyone!

mimo123

I too lost my SE status. The $20K SQD requirement is so much harder as a non-resident living in the UK. I hope they one day bring the 50% exception!

Jebby_ca

I lost my SE status as well. It's been a good run, but my travel patterns have changed and I don't think I'll ever go back to flying as much as I did pre-2020.

I've been SE since 2009, with the exception for a few years in between. I'm going to miss the top tier benefits!

YVR4Ever

Add me to the list of former SE's. It was very nice while it lasted. I likely won't be able to requalify unless my flight pattern changes or the cost of domestic flights goes up a bunch.

allbrosca

Another one here. I remember before there was SE (I'm old!) I got a letter when I lost my Elite status thanking me for being Elite fror 12 consecutive years. The landing is a little harder this time. I have dropped to a lowly Elite 35K and have had an immediate eye opener. I got a notice of an equipment change for an AE booking in a week or so. 330 to a 321 so no lie flats (on an overnight flight!). I decided to phone in to see if I could do a change after I was unable to do one on line. Tried 3 times. Twice I got a message that it was too busy to connect me to an agent and the third time I got a message that I could not be connected to an agent due to "technical difficulties". I was able, however, to cancel my booking and book a new one. Lucky the points worked! I guess I was able to cancel without penalty because I booked it when I was SE100K. Not much prospect of getting to SE again since I am retiring this year. Probably flew more last year than I have in years, but didn't make it because I decided to burn points before they were devalued further. Went on points to Europe, South Africa and Australia.

run&fly

I've also lost SE status last year after more than a decade without interruption. I do miss the Concierge service and the "free" e-ups on long-hauls, but getting used to Zone 2 was not such a big deal! As MM I'll enjoy E50 for the rest of my life which is a nice perk, if I may say. Not chasing AC status anymore has given me the opportunity to try other airlines... PY service on AF is quite nice by the way.

billdokes

When/how were points recently devalued and what makes you expect they will be devalued any time soon?

montrealer

Also part of the no-longer-SE club. 1.76MM, SE past 9 years, including some 350k+ years (mainly long haul J, fortunately, but that also means a lot of miles on *A partners that don't count for MM)

Did qualify as 75K for 2024, we'll see how it feels like. Since I was 0-for-4 upgrading my spouse (nominee) in 2023 and even as an 100K-1MM 0-for-1 longhaul for myself (I usually fly paid-J longhaul) and just burned eUps for shorthaul in the last 3 months, it may not feel that meaningfully different.
I may stumble across the the 2MM finish line in the next few years. In the meanwhile, I still have 6 priority rewards, issued as an SE so valid for long-haul J, to use up this year.

I haven't tracked exactly when and how AP miles got devalued over time, but back in the late 200x's I spent miles on rewards like 75,000 J BATCAT Canada-India return, and 105K J mini-RTW. In 2023 I spent 45k for Canada-Caribbean return, and 218k per person J-class to Japan, as priority rewards, which is definitely a devaluation over those 15 years.

allbrosca

Dynamic pricing. Harder and harder to book flights at a decent redemption rate, especially to Europe, Africa and Asia. Used to be able to avoid it by booking partners, but dynamic pricing has been inrtoduced on some of them (EK) and I can only think that there will be more in the future. Also lack of partner availability. I doubt I will be able to get return J to Australia for 105K anymore, or South Africa for just under 100K.

u2hibby

I too have not re qualified for SE status after 10 long years. I made a booking last night and was shocked at the price to reserve a seat on the plane, wow. Never knew how much of a benefit that was!! Congrats to all those who have qualified.