Because for all intents and purposes, this is no longer regularly do-able. It's like saying "oh, you can't fly business class for less than $3000 TPAC anymore". Well, that is true, except for the odd mistake fare. Come on.

This isn't what people want to hear, but the reason many people react so negatively to this change, is likely that AC is taking away some valuable benefits from them, and they can't get those benefits back in a different way. It's only when a benefit is removed, do people admit how valuable the benefit is.

Perhaps, for some and accurate point in respect to the SEs and 75Ks who will be demoted. I am most annoyed by the change to the MM qualification. The removal of the fare differentiation is a significant devaluation. It is the reason I would accept a higher airfare with AC. Now it's going to be the lowest airfare as key criteria once I meet the 50K status requirement. The MM status wasn't a benefit for me, but a future guarantee of service, a quasi benefit for when I will be traveling less with no status and will appreciate the Gold status for my flights. Now I have no attachment to the airline. It's not like I fly AC to experience its nasty catering and surly service.

I wonder though about whether this will hurt AC more than it helps because these are 'free samples' or gateway drugs. I know a lot of middle class people with good jobs (e.g. family income $250k-$400k) who barely know lounges exist and have never been in one. They fly maybe 3-4 times a year, a couple times for work and a couple times for vacation. They book Y, at best PY. It would never cross their minds to try to get airline status, get a premium credit card, etc. They know nothing about this world. But if you give them a lounge pass it's great marketing for AC. Sure, the MLL are pretty weak. But if you've never been in a lounge before, they seem great. I could imagine lounge passes serve as good marketing tools to draw these people into the AC ecosystem. They'll never hit high status levels but they fly enough and have enough disposable income that the profits AC gets from them have lots of room to grow.

A mistake AC made I think was not linking lounge passes to giftee Aeroplan member numbers. E.g. instead of sharing a QR code or printed piece of paper, I should have had to share it via an Aeroplan number. That would have let AC track how many of these guests end up converting into higher level customers, which is info AC must lack, and also put AC in a position to market to them.

One's perception of where one stands in the pecking order depends on where one lives, one's social circle, spending habits, and a variety of factors. But I'm sorry, in no way is a family making an income of $250-400K "middle class" in Canada. The most recent StatsCan data that I could quickly find was from 2023, but in that year, the top decile (i.e. top 10%) started at $289K on average across the country. In AB, $315K; in ON, $312K; in BC, $310K. So these people are firmly in the top 10-12% or so.

One can still feel pinched on any of level of income, and many people at higher levels of income/wealth feel like they're in a lower stratum of society than they actually are, often because they compare themselves to people they know who are even wealthier. Maybe these people you know live in neighbourhoods where most people are pulling down $750K-$1MM a year and feel "poor" as a result. But let's be realistic here. A family making $250-400K is firmly in the upper echelons of our society.

I don't dispute that people with high incomes and/or high levels of wealth can still be frugal when it comes to travel - I have seen the scion of a wealthy Calgary family who was worth hundreds of millions himself, if not billions, walk back to AC Y with his wife and kids. And the largest investor (at the time) of a company I used to work for, despite having a net worth rumoured to be around $4 billion, didn't own a jet (although he did fly J).

A few people here have said that, but Air Canada has not (yet). Have I missed the official written statement on that?

they�re now going to become a selectable benefit.. so you can choose eups or lounge passes or any of the other options.. but not both

I take the point and agree with it. As we know Flyertalk is an international forum, and although I was talking about people in Canada, my English is still largely informed by UK English, where the term 'middle class' has a somewhat different meaning than in Canadian English.

Yes, but that's instead of the "Select Benefits". There has been no written announcement about Core Benefits, which also include Lounge and Status Passes.

EDIT: Ah found it. Dunno if the wording has changed since the original, but it now says "However, they [Lounge Passes] will be obtained exclusively via Milestone Benefits for all Aeroplan Elite Status Members."

Still no word on other Core Benefits, eg. Status Passes.

Agree, and it would be beneficial to see the core benefits. Based on the Selectable benefits at the different thresholds, I am making an assumption that the core benefits are all travel related - seat selection, baggage, boarding, etc. Hoping I am wrong and waiting for AC to share like everyone else.

The one that I am waiting for is eUp nominees. The eUp rules were loosened for people on the same ticket as the eUp holder. If the number of nominees changes from 1 to 2 for SEs, the program will become substantially more useful for the way that our family uses it.

If the MB of status gifting is truly stackable ie I can gift 25k to one person, 35k to one person and 50k to one person when I reach 130 SQCs, that will also become a very valuable thing to our family, especially as my wife is a SE too.

This would be so ironic though, culling the ranks of low/mid status elites only to add them all back as friends and family of SEs

What colour lipstick is that?

Put the 'negatives' beside and see how long that list is...

I could easily be wrong, but I can�t see this being a meaningful demographic. *I* knew about lounges as a teenager with basically no flying experience and a solid middle class background. I just don�t see how anybody is flying even semi-regularly and doesn�t know about them.

What are you expecting here...truth in advertising? From an airline that every 3rd week runs a "Sale" where the sale fares are higher than you could have bought the day before?