SE 2005 Time to Speculate on the conditions and benefits
 

I am well on my way to re-earning SE status for 2005 but I am not a happy camper as it is so costly to get upgrades within Canada where the bulk of my business is.

I suspect the SE numbers will be way down for 2005 but will AC make any changes and adjustments? Many former SEs have opted for simply E status which I can understand. Others have defected to other airlines such as AA, or even UA (where at least one receives 100% mileage within Canada on lower fares where AC gives only 50% or no status mileage).


If AC does not improve SE upgrade benefits within Canada, I see little reason to keep flying with AP. It is imperative to see some changes now as they are considering the benefits for next year at this time. I bet the renewal threshold will once again be lowered. That is fine but the benefits have to improve significantly or it is simply of no value to those of who travel domestically and even to the US.

The mind set at AC has to change unless they want to loose a lot of very loyal customers who travel alot and are justified in getting more benefits than they do. Ugrades are the key benefit IMO. You can forget about everything else if necessary.

I have always been at the very top of the AC categories, even with CP for 2 yrs before it went under.

A disrungtled customer for many many years!

I made SE 2005 almost 2 months ago and things like being able to instant KK online has convinced me that benefit should be around for a while. Otherwise it'll be kind of stupid for them to spend so much $$ developing that to use it for only 8 months.

Empress, my complaint is over domestic upgrading, not KK. It is now extremely costly for one to get an U/G within Canada and the number of SSWUs is pittifully small given out. If AC gave away 3 SSWUs to SEs at renewal that would work for me at a minimum.

Loyalty should count and be rewared. It is not now!

The only way to renew SE status is to go for several long hauls to HK or wherever, not domestic hops!

But you've been complaining about that issue since it was annouced yet you still fly them this year, so how is AC going to know you weren't happy about it when all people say is 'if they don't change next year, I won't fly them' year after year?

The main benefits I have noticed, since becoming a SE this year, are instant KK, concierge access, and one week (rather than 4 days) upgrade window for discounted fares. All of these benefits are important to me - enough for me to try to get my status renewed for next year.

However, I do of course miss the other benefits, that SEs have lost over the years - which I am aware of, from reading the threads on this forum. One "missing" benefit is the smaller number of upgrade certs, for discounted economy fares. I do miss the Aeroplan award sale - although that benefit was there in past years for Es (and Ps?), as well. Of course, the benefit of the upgrade window available at the time of purchase of a ticket, even for discounted economy fares, is very enticing.

IMHO if more people dont write to RM to complain nothing will get better.
KK the plans for doing the computer changes, were way in advance of more recent thinking...

Write letter to RM send in complaints tell them what you want! If not the program next will be worse. IMHO

PS but I think AC is the only airline to give instant KK to SE??
Can someone confirm?

Several other programs do offer instant kk for premium miles (ie more than standard awards). This may work OK in the other programs if you are also getting more route bonuses/class of service bonsues etc than on AC . . .

100,000 miler -- I think you have to accept that the domestic and transborder crowd really don't matter to AP. AC is happy to take your $, and I would not be surprised if it changed for the transborder folks, but AC wants to concentrate on international. SE is typically not "for" us NA folks. Hence the reward for us for getting it tends to be smaller.

Now, speaking for myself, as Vasbyte and I commiserated about a week or so ago, I usually end up on high fares, so have no trouble upgrading the vast, vast majority of the time. Customers have an irritating habit of cancelling last minute if I book an L. So I have had nothing to really complain about this year as I've been able to upgrade whenever I've wanted, received some op-ups to boot, and used both the concierge and instant KK.

Having said that, it is clear for those of us who choose or have to fly on lower fares, that the benefits may just not be there for flying AC. But as Empress mentions, we can all speak with our wallets and become PE :D

Simon

KLM does as an unpublished benefit for Platinum Elites. They won't ever confirm it but thats how it works.

The instant KK is the key to me right now. I have used this on quite a few occassions and one just two weeks ago to bring my wife down to SEA on a moments notice. I have to write my letter to the SE desk though because the Avenue vs. Instant KK thing is really frustrating...

The flight pair I wanted originally (3 hours to flight time) was available through Avenue but not through Instant KK... since they are both revenue seating, why was I denied Instant KK? I did end up getting the ticket pairing for the next day but all in all, I was ticked... It would be better to just tell me there are no seats available at all and move on... (of course, me being me, I was logged into the AC web site where revenue seats were still being sold)...

B

Until the emerged from bankruptcy protection AC reveals to us what it actually will be, and given the consistent deminution of SE benefits, why strive for anything more than Elite unless one has someone else paying the bill for weekly transPacific flights? Instant KK is great, but that's about it for distinguishing benefits. And the more one uses that for travel, the less one is paying for revenue tickets, and the fewer status miles one earns. As some of us have discovered, there is more to life than SuperElite. I for one will wait to see if Steve Smith really does care about customers, and does something significant to renew the value of Aeroplan elite status, as distinct from the Aeromarketing that this program has turned into. If things look better next year, it can easily be rearned by mid-year and in that case can be held for 1-3/4s rather than a single year.

Sounds like a plan
 

That's exactly my plan. Instant KK has a huge value for me since there are four in our family. Using points, we all went down to Orlando for March break and will be in Hawaii at Xmas. I just got back from taking my Dad to Japan, also on points. Even with all that, and a reward trip to Italy this summer I'll still have enough points to do the rest of the year's flying 'for free'. I'm one trans-Atlantic away from Elite so I'll likely do that in the fall sometime.

If AC is still around and the benefits look ok for next year I'll do a couple of MRs in January/February to get a good start on earning SE in 2005. The only thing that would change that would be some serious promotions in the fall, which wouldn't be all that unlikely.

You should be so brave! :) I got a negative reputation point before it got shut down for telling the truth!

P.S. ...did I mention I got my e-mail 4-day U/G notification from CO on my upcoming YEG-IAH-AUS trip? :D ^ :D

Since the recent enforcement of the 24 booking/change window, making an Aeroplan trip "on a moments notice" is no longer an option. For me, this is a significant benefit devaluation and could be the last straw. My guess is that further devaluation of the program in 2005 is almost an absolute certainty. I'm sad to say this is probably my last year as an AC customer.