MLL Pass - Missing Security Features
 

I received a MLL Pass from my request on http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511474 which did NOT have the following security features:

1) blue heat sensitive box in the lower right hand corner; or

2) four AC logo watermarks in the lower centre.

Is this MLL Pass valid or is it a forgery?

If it is valid, should I expect problems at the lounge (since the lounge staff will likely be expecting the security features)?

That is strange...they should have that strip on them. Did you contact the person who sent them to you first and ask them where they got them from? Maybe they got them through a trade or something?

I haven't contacted them yet...I didn't want to appear ungrateful if the pass is valid.

I would like to find out if anyone else has come across the same thing first and whether or not I should anticipate problems with the lounge staff.

If it is not valid, what should I do?

I think you ask them where they got it. If it is from AC, tell them what you suspect and go to the lounge with it.

If it is not valid then let the other party know and reverse the trade (if there was a trade), or if they just gifted them, let them know, maybe they got them from an untrustworthy source.

First, how many posts did the person you traded it with have? Do they post regularly on this forum?

Second, it is not a strip, but a small rectangular blue "box" right under the T&Cs.

However, it does not sound very legit, so perhaps you can post an answer to my first point so we can better advise you.

I don't want to "name and shame" as the person may have sent me the MLL pass without knowing that there is something wrong with it (or the pass may actually be valid). However, from the number of their posts, I don't think that they are a regular poster to this forum.

I have sent them a PM and requested information as to where they obtained the pass.

Does anyone know if AC would have issued 2005 MLL Passes without these features (e.g. possibly at the beginning of the print run)?

Does anyone have a MLL that is on thicker paper and has no French version on the back?

Perhaps AC ran out of passes and had to do some last minute printing/photocopying?

As far as I know, these passes have only been issued with elite kits and did not get circulated in any other fashion this past year. So while there may have been a second printing later in the year to fill kits for Instant Es and SEs, its unlikely the design or features would have changed mid-season.

BTW didn't suggest you actually post the person's username, just an indication as you have, of how much of a presence they may have on our forum.

AE sent me two MLL passes mid-year for a mistake they mad with my account so they must have had some printed that were not just for Elite kits.

Did those two passes have the security features as mentioned above?

Yep..they looked identical to the ones in the Elite kit.

I received the following reply from the person who sent me the pass: "the pass was obtained directly from AC as part of my Elite experience 1 package. It should work."

I received a further comment from the sender explaining the possible differences:

"I forgot to add that I qualified for Elite last November [before mid-Nov] so I was awarded Elite right away along with the default experiece 1 package. So those passes did not come in the mail until mid-Dec.

You may want to check with other flyertalk members to see if they have more info.

good luck"


Has anyone else received MLL passes in December or January? If so, are they missing the security features?

LE2

No info on the MLL pass security features, but I can check to see if I have an extra one (or two) MLL passes and if so, you are welcome to them. I will be in London next week, so you can pick them up or I could post them when I get there.

Also, have you tried to email Air Canada Customer Relations to determine whether you can use it?

I've already posted this elsewhere but I'll do it here as well since it seems more appropriate to this thread.

I received 4 MLL passes as part of my SE kit when I qualified in November. These passes have neither the blue strip nor the 4 AC watermarks. I got them directly from AC/AP. Other than the missing security features the only difference is that the new ones are a darker blue than my one remaining pass from my E kit (fading of the earlier ones?) They're also individual certs, not two-cert pairs with a perforation like the earlier ones.

I'd say they changed how they were printed mid-year. Makes me worry about giving them to someone to use now though.