BlondeBomber

'Well if that's the case I think it is reasonable for AC to keep at least two seats open in J for those willing to pay full price at the "

It might be reasonable if they were starting anew but they must honor the terms of their existing contracts. By going vague on us now, they are undoing a lot of good will built up with most AC customers and the pass products. My experience has been the reverse with pass products (ie. bad), e.g. with the infamous unique V class China/Hong Kong Pass that I secured. Talk about hours on the phone getting things sorted out as AC decided to change the rules and didn't leave mine alone! I see the same thing happening here. You make the rules, I will decide if I like them and buy your product but don't undercut me half way through the process. This is repeated in Aeroplan elite/se benefits as well.

I don't mind the odd change with fair warning but a contractual agreement should be honored.

antirealist

It might make business sense from AC's point of view, but they should have thought about that before they sold a product which allows upgrades within 24 hours if J space is available. These upgrades are not a perk - they are a part of the product.

It's just not acceptable to change the T&Cs on a purchased product in this way, and to do it surreptitiously makes it even worse.

Sebring

And yet the info pages on passes says terms and conditions of can be changed at any time, without advance notice. Except nobody ever pays attention to that and assumes that terms and conditions aren't allowed to be changed.

zorn

So would the following change to the terms and conditions be allowed?

antirealist

If I can't rely on AC not to make substantive changes to a product's T&Cs after sale, that's a good enough reason for me not to purchase that product in future.

Sebring

Indeed, that may be a good enough reason not to buy the pass, and AC will have to live with that, but it is not, IMO, the substance of a successful class action suit.

fly-yul

BS! They sold a product to me with no limits on J upgrades.

BS! This clause is null and without force. You can't sell a pre-paid product and then change the rules.

Successful? You are successful once the class is certified. They are never going to go to trial on something like this. BTW this type of thing is exactly what class action litigation was meant to redress. Stealing a little bit from many people.

antirealist

Sure. But ongoing commercial relationships are constrained by more than just what is legally permissible. Just because you can legally mess people around after you've taken their money doesn't make it a good idea if you want to continue taking it in the future.

When Latitude passes originally came out there was some discussion about how long the upgrades and other benefits would last. This move is a strong indicator of ACs attitude to pass buyers, and I'm going to respond to it by not being one any more.

acysb87

I agree with you on this one 100%

tcook052

This has the all too familiar ring of other recent AC/AP changes and resulting outrage and I can't help but wonder how many of those folks who were mad enough then to swear off flying AC actually have and how many that will make the vow now actually will follow through.

While not affected by this pass benefit revision, I have quietly decided after empting out my AP account in recent weeks to start pushing my future *A miles to UA MP as I felt the time has come to try something else. No sermons, no eulogies, no nostalgic considerations just the cold calculations which is what AC/AP have seemingly adopted as standard operating procedure to a large extent. It's a business and the bottom line is the bottom line and good for them for running it like a business. However, it's these sort of surprises that may untimately encourage others to see if the grass really is greeener on the other side, which may mean savings pennies today and losing dimes or quarters next year. That is though just my two cents...

acysb87

You have coined the phrase quite well.

shore9

If AC ever needs to increase CF significantly ever again they can forget about it. The goodwill that they have built up will be gone, and the next time they get into some sort of trouble, customers will not be so understanding, nor forgiving. They should get off their high horse, everyone is doing well right now, there will be a time down the road where they will be more desperate for pax. I hope the next time they are in trouble people just waive bye bye to them as they have lost their trustworthyness and credibility as an airline.

As Tcook said, penny pinching now may see them lose a lot more down the road, surely they must know that too.

shore9

I kind of wonder if this was just a test to see how many pax would not buy a pass if they moved to a Z booking class. If it is in fact just a test, good luck getting pax back if they move it back to J booking class.

Simon

Based on what I have seen, very few have voted with their wallets. A lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth and then skulking onto the same old planes as before.

Simon

shore9

well I think people will continue to give some business to AC, they are by far the biggest player in the country. However since I have been here, I have noticed many people starting to only get the req'd # of Q miles for status and then credit miles elsewhere.