Stranger

I must say, a class action would be a wonderful idea. Imagine how the press would pick on it?

shore9

So if pax cannot upgrade due to the flight being J2, and there are still seats the day of the flight and nobody on the upgrade list, will they give comp upgrades to pass holders, or let them sit in Y with empty J seats? Good customer service, especially considering that most pass holders probably have status. Given the pettiness of this airline I would love to see a lawsuit against AC where they would be forced to give full refund to pass holders, even though I wouldn't benefit at all, it would send a message to them.

pmax

So how do we start this? Lots of talk and no (class) action...

fly-yul

I'm going to look into it myself. I'm currently waiting to hear back about the COS bonus that was removed Aug 5th. If they don't fix that I was already going to file a small claims court claim against AC.

From the latest email from my favorite Flight Pass Representative:
"senior management are reviewing the impact this 'system fix' has had on Flight Pass owners and I will not know the outcome for a couple of weeks. Please be assured that if this decision is reversed, that any miles would be credited to your Aeroplan account retroactively so that they would go towards your status qualification for 2008."


The COS plus the removal of the J upgrade is simply theft. A contract is a contract. As others have said and as any 1st year law student will tell you there "subject to change at any time" is 100% BS and would be considered as null and without force by the courts.

I was involved with class-action litigation not too long ago. I can assure you it is not fun. I'd love to have a turn at the flight pass manager's email about the COS and J2 upgrade theft. It would take about 5 seconds to find the smoking gun at discovery.

shore9

couldn't one argue on the same basis that it is a contract to get you on a flight to a destination at a certain time, and when significant delays happen, a refund should be given. For example, pax buys a ticket for the first flight out in the morning, then it ends up being delayed and later cancelled. With it being too late to take the next flight by the time the flight is actually cancelled, the pax is forced to stay overnight. If this delay is entirely within the airlines control, and arriving at the destination the next day is not a viable option, is the airline obligated to give a full refund?

tcook052

Many assumptions; the AKL trip isn't until March and no the 11K wasn't Q miles to AP.

Having emptied my account down to the last 832 miles from recent high of 100K, I decided it was time to try something else if for no other reason than to see how good or bad it was relative to AP. I can kvetch about real or perceived inadequacies with AP forever but until I try something else and make it my preferred FFP account it's all just supposition really.

I wish whomever forms a class action suit well as I'll be watching with interest.

Stranger

No. The conditions of carriage are quite clear. The only obligation of the airline is to get you to destination, period. They can even bus you if so they decide.

Stranger

I think it would take people who can claim they had an actual loss.

I.e. people who (1) are current passholders and who (2) were denied an upgrade when J was not 0.

They can start using FT and PMs to let themselves make themselves known to each other. And if it would turn out one of them is a lawyer, that would help.

Otherwise identifying who is pissed of enough at AC to be willing to work on this would be good too.

shore9

so if people want to make this work, start booking flights one day out that show J1 or J2. What value do you place on not being able to get the upgrade to J? The full value of the flight credit or only a portion?

fly-yul

As AC HQ is in Quebec, and Quebec is known to have the lowest threshold to have a class certified for trial, the best venue for such action would be Quebec.

One simply needs to prove the 4 elements mentioned in article 1003 of the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure.


(a) the recourses of the members raise identical, similar or related questions of law or fact;

(b) the facts alleged seem to justify the conclusions sought;

(c) the composition of the group makes the application of article 59 or 67 difficult or impracticable; and

(d) the member to whom the court intends to ascribe the status of representative is in a position to represent the members adequately.

Quebec also has a fund "Fonds d'aide aux recours collectifs" to "..help ensure the financing of class actions.."

Any motion should include both the removal of the COS bonus and the J2 upgrade issue.

bluenose77

I'm still looking for that PDF that includes the "upgrades come out of J" copy. Anyone find something that we can all print off and carry with?

xray

Here's the response to my e-mail to Customer Service (through the website):


Additional upgrade demand from increasing Latitude Pass sales levels has created some significant pressure on our capability to offer complimentary upgrades up to last seat availability and still provide customers to purchase an Executive Class ticket at the last minute.
In an effort to maintain our ability to capture the full revenue potential of the Executive Class cabin, new online functionality has been introduced in order to set aside a pre-determined number of Executive Class seats (threshold) for last minute purchases. Online complimentary Latitude Pass upgrades will be processed until the minimum preset threshold has been reached. If you are unable to capture a complimentary upgrade prior to arrival at the airport, you can use a Top Tier upgrade certificate.

While I appreciate and regret that this may disappoint you, this new policy is to be able to accommodate the customer who wishes to purchase an Executive Class ticket or to upgrade their existing revenue ticket to an Executive Class fare.

I think those of us that have given AC thousands of dollars for flights yet to be flown are a little more than disappointed...

Simon

From the airline's perspective, this makes total sense (leaving at least 2 J seats available until the last minute).

Last minute sales do happen - I ended up in a very tight last minute situation at LHR a month or so back where I had ensured there was J1 before I went through with my cert in hand.

Someone showed up 1 minute after me, right before the flight closed, and offered to buy that last J ticket. Only it was $5000 one way, so they changed their mind

BUT - AC should have thought of this, and sold the passes that way, from day one.

Foresight? Imagine that.

Simon

pmax

Maybe those are clear, but there is much more than just a "carriage" in such a premium offering.

Snow Goose

I agree 100% - initially it probably didn't matter because the number of passes in circulation was low and load numbers were down - AC could afford to allow full access to J inventory at the 24-hr window. Things are different today and inventory is much tighter. However, as you and others have pointed out, what is totally unacceptable is the unilateral changing of the rules and the lack of grandfathering for existing passes / contracts. That is a very poor business decision and clearly constitutes breach of contract.

Given AC's IT problems it may have been difficult for them to set up an electronic grandfather clause, but all they needed to do was establish a policy whereby existing pass holders purchased prior to today's date could call in to have one of the last 2 J seats assigned. Not doing so compounded by the fact that AC has once again failed to notify users of the change is a real bonehead move.

SG