Aeroplan D class points ripoff
 

Air Canada now upgrades reward tickets on standby last - after free certificates and space available upgrades authorized by a manager - so why would anyone waste D class miles when you will end up in economy??? Is it just me who thinks this is a ripoff?

Hope. Those who hope to get upgraded will book D class unconfirmed.

It is not a rip-off as far as I'm concerned. AC should get ^ for letting status pax upgrade BEFORE reward pax.

If you think this is a rip-off, then people who bought Latitude fares and hope to get an upgrade but failed would be even MORE ripped off.

This is life. If you want certainty, buy a J,C or Z fare. But then, you may say AC rips you off because Z fare costs you more...:rolleyes:

Could you imagine what would happen if AC upgraded people on stand by on reward tickets before cert holders????? EVERYONE would add an extra D class leg to their booking and be upgraded in business all the time! It would be a total nonsense to do that.

I agree with OP that D class upgrade should be cleared before revenue customers from the customer's prospective. The fact that you are on D class means you have already PAID for a J seat, using points.

However, from AC's prospective, it also does make sense that they want to encourage revenue, hence giving upgrades to people who paid cash first in all circumstance. Although I don't think this is fair... what can we do...

Well, that's one way of looking at it. You could also say that it means you exercised bad judgement and agreed to pay more points for something that wasn't available. ;)

And if you paid Biz class points and obtained a reward in Coach operated by a *A, you cannot even standby on Biz class. You can only standby on AC metal.

It is a matter of priority. I think AC has set the priority right. As I always maintain, if I owned a business, I would treat my long-term repeat customers better than an occasional customer who buys an expensive item. So Es and SEs should get priority over AP reward users.

I am a top tier AC pax who is 'hopeful' for an opening for two people.I will get on the 24 hour list:)

AP reward users could also be a SE or E. ie myself: a poor university student :p

:)

Or an old retired guy like me. Poor as a church mouse. Got more time than money. :D

That's not my recent experience. I was told that my D award together with my Elite status gave me the same priority on the standby upgrade list as if I was using a certificate. It used to be (going back over a year) that all "D" standby's would be processed before certificates. Now it seems that the priority list doesn't differentiate between award and certificate standby's.

I think the real issue is that for non-FFs, the entire Aeroplan thing is a rip-off.

Agree fully that award ticket holders should have priority. With this change, AE should make it clear to those booking such awards that they no longer have any priority and AE should reimburse the miles difference if upgrade is not given. It would pose an accounting nightmare, but given the number of itineraries that show up with a single business class segment only to bump up the cost of an award, I say it's time AE fessed up!

Interesting
 

Like the Humanists in London telling people that there is no god, and to get on with their lives - on the side of a bus, no less! - perhaps AE should come up with some new truth-in-advertising slogans, like: "We may rip you off, but at least you're at the bottom of the list!" or; "You collect the points, and we'll waste 'em for ya'!"
Are you listening AE lurkers? Your setup stinks. You return so little for so much, and then when we can cash in for the odd ducat, we get screwed by AC on the fees, charges, etc.... I wish I had at least one other option that fit my needs in a FF plan...I'd make like a tree and leave...

I just cant agree with that statement. Can you imagine what would happen if Reward tickets had a higher priority then cert holders??? Whats the point of buying a ticket if you can play aerolotto on your points??? Hell, people would ALWAYS book reward flights instead of buying a seat its most likely gonna cost you less then purchasing it! For example, You redeem your points for a YYZ-HKG-YYZ, even if you are missing 30k points lets say. It costs you 900$ + taxe + fuel surcharges and YQ. So lets say 1450$. Then you have a ticket that trumps cert holders, given you high priority on the list. It would be non-sense and would offend most of our top tier members!

It is only a recent change.

D tickets always came before anything else on the standby list.

They changed it because they figured that they could get away with it.... and they have.

MCM.