Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Capacity Controls

According to Aeroplan Facts.
http://www.groupeaeroplan.com/PDFS/PDF_Facts/Aeroplan%20Facts%20-%20FINAL%20EN.pdf

"Aeroplan has unrestricted access to 100% of available seats on Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz, offering the highest proportion of seats available of any leading North American airline reward program, and the highest proportion of passengers travelling on reward tickets."

- this is what they want you to believe.

But when I confronted the agent the truth is told. She quickly referred me to rule #16.

" Capacity controls also apply. This means there are a limited number of ClassicFlight reward seats available on a given flight. There may be instances when flights are not completely booked but all available reward seats have been claimed."

as per:
http://www2.aeroplan.com/terms_and_conditions/popup.do?section=rewardair


In their promotional or investor information they want you to believe that Aeroplan offers unlimited access to seats but the truth is that Aeroplan does not offer unlimited access. Be warned.

What Happened?

My first bad experience with Aeroplan happened in Sept 2009. I had been diligently collecting Aeroplan points for many many years. Filling up at Esso, using my Aeroplan Visa card and whenever I would fly on Air Canada I would dutifully dig up my orange and grey Aeroplan card.

I had finally accumulated enough points to travel business class internationally. A reward for myself as I was planning a multi city business trip that literally took me around the world.

I researched the flights that I wanted and even downloaded the Star Alliance Trip Planner to my computer. When I finally figured an itinerary that would suit my needs I contacted Aeroplan by telephone to book the ticket.

To make a longer story short after 45 minutes on the telephone I had my Business Class itinerary or so I thought. When I received my e-ticket by email I quickly noticed that the flights were booked in economy class not business class.

I promptly called back to correct this error but I was told that I would not be able to have the itinerary in Business Class by using Aeroplan points. I would have to change the dates or I could pay full fare for Business Class and not use points. When I asked how come I can find the business class seats available online.
The agent told me that Aeroplan does not have access to all the seats in Business Class.

So in the end the first agent who incorrectly booked my ticket made a promise to me that could not be met. Instead of contacting me to inform that she made a mistake she just pushed it aside. When I called back Aeroplan would not honour the promise their agent made.

I have tried to contact Aeroplan by mail but to no avail.

Monday, December 14, 2009

CIBC Visa Stepping up

As my frustration with Aeroplan grew, I decided to approach one of their partners. I have a CIBC Aeroplan Card so I informed CIBC Visa that they will notice a drop in my business as a result of my poor experience with Aeroplan.

I simply sent them a message via their website www.cibc.com Unlike Aeroplan, CIBC Visa took my complaint seriously. They let me know that my business is important to them. They offered me an alternate credit card which does not collect Aeroplan points as well they offered me cash/credit to my card as a token of their good faith.

CIBC Visa had earned my respect and likely future business although not with an Aeroplan Visa.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Why such a negative blog?

What would make someone go through all the trouble to create a blog about a company? For me it was not only a poor experience or event but it was the fact that there was no response from Aeroplan. Their silence is deafening.