Thursday, November 25, 2010

Capacity controls

Question:
Aeroplan told me there are no seats available but I can buy a ticket on the flight, why is that?

Answer:
Well, my dear, it is called capacity controls.

Aeroplan Terms & condition state:

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. Capacity controls do not apply for ClassicPlus flight rewards.

In other words there are a limited number of reward seats on any flight.

I prefer the reward cards that allow me to book anywhere i.e. priceline.com, expedia, travelocity, travel agency etc. and redeem points for travel. Forget about Aeroplan too restrictive.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Shanghai Airlines No Longer Aeroplan Partner

Effective October 31, 2010, Shanghai Airlines will no longer be an Aeroplan Partner. You will not be able to earn or redeem Aeroplan Miles on Shanghai Airlines flights scheduled on or after that date.

Accumulation: Mileage accumulation on Shanghai Airlines flights will be permitted until October 31, 2010. Aeroplan Members will be allowed to claim retro credits up to six months from the flight date, according to the Shanghai Airlines accumulation structure.

Redemption: Flight rewards on Shanghai Airlines flights will be permitted until October 28, 2010. Aeroplan Reward Travel must be completed by October 31, 2011. No changes permitted on Shanghai Airlines flights after October 28, 2010.

Soure aeroplan website

Monday, September 27, 2010

Nearing the end of my Aeroplan woes.

This coming month I am sending my parents on a trip with my remaining aeroplan points. I hope that their travels will go off without a hitch. I will be sure to let you know. Their travels is taking them to Hong Kong, Korea and China business class. I still had to pay $1500 dollars in fees, taxes and extra charges. But they are my parents so what can you do?

After this I should be rid of Aeroplan forever! I have my Asia Miles card as well as my Vise Infinite card.

The other week I used Priceline to book the Hyatt Regency for $80/night. I used my Visa Infinite points to pay for it all no problem. Fabulous alternative to Aeroplan.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

JetBlue Flight Attendant flips out

A JetBlue flight attendant, Steven Slater, left his job in dramatic fashion yesterday cursing out passengers on his flight before exiting via the plane's emergency exit -- beer in hand -- and eventually driving off in a car he had parked at the airport.

I have to laugh about this one. I am a critic of the Aeroplan but in this case I am on side with the flight attendant. I loath rudeness whether it be a customer or worker.

However, it has to be said Mr. Slater is quite the drama queen.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Cancelled CIBC aerogold

I have officially cancelled my CIBC Aerogold Visa card. I have switched to another card to collect points for another airline. I have a couple product suppliers, box company and email marketing company payments going through this card. I should have a business class ticket with in 6 months.

So long Aeroplan!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Empty Seats

I am currently in Bali on a trip which was NOT made with Aeroplan. This was the trip that I was trying to book went the agent ended her shift. In the end I was not able to use any points for this trip.

I was so impressed to see empty seats in the Business Class section and of course throughout the plane even though I could not use my points to book the tickets due to capacity controls.

Thanks for nothing Aeroplan!

By the way, I did not fly this way but I have heard that a better route to get from Vancouver to Denpasar (Bali) is to take Korean Airlines. Fly from YVR to ICN (Korea); then ICN to DPS.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

TD Bank Analysts say Buy Aeroplan

Groupe Aeroplan (AER-T) current price is $11.00. With a twelve month target of $16, it may be a good investment. Since they are making killing on selling worthless points it probably is a good business.

Maybe that can be my consolation own the stock not the aeroplan points.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

End of Shift

I had another attempt to use up the last of my Aeroplan points. I still 155,000 points and thought that I could use them for my next trip.

I called customer service to book a ticket. After 28 minutes of trying to find available seats on the dates I wanted the agent told me that her shift is ending and she will need to transfer me to another agent. I thought it would be no problem and we were halfway through and the next agent could finish the file. But when I was transferred it was like starting new. I even have to verify my identity again etc. Therefore the first 25 minutes on the telephone were wasted. In the end, I could not have the travel dates that I wanted and could not book a ticket through Aeroplan. So it was a total of 1 hour & 12 minutes completely wasted.

How can Aeroplan management expect agents to assist customers until the end of their shifts without being able to pass a file to another agent without having to start anew?

I wonder how I am ever going to get rid of these Aeroplan points.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Aeroplan Strike two

Well I have had another poor experience with Aeroplan. This time I booked a ticket which left at 6 am in the morning. On the morning of the flight we arrived to checked in at 4:30 am but was told that there was no booking for me. I had to call Aeroplan from a pay phone to have the matter sorted out. When I got through the automated voice recognition system by saying, "agent, agent, agent" over and over again I finally got to speak to someone live. It took about 20 minutes for them to straighten the mess out. When I tried to ask for an explanation as to why my ticket was not processed the agent would not give me any. Just said, "it's fixed now."