Quote:
Originally Posted by oiler-dude
Trust me, I understand the principle and everything. Doesn't make it any less infuriating when Aeroplan jumps from 15,000 points to 58,000+ points. When trying to book in August.
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Aeroplan, in my opinion, is slowly becoming less and less a benefit for those who fly Air Canada and who may maintain an aeroplan visa card and try to be support Air Canada as a frequent flyer.
I have been a member of Aeroplan since 1989 and have watched while they have slowly whittled away at the benefits associated with this frequent flyer program.
In the early days, there was lots of bonuses and it was relatively easy to book a flight utilizing the minimum required points to fly. Over the years, the introduction of the "Class" and "Classicplus" reward feature has made it very difficult to book a cheap "Classic" flight using 25,000 minimum points to fly in North America.
I have been flying to Miami every year in February for a cruise for about 10 years and I am rarely able to get a decent flight using Aeroplan Classic rewards. While I usually try to get to Miami a couple of days before the ship leaves, I hardly ever can book a reward that gets me in and out of Miami without having to extend my stay and arrive 4 or 5 days before and leave 3 or 4 days after the cruise is over. So there is not much point to book after having to use up extra vacation days and incur extra costs for hotels. Or, there are awful layovers and bad flight times with horrible connections. There are better flights available, however, they are all designated as Classicplus and I really don't desire to use up 70,000 or more miles which is almost 3 times the amount that could be used. Even when I try and book as soon as possible within the 330 day window that they allow a person to book, good flights are very rare.
In addition, Aeroplan charges huge reward redemption service fees compared to other mileage programs. And, Air Canada did not ever remove its fuel surcharge on Aeroplan flights within North America so that is an added expense. A typical flight that I book to Miami using Alaskan points may cost $40 versus $160 on Aeroplan as a result of all these "extra" charges. It is no wonder that as a seperate entity, Aeroplan is a very profitable company...much more profitable than Air Canada itself!!!
If anyone is ever considering to get an airline credit card to accumulate points, I would highly recommend the Alaskan Airlines Mastercard. The Alaskan mastercard annual fee is only $75 and versus $120 for the visa card issued for Aeroplan. The card also gives you a companion ticket once a year for $99. So if you usually travel with someone the benefit can be huge. You can use the companion ticket with any airfare, even discounted airfares. You can also use it for anyone. So, if you have family or friends that are travelling you can pass it along. The only downside is that you need to travel to Seattle to make onward connections. One added bonus with Alaskan is that you actually can get decent flights to hot spots like Hawaii and Mexico through Seattle. Compared to trying to book a flight on Aeroplan to Puerto Vallarta, for example, Aeroplan almost always tries to route you through Toronto and there is never any availability.
I use both the Alaskan and Aeroplan flight reward programs but I am seriously considering switching all my Canadian related travel business to Westjet now that they have a points program and a rewards credit card.
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