Aeroplan has recently announced some changes to its loyalty program. The loyalty plan members need to make note of two points that negatively affect them:
- At least one transaction in the last 12 months to avoid expiry of all miles in the account.
- Miles accumulated on or after January 1, 2007 will expire in seven years.
Aeroplan also graciously reinstates expired miles for an administrative fee of just $30 plus 1¢ per restored mile. Of course, you almost never want to reinstate expired points because each mile has an economic value of about 0.83¢.
We don’t have many miles in our accounts (we fly very infrequently and we used to collect AirMiles but almost always use a cash-back credit card now), so I don’t feel the same outrage that some members who have been patiently collecting points for many years feel at this change. It is also fairly simple to get around the first restriction: you can just fill up your tank at an Esso gas station every once in a while. To get around the second restriction, I think I will just request some FutureShop gift certificates sometime before my current miles expire in 2013.
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33 responses so far ↓
1 Guillaume // Oct 20, 2006 at 9:48 am
I use the CIBC Aerogold card to get points on a regular basis. Expensive card, but with the plane tickets I got so far, it’s definitely been worth it. It also accumulates points fast enough that the seven years limit shouldn’t be a problem. I also use the Esso Speedpass connected to my Aeroplan account …
2 MooPoint // Oct 20, 2006 at 10:09 am
I really like that ‘all points in account expire’ thing if you don’t have activity for 12 months. I wonder how long before banks start doing that with accounts.
“See what happened was that you didn’t make any RRSP contributions for 13 months, so for your convinience, everything in that account now belongs to us. Thank you for banking with Su-Casa-es-mi-Casa Bank Corp. “
3 Guillaume // Oct 20, 2006 at 12:18 pm
re. points expiry … From a pure finacial standpoint (not taking public relations into account), I think it makes sense to do that. A rewards program is designed to get people to buy stuff. If you don’t buy at least one thing per year, you probably cost them more in “account maintenance” than you benefit them. From a PR point of view, they will probably lose customers to Air Miles
4 Canadian Capitalist // Oct 20, 2006 at 1:36 pm
I think these changes make most people mad because they might just as easily change it again in the future.
5 Terry Tiessen // Oct 20, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Are you not confusing Aeroplan and Airmiles points in your post? Filling up with Esso will do nothing for your Aeroplan program.
6 Guillaume // Oct 20, 2006 at 3:48 pm
no, we get Aeroplan points with Esso for real
look here: http://www.imperialoil.com/Canada-English/Products/Speedpass/PS_S_HowItWorksBenefit.asp
7 Canadian Capitalist // Oct 20, 2006 at 4:37 pm
Terry: You can get Aeroplan points for filling up at Esso. You need the orange Aeroplan card (with the magnetic stripe). AirMiles can be collected at Shell gas stations.
8 Guillaume // Oct 20, 2006 at 4:51 pm
I’ve linked my Aeroplan account with the Speedpass …very convenient
9 Terry Tiessen // Oct 20, 2006 at 5:49 pm
Thanks. I had missed that point re: Esso. Just for clarification. When will points be taken away if there is no activity within the last 12 months?
I took my last flight in Nov 05 and I have 23000+ points that could disappear. I may need to get some Esso gas cards quickly.
10 Phil S // Oct 20, 2006 at 7:43 pm
Wow! Thanks for the heads up! I need to figure out how to use up my 15,000 scaeroplan points before I stop flying scAir Canada.
I prefer the AirMiles program over scaeroplan, so I’m one of the guilty parties that they’re trying to eliminate from their plan. Good to know, so I can finally say good riddance to scAir Canada! I have the Westjet Air Miles card… =0)
11 Canadian Capitalist // Oct 20, 2006 at 11:03 pm
Terry: They say the activity rule goes into effect July 1, 2007. It seems to me that from that day forward, you need at least one transaction in the prior year. So, you might want to request an Aeroplan card ASAP and fill up at least once at Esso to keep your miles current.
Phil: I have similar number of points as you do. Not sure if I even qualify for a domestic flight. Worst case, I can request some gift certificates to use at Future Shop.
12 lainy // Oct 21, 2006 at 10:56 am
I thought Future Shop was not affiliate anymore with aeroplan? (since around july 2006?!)
If you don’t go to Esso or don’t have a car, you can use the Unique Invoice of Bell (phone/cell/internet) and associate it with Aeroplan. That way, each month you will have action into your aeroplan account…
13 Dan // Oct 21, 2006 at 11:06 pm
I wonder how long it will take AirMiles to start to do this form of theft, of course it will be in the name of “competition”.
Cheers
14 Ahmed // Oct 22, 2006 at 10:33 am
lainy - Future Shop has not given AP miles since June 06. However, if you go to the Aeroplan website you can buy stuff from Future Shop with your AP points.
15 Peter // Jul 17, 2007 at 9:07 am
My Wife and I had taken several world trips before we were married. We had thousands of aeroplan miles and now zero. There was nothing noted when we applied for our aeroplan membership over 9 years ago about expiration. They could have at least sent a lettter saying use it or lose it. We called aeroplan and they said buy back what you already had…. We obtained access to the web site (that we never used and her account said when she logged in for the first time use your airmiles by Dec 30 2003 or lose them. Apparently they changed the rule long after she collected the aermiles.
Aeroplan Stole the points. If I had money in the bank and it was gone I could do something about it. Points equals dollars. This is no different then the rulling change they made for the gift cards. IT SHOULD NEVER EXPIRE…
16 Canadian Capitalist // Jul 17, 2007 at 10:04 am
Peter: I would write to Aeroplan and ask them to reinstate the miles as a goodwill gesture and waive the reinstatement fees. It is a mystery to me why some companies are so adept at alienating their existing customers.
17 Sean // Aug 10, 2007 at 5:50 pm
The issue isn’t really the amount of time, but when they started counting it. I lost my points because I hadn’t used them in the year BEFORE the new rule even took effect.
I think they should have grandfathered everything before July 1/07 until at least the following year.
18 Rui // Aug 28, 2007 at 2:10 am
Aeroplan is afterall a frequent flyer’s program. In other words, if you don’t fly frequently, then you’re not entitled to some or all benefits. Many similar world-class programs carry such a rule.
My father has been with Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program for ten years and during that time he was travelling business class between southeast Asian cities on an average of twice a week. They introduced the expiration system after he’d transferred his business to China, meaning less travelling with the airline. In the past three years, he’d wasted four tickets from Shanghai to Singapore. That works out to no less than 4 x Vancouver to Tokyo tickets. Ironically, they’re sending him a letter monthly informing him how many points had just expired in the previous month.
19 Shawn // Oct 13, 2007 at 11:49 am
I recently found out that my wife lost 91,000 Aeroplan miles due to inactivity. I have also discovered, via sites such as this one, that there are many similar stories out there. In one such other site, there was talk to taking legal action.
If any of you are seriously interested in pursuing a class action lawsuit against Aeroplan for forfeited miles contact me at ‘sueaeroplan@hotmail.com’.
Although not currently practicing, I am an Ontario lawyer in good standing and I am willing to devote whatever time I can to this project. We need to consolidate our efforts.
20 Wayne // Nov 20, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I found out today that I lost about 85,000 Aeroplan miles (about $900) due to inactivity. I have never heard about Aeroplan’s new policy until today trying to use it. I am seriously interested in pursuing a class action lawsuit against Aeroplan for forfeited miles. In fact, I’ve just sent an email to a lawyer to pursuit this lawsuit against Aeroplan. I’ve also read a number of people losing their air miles, like the link below.
“http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498020″
I think people can respond to this kind of unfair business practice by using up their Aeroplan air miles, then cancel their Aeroplan account and use other company instead. I am also trying to contact Toronto Star to tell my story, does any one know who to contact in Toronto Star regarding this issue?
21 Wayne // Nov 20, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Actually, I just found the contact to the people at Toronto Star from the link below.
http://www.ellenroseman.com/?p=29
eroseman@thestar.ca
By the way, I am also trying to contact airlines to put some pressure on Aeroplan.
22 Sheila // Nov 26, 2007 at 4:24 am
I lost about 6000 points too ofcourse not as much as what some of you did. I was told that I could purchase them back for approx. $95. Is it worth my while?
23 Steve Sanguedolce // Jan 9, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Here is a copy of a letter I sent to Aeroplan’s CEO earlier this week.
Rupert Duchesne
President & Chief Executive Officer
Aeroplan
Dear Mr. Duchesne,
I have been a loyal Aeroplan miles collector since 1996. To date I have collected over 57000 airmiles in the hope of one day taking my family to Disneyworld. I figured I would wait until I had enough aeroplan miles and then surprise my wife and two children with the trip as a gift. Last week I went to check to see if I had enough aeroplan miles and was informed that they had all been revoked.
Since I had not received any hard copy letters from Aeroplan, I had not heard of any new policy from your company. Yes I did get several emails from Aeroplan over the past year (14 to be exact) but since they were generic form letters, they ended up in my junk mail folder and so I didn’t get them (by the way, I get over 1500 junk mail letters every month and cannot read them). In fact, looking over my junk mail now, I can see that I was notified that my miles were to expire in October of 2007. If I had been made aware of your policy changes, I would have most certainly kept my account active. Without any hard copy letters sent to me, I never did get notification of my impending losses. In fact, I had lost about 22000 of the 57000 aeroplan miles one year earlier and wasn’t even notified about that. That’s a bit of an oversight, wouldn’t you agree?
I feel that all twelve years of my savings have been taken away from me because of some internal Aeroplan policy change of which I wasn’t made aware of. It’s as if the bank which holds my savings came up with a similar policy that untouched accounts over one year would revert the savings away from the client back to the bank. It’s absurd, I know, but it’s similar to you taking my aeroplan miles away from me. I understand that you have had dozens of complaints about this, and would add that my discussions with one of your client representatives (Valaria in Vancouver @ 1-866-812-6436) was not very helpful. Unfortunately Valaria would only give me her first name.
I understand that your company had changed the contract under which aeroplan miles were to be administered but unfortunately, your form letters did not get through. If I may, I would like to suggest that any significant policy changes that impact your clients in such a dramatic way should at least warrant a hard copy letter to all participants. I am writing this email in the hope of getting all my aeroplan miles reinstated with no costs to me, now that I am aware of your new rules. If there was more care in contacting me regarding my impending losses, I would assume the loss myself, but since, as I have already stated, your form letters simply aren’t personal enough to be considered anything more than just junk mail.
I thank you in advance for your consideration and anxiously await a response.
Sincerely,
Steve Sanguedolce
24 Doug Rive // Feb 11, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Steve:
At least you found an address to write to. When I asked the Aeroplan call centre person to re-instate my points I was told that a supervisor would call me back in 2-3 days…none dod. Eventually I received a “kiss off” letter from a Jerry McDonnell, Customer Service Manager. When I attempted to write back I discovered that the Aeroplan letterhead has no return address on it.
We’re dealing with real snakes here…it’s time they were stomped on.
25 David Howatson // Feb 12, 2008 at 8:29 am
Hi Steve-
I am with the LoyaltyMatch team. We are a new solution focused on eliminating the challenges of so many frequent flyers. Our service has been reviewed by FF gurus. We launched our service into beta a few days ago at http://www.loyaltymatch.com.
Our goal is simple: A way to manage your loyalty programs and assist members in converting points and miles into cash. LoyaltyMatch enables shoppers to find you and pay cash to you for rewards from your programs. You can then use the cash to buy travel services when and where you want, or be prudent and pay off debt or simply use it to have some fun.
Give us a look. Test drive us for free. Let us know how we are doing. Thanks, David Howatson, Director
26 Stan Galler // Feb 22, 2008 at 10:31 am
Shawn,
you did write that you are a lawyer in good standing and prepared to fight aeroplan.
I did send you an email about a week ago to support a class action, but have still not heard back from you. Is your offer still standing?
27 Merlin Kugler // Mar 16, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Just found out today that I lost 47000 air miles. Yes I was offerred the ability to buy them back at a cost of $500. I don’t think so! This is the ultimate in corporate rip off so much for loyalty programs this one in particular is a joke.
28 G Quan // Mar 18, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Today I found that I lost 43000 air miles and offered to buy back at $470 something. More surprising I flew 9 hour flight in June 2007 and did not earn a single mile because it was class K ticket. They told me that I had a cheap ticket which cost me $900. It is indeed a joke!
29 C Stinson // Mar 25, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Thanks for hosting this forum.
Just found out I lost over 100,000 pts which like some of your other posters, I had been accumulating for a trip to Europe. And to add insult to injury we use the esso speedpass, but the account had not been linked to aeroplan.
I am also contacting sueaeroplan, although I do believe that we will get farther telling the partners about these con artisits,
than trying to deal with aeroplan themselves.
30 PE // May 31, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I also just found out when I looked up my account on the Aeroplan website that I have lost about 6000 points and they want around $100 to re-instate them!
I was vaguely aware of the October 2006 Aeroplan change of policy regarding points, so at that time made a booking to use some points to travel to Montreal in June 2007.
In my mind I thought I had until June 2008 to maintain my 12 month activity requirement. Aeroplan informs me that my points actually expired in October 2007, one year after I made my booking (even though I didn’t travel until June 2007).
Just curious if anyone else on this form has been able to re-insatate their Aeroplan points?
I also do not believe that it is worth paying $100 to re-instate 6000 points.
6000 points is relatively small, and is not really the issue here, it is the principle of the whole thing.
31 Dianne G. // Jun 20, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I found out today that I lost 49,000 points in November 07.
I feel like I have just been violated. I accumulated these points in “good faith” that I was working my way to a free flight. all of these points were accumulated by airline tickets I purchased with air canada. I chose Air Canada because I was going to receive points. I could have used other airlines that were either the same costs or even a liitle bit less. I went with the Air Canada ticket because I was getting points in return. I am mad as hell right now!
32 Quick Tip: Don’t let your Aeroplan Points Expire // Jul 17, 2008 at 6:52 am
[...] a number of members have commented that they lost their accumulated points due to inactivity (check the comments in this post). If the miles did expire, it may not be worthwhile to get them reinstated as the economic value of [...]
33 Walter // Jul 26, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Just found out I lost 73,000 points and never got any notification of the impending theft. Why should I have to pay for the points when it should at most be an admin fee for some monkey to type my points back into my account. What the hell is the difference if I had 10 points or 10,000, the work required to reinstate them is the same! What kind of idiots do they think we are, obviously if they sent us something that said”by this date we are taking your points away if you don’t use them” who wouldn’t redeem them? Instead they send out non-descript letters or emails that look just like junk mail, who the hell wants to read about their policy changes? LETS SUE!!!!!!!!!!!11
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