Aeroplan rethinks rewards changes Last Updated Thu Jan 24 14:46:04 2002 TORONTO - Air Canada is reconsidering changes to its Aeroplan rewards=20 program after a backlash from its customers. The carrier had indicated Wednesday it would make changes to benefits for=20 some of its Aeroplan members. That brought a mountain of criticism. "We're= =20 reviewing and we'll make announcements about the program benefits in the=20 very near future," says Laura Cooke, Air Canada's spokesperson. The=20 program has become costly for the airline. There are seven million Aeroplan= =20 members and Air Canada reserves 10 per cent of its seats for redemption by= =20 those members. The airline issues about 2,400 reward tickets every day. "We're listening to our customers," says Cooke. "We want to continue to=20 offer a program that is both meaningful and sustainable." The only changes= =20 under consideration, so far, concern "super elite" customers: =B7 they'll only be able to get a frequent-flyer upgrade to business= =20 class 72 hours before a flight =B7 they won't be able to use upgrade coupons for seat sales Cooke says changes are not planned for the majority of Aeroplan customers=20 and seat availability will remain the same. Consumer groups say Air Canada is in a position to do whatever it wants,=20 especially since the demise of discount carrier Canada 3000 last=20 November. "There's no legislation to protect consumers on this. You just=20 have to go with the flow, unfortunately," says Harry Gow, head of Transport= =20 2000, an advocacy group. There are few options for Canadians wanting to collect frequent-flyer=20 points. Neither WestJet nor Air Transat has reward programs. The other=20 option is to fly U.S. carriers where possible or join Air Miles, the=20 frequent shopper program. Members can redeem miles with a variety of=20 carriers. Business analysts say Air Canada is just trying to be efficient. "What they're trying to avoid is a reward traveller taking a seat that they= =20 could sell to a paying passenger. That's a sensible move," says business=20 professor Joe D'Cruz of the University of Toronto. Written by CBC News Online staff The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com ICQ: ICQ # 15836110 ICQ Pager: mailto:15836110@pager.icq.com escape email #!1 mailto:ejames@escape.ca yahoo email #2: mailto:triniroj@yahoo.com Yahoo Pager: triniroj Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Group on Yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribsocabrass Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Club Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ ******************************************************* Steel Expressions Orch http://www.escape.ca/~ejames/se/ email #1: mailto:steelexpressions@yahoo.com email #2: mailto:steelexpressions@home.com ******************************************************* The Trinbago Site of the Week: (Revellers Mas Band) http://www.revellers.com/ (Trini Revellers Mas Band) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://195.224.187.36/ *********************************************************