I have yet to meet anybody who is a happy Aeroplan user. I have wasted so much of my time with this company it's now quite liteally a joke. I have just spent several exasperating evenings with this peculiar business and I have a story that is so bad it might be entertaining.
Let start by saying I understand that if you don't lose your points and you book a bazillion years before you travel, they are the best deal for your mile in town. That's why I signed up. But people: it just ain't worth it.
They pulled the stunt on me about because we hadn't used my wife's/kids points for so many years that the points that I earned were no longer ours to use. We lost close to 100, 000 points. Apparently they sent me a letter. I suspect that the letters got lost in a move but the fact of the matter is, I really don't want to have to read all the crap that we are sent by such companies. Every normal business knows that a deals a deal and you don't reneg on people just because they like to save the points for a big trip instead of using them in little bits. Oh, and speaking of using your points...
Have you ever tried to book your flights? Omigosh. It is pathetic! You approach your keyboard with bated breath thinking: "yay, I get to use my points and travel to Mont Jolie, PQ for free. Yippee. So much fun! " Then you try. Then you try again. Change the dates, change the hours, postpone, ... I think they make about one seat available every 4 months for the low price... that's the one I actually signed up for rather than the new rewards that cost you way more miles. I remember one booking where I had to over night in Winnipeg and then Montreal just to go across the country! They give that to you like it's a viable option!
But on to my story... I promise to keep this shorter.
I book on line. Happy day: I book a multi city flight for the fam to go across Canada and it says it's all good. I enter pages of required info ending with credit card #. Oops. In the intervening minutes while the website processes the transaction the flights are actually not available anymore. Ummm okay: must have been booked by somebody else. I try another combination. Yippee! It works again. I re-enter pages of info along with Mr CC. Nope. So you try again. And again. And... well you get it. I call the Aeroplan Customer Service. (The next day because their hours are so restricted) Hmm... they see it is available but you have to pay $30 per person just to do it over the phone. But this is website malfunction. Ahh yes: you must call the web site customer service. Call them (the next day because their customer hours are so restricted for Western Canadians). They so nope. Call usual guys. Call usual guys. Nope: call web site guys. Call and I get to talk to Stephanie. Give her history and she says I can't book such a flight on the website. I say I am doing it right as I talk to her and the guys on the customer service says it is, in fact available. She says to book it through them, then. I say that will cost me an extra $30 per person. She doesn't see a problem. This is the normal way they do business. They are perfectly content to bate and switch on their customers and waste hours of their customers time as they try to apparently book flights on the web when the flights are actually not available at all.
Okay, I admit. I for the first time, started to lose it a bit. I explained not all that calmly but not abusively that they had wasted about 5-6 hours of my time. She then chastised me for not listening to her because she had told me that there was not a problem. This is the way things worked. I had to call the usual guys. Can I speak to manager. Put on hold for several minutes. No. He's gone. What's your name. Just one moment sir. I wait several minutes again and she tells me. Where do we go from here, Stephanie? I'll put you through to customer service. Wait several minutes. Get voicemail saying customer service is now closed. Did I mention that their hours are restricted?
This is where I give up. I call my bank. I tell them that they can cancel the cc that I put over $100K on every year that earns me the privilege of dealing with this detestable company. That's the one I've been using for over 30 years now. I call up "the usual guys" pay my $30 extra per person and hope that I can dissuade any and all who will hear: STAY AWAY FROM AEROPLAN!
Kafka. Pure Kafka.
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