Aeroplan

Aeroplan Inc.
Type	Public
Traded as	TSX: AIM
Industry	Marketing/Consumer Discretionary
Headquarters	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Area served	1942
Key people	Kevin O'Brien, Vince Timpano, Rupert Duschene (President)
Website	www.aimia.com; www.aeroplan.com

Aeroplan is a Montreal, Quebec, Canada based coalition loyalty program ^[1] owned by Aimia, a global loyalty management company. The Aeroplan Program was created in July 1984 by Air Canada as an incentive program for its frequent flyer customers. There are approximately 4.5 million active members in the program.^[2]

In recent years, Aeroplan has evolved into a loyalty marketing program with retail partners such as Esso, Home Hardware, Sobeys, Thrifty Foods, Nestle Canada and others. Aeroplan is also used by Air Creebec, Canadian North, Calm Air, and First Air.^[3] Internally, Aeroplan has deployed the MicroStrategy platform for business intelligence reporting and analytics for its personnel to analyze member information, track purchasing patterns, identify profiles of loyal members, and align its loyalty program with members’ preferences.^[4]

Many Aeroplan members collect miles via credit cards. Credit cards were originally allocated to CIBC and Diners Club/enRoute, but it was later offered to AMEX Bank of Canada, while Diners Club withdrew from the program.^[5]

In 2010, over 2 million rewards were issued to members including more than 1.4 million flights on Air Canada and Star Alliance carriers which offer travel to more than 1,000 destinations worldwide.

Corporate history [edit]

When it was created in 1984, Aeroplan program's operations were fully integrated with those of Air Canada. In 2002, Aeroplan was spun off as a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Canada.

In June 2005, Air Canada's parent company ACE Aviation Holdings sold 12.5% of Aeroplan for $250 million through an initial public offering creating the world's first publicly traded loyalty program - Aeroplan Income Fund.

Aeroplan logo

On December 20, 2007, Aeroplan Income Fund acquired Loyalty Management Group, a loyalty marketing and customer driven insight and analysis business that owns and operates Nectar, the UK's leading coalition loyalty program.

On May 28, 2008, ACE Aviation Holdings disposed of its remaining holdings in the fund.^[6] As such the Aeroplan program is no longer under direct control of Air Canada.

Competition [edit]

Air Miles is Aeroplan's main competitor as a Canadian-based travel rewards loyalty program, however it is not an airline frequent flyer program per se. HBC Rewards is also a competing non-airline rewards loyalty program.

Current Aeroplan cards

Mileage Expiration [edit]

On October 16, 2006 Aeroplan instituted a program to expire members miles due to account inactivity or for points aged more than seven years. Also, in order to keep miles from expiring, activity on an Aeroplan account is required at least once a year.^[7]

Aeroplan indicated on its website that use of various partners would maintain account activity and prevent mileage expiration, however in some reports where activity was not credited to the account, Aeroplan stated it does not recognize receipts for retail purchases as proof of activity contrary to policies shown on its website.^[8]

Class action lawsuit [edit]

When miles expire, Aeroplan offers to restore the miles for a fee of $30 plus $0.01 per mile, which in some instances has resulted in charges of several thousand dollars for high mileage members. Members have argued that Aeroplan had already been paid for the miles through the selling partner by virtue of the retail pricing and by fees charged for certain collector credit cards. As a result, on many blogs, members were upset that their miles emptied from their accounts.^[9]^[10]

As Aeroplan refused to give the miles back, a class action lawsuit ^[11]^[12] was undertaken by Montreal lawyer Owen Falquero of Merchant Law Group LLP.^[13]

On August 3, 2009 the Quebec Superior Court granted authorization to launch a class-action lawsuit challenging Groupe Aeroplan Inc.’s practice of cancelling points accumulated in its loyalty program. The motion, obtained by Montreal lawyer Owen Falquero of Merchant Law Group LLP, was filed on behalf of about seven plaintiffs across Canada however many thousands of petitioners have registered for membership in the Class. The motion was filed formally on behalf of Noella Neale of Port Coquitlam, B.C., a single mother whose 150,000 points were annulled by Aeroplan because she hadn’t made a contribution or a redemption in her account for one year, a period during which she had fallen ill. Those points fell victim to Aeroplan’s rules, under which the company erases points in an account dormant for 12 months. In a telephone interview, Neale said she was going to pay for her daughter’s trip to New Zealand — her graduation gift — until she tried to pay from her account and saw that it had been emptied. Aeroplan spokeswoman JoAnne Hayes declined to comment on the issue because it is now before the courts. In a statement, Aeroplan noted that “no class action has yet been filed. This motion is the first procedural step before any such action can be instituted.” The company noted that “petitioners (are) seek(ing) court permission to sue Aeroplan on behalf of program members in Canada to obtain reinstatement of expired miles, reimbursement of any amounts already expended by Aeroplan members to reinstate their expired miles, $50 in compensatory damages and an undetermined amount in exemplary damages on behalf of each class member, all in relation to changes made to the Aeroplan program concerning accumulation and expiry of Aeroplan Miles as announced Oct. 16th, 2006.” But Aeroplan stressed that it “is of the view that there are good grounds for opposing the motion for authorization and will vigorously defend any class action, should one be authorized by the court.” Neale said: “I felt like they stole from me.” “If the bank took my money like that, it would be theft. I earned those points. They belong to me, and (Aeroplan) has no right to take them away from me.”

Membership levels and numbers [edit]

There are 4 levels of membership in Aeroplan: Basic, Prestige, Elite, and Super Elite; the latter three are called"Top Tier" membership levels. These Top Tier levels provide travel benefits such as upgrades, lounge access, priority services (e.g. check-in, luggage handling), bonuses when earning miles through air travel, and more. In order to qualify for one of the three Top Tier levels, the member must earn a certain number of "status miles" or fly a certain number of "status segments" in a given calendar year (thus qualifying that member for the next benefit year). Prestige members receive Star Alliance Silver status while Elite and Super Elite members receive Star Alliance Gold status.

As of January 16, 2006, there were approximately 4.9 million Basic members, 57000 Prestige members, 68000 Elite members, and 9000 Super Elite members.^{[citation needed]}

Air Canada Status Miles are calculated on an annual basis (January 1 to December 31) to determine Aeroplan Membership Status for the following benefit year (March 1 to February 28).

The qualification levels for Air Canada Top-Tier status for 2012 (and recent years) are as follows:

Air Canada Prestige: 25,000 Aeroplan Status Miles or 25 Status Flight Segments
Air Canada Elite: 35,000 Aeroplan Status Miles or 50 Status Flight Segments
Air Canada Super Elite: 100,000 Aeroplan Status Miles or 95 Status Flight Segments

2013 Top Tier changes [edit]

Aeroplan is redesigning membership levels and qualifications for 2013. The Elite level currently at 35,000 Aeroplan Status Miles or 35 Status Flight Segments will be changed to 50,000 Aeroplan Status Miles or 50 Status Flight Segments.^[14] A new level, name not yet finalized but nicknamed "Elite-Lite", will be introduced at 35,000 Status miles or 25 segments. An additional level will also be introduced at 75,000 Status Miles or 75 segments. The Super Elite level is unchanged from previous levels.

Earn miles [edit]

1. Earn Aeroplan Miles with Air Canada^[15]

For travel on flights within Canada and between Canada and the Continental U.S.A. (including Hawaii), 25% of miles flown will be earned for Tango Class, 100% of miles flown will be earned for Tango Plus and Executive Class Lowest and 150% of miles flown will be earned for Executive Class Flexible.

For travel on flights for all other destinations worldwide, 100% of miles flown will be earned for Tango Plus, 125% for Executive Class Lowest and 150% for Executive Class Flexible.

2. Earn Aeroplan Miles when booking from AirCanada.com^[16]

Earn up to 1 Aeroplan Mile for every dollar spent when you purchase an eligible ticket at aircanada.com (Canadian and U.S. Edition only).

Earn 1 Aeroplan mile for every 3 dollars spent when you purchase an eligible Flight Pass at aircanada.com (Canadian and U.S. Edition only).

3. Other partners^[17]