Yesterday, there were multiple reports of people already getting their status upgraded and as I was one of the people that took advantage of the promotion on the first day, I logged in to see my status had been upgraded from Elite 35K to Elite 50K!
I was able to go in and select my Altitude Privilege benefits, of which I chose:
50% Altitude Bonus Bonus with Air Canada and select airline partners: Choose this Select Privilege and earn 50% Bonus Aeroplan Miles on eligible flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Express, Air Canada Rouge, Copa Airlines and United. Also earn a 25% bonus on eligible flights operated by Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss.
20 eUpgrade Credits: 20 eUpgrade Credits will be deposited into your aircanada.com eUpgrade account. Credits can be used on eligible flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge in order to upgrade to premium cabins.
8 eUpgrade Credits for eligible Flight Pass activities: For every eligible Flight Pass activity, eUpgrade Credits will be deposited into your aircanada.com eUpgrade account. Credits can be used on eligible flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge in order to upgrade to premium cabins.
I would expect that my membership card and luggage tag will be in the mail shortly and I’m very much looking forward to receiving that package!
Conclusion
I am thoroughly impressed with Air Canada’s Altitude Program during this pandemic and I’m very pleased with how quickly they have been able to process these upgrades. I know that many people have taken advantage of the Prestige 25K offer which required 50K Aeroplan Miles to be earned, or deposited during the promotional period. Be sure to check your account and make your Privilege selections as they are automatically chosen for you if you do not make your selections.
I know that this isn’t directly travel-related but I wanted to pass along a hot tip that saved me 75% off my Amazon Prime Membership for the year. The way I see it, you can buy a lot of travel-related items on Amazon and most of my readers are likely Amazon Prime customers anyways, so this will probably come in handy.
Cost of Amazon Prime and Its Value
For Canadians, Amazon Prime costs $7.99 a month or $79 for the year. I have always opted for a full-year subscription to save a bit of money.
For me, the biggest value in Amazon Prime is the free two-day (sometimes next day) shipping. In the first couple of years, Amazon Prime wasn’t really worth it to me based on my buying habits but as the years go on, more and more of my online shopping purchases go through Amazon.
In addition to the free two-day shipping, you also get access to Amazon Prime TV, which features some great original series such as Hunters (highly recommended).
Amazon has also introduced Prime Reading, a way to read a selection of eBooks for free on your Kindle devices.
How To Save Money
Amazon, to its credit, is a very customer-focused company and always try to make things right for their members.
With COVID-19 wreaking havoc around the world, one of the victims of this virus is the expedited shipping on many items that Amazon sells. Items that used to take 2 days to arrive, now take 2-4 weeks to arrive.
I have personally canceled about 3 orders recently due to the delayed shipping times and I was growing frustrated with the value that Amazon Prime was providing. So I decided to do something about it … I contacted Amazon Customer Service and managed to negotiate a 75% discount on my Amazon Prime Annual Membership.
Here’s the chat I had with Amazon Customer Service (I’ve changed the Amazon Customer Service representative’s name to “Amazon” for privacy):
10:02 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â Hello, my name is Amazon Payments Support. I’m here to help you today 10:03 AM PDTÂ Jayce Loh:Â Hello. I am inquiring about getting a refund for my Amazon Prime Membership fee. I’ve paid $79 and I buy a lot on Amazon but I am finding it very frustrating to purchase anything on Prime nowadays. Shipping times are way too long 10:03 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â Jayce, do you want to cancel the prime? 10:03 AM PDTÂ Jayce Loh:Â Not necessarily. 10:05 AM PDTÂ Jayce Loh:Â I’m just very frustrated with having to source other places to purchase items because shipping is takings so long. I understand that this is largely related to COVID but when I order something and it takes a month to show up … that seems very extreme.
Is there something you can do about providing compensation for this drastically reduced level of service? 10:05 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â Jayce, I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. 10:07 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â I’ll issue 50% refund for the prime membership but you can enjoy the rest of the period. Instead of cancelling it for the full refund. 10:07 AM PDTÂ Jayce Loh:Â Thank you Amazon. Is there any chance you could bump that up to say 80%? 10:07 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â Will this be a best option for you? 10:09 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â Jayce, I’ll make an one time exception and issue 75% refund for the prime membership. I’m making this as you’re our valuable customer. 10:09 AM PDTÂ Jayce Loh:Â That would be fantastic! Thank you very much. Will the amount be refunded to my credit card or will it show up as a credit for my next purchase? 10:10 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â I’ve done my best option to you. It will issued to your credit card. 10:10 AM PDTÂ Jayce Loh:Â Fantastic.
How long before the refund is issued? 10:11 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â You’ll receive a refund of 62.21 to your MasterCard. This will be credited in 3-5 business days. 10:12 AM PDTÂ Jayce Loh:Â Perfect. Thank you so much for your help Amazon. Have a great day and stay safe 10:12 AM PDTÂ Amazon:Â You’re welcome, Jayce. Thank you for contacting Amazon Payments Support!! We look forward to see you again soon. Have a great day!
Keys To Success
There are a few key things to keep in mind when attempting to negotiate anything:
It’s going to be much easier for you to negotiate if you are actuallya good customer that spends money with the brand. If you don’t spend a lot of money, expect your results to be a little more muted. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t try because you are likely to get a least some sort of concession.
Know what you are asking for and don’t beat around the bush. I used to work for ENMAX, and one of the things that we used to do was to respond to complaints from customers. We would often make concessions but only if the customer gave specific directions on how the issue could be resolved. Be direct but don’t be a jerk.
Anchor high – when you ask for something, shoot for the moon. If you start high, the representative is forced to use your high number as a starting point for negotiation. Notice how I asked for 80% off my Prime membership and we agreed to 75%? In truth, I would have been satisfied with 30%.
Conclusion
Amazon Prime is something that I love and a reason that I shop a lot with Amazon but given the challenges with fulfilling orders, now is the perfect time to ask Amazon for a discount on your Prime Membership.
Like with anything in life, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Make sure you hit up Amazon right away as there are clear signs that the delivery standard is returning back to normal.
As you likely saw across your feeds yesterday, Air Canada/Aeroplan have expanded their Travel at Home Program that was initially launched on April 6th, making it more accessible and rewarding for their customers. There are a few nuances to the program that I have received clarification on which I will detail in this post.
What is the Travel at Home Program?
Due to COVID-19, the folks in the Loyalty Department at Air Canada have come up with a novel way to keep their clients engaged even with very few aircraft in the air. This new marketing strategy allows Air Canada clients to chase and earn elite status without flying, something that was unheard of with AC prior to COVID. In the past, AC has done a very good job of protecting status in the Altitude program with very few public status match/status challenge opportunities, but given the new challenges airlines face, they are expanding how you can earn elite status.
Normally, the requirement to earn Air Canada Altitude status requires two criteria to be met:
AQS – Altitude Qualifying Segments – the number of segments on Air Canada or other Star Alliance Partner flights.
AQD – Altitude Qualifying Dollars – the amount of money that needs to be spent on Air Canada issued tickets. This means flights on Air Canada metal or Star Alliance metal flights that are ticketed by Air Canada.
But with the Travel at Home Program, they are waiving the AQS and AQD requirements and replacing them with Aeroplan activity as the measuring stick.
How Do I Participate?
First, you should know that there are two promotions and these promotions run from April 20, 2020 to May 31, 2020. We should talk about these two distinct offers:
If you do not already have Altitude status with Air Canada, earn Altitude Prestige 25K status to the end of the 2021 status year (February 28, 2022) by earning 50,000 Aeroplan Miles within the promotion period.
If you already have status within Air Canada’s AltitudeProgram, you can earn benefits depending on how many miles you put into your account. The benefits are listed below:
It’s important to note that in Promotion #2, the benefits are cumulative, so for example, if you managed to earn 100,000 Aeroplan Miles, you would receive each of the benefits in the prior tiers (1,500 Bonus AQM + 3,000 Bonus AQM + 20 eUpgrade credits + $1,000 Bonus AQD). However, the real prize is when you hit 250,000 Aeroplan Miles.
At 250,000 Aeroplan Miles earned, you are bumped up one full tier level in the Altitude program, so:
25K –> 35K
35K –> 50K
50K –> 75K
Unfortunately, you cannot move up more than one tier level and the maximum tier you can hit through this promotion is 75K. This protects the 100K Super Elite Tier and ensures that only true Air Canada loyalists make it into their highest (published) tier level.
Does All Aeroplan Activity Count?
In short, the answer is yes. Air Canada lists the following as eligible Aeroplan Miles (emphasis mine):
Aeroplan credit card welcome bonus: The welcome bonus for a new Aeroplan credit card acquired by an Eligible Participant, provided the credit card was acquired during the Offer Period and in conformity with the applicable credit card terms and conditions.
Aeroplan credit card spend: All Aeroplan spend-based earn shall include only Aeroplan Miles credited to the Eligible Participant’s Aeroplan account during the Offer Period, including Aeroplan Miles credited on the June 2020 statement. The applicable credit card terms and conditions shall apply
eStore: Purchases must be made on the eStore during the Offer Period to qualify for the Offer, and in compliance with the eStore terms and conditions.
All other activity: Unless otherwise stipulated, all Aeroplan Miles credited to the Eligible Participant’s Aeroplan account based on activity during the Offer Period shall qualify for the Offer.
Things like transfers from American Express Membership Rewards (MR) and transfers from Marriott Travel Packages count towards this promotion.
Why Are They Doing This?
Put simply, Air Canada is doing everything in its power to generate revenue and keep their clients engaged.
Waiving the ACS and AQD requirements makes perfect sense because no one is flying so revenues have been decimated and very few people are making tier organically. The one aspect of the Air Canada program that still makes money is the Aeroplan program.
In order to earn Aeroplan Miles, you need to shop through brick and mortar stores, online stores, or by converting hotel or credit card points. Every time this happens, Aeroplan (and thus Air Canada), turns a profit on the sale of those miles to retailers or credit card companies.
Quite frankly, Air Canada’s Loyalty Department is doing a masterful job at coming up with new and innovative ideas that are helping keep AC solvent.
Do Those With Status Through Status Challenges Qualify?
I asked Air Canada for clarification as to whether I would be bumped up to 50K if I managed to earn 250,000 Aeroplan Miles in the qualifying period and their answer was YES!
If you also completed the Status Challenge from Air Canada, this promotion might be right up your alley.
Is It Worth It?
Well, that kind of depends on your particular situation. As a 35K member, if I earned 250,000 Aeroplan Miles during the promotion period, I would move up to 50K. 50K is the magic sweet spot as you then become recognized as a Star Alliance Gold member. This status provides you with added benefits such as access to Star Alliance Gold lounges around the world regardless of what class of service you are flying.
Outside of the Star Alliance Gold benefits, there isn’t really too much difference between 35K and 50K outside of additional eUpgrade credits, so it might not be worth it for some. For a full understanding of the differences between the Air Canada Altitude Tiers, please refer to Air Canada’s official webpage on Altitude benefits.
For those without status, getting 25K status is well worth it if you plan on redeeming for North American award flights on Air Canada because you receive a fuel surcharge (YQ) waiver. However, if you don’t plan on redeeming for Air Canada flight awards for flights to and from Canada and the United States and you don’t fly Air Canada on regular revenue flights, it’s probably not worth it unless you are planning on transferring Membership Rewards points over to redeem for an award anyways.
How Do I Participate?
It’s really quite easy. Simply register for the promotion at https://www.aeroplan.com/travelathome.do#/ and then start earning Aeroplan Miles. Remember, the promotion period is only until May 31, 2020, so if you want to participate, you’d better get cracking.
Conclusion
The Air Canada Travel at Home Program is one of the most creative promotions in recent memory and has some excellent payback for the long term. Having status is always a good thing and having status till February 28, 2022 is AMAZING. I will be participating in the promotion and I’ll keep you updated as to when I receive my status upgrade.
This is a really tough article for me to write because it brings back a lot of happy memories on a day that my world was completely shattered. You’re going to get to see a very personal side of me in this post so if that’s not your jam, feel free to skip this one.
Today, my cousin, Billy Loh, passed away at the very young (and wholly unfair) age of 41. He had a prolonged battle with cancer and passed gently into the night in the wee hours of the morning.
Billy was so very special to me and we were as close as brothers. Even though I grew up in a town almost 200 kilometres from his home in Edmonton, we saw each other all the time. We had a lot of the same challenges growing up as kids and shared most weekends and every holiday together. I don’t think anyone in the world knew me as well as Billy did, which is why this is such a difficult post to write.
About a year and a half ago in September of 2018, I decided to take Billy on a trip to New York. In my heart of hearts, I knew that there was a chance that something like this could happen so I wanted to splurge and show him a trip of a lifetime before it became too hard to travel. I gathered my collective knowledge of the miles and points game and started constructing something that I hoped would be special.
Marriott Moments
I haven’t written about Marriott Moments on the blog but I have leveraged them for a couple of pretty special experiences. For those unfamiliar with Marriott Moments, it’s an auction site where you can use Marriott Points as currency towards unique experiences like being on the red carpet during the Oscars, private dining at Michelin Star restaurants, etc.
On a different trip to New York (November 2018), I had bid on and won tickets and backstage passes to Aladdin on Broadway. My daughter and I were able to see how a Broadway musical was run from behind the scenes and got to meet Adam Jacobs, the talented actor that plays Aladdin.
I knew that I wanted a special experience for Bill so I started trolling around for trips we could take together. Bill was a big gambler and lover of sports. He loved basketball and the Golden State Warriors as well as the NFL but growing up as kids, we played tennis and watched a lot of it on TV. We both liked Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and Michael Chang. Admittedly, Michael Chang couldn’t hang with Pistol Pete and Andre but comeon … the guy looked kinda like us.
Throughout the years we both watched tennis on and off and never lost the love of the game. With that in mind, I bid and won a package for two to the 2018 US Open Men’s Finals.
You may notice that this experience was won on SPG Moments, the sister site to Marriott Moments when SPG still existed. The tickets cost me 97,000 SPG Points which was equivalent to 291,000 Marriott Points.
With that sorted, I needed to worry about flights and accommodations.
The Stay
I’ve stayed in New York a bunch of times and while most hotels are nice, none had the wow factor I was after. After much research, I settled on the JW Marriott Essex House, located across from the south entrance of Central Park. I logged into my Marriott account and redeemed 135,000 Marriott Points for a 3-night stay in their standard room, the Essex Room.
View of the JW Marriott Essex House from Central Park
I then used the Suite Upgrade certificates I had earned as part of my Marriott Ambassador Status and put in a request for the Manhattan Suite, which cleared on September 2nd, 5 days before the stay was scheduled to begin.
The room was gigantic for Manhattan and the hotel was perfectly situated in Midtown Manhattan, right next to the world-famous Carnegie Hall.
The Flight
Not wanting to provide Billy with anything but the best, I redeemed 100,000 Alaska Miles for two round-trip tickets on Cathay Pacific’s Fifth Freedom flight from Vancouver (YVR) to New York (JFK) in Business Class. Unfortunately, First Class wasn’t available for redemption as I would have loved to have given him the First Class experience that Cathay had to offer.
For those Asians out there … you know that flight number 888 is no coincidence.
As part of the Cathay Business Class experience, we were able to take in the gorgeous Cathay Pacific Lounge at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR). In my opinion, the Cathay Lounge is the best lounge in North America due to the elegance and ambiance of the lounge itself as well as the spectacular noodle bar on offer.
Bill outside the entrance of the CX Lounge at YVR
Billy after enjoying a nice refreshing shower at the CX Lounge at YVR
The flight itself was a red-eye flight that departed at 10:15 pm PST, so having eaten in the lounge, I headed straight to bed as soon as we took off. Bill, on the other hand, didn’t sleep much and enjoyed all the benefits of flying Business Class.
The New York Experience
I obviously wish that we had more time together but the time we shared in New York was special. We focused mostly on food, hitting up a LOT of ramen places throughout New York and explored many of the sights in Manhattan. We even took in a Mets game even though it was a cold and blustery evening.
If you knew Billy, you would know that he was always witty and hilarious. He was never shy about talking to anyone and was generally a fun-loving guy that people gravitated towards.
While at the Freedom Tower, we ran into a couple of models wearing balloon dresses (yah … dresses made of balloons) so, of course, Billy went up and asked for a picture and then proceeded to chat up the designer for a few minutes … just standard Billy.
WTF is this?
Might as well meet the models
And the designer, Emi Jingu
The US Open Men’s Final
If I’m honest, the US Open was a bit of a let down because both Roger Federer and Canadian, Milos Raonic lost in the 4th round and Rafa Nadal lost in the semis so we had a Novak Djokovic (6) v Juan Martin del Potro (3) final. I’m not a fan of either player but Billy liked Djokovic so he was still excited for the match.
del Potro v Djokovic was a one-sided affair with Novak taking home his 3rd US Open Grand Slam title in straight sets (6-3, 7-6, 6-3). But even without a very compelling final, it was still a great experience to share with my cousin.
Marriott spared no expense when it came to the suite with food aplenty and great hosts to make sure everyone was comfortable.
Conclusion
I know I write a lot about premium travel redemptions and how to best leverage your miles and points but what sometimes gets lost in the noise is that it’s not the luxury that’s important, it’s the people you get to spend it with. I’ve earned and spent millions of miles and points in my life but this was the best redemption I have ever made because it afforded me a unique experience and a chance to make memories that are going to be very difficult to top.
Very rarely in life do you have someone that completely understands you. Someone that knows what to say when you’re down to make you crack up in laughter. Bill was that guy and the centre of many people’s lives. He was a fantastic friend, a loving father, a devoted husband, and the best cousin brother that anyone could ever ask for. We always got along, never fought and had the same dry sense of humour that many people just don’t understand. He was smart, charming and someone that always got the better of me in chess and when it came to trading hockey cards. We talked often through chat, laughed together and shared an unbreakable bond. He loved Snoopy, his family and was a natural leader.
I miss him dearly and I’m at a loss as to how to express my grief.
Rest in Peace Bill. I love you.
Catching a puck at Game 2 of the 2017 First Round matchup of Oilers v Sharks
