Hi, guys. I had dinner with my girlfriend who told me a most bizzare tale about her experience with Aeroplan miles flight award redemption. In September, my girlfriend and her hubby booked a last minute award flight to Chicago from YYZ, and the itinerary cost them 80,000 miles (for 2 return tickets), and $350 in taxes. They booked it last minute, so they could not get saver awards. But a family emergency caused them to cancel the trip, and the miles were returned into their accounts. Just this past week, they wanted to use their miles for 2 Y tickets to London next summer, and when they tried to book the tickets, they were told that the 80k miles that were returned to their accounts were premium plus miles, and cannot be used for saver flight awards to London. And if they want to use miles for their flights to London, they would have to cough up 120k miles each for the economy class ticket. Has anyone ever experienced this? Is this for real? I find the story bizzare, and a little ridiculous. But my girlfriend has absolutely no reason to lie about this.
Welcome to milePoint TravelMusing. Cannot say I have heard of these, so I would be interested in hearing what others say!
Could it be that the Classic Reward level points were not available and they had to pay the Classic Plus level which is always higher? Were they booking Business seats or Economy? Looks like their original Chicago seats were in Business? Next summer is the Olympics in London so I would be surprised if there were any cheap reward flights.
The flights to Chicago were economy. I just went to aeroplan.ca to check how much a last minute award flight would cost in miles, and it is as high as 215k miles, if you want to fly AC... but only 25k return if you fly UA... I am so going to be the one booking her award flights from now on!
I think you can only use Premium Plus Aeroplan points to buy crackers. Your friend will now have a lifetime supply. Has she tried calling more than once? Different agents give different answers and if she does get the same answer I would ask to speak to a supervisor. Were the two tickets from the same account? If they were and it is mandatory to use them for non-saver awards then she could book a saver award using other points and use those points for the rip-off reward maybe.
THE REAL REASON IS THEY DID NOT REDEPOSIT THEIR MILES. THEY HAVE OPEN TICKETS WITHIN THE SHORT HAUL ZONE. Because they cancelled the bookings within the period where miles could not be redeposited, they actually did not redeposit their miles but rather cancelled the flights. What they now have is a pair of open tickets that can be rebooked in the same zone category. Ergo "premium plus" but within the Short Haul zone. This means these are no longer miles and the open tickets cannot be used outside the original booking zone. So they cannot use the miles (actually open tickets) for travel to any other destination outside that zone, i.e. London, UK. They could rebook these destinations at the normal 15K availability, or up to their 40K (each). Actually wouldn't have mattered if these were regular Classic or the more costly awards...could only be used within same zone.
Ah yes - I think you are spot on Canadi>n ... I have done that in the past months myself -- well spotted and explained I think it makes sense ... did not know they had to be used in the same 'zone' ... but I think the key thing is the trip is cancelled and the points not redeposited ... if that is the case then your explanation makes sense !
The relevant T&Cs are: Cancelling Flight Rewards 39. Mileage for unexpired and unused tickets can be reinstated into your account up to 22 days before your scheduled date of departure. The fee for this reinstatement is CA$90 per person per reward ticket (or per reward code) plus applicable taxes. 40. To pay, simply use your credit card when requesting that miles be reinstated. For paper tickets: Return unused and unexpired tickets to the Aeroplan Reward Department with a letter containing your request for reinstatement. In this letter, provide your credit card number and its expiry date. Please allow four weeks for the mileage to be reinstated to your account. 41. While Aeroplan mileage cannot be reinstated into your account within 21 days of scheduled departure, your reward reservations can be changed for a fee of CA$90 per ticket, plus applicable taxes. 42. Provided that you cancel or change your booking a minimum of two hours before departure, your unused reward tickets will remain valid for one year from the date of their original issue. 43. Tickets for reward reservations that are not cancelled or changed two hours prior to the scheduled departure time will be forfeited and considered no longer valid for travel. 44. We do not reinstate your miles on unused portions of tickets nor if your reward travel has begun. 45. Aeroplan service, change and cancellation fees are non-refundable. All fees are subject to change with or without notice.
Thanks for reminding us - I keep forgetting the fine print - always good to have it reminded - best to be aware ... thanks again!
