Aeroplan Travel Services
Reviews and Complaints

I have been an Aeroplan member for decades, am in Air Canadas Million MIle Club (for what thats worth) and am currently at the Elite 50k status.
I am appalled as to how difficult it is to now book reasonable flights at reasonable redemption levels from Aeroplan. It was never particularly easy, but now it borders on the absurd.
I recently tried to book one business class seat YVR/LHR return for flights just under a year away. Some crazy flights offered but not one single direct flight for travel a year away. Unbelievable.
What has happened here? This used to be a reasonable loyalty programme. It no longer is. Whats happened?

To whom it may concern,

I spent a couple of frustrating hours today and last night trying to book tickets using aeroplan miles on your aeroplan site. I finally managed to book 4 one way tickets for Aug 24th to Curacao from Toronto for my family, which took me about 90 minutes as the flights kept popping up and then disappearing.

I tried to book the return flights today, and found on the day we need to return August 31st (flights are very limited to that destination from Toronto) there were only 2 seats left. I went to book them on your website; once I got throught the entire process, entering my credit card etc, I received an error page from your site telling me to log in again and try again. Which I tried another 2 or 3 times. Each time I logged back into the site, I would have to wait to see the flights re-appear, so actually needed to wait about 10-15 minutes before each new attempt. And then each time I got through your booking process again, I received the same error message.

Finally after an hour of attempting to use your website to book these tickets, I phoned for help. I was told that I would have to pay an extra $30 per ticket to use the phone booking service. I waited a full 15 minutes on hold to speak to a "supervisor" who made it very clear that she did not care that I had spent most of the morning simply trying to book a couple of tickets, told me that the website was broken, and that I could wait for it to get fixed before booking my tickets. As there are were only the 2 seats left on the flight, I explained to her that I couldn't really wait and also as I am working, I can't spend all day going back to the website every 10 minutes and going through the process only to possibly receive your error message repeatedly.

I asked her if she could waive the $30 per person extra charge, as it is your website down, and no fault of mine.. I'm simply trying to get the last 2 tickets before they disappear. She was extremely unhelpful and did not care at all about the time I've spent trying to use your website, telling me that I would have to pay at this point the $30 per ticket if I really needed to get the tickets bought right away. I very much resent her attitude, and I resent being penalized i.e. having to pay to use your booking service, when it is your website that is not functioning properly. I am booking these tickets on my spouse's card and he is an 50000 Elite member, so it's not like we don't use Air Canada and Aeroplan all the time for travel, mainly business travel. This service is nothing short of shoddy, frustrating, and we cannot comprehend what Aeroplan is doing, is trying to communicate to we the clients/customers by being wholly unhelpful, and taking advantage of us in this way.
I did pay and use the telephone system, which was not that efficient as I still had to enter my credit card details on my phone dial pad, which as I explained to the salesperson, sometimes does not work that well on my phone..again, there was nothing she could do about that. The whole process was so frustrating, I am extremely hesitant to use your service again any time soon.
The account holder here is [removed], Aeroplan #[removed]
I would like to be refunded for these 2 $30 charges and some recognition of the time this process has stolen from me today.
What's also annoying is I still need to go and find another way to get 2 of my family back to Toronto as Air Canada only had the 2 tickets available from Curacao.. perhaps I will have better luck with one of your competitors..?

Thank you,
[removed]
[removed]

I have been a customer with Aeroplan for over 20 years (Aeroplan # [protected], Angela Cranston). I did receive 1 email from Aeroplan around October stating that my miles were going to expire in December, but I didn't know the exact date and I couldn't find it easily by going into the website. I tried booking a flight using Aeroplan miles in early December but it just didn't work out. Therefore since I knew my miles were going to expire I used my Esso card to purchase gas on Dec 23rd, 2016 and swiped my Aeroplan card. I didn't think anything more about my points as I knew that I had used my Aeroplan card at Esso. Then on Jan. 2nd I went to book a flight to Vegas for mid January to find that my 103, 000 points were all gone and my balance was 0. I was sick to my stomach and instantly called Aeroplan to see what had happened. They said that there was no record of the Esso purchase that I had made on Dec. 23rd. I told them exactly what I had done and they informed me that I would need to contact Esso and give them all the information regarding my purchase and that Esso would have to submit the information to Aeroplan. I felt pretty good after this conversation as it sounded like it wasn't going to be too hard to get my points back. I contacted Esso on Jan. 4th and they took all my information regarding the receipt #, store location, amount, etc. My aeroplan # was not printed on the receipt and that was why my points weren't recorded. The person at Esso informed me what the process was on their end and she stated that they couldn't back date the entry, but Aeroplan could. She also informed me that it may take up to 2 months to get this resolved. I checked my Aeroplan account on Feb. 18th and I saw that I now had 21 points, but my 103, 000 points weren't reinstated. Therefore I contacted Aeroplan again and they informed me that they received the information from Esso on Feb. 10th and therefore dated the transaction on that date. I told them that this transaction was from Dec. 23rd and the purpose of my transaction on that date was so I wouldn't lose all my points. They said that there was nothing they could do, so he forwarded me to a Supervisor that shouldn't even be in Customer Service and definitely shouldn't be a supervisor. Eric (I think that was his name) told me a completely different story then what I was told when I contacted Aeroplan on Jan. 2nd. He told me there was nothing I could do as the Aeroplan # has to be on the receipt. He was very rude and asked why I hadn't looked at my receipt to ensure the Aeroplan # was on it, then he said that I could have gotten the Esso receipt from anyone, how would they know it was mine. I couldn't believe he was accusing me of doing something wrong. I told him that I used my Visa card to pay for the gas and I can prove that this is my Visa card as the # is on the receipt that I have. I have attached a picture of the receipt below. He pretty much told me that there was nothing I could do to get my points back. Like I mentioned earlier, I have been a customer for over 20 years and I don't feel like this is the proper way to treat someone who has been a customer for that long. Not to mention that it took me a long time to earn all these points (103, 000) and to have them taken away from me is horrible. I'm not asking for anything that isn't mine, I'm only asking for my 103, 000 points to be put back in my account.

I have been trying to phone Aeroplan for the last week or so, impossible to talk to an agent... waited more than 2 hours everyday since 13 February 2017 with no success... I called at 7:00 when the line opens and still waiting time of more than 60 minutes with no success and a substantial telephone bill... for nothing..
Aeroplan website was also down for one day... I tried to book two flights and the reservations was not confirmed but my credit card was debited twice for a reservation not approved... and processed...

I called Air Canada and they repeated that Aeroplan has nothing to do with them... what a joke... It is a programme of Air Canada...
I am ready to fill out a legal complaint for false representation regarding the advantages of this Aeroplan programme... I have never encountered in my many years of travel such a inadequate customer services...

I am a member of a consumer protection association in Switzerland and will submit an official complaint... plus will contact Bon entendeur a Swiss television programme... reporting such abuse...

The claim on the website "Wathc Andrew explain how easy it was to book a flight for his two boys is totally misleading and false...

I called air canada and aeroplan before departure to confirm that we just need to show our cibc infinite aeroplan visa card and we can get priority boarding to zone 2.

Today when we dropped off our luggages, the guy said showed your card to the staff at the boarding gate, they can change for us.

However when we showed our card, the arrogant staff said no 5 times. Is it because she is discriminating or air canada doesn't care about the customer anymore?

I do want to hear a response from you.

My booking reference AERHNV.
Feb 11. 930. YYZ to MCO.

I have an aeroplan account but dont know the account number. I followed the steps on website to retrieve account number but discovered my email address used is now defunct (an old employer email address). Now I am going in circles trying to reach them to rectify the problem but there is no way to get someone on the phone. Their help desk phone number requires you to enter an account number. So I set up a new account hoping to use it to reach someone on the phone but after all of that the help desk recorded message tells me they have an unusually high call volume so I should use self serve on the website or call back later:-( This is beyond frustrating. The website help centre pages are also inaccessible ("page not found'). What a ridiculous company to deal with. They clearly have set up every obstacle possible to avoid actually dealing with their customers. Reminds me of the pathetic little man hiding behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz. Shameful business practices.

I went to Book a flight last night with the app from my android device. It did not let me make the booking. I then went online to book same flight but this time I made a mistake on my departure. I realized this phoned but it was too late. So I canceled it online. I then phone in this morning and talk to Johanne who was kind and very helpfull but was told I was being charged 100$ for changing one leg of the flight. I find this unjust and unfair as the mistake arose from your faulty app which I've been told by my coworker is ongoing issue. Air Canada let's you change flights without penalty within 24h I feel you should do the same as AC is not charging you. I would greatly appreciate a refund or points for my inconvenience.

Best Regards

Jason Lainess
[protected]

Date of call: Wednesday February 1, 2017
Aeroplan number: [removed]

My partner and I were planning a trip to travel from Toronto to Atlanta. I had enough aeroplan points to book one flight, but not both. Given that my partner and I wanted to travel together, I had made a phone call to customer service last night to inquire about booking both flights together (paying for one with points and the other with money). At this time the customer service agent informed me that there was no way to do this (which on its own, I find absolutely ridiculous and a major flaw in the rewards program that you can not interface between aeoplan and Air Canada, the airline for which the program is intended). The agent advised me that I would have to book my flight through the aeroplan website and my partner's flight through the air canada website still using my aeroplan number, and that air canada would be able to ensure that our booking was linked and we would be able to sit together. At the time, although I was annoyed with the hassle of booking this way, I thought the issue was handled as well as the agent could.

I was then very dismayed when I called Air Canada to complete the booking for my partners flight to very rudely find out (a) even though my partner and I are travelling together and I am the one making the booking I can not use my aeroplan account for this booking, and (b) they are unable to link our bookings so that we can sit together. It is clear that I was completely mislead by the customer service agent. When I tried to call back to aeroplan customer service to resolve this issues I was stuck on a very lengthy hold which I was not able to stay on because I had to leave for an engagement. As a result, because I did not want to wait to book my partner's flight for fear of the flight filling up by a later date, I was forced to book my flight so now I have not earned points for that flight and our bookings are entirely separate.

I was keen to become a member of the aeroplan rewards program as I frequently take flights with Air Canada. Furthermore, what I originally perceived as a great rewards program had motivated me to take more flights with Air Canada. In fact, the only reason I was booking these flights through air canada was because of the rewards program, given that other airlines offer cheaper flights that would have otherwise been a better option. Unfortunately, this very negative experience has discouraged me from further commitment to both aeroplan and air canada. To me, it is unacceptable that there is such a disconnect between the companies and that the customer service agents are so grossly unprepared to support customers with requests that would require interfacing between the two companies.

I hope that bringing this to your awareness will motivate aeroplan to take action to resolve this systemic issue so that future customers are not also affected in such a negative way. On a more personal level, it is my hope that we would be able to reach a resolution where I am awarded the points I should have received for the booking my partner's and where my partner and I are guaranteed seats together for our trip.

Sincerely,
[removed]

We signed up for the TD areoplan visa with rewards promised.

We did not receive one of the awards we were promised. 15000 points for our first purchase.

I was told after asking about it that we had to spend a min of $1000 in the first 30 days and our purchases added to $900+. first of all we were not told about the minimum amount and second it sounds like we are very close.

I would like to be awarded this point balance we were promised.

I would please like this issue dealt with in a timely manner. My husband and I are prepared to cancel our services and go further in the company's if needed.

Thank you for your time.

I've been trying since October to resolve an issue with my E-Upgrade account. On repeated occasions I've sought to use my E-Upgrade credits - of which I have lots - on various flights. Every time I've tried I get a message saying 'Account Suspended'. I've called both Aeroplan and Air Canada on multiple occasions, including again tonight (27 Jan 2017) and no-one has been able to fix the issue. I'm again flying back to the UK tomorrow (28 Jan) and would dearly love to be able to use my E-Upgrades but suspect I'll have the same problems again.

Please can someone sort this issue and call/email me to let me know it is fixed.

Regards.
Simon

Hi,

- Me and my family switched from TD rewards to TD Aeroplan customer in 2014 (3 cards).
- As a results, my hard earned TD rewards were converted to one of the Aeroplan Miles (Number: [protected])
- I switched back to TD rewards in Feb 2015 but couldn't convert back my Aeroplan miles to TD rewards.
- One day, upon trying to use the miles in March 2016, I noticed all my points (12, 638) were deducted by Aeroplan.
- Upon calling Aeroplan, I was told all miles (12, 638) have been expired and I to get the miles back I will have to pay $ 176.71.
- I was told an email was sent by Aeroplan on Dec 11 about inactivity of account but I confirmed back that I never received any email.
- Possible that email ended up in junk email and I explained to Aeroplan customer service but in vain.
- I tried calling Aeroplan multiple times, requested to talk to supervisor etc. but nothing happened.
- I am utterly frustrated with the situation and would like to get back my hard earned 12, 638 miles which are equivalent to $ 176.71.
- I would request you to get involved and resolve this situation at earliest.

I ordered two Dyson vacuums at 90, 000 points each, but only received one (my account was debited for two - 180, 000 points).
I called in to get the second vacuum but was on hold for 1 hour and 15 minutes and then the phone call was just cut off.
I use my aeroplan VISA for about $10, 000 per month of purchases, but am now ready to switch to another rewards company - Aeroplan sucks (unlike the vacuum which I have still not received!)

Dear Madam/Sir: June 29, 2016

Re: Aeroplan #[protected]

I have been a CIBC Aerogold cardholder since 1993, and on January 27, 2016 used 115, 000 points to book a Business Class return trip from Toronto Pearson to Budapest (via Frankfurt) for travel in August/September of this year on Air Canada/Lufthansa. The Booking reference is LGZYXA.

When I received my Itinerary, I was surprised to learn that only the Lufthansa segments of the trip were shown as Business and Toronto/Frankfurt legs indicated as Economy in spite of total points debited!

When I subsequently phoned your agent for an explanation, I was told that “no Business Class seats are available at this time but perhaps seats will open up by the time you travel.” As for the 115, 000 points deducted, “there are no adjustments that can be made at this time.”

Then a few months later, I received a communiqué informing me that points could now be used to offset Airport Taxes, Fees and Surcharges for which I had paid $593.66 at the time of booking.

Another phone call to your agent to enquire about a refund of these charges using my remaining 101, 000 points and to further check on the availability of Business Class seats to and from Frankfurt, I was informed that no BC seats were available.

As to the charges, the agent said: “The refund could only be processed by the system if I rebooked the trip and that a $90 processing fee would apply”. As no other seats were available on my travel dates, I was left in the lurch. I suggested to the agent that the current itinerary stay as is, and simply deduct the $90 and refund me $503.66. The answer was, “the system doesn’t allow me to do that”.

This entire affair has been totally aggravating and left me annoyed with the treatment received to date.
Therefore, I request that adjustments be made to reflect the service contracted for, and receive a refund (partial, I assume) for the pre-paid charges. Otherwise I would not hesitate to contact Consumer Advocates and Social Media resources to lay bare my frustrations.

Respectfully,

William Sharp

1463 Albion Avenue
Oakville, ON L6J 5T3 Tel: [protected]

PS - Subsequent to this letter, I did receive up-grades on the Toronto - Germany legs on my trips. But, no reply regarding my request for a partial refund of the charges.

I recently wanted to book a rental car using my Aeroplan points. For several days, the website said they had a technical problem they were working on regarding the ability to pick up a car at one location and drop it off at another. After waiting many days, the site seemed to be "fixed" yet the windows only allow for pick up and return at the same location. This is ludicrous. What is going on and if indeed this is a change of Aeroplan policy, why was I not advised? Clearly Aeroplan does not care about their customers to invoke a silly policy such as this which does not recognize the needs of travelers.

I texted my aeroplan info to 27767, but didn't receive the 100 air miles

why isn't there an email address to contact you so I can send a screenshot ?

Hi John,

As an Aeroplan Member, you know that every mile you earn gets you closer to getting away, so we're inviting you to sign up to receive Aeroplan text messages. It's the best way to get exclusive, up-to-the-minute offers and the latest program news.

Don't worry, we'll never send you more than three text messages a month.

Text your Aeroplan Number to 27767 to get started.

I am now retired, after over 20 years of insisting that my international travel be purchased with Air Canada. I was a truly dedicated AC frequent traveller.

When I was downgraded from Aeroplan Gold to Orange, I did not receive a new card from Aeroplan. I waited about 6 months, then I had to request a new card which I received only recently. Then I had to make some sort of a transaction.

How can I be FORCED to make a transaction, when I do not need to.

I have earned these points, how can they be just take away? THERE CERTAINLY IS NO REWARD FOR A RELAXING RETIREMENT OR FOR HAVING BEEN A DEDICATED CUSTOMER FOR OVER '20' YEARS.

R. Troy

I would like to be included in a class-action suit against Aeroplan/Air Canada.

Hi,

Being a loyal and strong advocate of Aeroplan, especially Air Canada, it was very shocking the experience I had on today's (November 30th, 2016) flight number AC 088, from Shanghai to Toronto.

I was extremely disappointed and appalled with the overall customer service/experience, specifically a particular flight attendant who spoke and directed myself and fellow passengers in a loud and demeaning manner throughout the entire 14 hour flight.

MECHANICAL ISSUE WITH CHAIR
Myself and my partner were sitting in seats 31H and 31J. There was a mechanical issue with the seat (31J) where it would not remain reclined. My partner would press the button and recline the chair but eventually the chair would return to its upright position on its own. It was already uncomfortable sitting in seats that Air Canada has reduced to a more narrow size and then in addition to continuously recline the seat manually over and over again throughout the entire journey.

VEGETARIAN DIETARY OPTION UNAVAILABLE
Myself and partner are vegetarian and we requested our dietary restriction at the time of booking the flight back in 2015 and again confirmed the option when checking in online within the 24 hours of departure date/time. Our first hot meal served was fine which consisted of vegetables and pasta. Our second meal served was chicken noodle soup. We asked for a vegetarian option but there was no alternative that they could offer. One flight attendant gave us a very small crustless sandwich with barely anything in between the bread but it was so tasteless and unsatisfying, we couldn't eat it. When the flight attendants came to collect the garbage, she noticed that we didn't eat any of the food, so she offered to come back with cookies. She never returned with the cookies and given the poor attitude that she showcased at boarding, we were reluctant to remind her. The third meal was breakfast with eggs and vegetables. Good thing I inspected the dish even despite my hunger because the egg contained bacon/sausage bits. We inspected my partner's dish and her egg had nothing added; it was just the egg. Therefore, I couldn't eat yet again. The flight attendant offered a plain pasta dish that was so bland and awful, I again could not eat it. This was a 14 hour flight and had only one meal to eat. I am extremely shocked given that I requested these restrictions beforehand and this is Air Canada for goodness sakes; not a small budget airline company. I find it unacceptable that there weren't any vegetarian options for passengers. And if it is the case that Air Canada would notify me of the limited menu in advance so that we could better prepare and pack enough food for us to eat on such a long stretch of a flight.

UNPROFESSIONAL FLIGHT ATTENDANT
As mentioned, one of the flight attendants from the very beginning of the flight was very rude and loud to all passengers, speaking to them in a demeaning manner by demanding them sit down, no phone usage, move out the way, taking their luggage and storming away with them not really informing the passenger what/where she plans to put them, taking a baby out of the mother's hands to re-seat her elsewhere, and the list goes on. There was an incident during the night/sleep period where she accidentally stepped on a gentleman's foot while he was asleep and that woke him up. She just continued down the aisle and didn't say anything and the passenger was upset and started to complain but his english wasn't very good so it was hard to make out what he was saying. She walked up to him to ask why is he all upset and he explained that she stepped on his foot and didn't even apologize. She retorted that she didn't know that she stepped on his foot and that he should lower his voice but yet she was speaking loudly herself matching his tone. This was very disruptive of other passengers who were trying to get some rest.

As I was writing in my notepad on my iPhone about these very incidents, she came right up to me and yelled, "Stop texting! You better not be texting!". I was so startled I could barely explain to her that it was merely note taking that I was doing. I just responded that I was not texting and that my phone was set to airplane mode.

CONCLUSION
As outlined above, I am sure you have an idea of the type of experience I had on this flight. I really hope that you take effective measures in remedying such issues to prevent a repeat occurrence for future passengers.

My desired resolution will be a full refund and additional Aeroplan miles attributed to my account. It was a very unpleasant, troublesome and distasteful 14 hour flight I hope to never encounter again.

This morning, November 28, 2016 at 0817 I received and email from aeroplan indicating that my pre-booked flight (reference number SSQJXV) on December 10th had been changed to departing on the same day of receiving the notification of change. Instead of flying out of Vancouver on December 10th (as originally booked), it was changed to flying out of Vancouver on November 28th, 12 days before my original scheduled flight! On top of that the connection change was on November 28th (Vancouver to Calgary), but the flight from Calgary to Toronto (end destination) remained on December 10th...a 12 day stop over in Calgary! To say the least I was in disbelief and stunned by such an absurd change. I immediately tried to call the areoplan customer service line but kept getting the message that due to high volumes that my call could not be taken, nor could I wait on hold, that I would have to try calling back another time. Considering that you had rescheduled me to fly out on that same day at 1430, it was kind of a necessity that I speak with someone, and could not be fixed by visiting your website. I tried calling Air Canada Customer service, but they could not help me because you are separate. I also left a message on your Facebook page, but no answer to that either. I finally was able to get through, waited on hold for over an hour, and 4 hours later I was able to get this issue resolved. The person I spoke to was polite and did fix the problem, but not once did I get an apology for the error, or we are going to do everything to get this fixed for you. Where has the customer service gone? This error caused by your company wasted 4 hours of my time today and caused me unneeded stress and frustration. I am grateful that it is all worked out, but left feeling that my time wasted should be compensated in some way. I cannot even put into words how this impacted my day today. I do not have 4 hours to waste dealing with these things, yet that's exactly the position I was put in. I would appreciated a timely response back.

Thank you for your time in this matter,
Liz Stockman
[protected]

I have been saving my points for a long time and decided the best time to use them would be for our honeymoon to Hawaii. We booked our flights online and selected a return flight on a Tuesday to come home. When I printed my itinerary a couple of days later, I noticed our return flight was leaving on the Wednesday rather than the Tuesday. This was a huge issue for us as we needed to be home for work. I instantly called aeroplan and after an hour and a half wait, finally was able to speak to a representative. She was incredibly rude and unsympathetic. It got to the point that I actually had to ask her to not be rude to me as I was being very respectful I just wanted her to answer some of my questions. I know what I selected, I even took a picture of my booking so I was very curious to know why my itinerary was wrong. She essentially told me i was stupid and should learn to book a flight. I am an avid traveller who has booked many flights and have never encountered anything like this before so I found her comments particularly offensive. When I told
Her that our flights needed to be changed to what I had selected, she told me those flights weren't available anymore. I told her that I was online at that exact moment and it says they are available, she said she couldn't find them. I then suggested that there could be an issue with their website that would explain why my selection got messed up
She then YELLED at me and said that I needed to learn to properly book a flight and to not blame others for my problems. I then keep insisting that I was careful in my selection and would like this to be rectified. She then told me that there was absolutely nothing they could do for me which is when I asked to speak to her supervisor. The representatives rudeness Pailed in comparison to the supervisors rudeness, unhelpfulness and complete lack of accountability. They instructed me that I could pay a $92 fee per person to Change my flight back to the one I had originally selected ( the supervisor finally managed to find the flight after I provided a screenshot of the flight showing its availability) . I reiterated that there must have been a glitch or an issue in the system because I have a picture of what I selected and this does not Match my itinerary. She then essentially told Me it was not their problem and that I had to pay the fee or my flight could not be fixed. After paying the exorbitant taxes, fees and the cost to change a flight that wasn't our mistake I will promptly be cancelling my aeroplan visa and will never be working with them again. When I told the supervisor this she scoffed and transferred my call without letting me know I was being transferred. I find the behaviour of their employees and 'supervisors' more outrageous and offensive than the exhorbiant fees themselves! When a customer is that dissatisfied it calls for some
Action from the company! Messing up my booking, excessive wait times. Rediculous fees and insanely rude employees will get this company nowhere and I will let everyone I know about my experience with this joke of a company to hopefully prevent anyone I know from having such An unfortunate experience with them that I had. Aeroplane is truly a scam.

I've spent the last two weeks trying to get credit for hotel stays and car rentals for the past 6 months in order to restore my Air Canada points. Due to inactivity they disappeared. I also spent at least 3 hours on hold with the Aeroplan call center. There has been absolutely zero progress and I'm ready to give up. I understand expiration policies, but I believe a couple of notifications within 30 days of expiration would also be appropriate. I checked my archive and noticed that I did receive 1 notification 3 months in advance.

I'm thoroughly disappointed with the policy and approach for customer loyalty.