[choices]

I have been a Aeroplan Card holder since 1993. At that time I was using Air Canada for business trips and the point system seemed like a great way to save up for free trips.

I had hoped to save enough points so that when I retired I would be able to go on a nice Holiday. It is now 2007, I am now retired. I hadn't used my Aeroplan card since 2002. I phoned the 800# to see how many points I had...they said 0. I found my 2002 statement and it showed 36,835 points. I phoned them back and they said if your card was unused for 3 years that the points were cancelled and the only way to get the points back is by buying them. A starting fee of $30. Plus 1 cent for each point I wanted back...that would be $398.35(Ca). I was shocked to say the least. I asked why they hadn't notified me of this cancellation. They said it was posted on their website. So much for my retirement holiday. The decision is do I pay the money or has anyone found a better way to deal with this problem?

[toomuchjava]

Yikes... I had a very similar experience with Air Canada today. Just two weeks ago I checked my account, and saw that I had enough mileage for a two night stay at a hotel. I went online today to complete the transaction and to my surprise my account now registered zero miles. I called, and was placed on hold for an incredibly long time. Apparently many people are calling with the same complaint. They've zeroed out many people's accts. I asked to speak with a supervisor, and the customer service agent refused. I was frustrated (extremely) however I realize that she was instructed to hanldle all of these complaints in the same manner. Very strange policy since they'll surely lose a lot of business by treating their customers in this manner. Or perhaps, since they're cancelling accts that have been inacative for 3 years, they're figuring they won't be losing much business anyway. I also was given the offer of buying back points, which seemed to make little financial sense. Arguing proved to be useless, and perhaps I'll write a letter. Somehow I doubt it will do anything since this policy seems to be written in stone.

[aldubeta]

Same complaint with me. Had over 40,000 air miles. Wanted to book flights, at various times, but found flights always full. Took two trips on Air Canada in 2006 and 2007. Now have only the points for the last two trips as I did not use my points for too long. Consider, what they are doing is theft. And I am now avoiding any transactions with anyof the partners of Aeroplan, and letting them know why.

[lskjr]

I had the shock of my life when I logged onto my Aeroplan account to find 293,000 miles that I had were taken away due to inactivity. These were points that I earned over the years.
When I contacted Aeroplan I was told by an agent named Gord that I had been notified by email in December 2010 that my miles would expire if I didn't keep my account active.
After scrolling through all my e mails the last one I found from Aeroplan was in October 2010 for a totally unrelated matter. The bottom line I never got any such notice!
Like many other people who get inundated with spam and junk e mail its possible it may have ended up in one of those folders because I don’t get regular mail from Aeroplan, or its lost somewhere in cyberspace.
The argument I have is with so many points at stake shouldn't I have been sent a letter or received a phone call from Aeroplan?
Aeroplan basically says it can't do anything for me except to let me buy the points back at a penny a mile plus a $30.00 service fee. That would cost me $2963.53. This is incredible! Searching the internet I have found hundreds of complaints from people who shared the same experience. Aeroplan has basically taken what appears to be millions of miles from the people who helped keep Air Canada flying during tough times. Do the math...Aeroplan values a mile at one cent per. This is the reward they give for loyalty?
A class action suit is underway against Aeroplan.
If other Aeroplan members have found themselves in the same situation here is the link to the attorney who is launching the class action
http://www.merchantlaw.com/classactions/aeroplan.php