Air Canada’s Signature Suite Lounge Policy Sucks

Today Air Canada is opening a new lounge at the Toronto Pearson Airport called ‘Signature Suite’. The lounge itself looks amazing, with the food being a highlight. They offer an a la carte menu from chef David Hawksworth. The lounge is only accessible for international business class customers, I usually don’t cover lounges like this but I take issue with the lounge access policy as not all international business class customers are eligible. The following are excluded:

  • International Business Class customers on an Air Canada flight (travelling to Europe, Asia and South America) booked in the following booking classes will be eligible for access to the Air Canada Signature Suite: J, C, D, Z, P. All bookings in R (including, but not limited to, eUpgrades, Last-Minute Upgrades, AC Bid Upgrades) and I (including, but not limited to, Aeroplan® Fixed Mileage Flight Rewards® for travel on Air Canada flights or Star Alliance® member airlines, Star Alliance Upgrade Awards) will be excluded. Eligible customers will not be allowed guests.

As you can see Air Canada is drawing a line between paid tickets and award tickets/upgrades. Their rationale is that the lounge has space constraints with seating for only 150 guests. I think restricting what perks are/aren’t eligible on award tickets is a dangerous and slippery slope. Loyalty programs are supposed to reward loyal customers and I certainly don’t think offering a watered down experience does justice to that. I also wonder if there is a disconnect here as Aeroplan is a separate entity to Air Canada and they will be launching their own loyalty program in 2020.

Hat tip to OMaaT

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Dmitri
Dmitri (@guest_528176)
December 1, 2017 14:11

Ridiculous. Is offering different food and drink on board the next ‘differentiator’? “Sir, you have an award ticket so we cannot serve Moet champagne to you but I can suggest an excellent Freixenet which retails for 9.99 on the ground?” Hopefully, the backlash ensures and they are forced to change.

Chucks
Chucks (@guest_528097)
December 1, 2017 12:17

What junk. A fare code in the same class should always mean the same soft and hard product received, all things being equal. You aren’t really getting a business class ticket award unless you get the benefits of a business class ticket.

Lantean
Lantean (@guest_528002)
December 1, 2017 10:04

I agree that this policy is a step in the wring direction.
They should at least offer award travelers to buy access for some nominal amount.