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
