Is Air Canada’s loyalty program creating confusion?

With close to a million miles travelled on Air Canada, I have to be transparent that in most instances service has been outstanding and Air Canada is my airline of preference. Having said that, we are nearing the end of 2013 and it’s time to calculate my yearly miles to determine my Aeroplan status level.

This year, Aeroplan has added to the confusion of Altitude’s earlier restructuring by introducing new “Distinction” classifications. When the Altitude program first launched, it was quite simple: you were either a Prestige, Elite or Super Elite flyer with corresponding perks and incentives being offered to recognize your loyalty to the Air Canada brand.

My guess is management at Air Canada and Aeroplan realized in 2012 the success of their three-tier Altitude program meant they would need to create greater separation between the various levels of flyers to better manage their costs as loyalty programs can be very expensive to administer. It is my opinion, the growing cost and number of Aeroplan members resulted in the addition of a fourth and fifth tier, resulting in Altitude Prestige 25K, Elite 35K, 50K, 75K and Super Elite 100K platforms based on the number of miles flown.

Although Air Canada added extra levels of complexity to the program, it created a strong identity that linked all five levels through the use of a distinctive number and different shades of the colour blue to create greater differentiation between the tiers within the Aeroplan program. The overall identity colour, although not the airline’s primary brand colour red, did link to the secondary corporate blue colour found on the markings of its airplanes. Research would have shown that blue is the colour of trust, quality and royalty. The program was easy to understand and made sense to me with the larger tier numbers and different shades of blue helping staff and customers align the perks and expectations being offered.

This change would have been acceptable and consistent with Air Canada’s identity as part of a branded house (think TD, IBM, GE, Coke versus P&G and Unilever), supporting a consistent image to its most cherished customer base. The whole idea of branding is to provide clarity on the value proposition being offered in a meaningful and consistent approach to help build recognition over time. However, with the addition of its very confusing Distinction program and its Silver, Black and Diamond levels with a large, stylized, lowercase D and tiered colours, the whole Air Canada-branded loyalty program becomes fragmented and confusing.

The majority of passengers I spoke with on my many flights believe this new program replaces the Altitude Elite designation, which is not the case. This new tiered program would have been easier to understand if the number designation was consistent with the Altitude program, building an understanding of the 25, 35, 50, 75 and 100 levels. However, the new Distinction program consists of 25,000, 50,000 and 100,000-mile tiers, and the communication is also not clear how this new branded program aligns with the current tiered Altitude offering, leading to more confusion about the program’s purpose and value.

The addition of this new program fragments Air Canada’s brand identity. Consideration should have been given to building the additional perks as part of its existing five-tier Altitude platform. The confusion, in my opinion, will only lead to cynicism that the new Distinction program is another way for Air Canada to minimize the benefits of its program, which may not be the case. If I were to give Air Canada some branding advice, I would recommend it abandon the Distinction platform and build greater understanding and value on the Altitude program. With such a confusing and complex loyalty platform, Air Canada would be better served with the “less is more” approach…less brand confusion and more meaningful rewards.

Editor’s note: Copy has been updated to reflect that it was Aeroplan who introduced the Distinction Classifications. Air Canada has its own Altitude program through which loyal fliers are recognized and rewarded with tier status.

From Air Canada: Altitude rewards Air Canada’s most frequent flyers based on the number of Altitude Qualifying Miles and Altitude Qualifying Segments earned on eligible flights operated by Air Canada and the Star Alliance member airlines. 

Distinction is Aeroplan’s new recognition program designed to rewards its top accumulating members based on total Aeroplan Miles earned across all coalition partners including airline, travel, retail and financial card partners.