After drastically improving hold times after years of tiresome queues, hold times are once again a problem on Aeroplan. What is going on?
Long Aeroplan Hold Times Return
At Award Expert, we’ve noticed hold times have spiked up rather drastically when calling Aeroplan. For the last couple years, hold times have been minimal…but not any longer.
Those hold times suddenly improved when it looked liked Aimia, the former parent company of Aeroplan, and Air Canada would part ways in 2020. At the time, Aeroplan realized a simple truth: if it was to survive without Air Canada, customer service would have to dramatically improve. Improving customer service started with improving hold times.
But what has caused hold times to suddenly climb over the last two months? Recently, I waited on hold 45 minutes before an agent answered. Others have reported holds exceeding 90 minutes.
Aeroplan: The Problem Is Temporary
I reached out to Aeroplan and asked what was going on. A spokesperson promptly responded to me:
First, you are correct we are currently experiencing longer than normal wait times. This is a temporary situation and it is not related to staffing levels as there has been no change.
Instead, it is related to our preparations to relaunch Aeroplan in 2020. As part of this, we’ve been making a number of changes to the program including a new account login system that will make our members’ experience simple, convenient and secure. Because of this, members were asked to give each of their Aeroplan accounts its own unique email address associated with it and questions about this are generating incremental calls. In addition, unrelated to this, a password reset was recently required as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance security and this has also added to call volumes.
We apologize to customers for any inconvenience and assure them we are working hard to restore normal response times.
In short, the problem is the new account login system. I should have realized this before I even asked…
The Pesky New Login
In early September, Aeroplan required everyone reset their password. If you have not reset since then, expect a prompt next time you login.
The new password must be more “secure” than the previous minimum threshold and a confirmation is sent to the email address on file to verify the new password. Frustratingly (for families with multiple accounts), an email address can only be associated with one account. In my house, for example, all Aeroplan email had previously come to one email address, specifically set up for our loyalty programs. I had to assign my wife’s Aeroplan account to another email.
As if that was not bad enough, Aeroplan began requiring two-factor authentication when logging in. Every time I logged in, I would get the following message:
A six-digit numerical code was sent to my email. Except when it wasn’t. Sometimes it was delayed…
This was tough enough for this tech-savy young(ish) person to figure out. Imagine the many older, less tech savvy Aeroplan users. It became quite clear why calls centers are snarled.
But good news: I haven’t seen that pesky code lately for myself or any Award Expert client. Hopefully Aeroplan realized they were taking security just a bit too far.
CONCLUSION
The explanation makes sense as to why Aeroplan hold times have suddenly increased so drastically. Hopefully, as people update their passwords, hold times will once again retreat.
Have you experienced long hold times with Aeroplan lately?
First time redeeming Aeroplan points for an award booking and wanted to make a change. Both Canadian numbers I found on Aeroplan’s website would not allow me to stay in line and wait for an agent and asked me to call back later. (This was around 21:00 Central US time about a week ago) I wouldn’t have minded waiting, but not allowing someone to even WAIT for an agent is unacceptable.
Calling the UK number helps, and the wait time was 21 minutes. Just make sure that you have a way to call international numbers cheaply since the toll-free number wasn’t really toll-free in T-Mobile’s eyes.
So, new rule for me: when booking Aeroplan tickets, make sure it is the perfect itin first, the type that you really don’t want to change. Then book.
Aeroplan website is bad enough. My bank doesn’t even have those strict requirements to log in.
Hello Matthew
What email can i use to contact you for an award booking?
Thanks
Hello Francisco,
Use the contact from at upgrd.com/award.
Air Canada is migrating its PSS to Amadeus Altéa this month
Updated my profile and they cancelled my card!! Had a note to call them about it. I have called everyday since middle of September!! I have gone on Facebook to no answer.
JUST AWFUL SERVICE. It took 3 weeks to get thru. to
discuss my travel etc. on the phone. Aeroplane, their flight
schedules are horrible. The connections to Mexico you have
Layovers 24 hours!! Who in their normal mind would waste
24 hours to get to connecting flight. We pay annual fees this
is the kind of service we get. My husband went to Europe
coming back at Toronto Airport had to wait more than 8
hours for 2 1/2 flight! Its a joke. What about older people to
go thru. All this travel drama. Unacceptable.
Just found this article. Have been trying for 5 days to book business class to Lisbon. Finally found flights half business half premium. Have tried to book on line probably 20 times. Will not confirm. Phoned every day and night. Cannot even hold. They say to call back. No way of booking flight. We have paid money for our cards and this is NOT service. After using points (if we ever can) I am canceling my card
It has been very bad and all systems are now down.
I have been trying to call for 3 days so far to book travel using my air points as I cannot do it online due to an error 🙁 I wait and wait and wait on the phone and then it just cuts off. Is there a way of emailing? Not a happy customer.
No way to email, unfortunately.
This is complete bull”*”’*
I called at 3.5 a min while on vacation. After paying 600k points to take a large trip.. Can’t change anything on line. Can’t even see my booking.. Can’t email. Can’t call. Wtf is going on aeroplan.. I’ve emailed the media email several times. To make matters worse I stayed on hold for third time for exactly 59min that’s a 200 phone call just to get a click dial tone.. Legit worst customer service I’ve ever delt with.
Calling from within North America on my cell phone, I’m at least getting to wait on hold for 2:14 (that’s two HOURS and fourteen minutes) before getting a recorded message telling me that the Aeroplan system is experiencing difficulties and will not be able to process my call. Oh, yeah, and then I get hung up on. If their online system was better, trust me, I’d use it, but it’s not recognizing a legal connection of otherwise available flights (it does this sometimes if you have a layover of less than 24 hours but taking place the following day or if, for example, you fly into one airport and out of another – think in via EWR and out via JFK, both are New York so by the rules that’s considered the same city but only an agent can override the computer and make such a booking).
I waited for 65 minutes and I am still waiting.
Once again, I was on hold for 2+ hours then the line got disconnected. I can’t believe it!
Working from home yesterday, called at 7am was on hold the whole day…. had to switch phones because battery was going to die. Fell asleep at 10:00pm I was still on hold.
I am currently on hold now to Aeroplan for one hour and 55 mins!! I found your article whilst trying to figure out another way to contact Aeroplan. No matter how many times I spelt my name correctly it would not accept it. I now have been locked out!!
Good luck. Hold times remain bad.
This is insane! Flights in my original booking got cancelled, and can’t make any changes online. Have been trying to call for the last two days. Today called at exactly 7am (theoretically their start time, so how long could the queue be?!). Have been on hold now for over 90 minutes. Just read the comment above where someone called at 7am and was on hold until 10pm. Sorry, but new login or not, there’s just no way that queues can be this long… Something else must be going on!
By far the worst call center, probably the entire world. The excuse given regarding the delay in answering call is ridiculous. This can happen only in Canada I was on hold for 2 hours and 50 minutes on January 25 before a human voice came. The purpose was to cancel a return flight. The agent said I could cancel it on line Wrong wrong and wrong. This was an insult to the customer. Then she figured that the return portion had to be done by her. I paid $105 and according to her the unused portion of the points and charges would be refunded right away. The cancelled flight is on February 2. To date the flight is not cancelled (Singapore airline and Eva air have no record of cancellation and they suggest that I can do online checking). The points are not returned. To add insult to injury there is no way to contact Aeroplan because according to the Director of Call Centre’s recorded message Aeroplan is too busy and so they won’t even take the call.
This nonsense is because we have no competition in Canada. If it were a business with revenue earning, the call centres would be customer-oriented.
I’ve tried and given up so many times in the past – but cannot today as they changed my itinerary to leave 10 hours before the original reservation – which means I would miss almost a whole day. Have been on the phone now for 91 minutes – with no end in sight. It’s so so RIDICULOUS!
Aeroplan has the worst IT and support people period. They should all be fired. You cannot get into your profile to edit it for a phone password and you cannot get a hold of anyone using the phone as others have alluded to. Yet they have no email or text to contact them. What a *&%$ bunch of morons that work there.