An Ontario man says he is “fuming” after losing hundreds of thousands of Aeroplan miles that he was saving for his retirement.
Chris French said he has likely logged about one million miles on Air Canada flights in his career, as his job required him to fly all over the world on a regular basis.
When he retired, he had about 370,000 Aeroplan miles in his account.
“Hopefully, I was going to save these miles that I’ve accumulated and use them in my retirement,” he said.
French booked a trip earlier this year, but when he checked his Aeroplan account, the miles were gone. He had missed the company’s deadline to use the miles by two weeks.
“I was fuming,” he said. “I just thought that I spent all my time accumulating these miles for my retirement and now they are gone.”
A spokesperson for Aeroplan told CTV News Toronto that their 12-month policy has been in effect for more than 10 years and those members must earn or use their miles in some way within that period, or risk losing them all.
“Members must have at least one qualifying activity by either earning or using their miles (redemption, donation, sharing or transferring) within a 12-month period to ensure their account stays active,” the spokesperson said.
The company also said that there are safeguards to help members claim their miles. Notifications are sent after six months of account inactivity and 10 to 12 weeks before miles are set to expire.
French doesn’t recall getting an email and was hoping the company would make an exception in his case as he has been a member for 35 years, but Aeroplan is sticking to its policy.
“They said we can’t help you. They’re gone,” French said.
There is an option to buy back his miles, but French said that it would cost him about $3,700 and he isn’t prepared to do so.
With files from CTV News Toronto's Pat Foran
