Air Canada’s Free Wifi? A Scam (Ish)

Intro

Hello from London (no, I haven’t moved yet), as I am currently on my way to Yemen (not Socotra). I recently had the opportunity to take two flights with Air Canada and wanted to share something that really bothered me. 

The Details 

A little bit of time ago, Air Canada promoted the idea that passengers within North America would be receiving free Wi-Fi if they had an Aeroplan number. So, I checked this out on my flight yesterday from Los Angeles to Montreal, and an interesting message came up: “Your Aeroplan number must be entered prior to departure”. 

Great concept but really?

Excuse me? So, I am curious about this naturally, as I am guessing this is one way to promote the fact that Air Canada would rather have people credit to their own program, versus the likes of United Airlines. In my opinion, this is extremely cheap of Air Canada, and even on the likes of other airlines, you can just type your number in.

Will This Change?

Air Canada has informed us that they are attempting to offer fleetwide free wifi for Aeroplan members by 2026, but now, out of principle, I am not impressed. 

Free wifi would have worked wonders on this flight, due to not a single person sleeping in the cabin.

However, this also seems to be following a trend in the airline industry. If you look at mileage redemptions, a lot of airlines are restricting award space to partners, consolidating into their own program. But now for wifi even? Really? Okay, I’ll stop complaining and start enjoying my Aperol Spritz. Ciao

Final Thoughts

Air Canada had excited me with the fact that they were beginning to offer free wifi across their fleet. However, this is only the case if you put your Aeroplan number in. It's not the end of the world, but it is sort of the principle behind this that annoys me.