WHY have WestJet, Airmiles, and BMO Mosaik MasterCard STABBED THEIR CUSTOMERS IN THE BACK?

Question

I used to be able to fly anywhere in Canada and in the US with WestJet for 1600 AirMiles using the BMO Mosaik MasterCard. NOT ANYMORE! WestJet, Airmiles and BMO Mosaik MasterCard have cancelled their agreement. Now BMO Mosaik gives a measily 20% discount on the regular number of AirMiles you would need to fly anywhere. Therefore WestJet, Airmiles and BMO Mosaik MasterCard have just DOUBLED the 1600 AirMiles I needed to fly anywhere in Canada and the US. Why should I keep my Mosaik MasterCard? Why should I continue flying with WestJet? Why should I continue to collect AirMiles? I am a single person with moderate income. There are MILLIONS of people like me! Cancelling the 1600 AirMiles offer is a STAB IN THE BACK for all of us who really needed this promotion and can't always afford to pay for regular airfares AND who don't spend enough to be able to accumulate the 3200+ AirMiles it takes to fly even within Canada. So they have just lost MILLIONS of customers!

Answer 1

Well, I doubt that they have lost millions of customers as not everyone who collects airmiles even flies Westjet or uses the BMO Mastercard.  All promotions have a limited life span, they are "hooks" to attract people to their services.  If you read the "small print" you would find that these offers have a limited life and can be terminated with a set notice at any time.  An example of this is the Aeroplan change to how long points can be kept and what you needed to do to keep your account active with them.  As to why you should continue to collect airmiles, that is really up to you.  I have been collecting them for years and have never flown Westjet or had any Airmiles Credit Card (BMO or Amex).  I am also a single person with a moderate income.  In my case I set a specific goal and have been collecting towards that.

The biggest thing in limiting the life of these promotions is the cost of using airmiles.  Just because we collect them for "free" does not mean they are not paid for.  The businesses that offer them pay for the privilege of attracting extra customers or the fact that they may spend a bit more there in order to get those extra airmiles.  We also pay for them ourselves in slightly higher charges for various services (although even if we did not collect them prices would not be cheaper, the costs are spread out among all customers).  If you are given a "discount" then someone else is covering your costs.  So if you fly for half of what others fly for they are subsidizing your flight.  So I can ask you do you think it is fair for us to cover a portion of your costs?

Just to let you know, the best way to collect airmiles is to take advantage of special offers when they come up.  By doing that I have added an extra 6,000 airmiles to my account in little over a year.  That is in addition to my earned airmiles from shopping at various businesses.

Answer 2

They didn't cancel the agreement... the contract between West Jet and airmiles expired.  West Jet is currently thinking about starting their own frequent flyer plan.

Answer 3

Offers are not forever. Obviously they felt that this was no longer in their best interest and so they changed it. I see nothing wrong with that.