I reported the Aeroplan story on Global TV tonight (July 22, 2007).

The company is still defending its decision to grab Aeroplan miles from customers who haven't spent money through the program in the last 12 months.

Gillian Hewitt, Aeroplan's manager of corporate reputation told me by email:

It’s simple: the faster miles are earned by active, engaged members and used towards the rewards they want, the more successful a loyalty program becomes.  And just as a retail store manages its inventory in part through its return policy, Aeroplan manages accumulated and redeemed miles through its expiry policy.

Delightful, isn't it?

You earn the points, they renege on delivering the service promised.

Isn't Canada a nation of savers? Just be careful not to save those points or miles for more than a year, unless you want to forfeit them.

As a business practice, the director of the MBA program at the Schulich School of Business at York University says Aeroplan is probably doing the right (corporate) thing.

Ashwin Joshi told me in an interview that these programs were designed to reward consumers who are loyal; when customers don't use the service for more than a year, they are not the most loyal customers.

But what about all the loyalty that went into accumulating those points? Does that count for nothing? Not at Aeroplan. Whether you have 100 miles in your account or 1,000,000 miles in your account -- if you didn't earn or burn miles in the last year, you're a deadbeat.

Good for the government of Ontario for passing a law prohibiting retailers from putting expiry dates on gift cards (gift certificates) as of October 1, 2007. Opportunistic retailers were devaluing the cards to zero, or charging administrative fees to users who didn't use the cards within a fixed period.

That kind of practice, in my view, is tantamount to stealing.

What's the difference between loyalty points and gift cards? Business people will tell you that a customer's cash was used to purchase the latter, while a corporation's good will or marketing was behind the former. In other words, you bought the cash card - they bought the loyalty program. The company should decide how to administer the loyalty program.

Administer it, fine. Spend your time helping me get a flight on Air Canada when I want to travel using my points. But don't zero my balance because I'm not your gold customer.

If you feel like this is wrong, let Aeroplan know it. And tell their partners, too: including Air Canada, Esso, Home Hardware, or the list of companies on their website.