Air Canada Aeroplan - the worst reward program in the business

That's right you heard me. Aeroplan is the WORST. And I know what you are thinking, especially you canadians who are fiercely proud of anything canadian, who the hell is he to make this claim? Well having lived on 4 continents and travelled monthly for the past 9 years internationally, I am more than qualified.

I have been a member of Qantas rewards programs, Singapore Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways - and the best United's Mileage Plus.

I should start by clarifying that I also passionately hate Air Canada. Everything from their service, planes and prices and I almost never fly them except when I am flying domestically in Canada, which is rarely. I fly United mostly in North America, for 2 reasons - 1. Economy Plus. 2. Mileage Plus. Having star alliance gold, and being Premier Executive with United has perks - many. They really know how to take care of their most regular customers. For one the extra leg room in economy plus is amazing...it makes all the difference. Secondly the tier bonus miles I collect mean I double all my miles, but the MOST IMPORTANT THING - is what happens when you actually want to use those miles. And this is where Aeroplan fuck you royally in the ass.

Just try and redeem a flight with these guys. I regulary redeem north american flights for my wife when she comes for a trip with me. With United it's almost never a problem and I never use more than 25000. I just attempted to redeem a flight with Aeroplan 3 months ahead of travel and i can't find a flight to LA for less than 55,000 miles!!!!

I am forced to maintain an Aeroplan account because no Canadian Credit card gives you Mileage Plus points, and I can't get a US Mileage Plus account (not being a resident and not having a US SIN number). So I get mileage plus miles purely from my CIBC Visa card (incidentally this is the best credit card in Canada bar none). So every year I get around 60000 miles on that card.

Last time I redeemed them it was for a family trip to Hawaii - I cannot tell you how much of a nightmare it was. First of all, because of my infant daughter we had to have paper tickets issued...what a fuckup that ended up being. When I rescheduled, we had to actually travel to the airport and have Air Canada reissue the tickets - can you believe the bitch at the airport complained to me because it took her 30mins to do the paperwork, and told me it was Aeroplans fault and how bad they were - and she was an Air Canada employee...

by the way, Air Canada have nothing to do with Aeroplan, they are completely independant entities, most of the time, Aeroplan will book you on United flights if you are redeeming miles into US flights, (this from the Air Canada employee, because their flights are cheaper!)

when I redeem flights with united, not only are they more likely to be available, but they are ALWAYS cheaper...ALWAYS.

So what else do i get from United's program? I get red carpet club membership, free drinks food and upgrades...in addition, i get access to a special phone number which gets answered quickly no matter when i call. now dont get me wrong, United's planes aren't any better and their people are ok...but the mileage program the  extra legroom and the perks mean I will avoid Air Canada at all cost.

And as a bonus i dont have to listen to those annoying announcements we are forced to suffer in french, that bugs the shit out of me....

Mitsubishi Delicas - What the fuck?

Do you notice these fugly cars around Vancouver more and more frequently? They are imported Mitsubishi Delicas and for some unfathonable reason there seem to be a rash - and by rash i mean an annoying irritation, of people out there who want them or believe that they are somehow cool.

My biggest problem with these cars is they are right hand drive, and therefore incredibly dangerous. i don't believe it should be legal to drive right hand drive vehicles here, given the insane regulations I had to go through to import a brand new left hand drive infiniti, bumper standards, daytime lights,

also, you can tell by looking at these things that the center of gravity is way too high. this effects it's roll rating and most definitely makes the vehicle more dangerous. What is the appeal with these things? It's not a minivan, it's not an SUV, most SUV's have more room and have the 4x4 capability.

Welcome Globalive to the Canadian cell phone market

 i sincerely hope the announcement today that the federal government has overturned the CRTC's dubious decision to block global live launch in canada will result in more choices and more real competition in canada.

we all know that we pay the highest rates for cell phone services in the world, and as a result have the lowest adoption rates. the current big 3 carriers have been all to happy to leave prices sky high, and complicitly conspire against the consumers in canada, and so far they've had the CRTC on their side.

what i love about todays annoucement is 2 things, firstly the prospect of more competition, but almost more enjoyable was the fact the the CRTC were rendered obsolete with the government simply overruling the decision and the anger coming out of Telus, Bell and Rogers on the back of the decision... check this out from one of Telus's corporate VP's of Bullshitting the public:

"If Wind is Canadian, then so was King Tut," said Michael Hennessy, head of regulatory affairs for Telus, on his Twitter page. "When you have no effective opposition party, you can make the rules you want."

Hahahahah, i love it when they get pounded!!! Here's a big fuck you to Telus, Bell and Rogers for fucking Canadians in the ass with some of the most expensive cellular services in the world.

Corporal Benjamin Monty Robinson - 2 dead civilians and still no arrest....

Let me introduce you to the RCMP's finest, Corporal Monty Benjamin. This is the piece of shit, and i use the term accurately, who lead the 4 RCMP officers into the murderous rampage that ended in the death of Robert Dziekanski, the polish immigrant who was tasered to death October 14th, 2007 at the Vancouver Airport.

Turns out Corporal Monty Benjamin isn't just happy killing one innocent civilian, he's gone out and bettered it. This time he struck and killed a young motorcyclist while driving drunk. He then fled the scene of the accident, and claimed that he was drinking after the accident. (Even though the police caught him minutes later). I also understand the low life had his own kids in the car at the time of the accident.

Fast forward to today, and in disgust and disbelief I watch along with the community as this bottom feeder is charged only with obstruction of justice. (Full report on CTV) This is what policing has become - 2 innocent civilians dead at this guys hands, and not a hint of justice served. The media really hasn't even been clear making a deal out of the fact that this is the same guy that was a part of the taser death 4, infact this is the senior officer.

We all knew that the police and justice system do little to nothing to protect us in Vancouver, now we know they are in some cases actually the people we should fear most...

Great report from the National Post

can i borrow a bulldozer?

i think they should bulldoze the entire area from hastings st and richards st to hastings and boundary rd in burnaby. it's a disgusting stretch of hell, starting with the downtown eastside which incase you never get there gives you a feel for what life is like outside the greenzone in baghdad, although at least in baghdad your car would be safer.

once you clear the warzone, junkies and hookers you hit a stretch of dubious businesses that when you pass them you can't imagine anyone possibly going in and transacting even if they actually wanted any of the crap being sold, clear that, and you basically hit loonie and toonie stores all the way to burnaby.

they should also send the parent management from dairy queen, arbys and burger king out there to see what those franchise operations might have looked like 25 or 30 years ago. the condition that those fast food places are in are just disgusting...and they are probably the only businesses who generate legitimate revenue in the area...

Show me a good sandwich joint in this city...please for the love of god

with the exception of ethnic food, this cities eateries are nothing short of atrocious. I've made many gripes on this blog about the quality of food in vancouver, and this time i want to get more specific. While you can go out at any given time and find fantastic japanese, chinese, malay, thai, indian even iranian food. it's near impossible to go anywhere and get a great sandwich.

my personal favorite is a chicken salad sandwich, new york style. nice thick crispy fresh bread, with a generous portion of chicken or any meat for that matter. the sandwiches here suck! period. fresh bread is the first problem, most sandwich joints use sliced bread, and then basic sandwich preparation skills are the second. there's an art to a good sandwich, knowing the right proportions, knowing how much content you can push into it, knowing the right condiments. needless to say very disappointed, if anyone has good suggestions please let me know.

NAFTA when it benefits us....

can't help but laugh at the chorus of protesters complaining about the appointment of a US firm to provide Olympic pavilion construction contracting. These are the same monkeys who complain about every single penny spent on the games, and the lack of fiscal prudence around the budgeting. yet when a firm wins fairly through a public bid process they are up in arms because a local more expensive contractor wasn't hired.

you can't have it both ways vancouver...