Post by
alive9well on Jul 03, 2024 6:43pm
AC's Secret Card
AC still has its biggest secret card up its sleeve. It's called Aeroplan. Unlike some other airlines that have borrowed against the value of their loyalty program, AC has been fairly quiet about the entire Aeroplan program (Canada + US) other than occasionally revealing membership counts. No outward effort has been made to monetize the accrued value of this immensely lucrative Loyalty program which has continued to grow rapidly over past few years, and mostly made up of households that are higher up on the credit worthiness (and disposable income) scale.. folks who are less impacted by recessions and mortgage rates. In Canada, TD won the contest with CIBC getting the second prize. The terms are never brought up as they are c;osely gaurded by AC and the banks. In the US, for JPM it was the largest loyalty card rolll out program in over 10 years. At the end of it all, there is a very strong case that Aeroplan equity value is much greater than AC's current market cap. Shareholders should pay more attention to it. Aeroplan is also the glue that makes AC far more recession proof and it allows AC to balance load between high seasons and low seasons, as avid travellers with loads of Aeroplan points are happy to use them when they can get more value. A true win-win. It allows AC to work as a finance and lifestyles company with an airline in the centre. Let the good story play out.