Copy and paste of the email received today from Porter Airlines:
Get ready for a new VIPorter.
Exciting changes are coming to our VIPorter frequent flyer program. You’ll see these changes roll out during the week of September 14, 2015, when the way you’ll earn and redeem your VIPorter points will take off for the better.
Although we can’t share everything with you just yet, we wanted to give you advance notice of some of the high-level upgrades that are coming your way.
How you’ll earn
Today, you earn a set number of VIPorter points based on your purchased fare class. This means, you earn points based only on the airfare.
New! In the new program, you’ll be able to earn on everything. From a Porter flight, checked bags, seat selection and more, you’ll earn on every dollar you spend so you can step onto your award flight sooner.
How you’ll redeem
Today, you need 7,500 points for an award flight and the number of available award seats is limited.
New! In the new program, we are lifting all restrictions. You’ll be able to use your points to take any available flight to your favourite Porter destination. The number of points required for your award flight depends on the fare. So, when the base fares are lower so are the number of points needed to cover the cost of your flight.
Premium memberships
We’re also adding new Premium membership tiers. Based on your annual spend, you’ll be able to enjoy exclusive benefits that are not offered in the current VIPorter program.
There’s more to come
This is just a preview of what’s to come. Once we finalize all the bells and whistles, we’ll share more details with all of our team members so they’re ready to serve you once the new program has been announced.
It’s all under wraps until then, so hang tight.
Usually when a program announces an ‘enhancement’ or ‘exciting changes’ it usually is only one part good two, three or four parts bad. Good news here is the ability to earn points on more services. The bad news is they are moving to dynamic award pricing. Sure you can now any seat at any time but the cost in points will vary. Think Aeroplan Market Fare rewards, think Delta SkyMiles and other revenue based programs. So some tickets may cost less than the current 7,500 points but we’re guessing many will cost more than that. Of course we have to wait and see until they fully reveal the new program to see if we should really be excited or bummed!
Are you a VIPorter member? What are your thoughts on these changes that are coming?