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Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter Since 1995

Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

Since 1995


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|\^/|
_| TCA |_            B E T W E E N   Y O U R S E L V E S
_|\| AIR |/|_                   N E T L E T T E R
>  CANADA   <
>_./|\._<                   for Air Canada retirees
|
Your crew is: Chief Pilot  - Vesta Stevenson
Co-pilot     - Terry Baker

number 214      date NOV 25th 1997
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************** SPECIAL  EDITION  **************
AT THE REQUEST OF THE PIONAIRS EXECUTIVE.

The following from Don Demeza:

TRAVEL PRIVILEGE TIPS FOR RETIREE'S OR SURVIVING SPOUSES

INTRODUCTION

During a panel at the 1997 Annual General Meeting in Montreal it
became obvious that retirees would appreciate receiving a document to
help them to understand and follow the rules concerning their travel
privileges.  Several retirees volunteered to put such a document
together with the assistance of Irene Vazalinskas, Manager, Industry
Travel.

The following Pionairs volunteered to help: Bob Robbins (Co-ordinator)
Don Demeza,  Al Croome (London), Ron Vigars (Westport Conn.)
and Stephanie Mandzie (Winnipeg).
Terry Baker and Vesta Stevenson volunteered the use of their
"Between Yourselves - NetLetter" mailing list.

The document was referred to as a manual which would bring all the
privileges together under one cover;  however, as the volunteers (for
now, read "this volunteer") began to work on the task it seemed, on
reflection that a manual would not only have update problems but the
production was initially beyond the resources of a volunteer effort.
On review we found that all of the rules and regulations have appeared
in Horizons and that Horizons should remain the prime method of
keeping us all up to date. We have decided to begin by concentrating
on, "The Completion and Use of the Trip Pass Ticket"  (T421)
and to test what we are doing with the 200 or so retirees who can be
contacted through the 'Between Yourselves - NetLetter'.

The problems being experienced by retirees seem to stem from the
difficulty in applying the regulation rules on a practical basis to
each individual travel situation.  With this in mind the retiree
volunteers have, as a first step, assembled previously distributed
information and have added TIPS, KEY POINTS and EXAMPLES to assist
retirees to apply the rules. .

TIP - A retiree is advised to maintain a file containing travel
updates clipped from Horizons.  Be sure to put the Horizon
issue date on each clipping.

Our Evolving Manual begins with the following Chapters:

CHAPTER 1    SERVICE CHARGES FOR PERSONAL TRAVEL

1.1   Zone chart printed in Horizons.

CHAPTER 2    TAXES AND FEES ON SERVICE CHARGE PASSES

2.1   As published in Horizons June/97 with additional
information in Horizons October/97.

CHAPTER 3     YOUR PERSONAL TRIP PASS TICKET

3.1   How to fill out your Trip Pass Ticket (as given to new
employees Sept/97 and previously included in Horizons).

3.2   Tips Concerning the use of your Trip Pass Ticket.

Many retirees remember earlier days - before zonal service charges
and before the application of customs charges and taxes.  Those days
are gone.  Today, the identification and collection of charges have
made it imperative that retirees fill in their forms correctly.  The
accounting people frequently have a difficult task in attempting to
determine from the trip pass exactly what the itinerary was and
therefore how to apply the correct charges.  We must understand the
problem and use our personal trip passes in a way which will clearly
inform Accounting concerning the travel to be charged.  Remember also
that there are thousands of Customer Service Agents with various
levels of experience and they may or may not understand how to use the
Trip Pass Ticket coupons when the actual routing is complex.


KEY POINT -  Each Trip Pass Ticket has a serial number and one Trip
Pass Ticket only should be used for each trip.
If you use more than a single Trip Pass Ticket for a
single trip then you will be charged service charges
for each trip pass used and no credits will be issued.

KEY POINT -  Each Trip Pass Ticket contains an "Auditors Coupon", four
'Flight Coupons" and a "Passenger Coupon". The Auditor's
Coupon will be lifted with the first Flight Coupon and
alerts Accounting as to the intended travel and the
charges to be made.
Make sure that you complete the entire Trip Pass Ticket
on the Auditor's coupon, pressing hard enough to register
your details on every coupon.

KEY POINT -  The Flight Coupons should show the final trip destination
corresponding to the furthest zone checked (1,2, or 3)
even though you may not initially be flying to that
destination (note examples for clarification).
Flight legs not used will be marked "VOID" on the Audit
coupon.
Voided coupons will be lifted on the LAST FLIGHT LEG, by
the Customer Services Agent.
If additional flight legs are needed within the planned
itinerary  -  DO NOT USE ANOTHER TRIP PASS TICKET but ask
the airport Customer Service Agent for a "Stopover Coupon"
which you will fill in, ensuring that it carries the same
serial number as on the associated Trip Pass Ticket.

KEY POINT -  There will be occasional instances when a Trip Pass Ticket,
although completed correctly, does not provide sufficient
detail for Accounting.
Here's an example:
A Trip Pass Ticket showed
MONTREAL/VANCOUVER/SEATTLE/VANCOUVER/MONTREAL.
Surface transpsortation was used for the
Vancouver/Seattle leg (it was an Alaska cruise).
Fortunately the retiree involved had retained travel
records for the trip and was given a refund of the U.S.
taxes which had been deducted from his cheque for the
Vancouver/Seattle flight leg.

TIP  -  The "Passenger Coupon" is your record to retain.
We strongly suggest you keep the "Passenger Coupon" for
reference until you are satisfied that all applicable charges
have correctly appeared as deductions on your pension cheque.
It is also suggested that boarding passes and records of other
transportation used be similarily retained so that a retiree
has a complete record of travel on a per trip basis.

The following instructions are currently included as part of each
Trip Pass Ticket.  We will repeat them here along with our
comments..

TIP  -  Do not assume your knowledge is current.  The instructions
included with the Trip Pass Ticket will change, based on rules
or to assist in correcting misunderstandings.  Please read the
instructions anew whenever you are about to fill in a pass form.

1.  IMPRINT  (see pass for wording)

KEY POINT -  The card imprint date should be within the same year as
travel is initiated; - obtain newly imprinted Trip Pass
Tickets each year and destroy those not used from the
previous year.

2.  CARDHOLDERS SIGNATURE

3.  NAME OF PASSENGER

4.  SERVICE (see Trip Pass Ticket for wording)

KEY POINT -  If your personal travel card shows length of service as
35 years, 06 months, 15 days - that's exactly what you
enter in the service section of the Trip Pass Ticket
(35/06/15).  It's not a date, but the computer will do the
calculations and place you in the correct order on the
standby list.  This section of the Trip Pass Ticket is
headed "Service" and for retirees this means,
"Length of Service"

5.  PRIORITY  (from your travel card)

6  EMPLOYEE NUMBER   

7.  PASSENGER'S SIGNATURE

8.  FOR TRAVEL ONE WAY OR RETURN - Complete your routing FROM/TO
your destination.  Unused flight coupons should be VOIDED.

NOTE -  A voided coupon cannot appear in the middle of an itinerary.

EXAMPLE 1:

For travel MONTREAL/TORONTO/MONTREAL, flight coupons 3 and 4 are voided
The audit coupons read:
` MONTREAL
TORONTO
MONTREAL
VOID
VOID
EXAMPLE 2:
For travel VANCOUVER/TORONTO/HALIFAX/ TORONTO/VANCOUVER
all flight coupons are used.
Should a stopover coupon (ACF 21A) be required,
e.g. Toronto/Montreal, this can be obtained from the
Airport Customer Sales and Service Agent upon presentation
of your valid Trip Pass Ticket..(ENSURE YOU ADD THE
ASSOCIATED TRIP PASS TICKET NUMBER TO THE STOPOVER COUPON

FLIGHT COUPONS CANNOT BE USED OUT OF SEQUENCE AND ANY COUPONS THAT ARE
NOT REQUIRED SHOULD BE VOIDED.

NOTE  -  Suppose the traller of Example 2 decided to continue the
above trip from Halifax to St. John's.  This decision should
have been made before using the Trip Pass Ticket.
An addition now will make the travel to St. John's a side
trip.  An additnal Trip Pass Ticket is required and it will
attract service charges as a separate trip.

KEY POINT -  City names should be clearly printed, in full, without
any ambiguity.  For example "London" is not sufficient -
it must be  "London, Ont. or London, Eng."

9.   ZONE - Indicate the correct zone by consulting your zone chart.

NOTE  -  Ensure that you include the furthest city to which you intend
to travel and the furthest zone.  You will then be free to
use various flight legs to and from this furthest point either
by the use of stopover coupons or by using coupons to and from
cities other than what is shown on the coupon.
Please note the examples to see just how this applies.

11.   RELATIONSHIP   (self explanatory)

12.   CHECK-IN

KEY POINT - Only a Customer Sales and Service Agent may detach flight
coupons from the Trip Pass Ticket.

Each retiree should review again the instructions included with the
Trip Passs Ticket and the detailed instructions concerning the filling in of
the form.  The following examples should assist retirees to both
understand the problem and to ensure that the Trip Pass Ticket will convey
the correct travel information to Accounting.

EXAMPLE A:
- A traveller is taking a trip from Toronto to Los Angeles and
then by boat through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale,
returning by air from Miami to Toronto.  How should the Trip
Pass Ticket be completed?

Los Angeles is the furthest zonal point to be charged therefore the
trip pass will read TORONTO/LOS ANGELES/TORONTO and coupons 3 and 4
will be marked VOID. Zone 2 will be checked and the LOS
ANGELES/TORONTO flight coupon will be used from MIAMI to TORONTO.

EXAMPLE B:
- A traveller is going in the reverse direction in order to take
the Panama Canal cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles.
Because Los Angeles is the furthest zone to be travelled then
the Trip Pass Ticket will again be completed
TORONTO/LOS ANGELES//TORONTO.
On the outgoing trip the TORONTO/LOS ANGELES coupon will be
used to travel to Miami or Fort Lauderdale.

he above examples begin to illustrate the problem of using a single
Trip Pass Ticket for each trip.  Remember the principle:  each Trip Pass
Ticket will attract a service charge.  The Trip Pass Ticket must show the
final trip destination corresponding to the zone checked.
Stopover coupons, referenced to the Trip Pass Ticket number, will be used to
handle additional or unplanned flight legs.  The individual flight coupon
need not be specifically for the leg involved as long as it is part of the
overall itinerary for charging purposes.

EXAMPLE C:

A traveller with a Trip Pass Ticket showing MONTREAL/ LONDON, Eng/
MONTREAL - coupons 3 and 4 have been marked VOID.  The traveller
cannot find return space to Montreal so takes a flight to Halifax.
A stopover coupon will be issued for LONDON, Eng to HALIFAX and
the LONDON, Eng. to MONTREAL coupons will be used from Halifax to
Montreal.

TIP: - In Example C you can provide yourself with additional (just in  
case)
coupons by filling in the Trip Pass Ticket as follows:
MONTREAL
TORONTO
LONDON, ENG
TORONTO
MONTREAL
You would not now need a stopover coupon if you returned via Halifax.
The London, Eng/Toronto coupon will take you to Halifax and the
Toronto/Montreal coupon will be used Halifax to Montreal.

U.S. RETIREES USING CONTINENTAL AIRLINES

KEY POINT - Our Trip Pass Tickets can be used for travel on Continental
Airlines PROVIDED THE TRAVEL ON THAT TICKET IS CONFINED
TO CONTINENTAL ONLY.

Continental do not stock or handle our stopover coupons;  therefore
for a complicated itinerary it is better to have a normal revenue
ticket issued at the service charge fare. 

CHAPTER 4 - THE EMPLOYEE CALL CENTER

4.1  As published in Horizons July 1/97 by Sylvie Schmitt

ADDITIONAL: - When calling the Center please have questions, flights,
dates, numbers etc. ready before you make the call..
The agents want to give us friendly help but they do not
have time to engage in a general chat; other calls are
waiting. It seems that some retirees use the call to
catch up on airline news and/or pass on a bit of history
- all very human but not appropriate.
Others sometimes request a space check for an
unreasonable number of flight possibilities.

CONCLUSION  -  The above was put together by Don Demeza but it is
based on a very small sample of the problems which may
have been encountered.
Don and Bob would like some feedback before proceeding
further:

1.   Do the above explanatory notes and tips provide a better
understanding concerning the use of the trip pass?

2.   Do you have questions concerning Don's attempt to clarify?

3.   Can you describe any situations you have experienced which would
not have been helped by the notes provided here.

Please send any comments directly to:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

p.s.  -  Don is going on a Panama cruise and will be back around Dec
11th.
The next step will be to publish what we have learned to all
retirees with the notice for the 98 General Meeting.  The notice
goes out in January.


More from Don Demeza for the 'Between Yourselves - NetLetter' trial:

Today I was talking to Bert Gardiner in Kelowna on the ham bands.  He
is taking the Crown Princess cruise with us from Los Angeles to Fort
Lauderdale and is solving the same problems as I.  He tells me he
asked the telephone travel service how to make out his pass.  The
operator wasn't sure and said it may take two trip pass tickets - one
to go and one to return.  He called again a few days later and was
advised to make the trip pass ticket out to Miami and use a stopover coupon
from Calgary to Los Angeles.  That sounds okay to me as it's all
on one trip pass. I'm not sure the Calgary agent will be as familiar with
the issue as Miami so I have a different recommendation.  The problem is a
bit more complex than mine.

He is travelling from Kelowna to Calgary to Los Angeles then cruise to
Fort Lauderdale where he flies out of either Fort Lauderdale to
Montreal to Calgary to Kelowna or out of Miami via Toronto. Based on
this example I have tried to better establish a principle to follow:

First a comment:
remember - in the late 40's and early 50's when we used to request
each pass and it was made out and sent to us from the Pass Bureau.
Air Canada had just begun flights to Bermuda and the Carribean and
with one flight a week in a North Star pluses frequently had to return
on another carrier - It was understood, that either New York or Miami
would honor our return tickets from Bermuda or Barbados.

Well, in a way we have a similar situation again.
Air Canada operates to a host of U.S. cities and from various
Canadian points of entry.  We may travel around the U.S. on other
carriers or using other methods of transportation therefore the
individual pass coupon may or may not match the actual flight leg
being flown.

NOTE: - The prime purpose of the Trip Pass Ticket today, when on a
complex routing, is to ensure collection of the correct zone
charges, taxes and fees so here are a couple of tips which
should help to solve an individual situation:

TIP: -  When all travel is by Air Canada or AC Regional Carriers, -
from your origination city ensure that the Trip Pass Ticket is
made out to the furthest city and to the furthest zone by as
direct a route as possible.
Stopover coupons will be used for additional legs within
the itinerary but not to extend the itinerary..

TIP:  When other forms of transportation (ground, water,
other airlines, etc.)  are being used between cities then the
going or return coupon will be honored at another city provided
that it is in the same fare zone and country.

Using the above tips lets get back  to Bert's trip.  Originating in
B.C., both Los Angeles and Florida are in zone 2 for zone charges and
they are both in the U.S. for customs and immigration charges.  It
seems to me that either Los Angeles or Miami could be shown as the
destination but I suggest that he use Los Angeles so that no possible
misunderstandings arise with agents who may not be familiar with
what can be done.  The Trip Pass Ticket will show:
KELOWNA
CALGARY
LOS ANGELES
CALGARY
KELOWNA
Coupon 1 will be used Kelowna to Calgary
Coupon 2 will be used Calgary to Los Angeles
Coupon 3 will be used for travel from either Miami or Fort Lauderdale,
to Toronto or  Montreal. A STOPOVER COUPON will be used from the
Canadian entry point to Calgary. Coupon 4 will be used Calgary to
Kelowna.

It's a good example and I believe that I have correctly interpreted
the process

end of example.

I'm beginning to think that we need a number of retirees who will work
at this and help others when they are concerned.  The information we
are collecting should also be made known to the agents both on the
telephone and at airports.

I look at this 'NetLetter - Between Yourselves' example as simply my
personal attempt to share what I think I have learned.

~-=o0o=-~

.  That's it for this time, please we need your input, send
comments and email addresses of any others who may be
interested to Vesta with a copy to Terry.


/------------------------\               |~~\_____/~~\__  |
|  Between Yourselves     |______________ \______====== )-+
|       NetLetter         |                      ~~~|/~~  |
\------------------------/                         ()

~Between Yourselves-Netletter~
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...................................................
.                 GREETINGS FROM                  .
.                Vancouver Island                 .
.              BEAUTIFUL B.C. CANADA              .
................................................... 



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