Air Canada has finally released the full details of the new Aeroplan rewards program that will be launching on November 8. In 2002 Air Canada spun off the Aeroplan as it’s own separate entity. Air Canada eventually bought Aeroplan back at the start of 2019. Air Canada was due to launch the this new version of Aeroplan in Q3, but that was pushed back until November 8 due to COVID-19. Although miles expiration has already been increased from 12 months to 18 months.
Basics
- Aeroplan will charge a $39CAD partner booking fee. This applies regardless of how the partner flight is booked (online or by phone)
- Aeroplan will remove fuel surcharges. Previously these fuel surcharges were charged on Air Canada and some partner flights (e.g Lufthansa). Now no fuel surcharges will be charged.
- Stopovers will be allowed on one way awards for 5,000 miles each.
- Award cancellation and change fees will be changing from a flat fee to a variable fee. Previously you were charged $100CAD to change an award flight and $125CAD to cancel an award flight. This will now change and change fees will vary from $25-$100CAD and cancellation fees will vary from $75-$175CAD (most of the much lower fees are on flexi fares).
- Aeroplan will add the ability to pay with a combination of points & cash. You’ll be able to use cash to reduce the cost of an award flight by up to 40%. VFTW is stating this will be 1.12¢ per mile.
- Family sharing will be added. You’ll be able to pool miles with family members at no cost. You’ll be able to have 8 people per family account. Air Canada isn’t deciding who is/isn’t part of your family but this might be adjusted over time.
- It looks like changes to the Aeroplan credit cards will be focused on the Canadian market. At this stage it doesn’t look like any new cards will be launched in the U.S.
- Number of changes to elite status. Addition of things such as:
Priority Rewards – Elite Status Members can earn Priority Rewards vouchers entitling them to 50% off the price in points (excluding taxes, third-party fees, and where applicable, a partner booking fee) on eligible flight rewards with Air Canada and its airline partners. Members with Aeroplan 35K Status or higher will automatically receive Priority Rewards when the program launches in November.
Status Pass – Eligible Elite Status Members can share their benefits, such as priority boarding and lounge access, with friends and family members, even if they are not travelling together.
Everyday Status Qualification – The Aeroplan points that members earn every day from eligible retail, travel, and Aeroplan credit card partners will help members reach Aeroplan Elite Status.
Award Charts
The full award charts can be found here. Air Canada is breaking down the world into four zones:
- North America
- Atlantic
- Pacific
- South America
The award chart for within North America is as follows (one way):
As you can see prices are fixed for partner flights and are in a range for Air Canada flights. That’s because these are dynamic based on the cash fare.
Overall Thoughts
Things like fuel surcharges going away are great but is somewhat offset by the $39 fixed fee for partner awards. Awards seem to be slightly more expensive than before, but that will somewhat depend on where they fall in the variable ranges. Given current market conditions you’d expect them to fall at the very bottom end of those ranges at launch (especially when loyalty programs normally do this anyway to make program changes seem better than they are), if that’s not the case then it’s a worrying sign.
View Comments (17)
Aeroplan has been devalued. Bummer. Business class points have devalued about 40% plus the new fees make it less desirable but still better than Delta!
Overall I think this is a significant devaluation for domestic flights. The 2 things that hit the most is that stops cost 5k and the $39 Cad booking fee.
You can earn 2500 bonus Aeroplan miles if you earn 1 mile by Sep 30, 2020
https://www.aeroplan.com/enroll.do?source=AE_HPSH®istrationCode=RC21&CurrentLanguage=EN#/
You could use a shopping portal or transfer MR, Cap1 or Barclaycards Arrival points or even hotel points, although because of the minimum transfer amounts, not sure I would do this unless I had no other options (e.g. minimum 1000 Cap 1 points for 750 Aeroplan miles. Not sure about the other alternatives.
https://www.aeroplan.com/earn_miles/more_miles.do?icid=SUB_M2_ConversionPrograms_EN#/
Not sure if the 2500 bonus miles are only for new Aeroplan members or if existing members can also get the bonus miles.
India is apparently at the Atlantic? I don't know what the guy who drew up those regions smoke, but it's apparently a pretty good stuff.
so the connecting flights will be priced separately?
for example a flight from SFO - IAH - EWR Total distance traveled is 3035 but SFO to EWR is 2565 miles .
Which distance will be used to calculate points needed given it is still a region based chart.
Wow, their base earn rate for AC flights is only 3 pts per CAD (4 pts per USD). Anyone know how they’ll credit partner flights? Overall, this will be a real turd of a program except for bloggers who can maximize long routings and stopovers to sample J products... normal people who prefer direct flights, not so much
With the chart, flights from US to SE Asia goes from 90K to 120k in coach, That's a hugh increase. Correct me if I am wrong.
I think it is 75k maximum in coach with partner airlines based on the new award chart for travel between North America and the Pacific region. jfk to sin is 9,537 mi, and should be 60k in coach with partner airlines.
Correct, 60k one-way. Not good.
Overall not terrible... the elimination of YQ is great for LH F awards (hopefully they will have full access).
There are bright spots. Northeast U.S. to parts of the Middle East will now be 70K instead of 80-85K.
Seems a number of programs are moving toward increasing the price for transcontinental flights. Not happy about that.
Happy to see the surcharges go away, though - that makes it a potentially attractive program for EWR>Scandinavia & Western Europe on *A Y, especially as they transfer from 2 currencies and Amex runs transfer bonuses every once in a while. They're also one of the more advantageous programs to credit hotels and car rentals to.
Also happy about 7.5k intra-Europe - UA was getting ridiculous with their 3-3.5k close-in booking fee tacked on to the 8k base price. And as far as distance, 1k miles is more than 800 miles. Also, UA's 8k price is for direct flights only.
Could you please elaborate a bit on the last paragraph? TIA
When it still had an award chart, UA used to be:
Intra-Europe, direct, 800mi or less: 8k
Intra-Europe, all others: 15k
Now it's:
Intra-Europe, direct, 800mi or less: 9k* and up, plus up to 3.5k surcharge close-in
Intra-Europe, all others: 16.5k* and up, plus up to 3.5k surcharge close-in
Meanwhile, for Aeroplan:
Intra-Europe, direct, 800mi or less: 7.5k+$39
Intra-Europe, connecting, 800mi or less: 7.5k+$39
Intra-Europe, direct, 801-1000mi: 7.5k+$39
Intra-Europe, connecting, 801-1000mi: 7.5k+$39
Intra-Europe, 1001-2000mi: 12.5k+$39
Looking at some random dates in September, WAW-ATH (993mi) costs 16.5k+$16 via UA. AC should charge 7.5k+$55 for the same.
*8k and 15k were the prices per the award chart, so most assumed those would be the price "floor" going forward. However, I can't find short hops under 9k and connectors under 16.5k, so those are the prices I'm using now.
United changed their close-in booking fee from $75 to a mileage surcharge. That $75 fee was formerly waived with status or for holders of the Club card. With the most recent (terrible) changes, instead of flights being 8k one way +/- the $75 close in fee, they now cost 8k + 3-3.5k miles, with the surcharge no longer able to be waived. They effectively increased the close in flight cost by ~45%.
HUGE hit to many, myself included, who mainly book close in saver awards. This helps to a certain degree overseas, but obviously domestic XN space can't be booked with Aeroplan, which is where this really hurts on a regular basis
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