COVID-19: Air Canada and Aeroplan

Article Updated on 10/14/2020

Air Canada has taken several measures in the context of COVID-19 to:

• Altitude status
• Aeroplan Miles
• current or upcoming reservations

Several measures have been taken by Air Canada for Aeroplan and Altitude following COVID-19 such as:

• Altitude status extension for 2021
• Sharing Air Canada Altitude status
• Getting Altitude qualifying miles through charity
• Temporary pause to expiration of Aeroplan Miles
• Additional eUpgrade Credits
• The possible cancellation, free of charge, of all your bookings

On April 06, 2020, Air Canada announced that it had automatically extended the Altitude 2020 status until the end of 2021.

Should a member reach a higher status before the end of this year, they will enjoy it upon qualification, and maintain it through 2021 as well. For these members, they will be able to share their status with another person (see below).

Updated information on this topic is available here.

On April 06, 2020, Air Canada announced the opportunity to share its Altitude status with a friend or a family member.

This measure applies to those who have already achieved the status qualification for next year and who benefits, by the previous measure, from an automatic extension of the status until the end of 2021.

Updated information on this topic is available here.

On April 06, 2020, Air Canada announced the possibility of progressing towards an Altitude status by giving Aeroplan miles.

From now until April 30, for every five Aeroplan Miles a member donates to a charity engaged in fighting the COVID-19 crisis, they will receive one Altitude Qualifying Mile (AQM). The limit is 25,000 Altitude Qualification Miles. This will count for obtaining 2021 status.

Updated information on this topic is available here.

From April 20 to May 31, 2020, Air Canada offers you the opportunity to get Air Canada Altitude 25K status or progress to a higher level.

This is the Travel at Home event. Find out more about this here.

Effective July 20, 2020 we are waiving the current expiry provisions. You will now have 18 months to keep your account active – six months longer than before.

ll you have to do to stay active is earn or redeem a single mile. While travel is core to Aeroplan, don’t forget that there are many ways to keep your account active, such as:

• Shopping online with one of our retail partners
• Redeeming for gift cards and merchandise
• Donating miles to a participating charity
• Buying miles to get to your next reward

If your miles are expiring, don’t worry. Within six months of your account becoming inactive, if you fly on an eligible Air Canada ticket or get any Aeroplan credit card, we’ll reactivate all of your recently expired miles.

If you purchased a trip with Air Canada prior to July 20, 2020, with travel commencing anytime since January 2020 and had to cancel your travel plans, we’ll be happy to reinstate all of your Aeroplan Miles which have expired since the beginning of this year. You’ll just need to have your Air Canada booking reference on hand.

To take advantage of any of these options, simply call the Aeroplan Contact Centre.

Also, given the travel reduction in 2020, Aeroplan and Air Canada have provided all Altitude members with additional eUpgrade credits, valid until May 31, 2021 .

You can view these in your eUpgrade account and use them immediately.

Conditions are available here.

If you want to cancel all flight rewards the quickest way to do this is to go through the aeroplan.com website.

Until December 31, you can cancel free of charge and receive all of your Aeroplan Miles back in your account, plus a full refund of any associated taxes, fees and surcharges on the unused value of your travel.

Simply log-in and visit Manage your bookings.

However, if you have already started your trip, or for some complex itineraries, you will need to call Aeroplan Customer Service at 1-800-361-5373.

Conditions are available here.

Regarding reservations made with Air Canada, pay particular attention to look at which one applies to you depending on whether Air Canada cancels your flight or if you decide:

• To cancel your reservation by yourself
• To modify a reservation made on or before March 4
• To modify a reservation made after March 4
• Make a new reservation

You can make a one-time change without a fee for all new and existing tickets issued through December 31, 2020 for original travel between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021.

If you booked directly with Air Canada and you need to cancel your booking for any reason up to 2 hours prior to departure, you can convert your ticket into an Air Canada Travel Voucher that is fully transferrable and never expires. Or if you’re an Aeroplan member, you can cancel your ticket and convert it into Aeroplan Miles and get an additional bonus of 65% more miles.

Refundable tickets will be refunded as per the fare rules; a cancellation fee may still apply.

Do you have a remaining ticket value from a previously cancelled booking?
You can now convert your previously cancelled booking (for original travel between March 1^st, 2020 and December 31, 2021) to an Air Canada Travel Voucher or Aeroplan Miles with an additional 65% bonus miles. You can then make a new booking.

If you need to make a new booking using your remaining ticket value, please contact your original booking source:

• Travel agent or any online travel agency (for example, Expedia or Priceline): Contact them directly.
• Aeroplan: Click here for contact options.
• Air Canada Vacations: Click here which may not meet accessibility guidelines. for contact options.
• Air Canada (including Kayak, Google Flights, and Skyscanner): Call us at 1-888-247-2262 (click here for international and other numbers).
• Air Canada for Business: Click here for all updates.

You can make a one-time change without a fee or cancel your existing booking and rebook later if your original travel is between March 1^st, 2020 and December 31, 2021.

If you booked with a travel agent or any online travel agency (for example, Expedia or Priceline), kindly contact them directly for changes or cancellations. Each partner has a unique booking system that we are unable to access in order to adjust your booking.

If you booked with Air Canada Vacations, click here for contact options.

For Aeroplan bookings, click here for contact options.

If you booked directly with Air Canada (including aircanada.com, the Air Canada Mobile App, and our Contact Centres) or Kayak, Google Flights, and Skyscanner, you can change or cancel your booking by visiting Manage My Booking.

If you booked with Air Canada for Business, click here for all updates.

You can now convert your previously cancelled booking (for original travel between March 1^st 2020 and December 31, 2021) to an Air Canada Travel Voucher that is fully transferrable and never expires or Aeroplan Miles with an additional 65% bonus miles.

If you booked with a travel agent or any online travel agency (for example, Expedia or Priceline), kindly contact them directly for options. Each partner has a unique booking system that we are unable to access in order to adjust your booking.

If you booked with Air Canada Vacations, click here for contact options.

For Aeroplan bookings, click here for contact options.

If you booked directly with Air Canada (including aircanada.com, the Air Canada Mobile App, and our Contact Centres) or Kayak, Google Flights, and Skyscanner, you can convert your booking by visiting Manage My Booking.

Finally, if you have booked with Air Canada for business, click here for all updates.

We have written multiple articles related to COVID-19 that you can find below.

Here are also some useful links to topics covered in the milesopedia community:

• COVID-19 and your travels
• Refund or Credit?

You can also check out our ultimate Aeroplan guide here.