Aeroplan

Introduction

Air Canada’s loyalty program, Aeroplan, has 8 million active members.

Aeroplan allows members to earn points in a variety of ways, including travel with Air Canada and other airline partners, using a credit card affiliated with the program, staying at partner hotels, renting cars from affiliated companies, or making purchases at various partner retailers.

Points earned can then be redeemed for flights, upgrades, hotel stays, car rentals, and other rewards.

Aeroplan also emphasizes reward customization, offering members the opportunity to choose from a wide range of options to best suit their needs and preferences. Here’s our complete guide to everything you need to know about the Aeroplan program.

Rules

Here are the rules for Aeroplan flight rewards (tickets purchased with points):

The Removal of Aeroplan Carrier Surcharges

There are no carrier surcharges when you use your Aeroplan points! This opens up opportunities – not only to travel with Air Canada on flights to Europe or Asia – but also to use partner airlines such as All Nippon Airways, Austrian or Lufthansa more regularly.

And why not use your Aeroplan points to treat yourself to the luxury of First Class on Lufthansa?

Aeroplan Partner Booking Fees

There is a fixed Aeroplan partner booking fee of $39.

Thus, Air Canada aims to encourage Aeroplan members to book flights directly on its airline by implementing this Aeroplan partner booking fee.

This is a flat fee:

You’ll have to pay $39 to book an air award including a flight on Singapore Airlines, for example:

Pricing with Aeroplan Partners

While Air Canada has adopted a variable fare structure for its own flights, it has a fixed fare structure for flights with partner airlines, with a few exceptions.

Thus, with an Aeroplan partner booking fee of $39, the points pricing will always be at the lowest level of Air Canada’s pricing (when available). While Air Canada’s pricing may fluctuate based on market prices, this will not be the case for most partners (subject to availability, of course).

For example, a one-way economy flight from Montreal to Frankfurt costs:

Aeroplan Stopover and Layover Rules

The Aeroplan program allows you to build highly flexible itineraries and optimize the destinations you can visit within the same trip with layovers and the stopover feature.

Aeroplan Travel Zones and Distances

Aeroplan divides the world into 4 travel zones:

Next, Aeroplan subdivides each travel zone by distance in miles: the greater the distance covered, the greater the cost in points.

Distance thresholds in miles are different depending on:

And the cost in points is different depending on whether you fly with Air Canada or one of its partners.

So it’s worth booking direct flights rather than connecting flights. In some cases, the addition of a connection may result in a higher fare threshold.

For example, a flight from Montreal to Zurich has a distance of 3,736 miles. This trip falls into the 0 – 4,000 miles threshold for travel between North America and Atlantic zones. The cost is 35,000 points in economy class.

Adding a connection to Nice, a flight from Montreal – Zurich – Nice has a distance of 4,006 miles. This trip falls into the 4,001 – 6,000 threshold for travel between North America and Atlantic zones. The cost is 40,000 points in economy class. That’s 5,000 more points.

While choosing to connect via Brussels to reach Nice, we remain in the 0 – 4,000 miles threshold for travel between North America and Atlantic areas. The cost is 35,000 points in economy class.

The Aeroplan Points Predictor

To easily find out how much an itinerary costs in points Aeroplan, a tool is available to members on the Air Canada website: the Points Predictor.

The Aeroplan Points + Cash Option

It will now be possible to use a new feature: Aeroplan Points + Cash.

If you don’t have enough Aeroplan points for a flight reward, several fare options are available to you.

Here’s an example for a flight with a cost of 12,500 points + $38.98 in airport taxes:

So if you want to pay airport taxes with your points (in the example above 3,900 points save you $38.98), you will get a value of 1 cent per point.

On the other hand, if you don’t have enough points – or want to keep them – the cash option is to “virtually buy” points, paying 2.1 cents per point.

In the example above, to save 2,500 points, you’ll need to pay around $52.5 (or 2.1 cents per point).

Aeroplan Fees

Aeroplan Reward Change or Cancellation Fees

Aeroplan allows you to:

Modification fees range from $0 to $100.

Cancellation fees are $0 to $175 depending on the rate paid and the cancellation method.

Consult the tables below for the full details:

Aeroplan Flight Reward Fares for Infants

Aeroplan is known for being a particularly advantageous program for infant award tickets (children under 2 years old). We have taken advantage of this on many occasions.

Aeroplan is one of the best programs to book a baby award ticket as the fare is fixed at $25 or 2,500 Aeroplan points per one-way ticket on Air Canada or their partners.

And it doesn’ t matter which cabin you choose (Economy, Economy Premium, Business/Signature)!

Simplified Booking Experience

Similar to Buying a Paid Ticket

Booking an award flight takes only a few minutes, whether on the Air Canada website or mobile app.

Also, for flights operated by Air Canada, it will be possible to choose – as for paid tickets – between three fares:

Each of these fares includes advantages (reduced change or cancellation fees, choice of seat, baggage included, etc.) as well as access to the Air Canada Signature Suite.

Ability to Create Your Own Itinerary

All available flight rewards are displayed in the search engine on the Air Canada website. You can build the exact itinerary you want and combine flights with Air Canada, Star Alliance airlines, and even partner companies like Etihad Airways!

Also, since all Air Canada flights are available as award flights, Aeroplan members living outside the major hubs of Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver are not penalized.

Flight Rewards Eligible for eUpgrades

All Air Canada flight rewards are eligible for eUpgrades with your Aeroplan frequent flyer elite status.

A dedicated fare chart will be displayed directly at the time of purchasing your award flight.

Aeroplan Family Sharing

The Aeroplan Family Sharing program has various features:

Accumulating and Redeeming Aeroplan Points as a Family

The concept of Aeroplan Family Sharing is simple: it allows members to accumulate and redeem Aeroplan points together. While each Aeroplan member keeps their points in their own account, the goal is to use them as a group.

For each booking, Aeroplan points are deducted proportionally from each individual account.

Let’s take the example of a Family Sharing account with a total of 250,000 Aeroplan points. Within this Family Sharing, 4 people want to book a trip costing 25,000 Aeroplan points per person, which equals 100,000 Aeroplan points for the Family Sharing members.

The cost of the trip (100,000 points) represents 40% of the total Aeroplan points in the Family Sharing account (250,000 points).

Each member’s Aeroplan points balance will be reduced by 40% for this reservation:

The Terms of Aeroplan Family Sharing

There are various terms associated with the Aeroplan Family Sharing:

Enjoy the Benefits of Aeroplan as a Family

Air Canada also offers another benefit to being part of an Aeroplan Family Sharing: a preferential rate for all Aeroplan members within the same Family Sharing.

Indeed, if a member of the Family Sharing has an Aeroplan status or an Aeroplan credit card, all members of the Family Sharing benefit from the preferred pricing advantage.

Earn Points

There are two main methods of accumulating Aeroplan points:

Earn Aeroplan Points With Travel

With Flights

Aeroplan points are earned based on the member’s spending.

Thus, the expense incurred (including the base fare and any carrier surcharges, excluding taxes, in Canadian dollars) is affected by a multiplier:

With Other Types of Travel

You can also earn Aeroplan points with travel partners:

Earn Aeroplan Points Not Travel Related

Aeroplan Credit Cards

Air Canada partners with American Express, CIBC and TD.

All three institutions issue numerous credit cards that earn Aeroplan points.

Points Transfer Partners

It is also possible to obtain Aeroplan points by transferring from other programs such as:

Aeroplan eStore

The different ways of accumulating Aeroplan points revolve around 3 pillars:

Indeed, the Aeroplan eStore has a multitude of partners.

The Aeroplan eStore will also be the place where you can find:

Gift cards can be electronic or physical, and there’s plenty of merchandise to choose from.

You’ll be able to pay with points or cash (while earning points)!

Finally, you can also use Aeroplan points for non-airline travel rewards:

You can pay with Aeroplan points, or with cash (while earning Aeroplan points).

Redeem Points

Aeroplan Flight Reward Chart.

The Aeroplan program is therefore based on two main aspects:

Let’s take an in-depth look at Aeroplan.

Aeroplan Travel Zones and Distances

Aeroplan divides the world into 4 travel zones:

Next, Aeroplan subdivides each travel zone by distance in miles: the greater the distance covered, the greater the cost in points.

Distance thresholds in miles are different depending on:

And the cost in points is different depending on whether you fly with Air Canada or one of its partners.

Detailed Analysis of the Aeroplan Award Chart by Zone

Here are all the 4 travel zones and 6 possible combinations within the chart:

North America

The “North America” travel zone extends from Alaska to Panama (inclusive).

This includes Canada and the USA, but also all of Central America, the Caribbean and Hawaii.

Here is the Aeroplan Award Chart for travel within the North America zone:

This Aeroplan pricing offers many opportunities. For example, flights to the Caribbean or Central America (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Bahamas, Cuba, Costa Rica, etc.) range from 12,500 to 17,500 Aeroplan points one-way.

For example, see the main zones from/to the Montreal hub (0-500 – 501-1,500 – 1,501-2,750 and 2,751+):

Also, note that Air Canada’s longest direct flight in North America between Toronto and Honolulu is available for a cost ranging from just 17,500 to 25,000 Aeroplan points!

For the rest, don’t forget that all Air Canada seats are available for flight rewards.

South America

The “South America” travel zone extends from Colombia to Ushuaïa.

This includes all South American countries.

Here is the Aeroplan award chart for travel within the South America region.

This is the simplest zone of the Aeroplan program, with a fixed fare on two brackets for all flights within this zone: between 10,000 and 50,000 points depending on the cabin.

It is possible to search for advantageous routes on various partner companies such as:

Atlantic

The “Atlantic” travel zone extends from Greenland to India (inclusive).

This includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East and part of Russia.

Here is the Aeroplan award chart for travel in the Atlantic zone:

The Atlantic zone – including Europe, the Middle East and North Africa – becomes a real “playground” thanks to Aeroplan’s new pricing structure.

All this, coupled with:

A short-haul flight costs as little as 7,500 points and allows you to reach almost all European capitals from a hub like Frankfurt with Lufthansa.

See, for example, the main zones to/from the Frankfurt hub (0-1,000 – 1,001-2,000 – 2,001-4,000):

And the main zones to/from the Istanbul hub (Turkish Airlines) (0-1,000 – 1,001-2,000 – 2,001-4,000):

Pacific

The “Pacific” travel zone extends from eastern Russia to New Zealand (inclusive).

This includes Asia, Australia and the Pacific Rim.

Here is the Aeroplan award chart for travel in the Pacific zone:

The Pacific zone is also a large part of the Aeroplan program. It’s also a zone where there’s a lot of competition between airlines, with many low-cost carriers like Air Asia.

For example, Aeroplan has divided this zone into 5 zones according to the distance flown. A short-haul flight costs as little as 8,000 points. There are many sweet spots in this zone, particularly in Japan.

See, for example, the main zones to/from the Tokyo hub (0-1,000 – 1,001-2,000 – 2,001-5,000):

And the main zones to/from the Singapore hub (0-1,000 – 1,001-2,000 – 2,001-5,000):

North America – Atlantic

Here is the Aeroplan award chart for travel between North America and the Atlantic zone:

From Montreal, Western Europe is accessible via direct flight with the first pricing tier. However, as soon as you add a connection, there is a good chance of exceeding the distance of 4,000 miles.

Direct connections between Montreal and Paris, London, Frankfurt, Lisbon or Casablanca start at 35,000 points one-way. Direct destinations between Montreal and Istanbul or Tel Aviv start at 40,000 points one-way.

North America – Pacific

Here is the Aeroplan award chart for travel between the North America and Pacific zones:

From Montreal or Toronto, no country is accessible with the first pricing tier (unlike Vancouver).

Direct connections between Montreal and Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai start at 50,000 points in one-way economy. For other destinations such as Singapore, Sydney and Auckland, connecting flights are available from 60,000 points in economy one-way.

Atlantic – Pacific

Here is the Aeroplan award chart for travel between the Atlantic zone and the Pacific zone:

Below are the options available to/from the Frankfurt hub (Lufthansa):

Here, for example, are the options available to/from the Singapore hub (Singapore Airlines):

Atlantic – South America

Here is the Aeroplan award chart for travel between the Atlantic zone and the South America zone:

Some Star Alliance airlines connect the Atlantic Zone and the South America Zone, such as Lufthansa or TAP Air Portugal.

Here are some examples of destinations to/from Frankfurt: Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo accessible from the first pricing tier.

Only Buenos Aires needs more points.

Pacific – South America

Here is the Aeroplan pricing chart for travel between the Pacific zone and the South America zone.

North America – South America

Here is the Aeroplan pricing chart for travel between the North America zone and the South America zone.

From Montreal or Toronto, many destinations are accessible with the first pricing tier. In any case, it costs from 30,000 points one way.

Status

With Aeroplan Elite status, Air Canada aims to:

Here are the main points of the Aeroplan program concerning the Aeroplan status:

Qualification criteria

The Aeroplan program assigns a status level based on:

This includes not only flights on Air Canada, but also on all Star Alliance partners. However, for the dollars spent criterion, the ticket must have been issued on Air Canada stock (ticket numbers starting with 014).

So, to obtain Air Canada Aeroplan status, you need to understand the 3 qualification criteria:

Status Qualification Miles (SQM)

One-Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) correspond to the distance flown on Air Canada or Star Alliance member airlines.

However, this criteria is weighted by two other factors:

A ticket booked at standard fare allows you to accumulate 25% of the distance flown, while a Business Class flight allows you to accumulate 150% of the distance flown.

You’ll find all Air Canada fare options on this page.

Status Qualification Segments (SQS)

Single Status Qualification Segments (SQS) correspond to the number of flights performed on Air Canada or Star Alliance member airlines.

If you need some SQS to reach a higher status, it might be wise to book connecting flights rather than a direct flight.

Status Qualification Dollars (SQD)

One-Status Qualifying Dollars (SQD) are dollars spent on your Air Canada or Star Alliance member airline flights (booked on Air Canada 014 inventory).

Even if you have reached the level of Status Qualifying Miles or Status Qualifying Segments, you must still have spent a certain number of Status Qualifying Dollars to obtain your status.

The Aeroplan Elite Status Levels

There are 5 levels in the Aeroplan program:

For each of these levels, there are:

Selected privileges must be chosen by December 30 each year. All these privileges are listed on this Air Canada page Aeroplan.

The Period for Obtaining Aeroplan Elite Status

To obtain Aeroplan status, the qualification period extends over one calendar year, from January 1 to December 31.

Once earned, the Aeroplan status is valid:

A Digital Program

All benefits are digital and immediately recognized by Air Canada staff upon presentation of the digital membership card.

Priority Rewards

Air Canada has Priority Rewards for its Aeroplan program.

These Priority Rewards entitle you to a 50% discount coupon for certain geographical areas or cabins, depending on your status level. Each time you reach a Status Qualification Dollar tier (SQD), you’ll earn an additional coupon, up to 11 coupons per year.

You can use a voucher for a flight reward for one passenger. The voucher validity is one year from the date of issuance (but can be used for a later travel date).

Here are the geographical areas and cabins according to Aeroplan status:

Status Pass

Air Canada also offers the Status Pass option in the Aeroplan program.

The Status Pass allows Aeroplan members 50K and above to offer 50K status to the person of their choice.

Travellers with a status pass enjoy the following benefits while travelling on flights operated by Air Canada (even when travelling without the person who offered this status):

These benefits are not available for travel on Star Alliance airlines.

Preferred Pricing for Air Canada Flight Rewards

Air Canada introduces the preferential rate for flight rewards on Air Canada for members with an Aeroplan status.

Aeroplan Credit Cards With Status Benefits

The Aeroplan credit cards introduced by American Express, CIBC and TD offer advantages for qualifying for or renewing Aeroplan status.

Some Aeroplan credit cards offer the possibility of earning after every $10,000 in purchases ($5,000 in purchases for certain Business and Premium cards):

Additionally, by holding an Aeroplan credit card, Aeroplan members have access to preferential rates for flight rewards.

Achieving 25K Status Made Easier

Air Canada makes it easier to qualify for Aeroplan 25K status.

Members who accumulate 100,000 Aeroplan points from any eligible source will achieve Aeroplan 25K status.

Eligible sources are all base and bonus points earned directly with:

Non-eligible sources are all base and bonus points earned with:

Aeroplan Credit cards

There are many Aeroplan credit cards issued by American Express, CIBC and TD.

Below is a list of the main Aeroplan credit cards. For more information, read:

Preferred Pricing

All Aeroplan credit card holders receive preferred pricing on Aeroplan flight rewards for flights operated by Air Canada.

Given that these flight rewards have a flexible award chart, Air Canada has control over the displayed rates and can therefore offer a preferential rate to Aeroplan credit card holders.

Some preferential rates can even be lower than the posted minimum rate!

No Expiration of Aeroplan Points

All Aeroplan credit cardholders do not have to worry about the expiration of their Aeroplan points.

Normally, Aeroplan points expire after 18 months of inactivity on the account. And there are various ways to keep an account active (by making a qualifying purchase on eStore, for example).

First Checked Bag Free

Some Aeroplan credit cardholders benefit from free first checked baggage on all Air Canada flights (award flights or paid tickets)!

This benefit is valid for:

Additionally, if an additional cardholder travels without the primary cardholder, they can also be accompanied by 8 travel companions who will benefit from the free first checked baggage. The only condition: everyone has to be on the same reservation.

Something to delight groups of friends or sports teams travelling on Air Canada! Or families:

Benefits Shared with Additional Cardholders

Additional cardholders also enjoy certain benefits with Air Canada.

However, they must ensure that their Aeroplan membership number is associated with their credit card by visiting this page.

Access to Maple Leaf Lounges

Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege and American Express Aeroplan Reserve Cardholders will enjoy unlimited access:

In addition, Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege credit cardholders will benefit from 6 annual DragonPass airport lounge accesses.

Priority Airport Services

Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege and American Express Aeroplan Reserve cardholders will enjoy a range of benefits at the airport:

Annual Worldwide Companion Pass

Holders of the Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card and American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card can benefit from a worldwide companion pass

To do so, you must have made $25,000 in purchases on the card (maximum of one pass per year).

Once earned, you can use your Annual Companion Pass to get a companion flight at a fixed price ($99 in North America, and between $199 and $599 elsewhere around the world ).

Elite Status (1,000 SQM and 1 SQS)

This is new and particularly interesting for Elite members of the Aeroplan program. Some credit cardholders can receive boosts to qualify for Elite status.

You can earn 1,000 Status Qualification Miles (SQM) and 1 Status Qualification Segment (SQS) for every $10,000 in annual purchases ($5,000 in purchases for certain Premium cards).

And there’s no limit to the number of SQM and SQS you can accumulate!

Rollover SQM and eUpgrades

If needed, holders of the Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card and the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card will have their unused Status Qualification Miles (SQM) or eUpgrade credits carried over to the following year.

This is an invaluable advantage for certain Elite Aeroplan members!

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Frequently Asked Questions about the Aeroplan program

Here are frequently asked questions in the milesopedia community about the Aeroplan program.