Air Canada today announced the possibility of earning an Altitude status through various actions you can take from home.

Here are the details of the Travel at Home event:

• Between today (Apr 20) and May 31st, when a member earns 50,000 Aeroplan Miles through everyday Travel at home activities (including miles earned via an Aeroplan-affiliated credit card such as the American Express^® AeroplanPlus^®* Platinum Card), the member will receive Altitude Prestige 25K status valid through 2021. Members will need to register for this promotion.
• In addition Altitude members can earn towards their next status level – Between April 20 and May 31st, members earn more when they earn Aeroplan Miles, including Bonus Altitude Qualifying Miles (AQM) and the potential for a one-time Altitude status tier upgrade up to a maximum award of Elite 75K.

How can members achieve this?

• As announced earlier, members can earn miles for every five Aeroplan Miles they donate to a charity fighting the COVID-19 crisis, they’ll receive one Altitude Qualifying Mile (AQM).
• Convert points from hotels and credit cards – an easy way to reach an Altitude status would be to convert points from Marriott Bonvoy or AMEX Membership Rewards.
• Charge your purchases to an Aeroplan branded credit card or apply for one and the initial welcome bonus will count!
• Shop online through more than 170 brands on the Aeroplan eStore There will be weekly bonuses released, specifically for everyday purchases from favourite brands like Gap, Sephora, Well.ca, Indigo and more.
• Use an Aeroplan credit card from American Express or CIBC for your purchases through the eStore in order to earn 5 bonus miles per dollar!

Each week, Aeroplan will new offers so members can continue to earn miles and benefits from home. Full details of the promotion can be found here.

For members who currently do not have altitude status, it is possible to get Altitude 25K status for 50,000 Aeroplan miles earned between April 20 and May 31, 2020.

So it’s easily reachable by:

• Converting 50,000 Membership Rewards Points from American Express
• Converting 120,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
• Applying for Aeroplan or American Express Membership Rewards credit cards to get miles directly or indirectly through welcome offers
• Purchasing through Aeroplan eStore, taking advantage of various offers

However, for the application of Aeroplan branded credit cards, this may be almost impossible to get the welcome offer before May 31, 2020, as you will get a large part of the bonus after fulfilling various conditions, such as having had the account active for 90 days.

You’d just have to rely on American Membership Rewards Points if you already have some or are close to having them.

The Altitude Prestige 25K status includes:

• Priority access to the call center
• Priority Reservation Waitlist
• Priority Seat Selection
• Priority Airport Check-In
• Priority Airport Standby
• Complimentary Checked Baggage Allowance (2 bags of 23 kgs each)
• Complimentary Sports Equipment Handling
• Priority boarding
• Two Maple Leaf Lounge One-Time Guest Passes
• 20 eUpgrade Credits
• Carrier Surcharge (YQ only) Waiver on Flight Rewards – Canada & U.S.

This latter advantage is very interesting as it removes Air Canada’s carrier surcharge for North American flights when using Aeroplan flight rewards.

For members who have already a status (Altitude 25K, 35K and 50K), they can get a one-time Altitude status upgrade up to Altitude Elite 75K, by earning 250,000 Aeroplan miles over this period.

Example: If you’re an Altitude Elite 50K member and you earn 250,000 Aeroplan Miles during this offer, you’ll receive a total of 4,500 (1,500 + 3,000) Bonus AQM, 20 eUpgrade Credits, $1,000 Bonus Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQD) and a one-time status upgrade to Elite 75K.

Air Canada - Aeroplan

It is interesting to see Air Canada innovate by adapting to the situation of its loyalty program members.

This is the first time that we’ve seen American Express Membership Rewards points counting toward status.

Also, it is also unusual to see that Aeroplan credit card application (issued by American Express, CIBC or TD) would also bring us closer to a higher status! But as mentioned above, it may be challenging to get the welcome bonus in time for most cards offers CIBC or TD,or American Express.