Business Platinum Card from American Express
130,000 MR points
Air Canada’s New Aeroplan: Everything You Need to Know
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Business Platinum Card from American Express
- Earn 90,000 MR points upon spending $15,000 in the first three months
- Plus, earn 40,000 MR points upon making a purchase in months 14–17 as a cardholder
- And, earn 1.25x MR points on all purchases
- Also, receive a $200 annual travel credit
- Transfer MR points to Aeroplan and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights
- Unlimited airport lounge access for you and one guest at Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Centurion, and other lounges
- Credits and rebates for business expenses throughout the year with Amex Offers
- Bonus MR points for referring family and friends
- Qualify for the card as a sole proprietor
- Annual fee: $799
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Great info Ricky. Thanks for your info, I managed to call in for the 1st time and booked an all business ticket.
YYZ-IST-HKG-SGN 10999ml Turkish and Cathy (23 hr layover at HKG) and stopover at IST
SGN-HKG-TPE-YYZ 8945 ml with Cathy and Eva with a stop over at HKG
However, it cost 20K points instead of the 19K (85k x2 + 5k) per my calculation. I guess they round up 10999 to 11000? I asked the agent and she said that was what the system told her.
Being my first call, I didn’t want to argue but still happy with what I got.
I mean 18K (85k x2 + 2x 5K )instead of 20K
Hello! We booked the highest fare class business class ticket (flexible) and it’s ticketed as “I”, which means it is not eligible for access to the Signature Suites. It’s a departure from YYZ non-stop to Europe on Air Canada. 🙁
If you booked in Business Flexible then you’ll have access. It’s all about the fare category, not the fare bucket in this instance. I’d imagine the online published rules for Signature Suite access have yet to be updated.
Hi – Just wondering if the Amex point transfer 1:1 to new Aeroplan points will continue to be honored? I usually keep my points in Amex until I need to travel and then instantly transfer to Aeroplan and book (to avoid aeroplan miles expiring).
Yes, it’ll continue to be honoured 1:1.
Have you noticed that Aeroplan business class seat availability has reduced in recent weeks on some major international routes?
I have been watching certain one way routings almost one year out and have noticed in the last couple of weeks that good business class availability has suddenly dried up especially for AC flights.
I am wondering if Aeroplan or AC is holding back seats pending the start of the new Aeroplan program on November 8.
Hi Ricky, thanks for the great article! Do you think the MR to Aeroplan ratio will get updated with this? Should I transfer my MR points to Aeroplan now or wait until the new program? Thanks!
It’ll still be 1:1, so no rush to transfer.
Hi – For the past few years – super elite have been able to gift status to a companion (50K). With the status pass – will they still have this? Or with the status pass – SE will need to give the pass to the individual for each flight to be able to use the SE status?
Hi Prince of Travel,
I know of sweet spot for aeroplan that NO ONE knows about. It is only valid before the new program kicks in. Message me directly and we can discuss the details and whether we want to make it public or not.
Hi Zaibii,
Please PM me at ak47@gmailbox.org to discuss
Thanks
What I’d like to know is that if getting into the aeroplan credit card scene is worth it for an entry level user for someone looking to fly around once or twice a year (i.e first credit card or someone looking to switch products)
We’ll have to wait to see the new signup bonuses to truly assess, but in general I’d say yes the new program should cater better to the entry-level user who travels infrequently compared to the program before.
Not a frequent traveller so a lotta those new so-called “benefits” dont really apply to me. I mostly just fly btw YYZ to HKG (HONGKONG) and the devaluation is quite significant. Current chart for roundtrip costs 75k pts whereas the new one starts with 50k*2 =100k (roundtrip, NA to Pacific eco class). Also, are they now saying to give you points equal to what you pay
vs actual miles flown? Coz that’d be approx $1200 points earned instead of 7791 miles flown, about 1/6 of what I would have gotten
Yes, your understanding is correct. Some individuals will be strictly worse off under the current program, and it may be time to adapt what you use your Aeroplan points for and/or whether you’d use a different points currency to accomplish your existing goals.
See this post for more discussion on the Winners & Losers: https://princeoftravel.com/blog/new-aeroplan-winners-losers/
When redeeming through the family account, it is my understanding that it will withdraw points from each of the members’ account. What happens when a family member doesn’t have enough of his/her proportioned points for redemption? Is it taken from the other family members’ balance?
Remember that the points are withdrawn proportionally to their existing balances. So it doesn’t matter, because as long as the family as a whole has enough points, the math will always work.
Example: Alice has 90,000 points and Bob has 10,000 points. Bob wants to redeem for 50,000 points. Since Bob has 10% of the family total, Bob is deducted 5,000 points. Alice, meanwhile, is deducted 45,000 points, since she had 90% of the family total.
Trust is paramount.
Amazing article! We’ve always been dreaded by the intended devaluations but am surprised by some positive changes going forward. Thanks for dissecting and making it easy for us to understand!
Spot-on article, Thank you!
Question: Is now a good time to get any of the AP cobranded cards to get the Welcome Bonus, and ALSO take advantage of the new crop of cards that will be launched in November? I currently don’t have any Aeroplan credit card, so wondering if I should wait for launch offers, or also get a card now before they are terminated.
Getting any of the cards now would likely render you ineligible for the welcome bonus when the refreshed cards are launched (except for the brand-new Amex Aeroplan Business Reserve). I’d recommend waiting for launch offers; in the meantime, if you’d like to rack up some Aeroplan miles to make bookings before November 8, you can always consider the Amex MR cards like the Amex Gold or Amex Business Gold and transfer those points to Aeroplan 1:1.
Without MPM limits, are there rules preventing people from taking super long trips or backtracking? I can’t see any yet.
You’ll want to pour yourself a strong drink and read this one: https://princeoftravel.com/blog/new-aeroplan-minirtw/
Thank you very much!
I think Ricky has provided excellent coverage on the new program. I thought a devaluation was coming along but this was not as bad as it could have been. I also feel the coverage has been balanced as there will be articles on winner/loser and comparison to other programs.
This is by far the best points blog in Canada
I think it’s great that Ricky is able to monetize his efforts while striking a balance. I will be worried if Ricky still depends on a few referral bonuses at this stage. 😂
For the vouchers, do you know if a 25k uses one gifted to them from SE whether they can get the discount on business? Or is it restricted to your level.
If it’s redeemed out of a Super Elite account (along with the Super Elite’s points), then it applies to business class.
Thanks for the quick response Ricky! So in order for that to sort of work I’d need to be family with the Super Elite right? Are there any restrictions on how “family” is decided? One of my good friends is an SE.
I’ll say here that the Family Sharing feature is intended to be used by families, but the definition of “family” is up to every individual (as it should be). Family members don’t need to be living together, and there won’t be any same-address requirements or anything like that.
The program is placing a great deal of trust in members to use the feature in good faith, and the rules may be tightened up if the feature is abused.
The new program fucks us as expected. Ricky why are you happy. Don’t sellout.
His giveaway of 25,000 Aeroplan points, in collaboration with AC, when he launched his new website was a pretty transparent indicator that this blog would be taking a new (disappointing) turn.
All hail our new AC overlords!
Speaking of the new website, one of my favourite things about it is that I can now see when the same person is commenting under multiple fake identities. It’s disappointing to see, and a mystery to me why someone would want to humiliate themselves publicly like this.
LOL
Love it hah
What would happen to eupgrades? If we have some sitting in the account and new ones are issued (from CC) will they have an extended period as long as they are below 50? Any detailed clarification appreciated.
eUpgrades are not changing compared to now. However, in the new program you’ll be able to redeem eUpgrades on all Aeroplan award tickets.
Well, it’s official Ricky, you’ve sold out.
I’ve never seen you try and hype up a devaluation, and this is truly a first.
Oh sorry, I meant to say never use Aeroplan again – redeeming WestJet Dollars on Qantas economy is the new game in town.
Seriously, a brand-new loyalty program launch is genuinely exciting stuff. And everyone who’s in this game knows that it is an ever-changing one in which we must always adapt.
I’d invite anyone who shares Tina’s viewpoint to come forward and let me know what kind of coverage they would’ve liked to see instead.
Haha! Honestly Ricky can you imagine yourself saying this even a couple years ago:
“Seriously, a brand-new loyalty program launch is genuinely exciting stuff.”
When said loyalty program is merely a severely devalued version of its former self, no, it’s NOT exciting, or brand-new. The old Ricky would never talk like this.
The first popular post on this website was a guide to maximizing the Aeroplan Mini-RTW. The most recent post on this website was a guide to maximizing the new Aeroplan Mini-RTW. The goal has always been the same: to inform and inspire people to maximize their points to the fullest extent possible.
Having said that, LP. Speaking candidly, I fully understand and respect where you guys are coming from. Before I started the website, I too thought that certain other websites out there had “sold out”.
Ultimately though, websites grow and business owners’ objectives grow over time. That’s a fact of life. What would be the point otherwise?
I want everyone to have the best experience possible in Miles & Points. I firmly believe in the work I’m doing to make that happen; that’s why I do it. But if anyone feels that the content here no longer resonates with them, I’d gladly invite them to check out other Canadian resources too – or better yet, start their own, as we can always use more voices in the community.
You’re being silly. You’re a cornerstone of points and miles in Canada and we’re not going to stop reading your material. We’re just not going to use your referrals and affiliate links if we don’t have to moving forward if you sell out. If that’s the risk you’ll take, so be it, I’m sure you’re attracting a lot of new beginners to the game that will easily replace our patronage, especially since we’ll still share your links when you’re the authority resource.
That being said, the new material sucks. Pls fix.
Melissa, thanks for taking the time to comment, it’s valued and appreciated. Please refer to my reply to Amir’s comment above for my thoughts on the new material and why you may be feeling a disconnect here. Hopefully it’s a temporary one.
How about unbiased coverage? This blog has become pretty much just free advertising for AC. You used to be much more critical. Now that AC has their hand in your pocket this blog is nothing what it used to be. And we are far from the only ones noticing it…
Fair comment Albert, I respect that. Impartial coverage is always an obligation to readers, and I’ll take your feedback into account.
However, I’d ask you to consider that AC has been far more forthcoming than they need to be with information here. They could’ve easily gone dark and said “figure everything out for yourselves”. Even those who are most eager to accuse me of “selling out”, I imagine, will agree that more information is preferable to less.
I think greater transparency between the most popular programs in Canada and the community of those who are most engaged in the programs can only be a good thing in the long run. I intend to facilitate that wherever possible. However, I’m always happy to hear dissenting opinions if anyone happens to disagree.
The criticism is that you used this entire post to hype up a devalued rewards program, not that you didn’t recommend people to steer clear of it. Aeroplan is obviously one of the few programs we can access in Canada.
There’s a fine line between recognizing opportunities and failures of a new program, and rewriting and spinning the text of a press release.
There are really only two plausible explanations for this:
1. You’re getting a kickback from Air Canada or trying to curry goodwill by essentially advertising for them.
2. You’re lazy and rewrote their press release because you couldn’t be bothered anymore.
You’ve written some great content in the past, but I’m glad I’m not the only one noticing how downhill the content has been lately. Not even your new writers can save this blog from becoming the cess pool that it’s forecasted to be.
Come on dude… Make your own blog and provide quality content, rather than attacking someone who’s trying his best to dissect all this for all of us…
Don’t waste your breath, friends. It’s all the same person hiding behind made-up names and VPNs.
This a bit rude and ungrateful don’t you think? Give your opinion on the program but there is no need to attack Ricky. All of this is free to you. It is information, there is nothing forcing anyone to do anything. You can absorb it however you want but there is no need to be rude.
I am excited about the new program. I am happy it did not go completely dynamic, it is nice to know what I can expect to get with my points. We all expected points to increase (because you know, it’s a business and redemption rates haven’t increased since 2014), of course it still sucks.
In time, we will all adjust to the new program and find the new sweet spots. In the meantime, anyone who thinks the new program sucks, Air Canada welcomes your feedback.
Ricky, I recognize that you’re under no obligation to cater to individual readers or criticism, but I mean, this is really a whole new level of… not good.
Amir, on the contrary, I’m more than happy to take individual readers’ criticism into account if it’s civil and reasonable.
I can assure you I’m not being paid a cent by Air Canada for my coverage. Does that mean it’s lazy writing? I’ll acknowledge that perhaps more weight could’ve been given to the severity of the devaluations, to be sure.
However, if you’re interested in hearing my side of it, I’ll share with you that my singular goal with content in the first day or two after launch was to convey the information – because there’s tons of information to convey beyond what’s listed on the official website. The traffic numbers reveal to me that this strategy paid off well.
Following the first couple of days, the plan is to examine the new program under a more critical lens: identify the winners & losers, compare against your other rewards options, etc.
I hope that clarifies. Again, thanks for your comment, and I’d invite others who feel the same way to pitch in too. This is an important discussion to have.
Thanks Ricky, and I’ll tip my hat to you for not stooping to censoring comments…yet 😉
Believe me, I’ll never become that thin-skinned. 😉
Ricky, any idea what the premium on the range will be to move up fare class? e.g. if the range is 15,000-30,000 for standard what’s the % premium to go to Flex, Comfort, Latitude etc.?
On this, I’ve only been told that “pricing varies between markets and will reflect the value of incremental benefits offered by each fare option”. I’ll follow up to see if I can get a rough range for each up-fare.
Ricky, saw your note that a stopoever in NA would not be possible on Atlantic-NA. However if booked as Atlantic-South America would this be possible CMB-AUH-YYZ(STOP)-EZE (falls under 100% over direct flight CMB-EZE)
My understanding is that stopovers are not permitted anywhere in Canada or the US.
Thats too bad, especially when for something like Atlantic-South America
I am seaching for anything positive in these changes for YYT. If it looks bad for Halifax then it spells disaster for Newfoundland travellers.
If I book a flight before Nov 8, and now I require to change itinerary for travel let’s say June 2021 – i assume old rules apply right? they would calculate the tax differences and ask me to pay right?
Nope, if you’re making a voluntary change, then the new rules (Flight Reward Chart, fee structure, stopover policy, etc.) would apply. The exception is if there’s an involuntary schedule change that affects your journey, which is a fairly likely occurrence during these times.
What if a change is made to the return portion of a trip after the first (departing flights) for bookings prior to Nov 8 but with flights after?
Assuming I’m using a super elite account. So, lets say I wanna book YYZ-TPE with EVA in business class. The redemption now is 75K + roughly $54 tax. If I change it next year, they will refund me the tax of $54 and charge me an additional 10,000 points?
The taxes and fees won’t be refunded, since they’re the usual mix of airport fees / departure taxes rather than carrier-imposed surcharges. If you had booked something like Lufthansa and paid $500+ in surcharges, then they should refund you if you change it.
Yes, you’ll pay the additional 10,000 points if you’re making a voluntary change.
Are you still responsible for the $39 star alliance book fee then?
Here’s the answer: Changes to Legacy rewards which involve changes greater than a date/time change to the exact same routing will be priced under the new flight reward construct, and the $39 Partner Booking Fee will apply.
So if you’re simply changing the same routing to a different date, you’ll only pay the change fee, not the $39 partner booking fee.
for the YQ surchage: the website says
“On any Air Canada flight you purchase with points, we have eliminated additional airline surcharges. That could save you hundreds of dollars in cash at checkout. In fact, only taxes and third-party fees (such as airport fees) are listed in cash, and you can use your points to cover those, too.
If you’re booking a flight reward on another airline, there is a flat Partner Booking Fee of just $39 (per ticket) – which you can also cover with points”
My read is that only YQ on AC flight will be eliminated, but will stay for LH, CA, NH, TG etc
thoughts?
I can assure you partner YQ will be eliminated.
I suspect the website makes no mention of partner surcharges because the majority of Aeroplan members (in the general public, rather than our community) don’t care about partners. After all, 80% of all flight rewards are on economy class flights within North America.
Wow! I am up on the French River fishing with almost no connectivity at all for two days and look what happens. My wife phoned to tell me the news and now I am trying to make heads or tales of this on the slowest wifi in the world. Its a good thing the fish are large and accommodating.
Ricky, your explanatory articles are the best.
Whether better or worse we have to live with it. No point in complaining. At least we have time to make the best of what is in place now and what is going to happen.
As was said, too bad the covid 19 makes it all so like shooting dice.
Enjoy your fishing trip John, the new program will be waiting for you to dissect when you’re back! And thank you for being here since the very beginning.
Guess they don’t subscribe to the “keep it simple stupid” philosophy….
Simplicity, value, cost-efficiency. Choose two.
(I think that works.)
Hey Ricky, Thanks for all your updates. I currently have about 1M Aeroplan miles and already achieved the Diamond status for 2021. I am trying to understand this new Aeroplan to be rolled out on Nov 8. Is AC saying the best status that people like me can have at the beginning of the new program will be the Elite or Prestige Status 25K. Please advise on my best options. Thank You.
If you’ve achieved Diamond for 2021, you’ll be granted Aeroplan 25K automatically through 2021, as well as 5,000 bonus miles. For higher status, you’ll have to earn it.
Am I seeing correctly that an economy round-trip from YUL-BKK is going from 90k round-trip to 140k roundtrip? FML. I see a lot of disaster here for someone who was good at finding low surcharge flights before.
Agree with Alice, 60k one-way/120k round-trip seems the likely price point to me. Still an ugly 33% increase no doubt, but perhaps not “FML” levels?
If you avoid flying AC, I see 120k round trip as YUL-ZRH-BKK is 9,368, anything between 7,500-11,000 miles is 60k one way for partner flights. Even if you mix in an AC flight, it still might just be 60k depending on the dynamic pricing at time of booking.
Lol what a shill you are Ricky!! These changes are disastrous but here you are making AC sound generous in unveiling such a brutal new program. But we all know it’s always about the referrals with you, and speaking honestly about this new program probably wouldn’t help in that department.
Dude you are such a whiner. Everything in life is give and take and AC has given more than what they took away. Increase in points redemption was expected, but AC has given us way more in return from family points pooling to removal of MPM, YQ and stopover on one way bookings. Even the dynamic pricing has a cap. You are free to choose whatever programs suits you best. Good luck.
Those who think these changes are “brutal” or “disastrous” need to look at the big picture.
The award chart devaluations for long-haul flights aren’t pretty, that’s for sure. Our comparison chart has tons of red in it. Having said that, they were also bound to happen given that the previous chart had remained in place since 2014 and the underlying costs for the program have certainly increased.
Knowing this, I would’ve expected AC to at least offer some positive changes to offset the negative, and they certainly have. To me, that indicates a different attitude from AC compared to other North American programs (Delta, United, etc.,) whose recent changes can actually be described as “brutal”. Things could’ve been a lot worse if one of those programs were the only big player in the land. I don’t think that’s controversial.
If you’re just looking to complain, though, then I suppose you’d take great interest in the Losers section of our upcoming Winners & Losers post, so I’d be glad to “refer” you there.
I wonder if the new program will partner up with a fuel provider. It was a big piss-off when they parted ways with Esso.
New retail partners are coming, and I could certainly see a fuel partner being in the mix.
From first looks, it seems like the biggest benefit comes to those who are looking to do more complex one way reward bookings, as you can now take a more indirect/complex route to your destination, with the added stop-over for a minimal cost, assuming you don’t go over the threshold.
Has anyone read anything along the lines of limits to the amount of stop overs on one-way rewards bookings
One-way rewards are limited to six segments if you want to keep it as a single “one-way bound” (i.e., pay for only one award).
Round-trip and multi-city rewards can be more than six segments on a single one-way bound.
More on this tomorrow.
I would also like to know if on a one way multi-city reward with a stopover, will we be still able to come back to the origin destination?
You mean something like YYZ-LHR (stopover)-YYZ (destination) as a one-way?
No.
Yes. I was thinking on a single one way ticket return, for example: YUL-LIS- ATH – YUL,(total 3 weeks time) now how much would cost in points?
YUL-LIS-ATH would be a one-way bound, and ATH-YUL another. So assuming the base level pricing, that’s 70,000 in J per direction, plus 5,000 for the stopover, so 145,000 points in total.
So for YYC-BKK in biz for example, AP cost is 85k-200k per direction while partner is always 85k. This looks to me exacly like the existing system where probably 2 seats are offered at 85k (classic) and the rest “market fare”.
The question I have is, what does this look like from a partners redemption perspective? Say you’re booking from United’s engine or something does their flat rate apply to just a couple seats offered up to partners or can they book any seat as well?
I have some more clarity on this. Partners like United will continue to access “X” and “I” space, but Aeroplan members will effectively be accessing regular revenue space (“S”, “T”, “L”, etc.) on their points bookings. If the lowest regular fare buckets are available, so too will the lowest points prices – even points that are occasionally lower than the published range.
So Ricky, does this mean that partner award space is separate from Air Canada space? As someone who uses a variety of mileage programs and transferable currency this is important to me, because with distance-based mileage, it may be beneficial to transfer to a partner and book Air Canada instead on that program. This would be good to know as I’d love X and I space to stay separate. Will partners be charged any fuel surcharges (YQ) on AC metal?
That’s my understanding, yes, that “X” and “I” space are separate from what Aeroplan members will be booking. I don’t think any changes are planned to partners’ collection of YQ on AC, although I think most other major Star Alliance programs (ANA, United, LifeMiles) do not collect YQ on AC.
And Turkish collects YQ on AC now, but still a good deal for some redemptions and even more so now.
The one I’m interested in is Turkish, as the NA chart isn’t distance based and is good for bypassing AC’s distance chart for some redemptions.
Air Canada will still have to offer “X” and “I” award space to their partners, it’s only via Aeroplan that all seats can in fact be bookable. The amount of “X” and “I” space should roughly correspond to the amount of space at the lower end of Air Canada’s published ranges.
It’s still somewhat unclear if the lower-bound Air Canada seats do come out of the same “X” and “I” buckets though. I imagine they would, but I’ll follow up on this.
Any word on if there is a max AQD you can earn from credit card spend? Can you get enough for top tier?
You don’t earn SQD from credit card spending, only SQM and SQS.
No max as far as I’m aware, so yes you could MS $100,000 to meet the Super Elite threshold – but you’d still have to earn the SQD.
Hi Ricky,
Any sweet spots you can spot right off the bat. Thank you for your contributions.
From this post: https://princeoftravel.com/blog/new-aeroplan-flight-rewards
Short-haul flights of fewer than 500 miles will now cost 6,000 Aeroplan points in economy class, decreasing by 25%.
Flights of fewer than 1,500 miles, which were previously classified as long-haul North America redemptions (e.g., Toronto–Halifax, Vancouver–Los Angeles), will now cost 10,000 Aeroplan points in economy class or 20,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 20% each.
Major Canadians cities to Mexico will now cost 12,500 Aeroplan points in economy class or 25,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 38% and 17% respectively.
Central & Eastern Canadian cities to the Caribbean will now cost 12,500 Aeroplan points in economy class or 25,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 38% and 17% respectively.
Vancouver to Hawaii will now cost 12,500 Aeroplan points in economy class or 25,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 44% and 38% respectively.
Rest of Canada to Hawaii will now cost 17,500 Aeroplan points in economy class or 35,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 22% and 13% respectively.
Toronto or Montreal to Casablanca will now cost 35,000 Aeroplan points in economy class or 60,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 13% and 27% respectively.
Vancouver or Calgary to Tokyo will now cost 35,000 Aeroplan points in economy class or 55,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 6% and 27% respectively.
Vancouver or Calgary to Auckland will now cost 75,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 6%.
Vancouver to Brisbane will now cost 75,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 6%.
Central & Eastern Canadian cities to Peru will now cost 50,000 Aeroplan points in business class, decreasing by 9%.
“Furthermore, as of the November 8 transition, any current Elite 35K members and above will be granted Priority Reward vouchers to start with, which they can use immediately.”
Or, in other words, a big FUCK YOU to 25K members. You get nothing.
This isn’t surprising since Aeroplan basically gave away 25K status to so many “non-travelers” through their “Travel at Home” promotion
Not surprising, I guess.. but pretty damn slimy.
Knowing what we know now, how many people would have opted to *not* participate in that promotion?
It’s never a bad idea to have status. If you didn’t participate, then you’d just have no status, which still doesn’t get you any Priority Rewards.
Lots of changes, thanks for breaking it down Ricky! Something I noticed though but didn’t see it called out, maybe I’m wrong… but the number of points to a destination (according to the new rewards chart) has increased quite a bit? For instance business class round trip YYZ to DAR in the current/legacy rewards chart is 150k points but according to the new rewards chart this would be 200k – 440k points (North America – Atlantic, 8001 miles, business class) more if its first class. If I’m correct, this is a pretty big devaluation/point hike.
It’s 8am, so here’s the post where we talk about all the devaluations (boo) and new sweet spots (yay!) 🙂
https://princeoftravel.com/blog/new-aeroplan-flight-rewards/
I tried a YYZ to CPH to PVG back to YYZ as well as vaiants via Zurich and others. It now states that exceeds MPM whereas I have flown that same route dozens of times. YYZ or YUL via Europe to Asia and then returning appears no longer a viable option. Which I find confusing given the news that MPM is no longer applicable
Were you trying to book on the current search engine? MPM will only be phased out in the new program, not the current one.
Ricky, my go-to redemptions using Aeroplan miles for last few years has been for flights between North America and Europe on Swiss airlines (no fuel charges). So going forward, it looks like redemptions will increase from 55k to 70k plus a $39 partner booking fee. Hard for me to find a positive here…
As with any program relaunch, there will be give and take. We expected a devaluation of some sort on points, if it is only 15k one way I consider that a win. The give, we can now pool our points up to 8 family members and it appears there is a lot of ways to earn points, so there are a lot of flexibility to play with. Also, no YQ at all means you can find the most desirable routes, you are no longer stuck with Swiss, it opens up for more to discovery.
A 15k increase is significant but if you consider that a win….OK. Even with United’s recent devaluation, business class awards between North America and Europe only increased by 7k (i.e. 70k to 77k). As mentioned in my above reply to Ricky, it is unclear whether YQ will be eliminated for all partner awards. As for redemptions on Air Canada metal, there are better frequent flyer programs out that require less points, have significantly lower change/cancellation fees, and offer the ability to book flights 5 days earlier than Aeroplan (360 days out).
There will always be some winners and losers, for sure. Now you have greater flexibility to try Air Canada, Austrian, and Lufthansa without paying the surcharges. However, I’d definitely agree that flight awards to Europe (and in fact the entire Atlantic zone, except North Africa) have been pretty hard-hit relatively speaking.
Are you actually sure for partner award redemptions (e.g. Lufthansa), that there will no longer be fuel surcharges? On the AC website, it only states that additional airline surcharges will be eliminated on Air Canada flights (no mention of partners): https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/aeroplan/redeem.html#/!surcharges-covered
Yes, I’m 100% sure.
If this is the case, then Aeroplan will be the only *Alliance frequent flyer program that won’t pass along fuel surcharges for Lufthansa operated flights. Also, this would make me re-evaluate my strategy of maintaining Senator status.
Correction: only *Alliance program other than LifeMiles.
Wow – amazingly in depth and I think I understood most of it too. I’ve been hanging off waiting off in the hope they would revamp their credit cards so that is great – let’s just see how big (or small) those sign up bonuses are!
Just …WOW!
Trying now to figure out what are going to be the losing scenarios for Long Distance Business class.
Especially complex given the potential of Covid 19 for the next couple of years,
Great article Ricky. I am quite surprised by how many positive changes there was from the switch-over. Look forward to reading your next article!