Here Comes The New Aeroplan, Not Much Like The Old Aeroplan

Presumably miles will still be tracked for the purposes of Million Mile status?

Asking for a friend.

The AC frequent flyers on FT are decidedly unimpressed by the new program - especially the removal of the IKK benefit for Super Elites. A massive loss of what was the biggest benefit.

What's up with your never ending praise for Aeroplan in recent weeks Ben? A more objective assessment would be nice - or are you part of their marketing team now?

@ maha -- First of all, this post was written by Kate, who is an Air Canada frequent flyer (unlike me). As far as my "never ending" praise of Aeroplan:
-- Aeroplan has done a phenomenal job engaging members from home in recent weeks, and I've given the program praise for that; can you name a frequent flyer program that has been more innovative during the pandemic?
-- I am genuinely excited about the new redemption opportunities through Aeroplan, for reasons I outlined in the other post
-- Based on how I accrue Aeroplan miles (through the US credit card market) I love the flexibility provided by the new Aeroplan program; for simple one-ways I can still transfer miles to LifeMiles, while for complex one-ways with stopovers, I can transfer miles to Aeroplan

I don't expect everyone to agree with me on everything (that has never been how the internet works), but I hope you can at least appreciate that this is my honest opinion. No, I'm not part of the Aeroplan marketing team...

This post adds no value vs. your post added a few hours ago, which was very informative.

I think the switch to a points-based system is a net downgrade for most. As an example, a recent flight from New York to Belgrade via Toronto and Munich in Premium Economy (ticket price = $1,255) awards the flyer about 8,300 points for an E50K under the new structure. Under the current structure you would earn almost twice as many miles. I can see this being a win for those that travel in Business/Signature Class, so it makes sense to reward those customers.

At the current exchange rates, this is about 9.3 points per USD for SE100K vs. 11 points per USD for the highest elite status for most US carriers.

Call me cynical, but as a long time Aeroplan and Air Canada customer who's done many business class and economy redemptions over the years, I'd bet the ranch this means the flight I want when I want it is going to cost me a lot more points than it does now.

This seems like a horrible time to introduce any new program, especially one based on dollar spent when there are few business travelers and almost no international flights.

@Charlie McMillan, well yes and no. Under the current program, you can't get what you want when you want, it all depends on availability, unless you are willing to pay the sky high miles under market fare. Under the new program, you can get what you want when you want, for a price, and it is capped (so much lower than market fares). If the lower end was available now, it will be available then. The only change is now you have a choice.

@FNT Delta Diamond, the new program doesn't launch until November 8. Air Canada has always been good in giving their members a heads up for any upcoming changes. No one is spending now, but they will in 2021 and beyond.

The CBC article also says they will eliminate carrier surcharges, where the fees on redeeming a flight to Europe for example were as much as a decent priced sale ticket. Here's the quote:

Among the other changes, additional airline surcharges, including fuel surcharges, on all flight rewards with Air Canada will be eliminated.

This would be a huge positive change even if the other changes are net negative for occasional flyers.

Flights to my Asian destination under the old plan was a fixed 75,000 miles RETURN all year round, including peak seasons. Yes, availability was not always there, but at least the miles were predictable and we could long term plan for our trips. Now under the new plan flights are going to cost 45,000 - 80,000 points ONE WAY! So now our flights are going to cost over DOUBLE what they used to because we would often fly during peak seasons.

Thanks Air Canada… NOT!

Great well written post Kate, thanks. Did I miss how many EQD/points are needed to qualify for each Altitude level? I typically do a lot of higher cost relatively low mileage flights on AC so I’m probably one of those who will benefit. Last year I spent $58k and ended up just short of 50K status.

From what information is present on Air Canada's website regarding the new Aeroplan program, it seems that Status Qualifying Dollars are still only able to be earned for AC-ticketed itineraries, with no mention as to whether or not a reduced SQD requirement is present for non-Canadian residents (as is the case now with Altitude).

There may be some great redemption opportunities on offer with the new program, but earning status is still more difficult than in other Star Alliance programs if this is correct.

@John - regarding status earn, the SQD requirements aren't explicitly listed anywhere but there is a reference to the requirements being the same as they are for Altitude.

Status requirements are listed on the Air Canada website. They are unchanged except
Super Elite will require 100 segments or 100k miles instead of 95 segments or 100k miles. And they're dropping the Prestige and Elite names, but keeping Super Elite. No other obvious significant changes to the status programme.

Updates say the new program will offer better value "on average" and the new points will be linked to the actual ticket cost, not distance. Will be interesting to see how this works with business class tickets as ACs website lists some of the most expensive international business class tickets around. Think I'll redeem my points before this devaluation sets in.