Air Canada Aeorplan is one of the most useful frequent flyer programs out there, thanks to the reasonable award pricing, the huge number of airline partners, and the ability to have stopovers for 5,000 points, among other things.
In the coming weeks, the Air Canada Aeroplan program will be making some award chart updates. Don’t panic, though — this only impacts a limited number of partner airlines, and it’s not all bad news.
In this post:
New “Air Canada and Select Partners” award chart
Air Canada Aeroplan publishes zone based award charts, with distance based pricing within each chart. For example, below is the award chart within North America. As you can see, there’s consistent pricing on partner airlines, and then there’s a range of pricing on Air Canada. Currently, you’ll also find dynamic award pricing on both Emirates and FlyDubai.
As of March 25, 2025, Air Canada Aeroplan plans to make some award chart changes. Specifically, the airline will introduce dynamic award pricing on more partner airlines:
- In addition to Emirates and FlyDubai, dynamic award pricing will be expanded to two more global airline partners — Etihad and United
- Dynamic award pricing will also be added to Canadian regional partners — Calm Air, Canadian North, and PAL (Provincial Airlines)
With the introduction of award pricing ranges on more airlines, there will also be preferred award availability with select partners. While the pricing under the new chart can be higher than the fixed partner award chart and sometimes vary from one itinerary to another, it will also result in greater availability for reward seats on these partner airlines than before.
For example, as part of these changes, we’ll once again see Aeroplan have access to Etihad business class awards worldwide (though not Etihad first class awards).
With this new chart, there will no longer be pricing ranges for these partners. Instead, there will be starting prices (unchanged from the current values) and a new median amount, based on historical member redemptions with these carriers. Note that:
- Median amounts will not be displayed for ranges outside North America or for first class awards, as lower redemption volumes in these categories could result in significant fluctuations over time
- The median amounts will be updated quarterly, based on redemptions from the previous four quarters, ensuring greater accuracy
Aeroplan Elite members and credit card members will receive discounted redemption rates on these awards as well.
Aeroplan has shared the below example of what the new award chart could look like.
My take on Aeroplan’s award chart changes
Of course I don’t like the sound of award chart changes, and of dynamic award pricing. However, this doesn’t necessarily strike me as terrible news.
Aeroplan has had dynamic award pricing on Emirates and FlyDubai for a long time, and more often than not, it isn’t a good value. At the same time, I suspect that just reflects the underlying economics, and that those airlines are charging Aeroplan a lot for award seats.
Specific to this situation:
- Currently most Etihad business class awards aren’t actually bookable, so we don’t have much to lose there; I’m happy inventory will be coming back, though I suspect it won’t be a great deal, and that Aeroplan will be paying a lot more than before
- I’d speculate that increased award availability on United will be in situations where United doesn’t have saver level award space; it’s similar to how Alaska Mileage Plan offers award seats on Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways when saver level seats aren’t available, but at a much higher cost
- For Aeroplan’s Canadian partners, they generally have very limited inventory, so perhaps this will open up a lot more availability, but also at a higher cost
So yeah, we’ll have to reserve judgment until the changes go live. Best case scenario, the changes aren’t substantially negative, and primarily offer access to more availability than before, but at a higher cost. Worst case scenario, maybe some of Aeroplan’s partners are playing dirty, and Aeroplan has no choice but to hike award costs on them. We’ll find out soon!
Bottom line
As of March 25, 2025, Aeroplan is making changes to award pricing on some partner airlines. Awards on both Etihad and United, as well as on Canadian regional partners, will have award price ranges, rather than fixed costs. This will apparently include access to preferred award availability. On top of that, Aeroplan will once again have access to Etihad business class awards worldwide.
Generally speaking, partner award opportunities at the non-saver level don’t represent a great value for those of us who are maximizers. At the same time, having more options isn’t a bad thing, and I wouldn’t assume that this is necessarily negative. We’ll find out more soon, I’m sure, and I’ll reserve final judgment until then…
What do you make of these Aeroplan award chart changes?
Aeroplan: "We're the best program with the most partners!*"
*When partners aren't experiencing "IT" issues, or we've blocked them, oh, and don't expect any reasonable redemption value, as we'll funnel all selection down to our product and "dynamically" price awards with no logical or reasonable thought or ounce of logic. Our soft product is absolutely horrid, and our hard product is not far behind. You can throw on-time performance in the trash. And did we...
Aeroplan: "We're the best program with the most partners!*"
*When partners aren't experiencing "IT" issues, or we've blocked them, oh, and don't expect any reasonable redemption value, as we'll funnel all selection down to our product and "dynamically" price awards with no logical or reasonable thought or ounce of logic. Our soft product is absolutely horrid, and our hard product is not far behind. You can throw on-time performance in the trash. And did we already mention we'll screw you every which way? Influencers exempt.
Lol what a perfect summary.
You can add: we will sell you cheap points for peanuts!
Thanks for the update, Ben. While I agree with the sentiment that Aeroplan value has decreased since 2023 when I was able to book 2 pax Etihad J MNL-JFK, I still see some value, particularly outside the US. I booked 2 pax SQ J MNL - CNS 45k Aeroplan each. The game is just getting harder, unfortunately.
Hate to say it, but the current revamped Aeroplan program has gradually descended from 'outstanding' to 'also ran' status.
The supposed return of Etihad J long-haul awards is welcome, depending on how dynamic the pricing is; could be horrendous.
Thank you for the update. I hope they don’t increase the redemption amount for other partners.
Being based in Dubai emirates rewards are priced horrifically so was hoping etihad premium sounds would come back. Business at the same price as emirates is a non-starter. No idea why they won’t offer first though. I’d pay a good premium to be able to book that on aeroplan.
I think that these are probably going to be pretty bad but probably not quite as bad as AC on their own metal. It looks like it will likely be an improvement for SEs with worldwide business class priority awards if there is now actually availability on these airlines
Those giant hidden imbedded ads make scrolling on a phone almost impossible. Hard to finish an article lately Ben.
That said, I, for the most part am happy with Aeroplan though I wish there was more availability out of ATL. Mostly Mixed Class tickets.
However I did just pick up FRA-MEX LH F for this weekend, for the wife, for 100k. Very excited for her....and envious. Sone day maybe
This looks like "More Choice!" to me, which is the two worst words in Marketing. If this brings improved value on anything, I'll eat my AAdvantage points.
Given how much United has restricted partner awards lately, this move makes sense. If they want to give their members some access to United, they probably have to play ball. Turkish and Lifemiles can keep selling dirt cheap saver fares when they are released (not often). Aeroplan actually needs their members to have decent connecting options, even if the prices are high.
The days of fixed point redemptions for on the day upgrades are eroding bit by bit as AI driven dynamic solutions get rolled out across the airline industry. At least Air Canada are drip feeding the changes rather than ripping of the sticking plaster unlike BA and Virgin.
Ben must have some sort of deal with AC - he acts like their marketing department. This is another major devaluation that again he tries to spin positively. AC dynamic prices are worse that UA
@ Frustrated Reader -- I think I explained both sides, and that I'm reserving judgment. Is there something I missed in this announcement?
And another point I forgot to make, which makes Aeroplan seem like they're not at all serious about offering members a decent experience:
Why is the website capable of showing when an award is >50% of the distance in a premium cabin (by showing the Mixed Cabin words in Black rather than Red font), but the mobile app shows everything in black, which is a huge waste of time for anyone using the app...
And another point I forgot to make, which makes Aeroplan seem like they're not at all serious about offering members a decent experience:
Why is the website capable of showing when an award is >50% of the distance in a premium cabin (by showing the Mixed Cabin words in Black rather than Red font), but the mobile app shows everything in black, which is a huge waste of time for anyone using the app (which I guess is the vast majority of users).
This has been the case for many months, if not years. if it's already implemented for the website, no doubt they can implement it for the app, unless this is deliberate. Of course, knowing Aeroplan, they will sooner remove functionality from the website than to add functionality to the app.
You have way more faith in AC IT than they deserve. Almost nothing matches between the app and the website. Companion fare availability, e-upgrade filter, priority awards, multicity, and, often, even availability of award flights, and sometime even availability of revenue flights. It is like the app and the website are for two different airlines
What's annoying to me on the appisthe inability to toggle on/off Mixed Class. At least that's how it is on a Android phone.
Time to revert to the laptop/desktop in that instance!
Revert = purchase
What about Air Creebec? Is that not affected like the other regional Canadian partners?
Aeroplan does not offer redemption on Aie Creebec
Is there any program that had a larger range in the change from great in 2019 to absolutely worthless in 2025 than Aeroplan?
Alaska lost half its partners (especially availability wise), United has had something like 20 devals, Marriott went much more dynamic, American dropped sAAver, Virgin went full dynamic, ANA stopped releasing 2J consistently, EVA stopped releasing 2J consistently, and so on.
@David
I honestly still feel Aeroplan is worse. What a trash airline. This is what monopolies cause; absolutely horrid decision making eroding any value that was once present.
@Trevor is 100% correct in suggesting Aeroplan has fallen the most
There's some wishful thinking here. Under Aeroplan, dynamically priced awards on AC metal are even more ridiculously expensive than those awards on UA metal under MileagePlus. If this practice continues with dynamically priced partner awards, an award on UA metal under Aeroplan is going to cost even more than the same award under MileagePlus. Unless you have more Aeroplan points you need to burn than UA miles, there's really no upside.
Remove EY J availability. Add it back. Frame it as a positive change.
@ ML -- I can guarantee that it wasn't Aeroplan's choice to get rid of Etihad award availability. Just look at how other programs have similarly had this space restricted. Reading between the lines, it sure seems like Etihad wants more money for premium award seats from partners.
Are we ever going to see ANA availability ever again?
This time last year I picked up a next day ATL-IAH-NRT RT for 160k. Now I don't see any availability ever.
I don't know why Ben consistently puts a positive spin on Aeroplan while being relative neutral for other airlines.
1. Etihad had been available for booking (without the dynamic pricing) on Aeroplan for quite a while. You can literally find Europe to Asia flights right now at low partner prices. Changing the awards to dynamic pricing is a huge negative because...
2. Dynamic pricing invariable is a HUGE devaluation. Try looking for decently priced Air...
I don't know why Ben consistently puts a positive spin on Aeroplan while being relative neutral for other airlines.
1. Etihad had been available for booking (without the dynamic pricing) on Aeroplan for quite a while. You can literally find Europe to Asia flights right now at low partner prices. Changing the awards to dynamic pricing is a huge negative because...
2. Dynamic pricing invariable is a HUGE devaluation. Try looking for decently priced Air Canada awards on Aeroplan. It doesn't matter if Air Canada has 20+ J seats available for a flight a week or less out, they're still trying to get 300k+ for those seats. The value is even worse if you look for Emirates dynamic pricing. 300-500k for a one way is egregious, and you can get much better value with even a cashback card.
3. Award inventory is still terrible. Every time there's a post about Aeroplan mile sales, the comments invariable fill up with people who cannot find availability. Even if Ben has tons of flexibility, it's clear the majority of readers clearly have difficulty finding any decent awards, and shouldn't be totally ignored.
Thank you! This has been so frustrating! The program may have been useful in the past but in the last year and a half has just been a huge headache.
Perhaps EY doesn’t like the fact that Aeroplan is partners with EK so they hiked up the commercial rate for redemption?
Redemption on AC is the worst value.
Also, the Aeroplan executives have mentioned that there are often IT issues due to which award seats are being blocked (phantom). There is no value in Aeroplan holding inventory.
@ David -- Yes, Etihad availability has been there in select regions, but not in most long haul markets, and not far in advance. I totally agree that if pricing is like it is on Air Canada, then that's very bad. But we also don't know if that will be the case or not.
Keep in mind why pricing is high on Air Canada when booking through Aeroplan. Ultimately it's a give and take between...
@ David -- Yes, Etihad availability has been there in select regions, but not in most long haul markets, and not far in advance. I totally agree that if pricing is like it is on Air Canada, then that's very bad. But we also don't know if that will be the case or not.
Keep in mind why pricing is high on Air Canada when booking through Aeroplan. Ultimately it's a give and take between the people in revenue management and the people at the loyalty program. Saver awards are one thing, but revenue management wants as much revenue as possible for any non-saver seat.
That dynamic doesn't necessarily exist in the same way for partner awards, which are saver level. Presumably Aeroplan has a reason it's doing this only on select partners, and that's why I don't think this pricing will look like it is on Air Canada.
Let's be honest, if this is going to be anything like the dynamic pricing on AC flights this is a major deval, especially given United and LH group barely release space as is. I really think we need to be serious about what the value of a program is if you can only use it on two dates a year, with two connections in Addis and Zurich, and 90% in economy. I really think that...
Let's be honest, if this is going to be anything like the dynamic pricing on AC flights this is a major deval, especially given United and LH group barely release space as is. I really think we need to be serious about what the value of a program is if you can only use it on two dates a year, with two connections in Addis and Zurich, and 90% in economy. I really think that the reflexive deference bloggers show to this program (and AFKLM at this point) needs to be re-examined.
It really is interesting how all blogs give so much attention and positive spin to Aeroplan. Yet never mention the blocking of most partners, the call center that doesn't pick up, the ridiculous cancel fees (per person per direction)
@ Parnel -- I've literally written posts about each of the things that you mention. Like, see my post here about Aeroplan's frustrating hold times:
https://onemileatatime.com/insights/aeroplan-call-center-hold-times/
@ Connor -- If it is like pricing on Air Canada, then that would most definitely be bad. But based on my reading of this, it's more like how Alaska Mileage Plan has access to more award seats on Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways. Again, I could be wrong, but it could go either way, as I see it.
@Ben could you please write a post how to redeem Aeroplan miles on other airlines (e.g. Emirates, Etihad or United) . I usually only see AC flights. Maybe because I am based in Canada?
@ AD123 -- If there's availability on partners then it will show up when you do an award search. The challenge is actually finding availability. In this post I shared my strategy for booking Aeroplan awards:
https://onemileatatime.com/guides/redeem-aeroplan-points/
Great now unblock CA, ZH, NH, TG and countless others.
United was the last TPAC airline left at fixed costs too.