Air Canada Earn Your Wings Promo

On Thursday Air Canada and Aeroplan launched their latest promotion for flying on Air Canada called Earn Your Wings. The promotion not only awards you with bonus Aeroplan Miles for select flights on Air Canada but you will also have the chance to share in a pot of 10,000,000 Aeroplan Miles if you land in the top 25 'Wings' earners.

What is Earn Your Wings? Earn Your Wings is a promotion strictly for flying (great for Frequent Flyers!) on Air Canada unlike the recent Star Challenge which was more coalition based by including lots of partners outside of Air Canada and basically you will 'Wings' for flying on Air Canada and also earn 'Badges' for select routes/cities/actions which translate to additional wings earned.  What I like about this promo is something that I have promoted from the FFB Group for a long time, an out of the box flight promotion that is not your standard double miles this or triple miles that. Now like many of these promotions with more complex earning options there are some vague rules and terms and conditions that I am sure Air Canada and Aeroplan will either fix or clarify along the way. As with the majority of promotions these days you have to register for it and you can do so here.

Straight from Air Canada, here is how to play this promotion:

HOW TO PLAY:

• Aeroplan members must register for this promotion, book their flights and fly between April 11 and June 16, 2013 inclusively in order to be eligible to participate in this promotion and earn wings and badges.
• The objective of the promotion is to earn and collect wings and badges. Wings and badges can be earned in several different ways. Participants will earn wings for each flight segment of their journey. For example, participants who fly roundtrip from Calgary to Toronto will earn 400 wings. That’s 100 wings for each take off and landing. Select airports have been assigned a higher value of wings. For a list of those select airports and the value of wings assigned, please visit the Badge Legend.
• Participants must earn wings and/or badges in order to earn Bonus Aeroplan Miles. Any combination of wings and badges that total 2,000 wings will receive 1,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles. Any combination of wings and badges for a total of 10,000 wings will receive an additional 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles, for a combined total of 10,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles.
• Additionally, there will be 10,000,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles to be distributed equally amongst the participants who place in the top 25 ranking (the “Top 25”) of all participants at the end of the promotion period. All participants will be ranked using the online “Leaderboard” and each participant’s ranking is determined by number of wings earned and accumulated. By registering for this promotion, all participants understand and agree that their user name, destinations travelled and wings and badges accumulated will appear publically on the Leaderboard. The participants who place in the Top 25 at the end of the promotion, will receive their equal share of 10,000,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles. If there are participants tied in the Top 25, then the 10,000,000 bonus miles will be split among each of the Top 25 participants equally.

Some key rules pop out right away: just like the Star Challenge, any Air Canada bookings made before the start of the promotion (April 11) do not count towards badges/wings. This is from the 'additional terms and conditions':

New bookings made as of April 11, 2013, for travel between April 11, 2013 and June 16, 2013, will be eligible. Any booking made prior to April 11, regardless of travel date, will not be eligible.

And when you book your tickets they must meet the following:

To qualify, the flight segments must be travelled in the following eligible fare options (booking classes) : To/From Canada and Canada/USA/Caribbean (incl. Central America) & Mexico: Tango (N,G,P,E,A); Flex (M,U,H,Q,V,W,S,K,L,T) ; Latitude (Y,B) ; Executive Class Lowest (D,Z); Executive Class Flexible (J,C); To/From Canada and South America/Atlantic /Asia/South Pacific: Tango (N,G,P,T,E,L,A,K); Flex (M,U,H,Q,V,W,S); Latitude (Y,B); Executive First Lowest (C,D,Z); Executive First Flexible (J)

Now that we got that out of the way lets look out how the earning works. Basically once you earn 2,000 Wings (any combination of badges/wings) you will earn Bonus 1,000 Aeroplan Miles. If you reach 10,000 Wings (once again any combination of badges/wings) you will awarded with an additional 5,000 Bonus Aeroplan Miles. When combined with the 2,000=1,000 means you will get 10,000 Aeroplan Miles for every 10,000 Wings collected with no apparently no limit to the number of wings you can earn. If you fall into the top 25 wings earners you will also share an equal part of 10,000,000 Aeroplan miles.

How do you earn Wings? The first and easiest way is simply by flying any Air Canada flight. Per the 'How to Play' above you will earn 100 Wings for every take off and landing. Which means 400 wings for a round trip flight without connections (per example above). Then you can and/or will earn additional wings by collecting badges for traveling to select airports or on select routes. The complete list of badges is below.

Here are some examples of how you can earn a little or a lot of badges with just a few flights

Example 1:
Fly between Ottawa and Toronto Billy Bishop (City Centre Airport) to earn 1,400 Wings
400 Wings for the flight (2 Take offs & 2 Landings)
500 Wings for the YOW Badge
500 Wings for the YTZ Badge

Example 2:
Fly between Vancouver and Seattle to earn 6,900 Wings
400 Wings for the flight (2 Take offs & 2 Landings)
1,000 Wings for The SEA Badge
500 Wings for the YVR Badge
5,000 Wings for the TCA Badge

Then do a flight between Vancouver and Victoria to earn 11,400 more wings
400 Wings for the YVR-YYJ flight (2 takes and 2 landings)
500 Wings for the YYJ Badge
500 Wings for the YVR Badge
5,000 Wings for the Pacific Coast Badge
5,000 Wings the Canadian Olympic Badge

With just these two flights you would earn 18,300 Wings plus 5,000 bonus Wings at the 10,000 level for 23,300 Wings.

As you can see with some creative thinking and planning you can potentially earn a lot of wings/badges which can translate into a decent amount of Aeroplan miles and perhaps a shot at the top 25 leaderboard.

For reference here are all the Badges:

Badge Legend

Destination Badges

Touch down or take off from anywhere Air Canada flies and earn at least 100 wings. Want to earn wings faster? Collect Destination Badges at over 30 airports worldwide and earn between 500 and 2,000 wings.

The YYT Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at St. John’s International Airport.

500 wings

The YHZ Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

500 wings

The YOW Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport.

500 wings

The YVR Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Vancouver International Airport.

500 wings

The YYJ Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Victoria International Airport.

500 wings

The YTZ Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

500 wings

The I♥NY Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Newark Liberty International Airport or LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

1,000 wings

The BOS Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Boston Logan International Airport.

1,000 wings

The DCA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Reagan National Airport in Washington.

1,000 wings

The LAX Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Los Angeles International Airport.

1,000 wings

The IAH Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

1,000 wings

The DEN Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Denver International Airport.

1,000 wings

The ORD Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

1,000 wings

The SFO Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at San Francisco International Airport.

1,000 wings

The MSP Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport.

1,000 wings

The ATL Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

1,000 wings

The SEA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

1,000 wings

The PHX Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

1,000 wings

The PHL Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Philadelphia International Airport.

1,000 wings

The CMH Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus.

1,000 wings

The GRR Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

1,000 wings

The BRU Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Brussels Airport.

2,000 wings

The CPH Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Copenhagen Airport.

2,000 wings

The GVA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Geneva International Airport.

2,000 wings

The FRA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Frankfurt Airport.

2,000 wings

The LHR Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Heathrow Airport in London.

2,000 wings

The CDG Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.

2,000 wings

The ICN Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Incheon International Airport in Seoul.

2,000 wings

The NRT Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Narita International Airport in Tokyo.

2,000 wings

The PEK Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Beijing Capital International Airport.

2,000 wings

The PVG Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

2,000 wings

The SYD Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Sydney Airport.

2,000 wings

The GRU Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo.

2,000 wings

Social Media Badge

Share your Leaderboard ranking with your friends on Facebook or Twitter to collect this badge.

200 wings

Premium Badges

Receive 5,000 wings every time you earn a Premium Badge, which is awarded to participants who take off or touch down at combinations of select airports.

The TCA Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you fly between YVR and SEA, the first route by Air Canada’s predecessor Trans-Canada Airlines in 1937.

The Celebrity Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you hang out with the paparazzi in at least 3 of the following airports: YTZ, LGA, EWR, LAX, LHR and CDG.

The Foodie Badge:

Collect this badge when you chow down in 3 of these foodie towns: YTZ, LGA, ORD, LAX, SFO, LHR, NRT, CPH and PVG.

The Sunshine Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you bask in the sunshine in at least 2 of these sun-filled destinations: LAX, IAH, SFO, ATL, PHX, GRU and SYD.

The All-Canadian Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down in at least 5 of these Canadian airports: YHZ, YOW, YVR, YYJ, YTZ and YYT.

The Presidents Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or land in at least 2 of these airports named after U.S. presidents: DCA, IAH and GRR.

The Euro Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or land in at least 2 of these European airports: BRU, CPH, GVA, FRA, LHR and CDG.

The Chocolate Badge:

Satisfy your sweet tooth and collect this badge when you take off or touch down in at least 2 of the following cities known for their chocolate: BRU, GVA, FRA and CDG.

The Pacific Coast Badge:

Hang out in at least 3 of these cities on the West Coast to earn this badge: YVR, YYJ, LAX, SFO and SEA.

The East Coast Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or land in at least 3 of these cities that touch the Eastern seaboard: YHZ, YYT, LGA, EWR, BOS, DCA and ATL.

The Mid-West Badge:

Find yourself in at least 2 of these Midwest airports to earn this badge: ORD, MSP, CMH and GRR.

The Asia-Pacific Badge:

Fly into at least 2 of these airports in the Asia-Pacific region to earn this badge: ICN, NRT, PEK, PVG and SYD.

The Stars & Stripes Badge:

Earn your Stars & Stripes when you take off or touch down in at least 4 of the following U.S. airports: LGA, EWR, BOS, DCA, ATL, LAX, IAH, DEN, ORD, SFO, MSP, SEA, PHX, PHL, CMH and GRR.

The Lord Stanley Badge:

Be part of the team and collect this badge when you take off or touch down in at least 4 cities whose teams have won the famous hockey champions cup: YVR, YYJ, YTZ, LGA, EWR, BOS, LAX, DEN, ORD, SEA and PHL. Some even pre-date the NHL.

The Commonwealth Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down in at least 2 Commonwealth member capitals: YOW, LHR and SYD.

The Year of the Snake Badge:

Add this badge to your collection when you take off or touch down in both PEK and PVG.

The Canadian Olympic Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or touch down in YVR and YYJ, which both saw Olympic action during the 2010 Winter Games.

The Opera House Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or touch down in at least 2 of these cities with world-class opera houses: SYD, LHR, CDG and LGA.

The International Football Badge:

Collect this badge when you take off or touch down in at least 2 of these cities where the passion for football runs deep: GRU, LHR, CDG, FRA, GVA, BRU, CPH, NRT, ICN and SYD.

So what do think of the Earn your Wings promo? How many wings or badges do you forsee earning? Is there anything about this promo you don't like? (I for one am a little peeved that cities in Alberta, Sask, Manitoba and Quebec are not included in any of the badges, the promo is much better for those based in YVR, YYJ, YYZ, YOW!) Feel free to comment below with your thoughts!!