Aeroplan Elite Status Update: Extension of eUpgrades, membership kits to be limited & a change to SQD for non-Canadian residents

 
The following updates and changes to Aeroplan Elite Status are being sent to Air Canada Elite members today. Good news for all members is the extension of eUpgrade credits by a couple of weeks and not so good news for non-Canadian members in that they lose the 50% fewer Status Qualifying Dollars requirement. 

Here are all the details Air Canada provided to us:

eUpgrade Validity

To ensure members can more easily upgrade their travels over the holiday season, going forward, we are extending the validity date on eUpgrade credits by two weeks, from December 31 to January 15. This extension will also apply to unused credits earned over the course of 2021 and will be reflected in member’s eUpgrade account by the end of November.

2022 Membership Kit

Members will only receive a new membership kit for the coming year if they achieve a higher status than they currently hold in 2021. Otherwise, they can continue to use their 2021 luggage tags, and access their membership card via the Air Canada mobile app. For example, a member whose Aeroplan 75K Status is rolling over from 2021 to 2022 will not receive an additional membership kit in early 2022.

Status Qualifying Dollars

Members whose primary residence is located outside of Canada will no longer be able to qualify for status with 50% fewer Status Qualifying Dollars.

These will be the requirements for all members as of 2022

 

This means, starting in January 2022 and beyond, all members will need to reach the published Status Qualifying Dollar requirement to qualify. A few considerations here –

• Note that this change impacts a small fraction of our international membership of Elite Status members. We are introducing this change to be fair and consistent across our membership base.
• In tandem with this change, we are also working on new ways to help all of our members earn Elite Status more quickly and easily in the years to come – in part due to the fact that we realize that travel plans in the coming months remain uncertain.

Wrapping it up

It's nice to see the extension on the eUpgrade credits for those extra few weeks which may just come in handy for those flying home from the holidays after the New Year. Not having a new Membership Kit is probably a good thing in terms of creating less waste and being eco-friendly with less kits being mailed out. The SQD change won't affect most of our readers but for those of you who are from outside of Canada it may make some reconsider who they fly with and where they credit their flights. I see this change correlating with Air Canada's current Status Match offer for U.S. residents where they have to take one flight with Air Canada to have their status matched. By instituting this SQD change it will push those who would be looking to extend that status to fly even more with Air Canada.

Images via Air Canada