February 4 Update: Air Canada Rouge to suspend all flights temporarily and IHG Hotels refreshes their logo and name

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your daily dose (or near daily dose) of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more. This update is brought to you by the HSBC +Rewards Mastercard which is currently offering a welcome bonus of up to 30,000 bonus points, no annual fee in the first year and a low 11.9% interest rate! 

Air Canada announced they will be temporarily suspending all Air Canada Rouge flights as of February 8, This is primarily due to the Government of Canada requesting the suspension of flights to Mexico and the Caribbean. (Source Canadian Travel News)

Image via Air Canada

A closer look at the new Air Canada Aeroplan credit cards

 

On Tuesday we brought you details of the entire new Air Canada Aeroplan program that will be officially launching on November 8. In that first post we provided some detail on what the entire suite of Aeroplan co-brand credit cards will be offering but wanted to provide further information on each issuer's card offerings here in a separate blog post. 

Air Canada and the card issuers have broken down the cards into three levels for personal cards and two levels for small business cards.

Here are the Aeroplan benefits chart for the three levels of personal cards:

 

And the benefits for the two levels of business cards:

Those charts only show the Aeroplan benefits however the cards themselves have more to them so let's take a look at all the details:

Personal Cards

There are three levels of personal cards: your basic or entry level cards, mid-level hero cards (your mainstay cards) and premium cards. TD and CIBC who both invested money into buying Aeroplan back from Aimia will issues cards in all three levels while American Express will offer two personal cards. 

The cards and their new offerings come November are as follows:

The Mainstay Cards

All of these core cards will come with the following:

• Preferred Pricing - Holders of these cards will receive discounts when redeeming miles for Aeroplan reward flights
• First Checked Bag Free - Cardholders will receive their first checked bag free for themselves and up to 8 other travellers on the same reservation. This benefit works on both paid and award flights on Air Canada.
• Elite Status Earning - These cards earn 1,000 SQM (Status Qualifying Miles) and 1 SQS (Status Qualifying Segment) for every $10,000 spent on the card(s)
  

TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card
This is THE card that has been and will continue as the primary Air Canada Aeroplan card in the market. You notice right away that annual fees are being increased from $120 per year to $139 per year for the primary card and to $75 from $50 for additional cards. TD All-Inclusive Account holders will continue to receive a full rebate of the Annual Fee for this card. The increase in annual fee is not a welcome site however you do have to take into account the additional benefits the card will be getting over the current version like first checked bag free on all Air Canada flights, additional insurance, elite mileage earning, You'll also want to note however that additional cards are more expensive now but they also come with more benefits.

The earn rates change slightly on the card as of the November 8 date, the card will now earn 1.5 Aeroplan points per dollar spent with Air Canada (any Air Canada purchase, prior to this it was only for Aircanada.com purchases) It will continue to earn 1.5 Aeroplan points for grocery and gas station purchases but it does lose the 1.5 points for drug store purchases which will now categorize as all other purchases which all continue to earn 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent on the card. 

Here are some of the new benefits for this card: 

• Each Cardholder on the Account will receive a rebate of up to $100 CAD for a NEXUS™ application and/or renewal fee. 
• Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance coverage up to $2,500 per occurrence for each Cardholder on the Account and eligible family members travelling with the Cardholder. 
• Mobile Device Insurance coverage up to $1,000 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage, or mechanical breakdown.
  

Some of the other insurance benefits on this card have been updated for the better including Purchase Security/Extended Warranty, Flight Delay, Trip Cancellation/Interruption and Lost/Delayed Baggage. 

Learn more about the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card here

CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
First thing you'll notice is that the long time name 'Aerogold' has gone the way of the Dodo. Outside of that the changes to the card are very similar to the TD card. Like it's TD counterpart the primary card annual fee is being increased to $139 from $120 however this card's additional card fees will remain at $50 each. I suspect the main reason this card doesn't see the additional card increase is that it doesn't get the NEXUS benefit and doesn't see as many insurance benefit enhancements like the TD card.

The earn rates change slightly on the card as of the November 8 date, the card will now earn 1.5 Aeroplan points per dollar spent with Air Canada (any Air Canada purchase, prior to this it was only for Aircanada.com purchases) It will continue to earn 1.5 Aeroplan points for grocery and gas station purchases but it does lose the 1.5 points for drug store purchases which will now categorize as all other purchases which all continue to earn 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent on the card. 

Here are some of the new benefits for this card: 

• New Mobile Device (up to $1,000)
• Hotel Burglary (up to $2,500) 
• enhanced Trip Cancellation (up to $1,500) insurance

Learn more about the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card here.

 

American Express Aeroplan Card
This card replaces the American Express AeroplanPlus Gold Card as Amex simplifies their Aeroplan portfolio come November. You'll also notice a name change like CIBC, the Plus being dropped from AeroplanPlus in the nomenclature. American Express has also chosen not to reveal all the details on this revamped card until a later date. We know it will have the benefits listed above that all the mainstay cards get like First Checked Bag free, Preferred Reward Pricing etc. We will have to wait to see what the annual fee will be, what the earn rates are and what changes will happen on the insurance and benefits side.

The Premium Cards

All of these premium cards will come with the following:

• Preferred Pricing - Holders of these cards will receive discounts when redeeming miles for Aeroplan reward flights
• First Checked Bag Free - Cardholders will receive their first checked bag free for themselves and up to 8 other travellers on the same reservation. This benefit works on both paid and award flights on Air Canada.
• Elite Status Earning - These cards earn 1,000 SQM (Status Qualifying Miles) and 1 SQS (Status Qualifying Segment) for every $5,000 spent on the card(s)
• Maple Leaf Lounge Access - These cards offer complimentary access for the cardholder (Primary and additional) plus one guest to Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés in North America.
• Priority Airport Services - These cards offer priority check-in, priority boarding, and priority baggage handling
• Annual Worldwide Companion Pass - This pass is provided when cardholders reach $25,000 in spending annually on their cards. The pass can be used for travel to anywhere Air Canada flies with companion paying only $99 for flights in Canada & Continental U.S., $299 for Hawaii, Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, $499 for Africa, Europe, Middle East and South America, $599 for Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Taxes and fees are extra on top of those amounts
• Rollover Status Miles - Primary Cardholders who also hold Aeroplan Elite Status can roll over up to 200,000 Status Qualifying Miles (SQMs) beyond the status level for which they’ve qualified, from the prior qualification year to qualify for status the next year.
• Rollover eUpgrade Credits - Primary Cardholders who also hold Aeroplan Elite Status and requalify for the next year, can roll over up to 50 unused eUpgrade credits, to be used during the following status year.

 

TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege*
Again we start off with annual fees being increased on this card. You'll see the fees go from $399 per year to $599 per year for the primary card and to $199 from $99 for additional cards. The increase in annual fee is quite big however you do have to take into account the additional benefits the card will be getting over the current version like lounge access, first checked bag free on all Air Canada flights, additional insurance, elite rollover and more. You'll also want to note that additional cards are more expensive now but they also come with more benefits.

The earn rates change slightly on the card as of the November 8 date, the card will now earn 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent with Air Canada which is a 0.5 points boost. It will now earn 1.5 Aeroplan points for Gas, Grocery, Travel and Dining purchases - with travel and dining being two new accelerators. It does lose the 1.5 points for drug store purchases which will now categorize as all other purchases which all continue to earn 1.25 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on the card. 

Here are some of the new benefits for this card: 

• Each Cardholder on the Account will receive a rebate of up to $100 CAD for a NEXUS™ application and/or renewal fee. 
• Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance coverage up to $2,500 per occurrence for each Cardholder on the Account and eligible family members travelling with the Cardholder. 
• Mobile Device Insurance coverage up to $1,500 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage, or mechanical breakdown.
  

Some of the other insurance benefits on this card have been updated for the better including Travel Medical Insurance, Purchase Security/Extended Warranty, Flight Delay, Trip Cancellation/Interruption and Lost/Delayed Baggage.

The regular Visa Infinite Privileges such as complimentary Priority Pass membership with 6 annual visits, Priority Security Lanes at select Canadian airports, Visa Infinite Privilege Concierge, Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, Dining & Wine Country programs, and Entertainment and Sports benefits are all still included with this card.

Learn more about the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card here. 

CIBC Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card
Also gone is the long time name 'Aerogold' as the card is simply rebranded as the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card. Once again the changes to the card are very similar to the TD card. Like it's TD counterpart the primary card annual fee is being increased to $599 from $399 however this card's additional card fees will only jump to $149 from $99. The main reason this card doesn't see the additional card increase is that it's NEXUS benefit isn't as valuable as it is only available for the primary card and it appears, based on CIBC's terms the one guest you can bring in to Maple Leaf lounges is only good for the first year of having the card.

The earn rates are the same as the TD version of this card and will be 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent with Air Canada which is a 0.5 points boost. Then it will earn 1.5 Aeroplan points for Gas, Grocery, Travel and Dining purchases - with travel and dining being two new accelerators. It does lose the 1.5 points for drug store purchases which will now categorize as all other purchases which all continue to earn 1.25 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on the card.

Here are some of the new benefits for this card: 

• New Mobile Device (up to $1,500)
• Hotel Burglary (up to $2,500) 
• enhanced Trip Cancellation (up to $2,500) insurance

Learn more about the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card here.

American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
This card replaces the American Express AeroplanPlus Platinum and old Reserve Cards. You'll also notice a name change like CIBC, the Plus being dropped from AeroplanPlus in the nomenclature. American Express has also chosen not to reveal all the details on this revamped card until a later date. We know it will have the benefits listed above that all the premium cards get like First Checked Bag free, Preferred Reward Pricing etc. We will have to wait to see what the annual fee will be, what the earn rates are and what changes will happen on the insurance and benefits side.

The Basic/Entry Level Cards

All of these basic cards will come with the following:

• Preferred Pricing - Holders of these cards will receive discounts when redeeming miles for Aeroplan reward flights

 

TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Platinum* Credit Card
This card sees the least amount of changes within the portfolio of TD cards. The annual fee for the Primary Card will remain at $89 as do fee for additional cards at $35. TD All-Inclusive Account holders will continue to receive a full rebate of the Annual Fee for this card.

The earn rates change ever so slightly on the card as of the November 8 date, the card will now earn 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent for grocery and gas station purchases as well as Air Canada purchases. The latter is a new addition to the card. It does lose the 1 point per dollar for drug store purchases which will now categorize as all other purchases which all continue to earn 1 Aeroplan point per $1.50 spent on the card. 

Here are some of the new benefits for this card:

• Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance coverage up to $2,500 per occurrence for each Cardholder on the Account and eligible family members travelling with the Cardholder. 
• Mobile Device Insurance coverage up to $1,000 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage, or mechanical breakdown.
  

Some of the other insurance benefits on this card have been updated for the better including Purchase Security/Extended Warranty, Flight Delay and Lost/Delayed Baggage.

Learn more about the TD^® Aeroplan^® Visa Platinum* Credit Card here

 

CIBC Aeroplan® Visa* Card
This card will be one of only two no fee Aeroplan co-brand credit cards. The other is essentially the same card as this but for students.  As mentioned this card will have no fee for both the Primary and Additional cardholders. This is a $39 discount from the current iteration of this card the CIBC Aerogold Platinum Visa. Should you have this card and the annual fee is charged between August 24 and November 7 CIBC will providing a refund of the full annual fee.

The earn rates get a little better on this card as it will now earn 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent for grocery and gas station purchases as well as Air Canada purchases. All other purchases which all continue to earn 1 Aeroplan point per $1.50 spent on the card. 

Here are some of the new benefits for this card:

• Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance coverage up to $2,500 per occurrence for each Cardholder on the Account and eligible family members travelling with the Cardholder. 
• Mobile Device Insurance coverage up to $1,000 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage, or mechanical breakdown.
  

Some of the other insurance benefits on this card have been updated for the better including Purchase Security/Extended Warranty, Flight Delay and Lost/Delayed Baggage.

Learn more about the CIBC Aeroplan® Visa* Card here

Learn about the CIBC Aeroplan® Visa* Card for Students here.

Business Cards

There are two levels of business cards that will be offered for the Aeroplan program. TD will only be offering one main level card to begin with, while CIBC has two base cards which both fall into the same category. American Express will be offering a higher end card that hasn't been revealed just yet.

The main TD and CIBC cards will come with the following:

• Preferred Pricing - Holders of these cards will receive discounts when redeeming miles for Aeroplan reward flights
• First Checked Bag Free - Cardholders will receive their first checked bag free for themselves and up to 8 other travellers on the same reservation. This benefit works on both paid and award flights on Air Canada.
• Maple Leaf Lounge Passes - 1 Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Guest Pass for every $10,000 you spend, up to 4 passes per year
• Elite Status Earning - These cards earn 1,000 SQM (Status Qualifying Miles) and 1 SQS (Status Qualifying Segment) for every $5,000 spent on the card(s)
  

TD® Aeroplan® Visa* Business Card
The annual fees on this card will remain at $149 per year for the Primary Card and $49 per year for all additional cards. The earn rates change for the better on the card as of the November 8 date, the card will now earn 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent with Air Canada which is a 0.5 points boost. It will now earn 1.5 points for every $1 spent on Travel, Dining and Select Business Categories: shipping, Internet, cable and phone services. It does lose the 1.5 points for gas station purchases which will now categorize as all other purchases which all continue to earn 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent on the card. 

Here are some of the new benefits for this card: 

• Each Cardholder on the Account will receive a rebate of up to $100 CAD for a NEXUS™ application and/or renewal fee. 
• Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance coverage up to $2,500 per occurrence for each Cardholder on the Account and eligible family members travelling with the Cardholder. 
• Mobile Device Insurance coverage up to $1,000 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage, or mechanical breakdown.
• Trip Cancellation Insurance and Trip Interruption Insurance: For Trip  Cancellation, up to $1,500 for each insured person (maximum $5,000 for all those insured on same covered trip) and for Trip Interruption, up to $5,000 for each insured person (maximum $25,000 for all those insured on same covered trip).

Some of the other insurance benefits on this card have been updated for the better including Purchase Security/Extended Warranty, Flight Delay,and Lost/Delayed Baggage.

Learn more about the  TD® Aeroplan® Visa Business Card here.

 

CIBC Aeroplan® Visa* Business Card
The earn rates change for the better on the card as of the November 8 date, the card will now earn 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent with Air Canada which is a 0.5 points boost. It will now earn 1.5 points for every $1 spent on Travel, Dining and Select Business Categories: shipping, Internet, cable and phone services. It does lose the 1.5 points for gas station purchases which will now categorize as all other purchases which all continue to earn 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent on the card.

The CIBC Aeroplan® Visa* Business Plus Card is essentially tha same as above but has annual fees of $120 for the primary cardholder and $50 for each additional cardholder.

Learn more about the CIBC Aeroplan® Visa* Business Card here

The new American Express Business Reserve card will come with the following:

• Preferred Pricing - Holders of these cards will receive discounts when redeeming miles for Aeroplan reward flights
• First Checked Bag Free - Cardholders will receive their first checked bag free for themselves and up to 8 other travellers on the same reservation. This benefit works on both paid and award flights on Air Canada.
• Elite Status Earning - These cards earn 1,000 SQM (Status Qualifying Miles) and 1 SQS (Status Qualifying Segment) for every $5,000 spent on the card(s)
• Maple Leaf Lounge Access - These cards offer complimentary access for the cardholder (Primary and additional) plus one guest to Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés in North America.
• Priority Airport Services - These cards offer priority check-in, priority boarding, and priority baggage handling
• Annual Worldwide Companion Pass - This pass is provided when cardholders reach $25,000 in spending annually on their cards. The pass can be used for travel to anywhere Air Canada flies with companion paying only $99 for flights in Canada & Continental U.S., $299 for Hawaii, Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, $499 for Africa, Europe, Middle East and South America, $599 for Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Taxes and fees are extra on top of those amounts
• Rollover Status Miles - Primary Cardholders who also hold Aeroplan Elite Status can roll over up to 200,000 Status Qualifying Miles (SQMs) beyond the status level for which they’ve qualified, from the prior qualification year to qualify for status the next year.
• Rollover eUpgrade Credits - Primary Cardholders who also hold Aeroplan Elite Status and requalify for the next year, can roll over up to 50 unused eUpgrade credits, to be used during the following status year.

What we don't know yet are the annual fees, earn rates and insurance/other benefits the card will come with. American Express will also issue corporate cards for large business. 

Summary

 As you can see there will continue to be a lot of credit card options for the Air Canada Aeroplan program and the updates to all the cards are for the most part are better. Yes most of the cards are more expensive now but they also offer more benefits that can offset that increase in price. Consumers will have to run the numbers to see if paying those increased annual fees make sense for them especially seeing that the mainstay cards actually lose out on the mileage boost at drug stores but had no other category added to make up for it. 

You can aso see that they have really gone after the Air Canada Elite Members with the high end premium cards as Air Canada did let us know that only a small percentage of elites actually carry an Aeroplan co-branded credit card. By adding the rollover benefits and being able earn some elite status miles & segments Air Canada is hoping that a greater percentage of their elite members will choose to add a co-brand credit card to their wallets.  

Another welcome change to the portfolio of cards is the base level CIBC card becoming a no fee option. This is one area Aeroplan had not tackled as all their cards involved annual fees, by having this card move to a no annual fee card the program becomes a viable option to those just getting started in the world of credit and loyalty rewards. 

One thing we don't know just yet are what the new welcome bonus offers will be on these cards. Will they offer first year free on the mainstay cards right from the onset to encourage a larger uptake on the cards or will they go the other direction in hopes that they will get quality applications and consumers who aren't just going after the welcome points. Personally I think it will be the latter, offer a bigger bonus and maybe dangle some other carrot as well but charge the annual fee. We'll just have to wait and see what happens though!

Overall the entire suite of Aeroplan cards is pretty impressive and cover almost the entire range of the market. All that's left is an ultra premium card which just may be something that will be offered by the program sometime in the future. 

What do you think of the suite of new Air Canada Aeroplan credit cards?

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The new Air Canada Aeroplan program revealed - it all goes live on November 8!

 

It’s hard to believe it has been three years now since Air Canada announced they weren’t going to renew their partnership with Aeroplan, which at the time was owned by Aimia and were set to create their own brand new frequent flyer program. Without going into all the nitty gritty of what transpired (if you are interested in the complete background check out The Air Canada Aeroplan Saga - All the resources you need) over the span of a many months  after that Air Canada along with TD, CIBC and Visa ended up buying Aeroplan from Aimia but they still promised a new program by July 2020. Now with three years of behind the scenes work the program is here. The majority of the details of the program have been revealed today and it will officially launch on November 8. It’s still called Aeroplan but with a new logo to better match its ownership by Air Canada and it really is, for the most part, a new loyalty program. As an Aeroplan employee told us, “this isn’t putting lipstick on a pig.” They really wanted to revamp the program in almost all respects and they have lived up to that promise.

For some more info here are further articles on the new Aeroplan program:

• American Express reveals the details for their new suite of Aeroplan cards 
• A closer look at the new Air Canada Aeroplan credit cards
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of the new Air Canada Aeroplan program

It starts with a new logo and look for Aeroplan. You can see the logo at the top of this post and you’ll notice the ‘E’ is made up of the three stylized boxes which are taken from Air Canada’s new livery where they have the cockpit of each airplane painted in that same black shape. And of course the famous Air Canada Roundel has been added to provide the direct link to Air Canada.

 

Here's what the new Aeroplan membership cards will look like:

 

You'll also notice in the new program that the primary Aeroplan currency are no longer called miles - they will be called Aeroplan points. Your current Aeroplan miles will convert to the new Aeroplan points on a 1 to 1 basis. For Elite Status they will still call them Elite Qualifying Miles in terms of those miles required to achieve status.

 There is a lot to read in this post and if you aren't up for reading the entire thing here are the main take away points of the new program:

• No more carrier/fuel surcharges - the most you'll pay is a $39 booking fee for travel on partner airlines. Fly on Air Canada and there are none of those dreaded airline surcharges.
  
• Family Sharing - you will be able to create a group of 8 people to pool points from to make it easier to reach those reward goals
• An enhanced elite program - New benefits like Priority Rewards, Status Pass (share status benefits), additional elite qualifying miles and dollars earning options and more.
• Points earned on flights based on spend -  When you fly on Air Canada the points you earn will be based on what you spend on your base airfare. It will no longer be distanced based
• Dynamic Reward pricing on Air Canada - No more set reward pricing for flights on Air Canada and while overall reward flights should be cheaper some may not like the fact that some rewards may be more expensive
• You now have to pay for stopovers - if you want to have a stopover on your Aeroplan reward flight it will cost you 5,000 points per stopover
• Credit Card Enhancements - From first bag free to earning elite status miles and dollars, companion vouchers to rollover EQMs, the suite of Air Canada Aeroplan co-brand cards get some major boosts.
  

And now what everyone is waiting for here are all the details of the new program:

Flight Rewards

This is the part of the program most members have been concerned about. All across the internet and social media a major devaluation was expected on this front. In fact, that hasn’t happened. Air Canada wanted members to still get a lot of value out of the program and for the most part, members will get more value now. How so? They got rid of the biggest thorn in everyone’s sides. Those dreaded carrier surcharges when flying on Air Canada and even partner airlines. Yes that’s right, no longer will a 60,000 mile round trip reward ticket on Air Canada to Europe come with $600 to $800 in fees. If that flight is on Air Canada it will have no carrier surcharges and if it is on a partner airline there is simply a $39 booking fee. Yes those Lufthansa awards will now only have a $39 fee instead of three to four figure surcharges! This even brings more savings in as those fees had GST/HST charged on them and now since there are no fees on Air Canada flights they are reported as a true $0 flight to other authorities like the U.S., so there are actually less taxes paid from the U.S. side.

Now you are probably asking that there must be some sort of trade off. And there is. If you are redeeming points for flight on Air Canada there will no longer be a published reward chart. No more Classic Flight and Market Fare Rewards. Now it’s just a dynamic range of pricing for reward flights on Air Canada. Flight rewards will become distance based within and to/from various travel zones as follows (click on the images to see them bigger):

All points amounts are for one way travel

When you go to book a flight online for Air Canada only travel you’ll be presented with a realistic range of points required for a flight reward. Most will be at or near what we were accustomed to with Classic Flight rewards. Some will be cheaper, some will be more expensive but 80% of the flight rewards should fall into the range that Air Canada presents above. Just like the old Market Fare rewards you can book every seat available on Air Canada in any cabins with points and thanks to their new back end system flight rewards can be booked right on aircanada.com or the Air Canada app. No more having to go to two separate websites to compare flight rewards and cash flights. 

Overall most reward flights on Air Canada are now cheaper in the new program when you take into account an increase in points combined with a decrease in the extra fees you used to pay for. Executives from Aeroplan showed me a few examples where you may be redeeming $200 more in points for a flight but were saving $800 in fees. There were also other examples where both the points redeemed and fees paid were lower than they are in the current program. 

I wanted to take a quick look for myself and based on the new reward charts a one way economy class ticket between Toronto and London will run 35,000 to 60,000 points (so 70,000 to 120,000 roundtrip) versus 30,000 right now for Classic Flight rewards (60,000 round trip) and sometimes a heck of a lot more for Market Fare Rewards. If we take that round trip classic flight between Toronto and London right now you it would run you 60,000 Aeroplan Miles and $735.33 in fees. The same flight new program would likely be 70,000 points and about $204 in taxes. So you would be spending 10,000 more points (worth a minimum of 1.2 cents or $120 but could be higher depending on what you personally value each point at) but saving over $530 in fees.

So while it is dynamic in most cases when you look at the big picture rewards should actually come out cheaper. And to see what you may have to spend dynamically Aeroplan has a point predictor tool to help out that will show you the range of points you could expect to redeem for a flight.

Aeroplan will retain a flight reward chart for rewards on partner airlines and the good news is they are going to bring in even more airline partners both domestically and internationally! And we’ve already mentioned the best news, no longer will there be fuel or carrier surcharges You will only pay that $39 booking fee!

Stopovers
One benefit that Aeroplan has been greatly heralded for over the years was the category of stopovers. That is, the ability to stop over in a city on an award ticket to your final destination - and Aeroplan used to allow you to do it twice each direction or by having one stopover and one open jaw until they changed their back end systems and had to limit it to one of either as of September 2019.  In the new program you can book one stop over per direction, that is for every one way/single bound itinerary you can have one stop over. So if you book a simple round trip you can have two stopovers. Book three one way trips and you can have three stopovers and so on! It is however limited by the maximum number of segments you can book on a PNR and that 12 for any reward that includes Air Canada or a combination of Air Canada and a partner airlines.

But here's the catch to the new program's stopover rules - you have to pay 5,000 points for each stopover. Hypothetically speaking, if you redeem 120,000 points for a round trip flight but choose to add in one stop over that reward will cost you 125,000 points, two stopovers and you're paying 130,000 points. 

Finally one more change to stopover rules - you can no longer book stopovers on reward flights within the Canada or U.S.. That is if you are flying from Toronto to Los Angeles you can't have a stopover in Denver. However you can stopover in Canada or the U.S. if you end destination is outside of Canada and the U.S. For example going from Calgary to Hong Kong via Los Angeles will allow for a stopover in Los Angeles.

Award pricing discounts
The dynamic flight reward pricing for travel on Air Canada has discounted pricing available. How so? By having Aeroplan Elite Status and/or an Aeroplan credit card you can get preferred pricing. The points required for flight rewards may be discounted by a certain amount if you have one or the other. Have both and your discount is even bigger as you can avail of the discount from both!

Points plus Cash
When you go to redeem points for a flight reward you'll be presented with several options. You can choose to pay for the entire reward of base points plus taxes and fees with miles (they have this option now but they have made the points for taxes part much more affordable) you can pay the old school way of points for the base flight and cash for taxes and fees but now they will also provide several options where you can redeem less points and some cash to cover the base fare. This is similar to what we have seen with many hotel programs and even some airline programs that give you this option. This is a good method to use if you don't have enough points for a reward but still want to use them to bring down the cash portion of a flight.

Other rewards
You'll continue to be able to redeem Aeroplan points for non-flight rewards including hotels, car rentals, Air Canada Vacations packages, gift cards (soon to be electronic only so you'll get them right away!), merchandise (the catalog is being expanded greatly thanks to partnerships with new retailers) and more.

Earning Aeroplan Points

The one thing many Aeroplan members were predicting is that Aeroplan would move to earning points on flights based on spend rather than distance flown. And this seems to be the case come later in 2021. While Aeroplan right now is kind of a hybrid revenue earn model whereby the lowest fare classes earn less or no points and higher classes earn more, it is still based as a percentage of the mileage flown. This appears to be going away sometime next year and likely we'll be earning a set amount of miles per dollar spend on base airfare:

• Basic fares will earn 2x the base dollar amount spent as points
• All other fares will earn 3x the base dollar amount spent as points

Although you will begin to earn points on all fare classes the amount you earn will really depend on your spend and your elite status. Buy a cheap flight to Europe or Asia with no status and I forsee lower points earning but buy an expensive ticket with status and you'll likely earn more points. This is truly indicative of revenue based earn system where those who can spend more earn more.

All other earn methods remain such as credit card partners, hotels, car rentals, online shopping etc. Aeroplan has also stated they will be adding even more non-flight partners but do not consider themselves a coalition program anymore like their competitor AIR MILES

Aeroplan Family Sharing

Several frequent flyer programs around the world have a family option for their programs where members of the same family or household can share and combine points for awards. That’s where Air Canada Aeroplan’s Family Sharing comes in. Each family sharing account can have up 8 members and all the points earned can be shared (pooled) so that it is easier to reach potential rewards sooner. Members can redeem for rewards from their shared balance and if one of the members of the Family Sharing Account has status and/or an Aeroplan co-brand credit cards all members in the the group will benefit from the preferred pricing when redeeming for rewards. All members in the Family Sharing group will retain their own Aeroplan number and keep the miles they earn under that number. It’s only at redemption time when miles may be pulled from various accounts. This allows for family members to leave a group should they want and take their miles with them. Personally that will probably be the case in my family in the near future as the Rewards Canada kids are almost adults and if and when they go out on their own they may not want to pool anymore.

Points Expiration

As was already announced in July Aeroplan Points will now expire after 18 months of inactivity instead of 12 months. That additional 6 months should be enough for most to make sure they earn or redeem at least 1 mile to keep their account going. Plus if your account does become inactive you can have your lost point reinstated if you fly with Air Canada within 6 months or get yourself an Aeroplan credit card.

Change and cancellations

Now that Aeroplan is owned by Air Canada there aren’t problems of integration between two companies like before which means Aeroplan award tickets now follow Air Canada revenue tickets more closely. For example if you cancel an Aeroplan flight within 24 hours of booking you can do so with no charge which is the same as an Air Canada revenue ticket. After 24 hours and up to 2 hours prior to departure you can cancel or change any flight reward albeit a fee will apply. Good news you’ll get a full refund of all your points and all taxes, fees and surcharges.




Elite Status

Prior to Aeroplan being taken back by Air Canada there were two elite programs. Air Canada Alititude and Aeroplan Elite Status. Now there will just be one elite program, Aeroplan Elite which retains most of what Altitude was. Gone is the name Prestige, it will now be Elite 25K, 35K, 50K, 75K and Super Elite . Status members will get some new benefits, the ability to retain status easier and be able to share many benefits with friends and family. The first new benefit is Priority Rewards. These are a voucher that provide a 50% discount on the base points required for a flight rewards and members can earn up to 11 of these vouchers each year.

Each Priority Reward Voucher is earned based on the elite member's Status Qualifying Dollars (SQD) and their elite status each time they reach an SQD level. Vouchers are earned when members reach the 4,000, 7,000, 10,000 and 15,000 SQD thresholds and then for every 5,000 SQD after that up to 50,000 SQD. Vouchers are valid for one year after issue and can be used as follows based on your elite level:

• 25K - Voucher can be used for Canada / US Economy
• 35K - Voucher can be used for Canada / US Economy
• 50K - Voucher can be used for North America up to Premium Economy
• 75K - Voucher can be used Worldwide up to Premium Economy
• Super Elite - Voucher can be used Worldwide up to Signature/Business Class

Members who are 35K or higher as of November 8 will automatically receive Priority Rewards.

The next new elite benefit is Status Pass. Any member who is 50K or higher will have the option to select Status Pass as one of their Select Benefits as of March 2021. What is Status Pass? It's essentially a sharing of elite status benefits to family, friends and colleagues and they don't even have to be travelling with you.

Here is what those travelling on a Status Pass will receive:

• Priority Check-In
• 3 Complimentary Checked Bags, with Priority Baggage Handling
• Priority Security Clearance
• Maple Leaf Lounge Access
• Priority Airport Standby
• Priority Boarding
  

Looking to qualify for Elite Status? It can now be done without even flying! This is Air Canada's olive branch to those members who got elite status in the old Aeroplan program (not Air Canada Altitude) by shopping lots, using credit cards a lot etc.  If you earn 100,000 points through eligible transactions in a qualifying year you'll receive Aeroplan 25K status that is valid through the following year. Note that transfer from hotel programs and programs like American Express' Membership Rewards do not count towards those eligible points.

Aeroplan co-brand credit cards will also help you to achieve status as you can earn status qualifying miles and status qualifying dollars just by spending on eligible cards. Some eligible cards will also allow you to rollover unused SQM (whatever is left over your highest qualification level) and eUpgrades to the next year. Finally if you have an eligible card you'll get higher priority at the airport. What this means is that if you are waiting for an upgrade and it comes down to two 50K elites for that last business class seat and only one of them have an Aeroplan credit card, it will be that cardholder who gets that last upgrade!

Credit Cards


As we already mentioned one of the big new benefits of having an Aeroplan credit card is lower pricing on the number of points required for flight rewards on Air Canada. On top of that any flight benefits the cards have will now apply to all Air Canada flights whether you book with points or cash. Prior to this most were only available on Aeroplan award flights.  And watch out WestJet, the Aeroplan cards now carry similar benefits to your credit card. Cards like the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite card and American Express Aeroplan Card (and higher cards) will give you your first bag free on Air Canada flights for you and up to 8 people on the same reservation! 

Then if you get yourself a Visa Infinite Privilege Card or top end American Express Reserve card they will offer a companion fare as well, albeit you need to hit a spend level of $25,000 and not just have the card like WestJet’s. However the Air Canada companion fare is good for anywhere Air Canada flies globally so it does give you a lot more destinations to choose from. The voucher will operate similar to WestJet's with where the companion will pay $99 and up (plus taxes, fees, charges, and surcharges) depending on where the flight is to. The benefits don't stop there, Infinite Privilege and Reserve cardholders( both Primary and Additional) will now receive complimentary access to Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés in North America and they can each bring one guest.

TD has also added Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance and Mobile Device Insurance on all their Aeroplan cards  and NEXUS+ application fee reimbursement of up to $100 for the Primary Cardholder and Additional Cardholders for the Infinite and Infinite Privilege cards.

Cards will also have an elite status component whereby there will be improved status benefits with select co-brand credit cards as mentioned above from rollover SQM to additional SQM and SQD based on spend. The top end cards will let you rollover any unused SQM to the next year as well as give you 1,000 SQM and 1 SQS for every $5,000 in card spending. While the cards lower on the tier (Visa Infinite and Amex Platinum) will earn 1,000 SQM and 1 SQS for every $10,000 in card spending.

And there you have it! A very long and broad overview of the new Aeroplan program! Overall I'm very impressed with what they have done. In my virtual meeting with their executives last week you could hear the excitement from all of them as they feel this isn't a devaluation to the program being glossed over by several enhancements like we typically see. It is a definitely a rebirth of the program and you can tell they really wanted to keep the program valuable, relevant and rewarding to full gamut of Aeroplan members from Super Elite members to the member who only earns a few hundred miles here and there. I truly believe they have achieved this. Yes there are some drawbacks, that's a given and was to be expected but for the most part the program will be better for the entire membership base of 5+ million members whether you are frequent flyer, a frequent buyer or a seldom user - there is something for everyone. 

Click here to learn more about the program on Air Canada's site!

What do you the Rewards Canada community think about today's news? Let us know in the comment section below!

January 9 Update: Throwback to 2007 reward flight comparisons, Air Canada rouge to offer summer seasonal Calgary-London, ON service, Aer Lingus spring seat sale

Throwback Thursday!
Earlier today we provided you with details on our feature about what airline and hotel programs you can earn miles and points with with Canadian credit cards. In the update post I provided a screen shot of what the chart looked like way back in 2005 and got me thinking I should do the occasional throwback Thursday here on the blog. The first thing I thought of was these charts I used to publish comparing what award tickets cost in miles for Canadians across a bunch of frequent flyer programs. These charts came out in 2006 and that was the time when many of the SkyTeam airlines were your best bet for getting from Canada to Hawaii for the least amount of miles possible! And guess what - you can still access the chart here (hasn't been updated since 2007 as the upkeep was intense due to constant changes in mileage amounts from so many programs)

Air Canada is finally bringing their Calgary to London Ontario summer seasonal service to fruition. The flights will operate daily with a Rouge A319 from June 24 to October 15. (Source RoutesOnline)

Posts since our last update:

• Fly round trip from Canada to Fiji for only 40,000 miles with Alaska Airlines' Mileage Plan redemption special
  As soon as this offer came out yesterday it quickly made the rounds on the frequent flyer blogs and…
• Earn 500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles on all Best Western stays until April 30
  We have been without an Aeroplan Best Western bonus offer for a whopping 22 days! Normally when one offer ends…
• January 6 Update: 10% Bonus Asia Miles when you convert credit card points from RBC, HSBC or Amex, More Cobalt multiplier locations, Air Transat partnership
  Cathay Pacific Asia Miles has released a 10% bonus offer for transferring credit cards points into Asia Miles. This…

Travel Deals

Aer Lingus has launched a spring seat sale for their flights out of Toronto. Fares start $544 all in for round trip flights to Dublin. Book by January 29 for travel April 6 - June 9, 2020.. Find out more here.

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers

Air Canada Aeroplan
- 1,500 Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you rent with Avis at participating locations in the U.S. and Canada. More... For U.S. and Canadian residents only Until Feb 29, 20

Other Bonus Offers

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Double Mileage Plan Miles when you rent for 2+ days on a weekly or weekend rental at participating Hertz locations in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico More... Until Mar 31, 20
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus Mileage Plan Miles when you shop online via the Mileage Plan Shopping portal. More... Until Jan 14, 20

American AAdvantage
- Double AAdvantage Miles when you rent for 2+ days on a weekly or weekend rental at participating Hertz locations in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. More... Until Mar 31, 20

Hilton Honors
- Earn up to 10,000 Bonus Honors points for stays at participating Hilton Hotels Worldwide. More... Targeted offer - may not work for everyone Until Dec 31, 20

Marriott Bonvoy
- 5,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points when you stay 2+ nights over the weekend (Friday or Saturday required) a the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel. More... Until Mar 8, 20

Radisson Rewards
- 2,500 Bonus Rewards Points plus receive up to 25% off weekend stays at participating Radisson Hotels in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. More... Book by Jan 31 for stays until Dec 31, 20

Shangri-La Golden Circle
- Double GC Award Points when you book the new family room on the Flexible Rate at the Shangri-La Hotel, Qinhuangdao. More... Until Apr 30, 20


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Air Canada & Aeroplan websites/call centres will be unavailable November 18-19 for their new reservation system migration

The time has finally come where Air Canada will migrate its current reservation system over to Amadeus. This move has been two years in the making since it was first announced that AC would move to Amadeus from a 25+ year old in-house RESIII system. That being said, the migration will force Air Canada and Aeroplan to move their websites to off-line status and close their call centres for 12 hours or more on November 18 through to the 19th. If all goes well the system along with the websites and call centres should be back online by mid day on the 19th. Both Air Canada and Aeroplan have posted notices on their websites about what you as a passenger or someone looking to buy a ticket need to do during this down time:

From Air Canada:

From November 18-19, 2019, we will be migrating to a new Reservation system to improve your travel experience. If you’re booking or travelling during this period, here is important information you need to know:

•  Starting at 20:00 ET on Nov. 18, the aircanada.com website as well as our phone Contact Centres will be off-line for making new bookings or changes until approximately mid-day Nov. 19.
• Any required bookings or changes to current bookings for travel during this period should be made prior to the start of migration on Nov. 18.
• Flights will be available for purchase and bookings will be available for modification as usual once our new system is live on Nov. 19.

 The following functions remain available as usual during the Nov. 18-19 migration period:

•  Check-in online, via App and at Kiosks
• Flight Status online and via App

You can visit the Air Canada webpage for the system update for more information and a detailed FAQ.  For our Air Canada Altitude readers you may want to take a closer look at this excerpt from the FAQ that will affect eUpgrades:

"Over the next few months while we update our airport systems, you will not be able to request upgrades at the airport, and upgrades which were not cleared prior to check-in will not be processed at the gate, even if a seat is available. In light of this, rest assured that we will work diligently to confirm more upgrades ahead of check-in."

From Aeroplan

Air Canada is in the process of migrating to a new reservation system, a project we're undertaking to improve your travel experience. Here's what this means for you as an Aeroplan member:

Aeroplan will be temporarily unavailable, both online and on the phone
Aeroplan.com and the Aeroplan App will be unavailable from November 18^th at 8pm EST until midday November 19^th. In addition, during this period while the migration to the new system takes place, the Aeroplan Contact Centre will not be able to assist you with any new or existing Flight Reward bookings. We encourage you to plan ahead and book any Aeroplan Rewards outside of this period.

We encourage you to self-serve at aeroplan.com
We understand your time is valuable and we anticipate an increase in Contact Centre wait times in the days that follow this transition period. Those looking to make or change a Flight Reward booking on or after November 19^th are encouraged to do so at aeroplan.com to save time and money. To change an existing reservation on aeroplan.com, simply cancel your booking to receive an immediate refund of your Aeroplan Miles, then book your new flight without incurring a booking fee.

We will temporarily reduce the aeroplan.com Refund Fee
To assist with this transition, from November 15^th, 2019 to January 31^st, 2020, the fee for refunding a booking online will be reduced to $75 – a savings of $75 versus requesting a refund via the Contact Centre.

Earn up to 200% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you fly Air Canada Premium/Business on select routes within Canada and between Canada and the U.S

Here's a new Air Canada flight bonus for select routes in Canada and between the Canada and the U.S.. This offer is not targeted so it should be available to all members. You can earn up to 200% Bonus Miles on all eligible flights that are booked by March 11th and the offer is good for flights flown between until April 30, 2019. Once again the terms state only the first person on a reservation gets the bonus (come on Air Canada, that's the worst term and condition possible, even worse than the New Bookings only that we see with all their promotions) so if you are booking for more than one person you'll either forego the miles for the rest of the people on your reservation or have everyone book their own flights.

And some background - I received this email today from Air Canada about this new offer, the day after I booked a business class flight on the Palm Springs to Calgary route. I thought to myself shoot - they always make it that you have to book when the offer comes out and of course since I got the email today I missed out. Low and behold however, the offer actually started yesterday! So I technically should receive the 200% bonus miles on this flight! Just mad though that I booked four of us on one reservation so we'll see if the rule that only the first person gets the bonus actually is the case. I did register all four us for the promotion just in case it doesn't!

Here are the routes this offer is eligible on:

Offer details
Earn up to 200% Bonus Aeroplan Miles when you fly on premium fares on select routes within Canada and between Canada and the U.S. Register Online (Registration is required) Register & book by Mar 11 for travel until Apr 30, 19
Bonuses as follows:
Earn 150% bonus miles for Premium Economy fares
Earn 200% bonus miles Premium Rouge or Business Class fares

Find many more Aeroplan bonus miles offers here!

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February 21 Update: Accor Hotels changing loyalty program to Accor ALL in 2020, Air Canada launching Calgary-London ON flights and more

Accor Hotels (the relatively new owner of Canada's Fairmont Hotels) announced that they are changing their loyalty program again in 2020! In the 18 years of running this website there has not been one loyalty program that even comes close to the number of name or spelling changes that this hotel chain's program as gone through and those changes have only been since 2009 or so. It used to be A|Club then it went to Le Club accorhotels (all lower case) and then Le Club AccorHotels (capitalized now) and in 2020 it will become Accor ALL with the the ALL representing Accor Live Limitless. There aren't too many details yet about the new program other than the addition of one more elite status level, enriched benefits for elite members and new partnerships that will expand the experience side of the program. You can read the press release here. (Source Head for Points)

Air Canada announced today that they are going to provide summer seasonal service between Calgary and London Ontario. The daily flights will be operated with Air Canada Rouge A319 aircraft from late June to mid October. (Source Air Canada)

Posts since our last update:

• Earn up to 5,000 Bonus Elite Qualifying Plus Miles when flying Air Algerie between Montreal and Algiers
  I always love finding and sharing offers from the lesser known airlines and loyalty programs that us Canadians can…
• Choice Hotels: Earn up to 8,000 bonus Privileges points when you complete 2 stays Worldwide from Feb 26 - April 26
  Choice Hotels next promotion is here and lo and behold it is the same offer we always see from…
• Save up to 35% with the Hilton Asia Pacific Resorts Sale - Must book by March 19 for stays March 20 - February 2
  Hilton Honors members can save up to 35% on stays at Hilton's Asia Pacific Resort locations when you book…

Travel Deals
InterContinental Hotels: Book 2 nights and get the 3 night free for stays at select InterContinental Hotels Worldwide. Find out more here.

Hilton Asia Pacific Resort Sale: Up to 35% off when you book by March 19 for stays March 20, 2019 - February 2, 2020. Find out more here.

Avis Spring Sale - Save up to 30% on Avis Rentals Worldwide until March 31. Find out more here.

Remember to visit Rewards Canada's Travel Booking site to book travel directly with many of your favourite airlines, hotels and more!

Canadian Bonus Offers
Air Algerie Plus
- Earn 5,000 Bonus Plus Tier Miles when you fly on Air Algerie in First or Business Class between Algiers and Beijing, Dubai or Montreal. More... Until Apr 21, 19
- Earn 3,000 Bonus Plus Tier Miles when you fly on Air Algerie in Economy Class between Algiers and Beijing, Dubai or Montreal. More... Until Mar 21, 19

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Double Mileage Plan Miles for stays at Coast Hotels in the U.S. and Canada. More.. Until Mar 15, 19

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
- Earn up to 1,750 Bonus Coast Rewards Points when you join the program and complete a stay. You will be awarded 875 points just for joining and 875 when you complete your first stay. More... Join by Feb 28 and complete your stays by Apr 30, 19

Other Bonus Offers
Air Algerie Plus
- Earn 3,000 Bonus Plus Tier Miles when you fly on Air Algerie in First or Business Class between Algeria and 20 cities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. More... Until Apr 21, 19
- Earn 1,800 Bonus Plus Tier Miles when you fly on Air Algerie in Economy Class between Algeria and 20 cities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. More... Until Mar 21, 19
- Earn 2,000 Bonus Plus Tier Miles when you fly on Air Algerie in First or Business Class between Algeria and 18 cities in Europe and Africa. More... Until Apr 21, 19
- Earn 750 Bonus Plus Tier Miles when you fly on Air Algerie in Economy Class between Algeria and 18 cities in Europe and Africa. More... Until Mar 21, 19

China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
- Earn up to Quadruple Dynasty Flyer Miles when you rent a car at participating Hertz locations for 3 or more days in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. More... Until Mar 31, 19
Marriott Bonvoy
- 2,000 Bonus Bonvoy Points per stay at the AC Hotel Guadalajara. More... Until Apr 14, 19

Red Roof Redicard
- Double Redicard Points for stays at any Red Roof Inn, Red Roof PLUS+, The Red Collection™ or HomeTowne Studios by Red Roof® hotel. More... Mar 1 - 31, 19

SriLankan FlySmiles
- Triple FlySmiles when you rent a car at participating Hertz locations for 1 or more days in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, or New Zealand. More... Book by Mar 31 for rentals until Apr 30, 19


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