Beginning March 25, 2025, Aeroplan is introducing key modifications to its flight reward charts, increasing Air Canada’s dynamic pricing mannequin to pick companion airways and refining how redemption prices are displayed.
Whereas this might imply higher availability, it may additionally include larger redemption prices.
Right here’s what it is best to know earlier than these modifications take impact.
Expanded Accomplice Listing and New Pricing Construction
Essentially the most notable change is that United Airways, Emirates, Flydubai, Etihad Airways, Calm Air, Canadian North, and PAL Airways will now fall underneath the identical dynamic pricing mannequin as Air Canada flights.
This implies their award charges will not observe the fixed-price companion award chart however as a substitute be topic to fluctuating pricing based mostly on availability and demand.
Whereas this might result in larger pricing for some flights, there’s a possible upside—higher entry to award seats on these carriers.
In case you’ve ever struggled to seek out availability on United or Etihad, these modifications may make redemptions simpler, although doubtlessly at a steeper price.
Moreover, Etihad Enterprise Class awards are again. After being unavailable for a while, Aeroplan members will as soon as once more have the ability to e book Etihad Enterprise Class systemwide.
Availability for Etihad First Class redemptions, nonetheless, stays unchanged.
The New Air Canada and Choose Companions Reward Chart
Aeroplan’s Air Canada reward chart is being rebranded because the Air Canada and Choose Companions chart.
This replace comes with:
- Simplified Pricing: As a substitute of displaying broad level ranges, the brand new chart will present a beginning value (which stays unchanged) and a median value based mostly on previous redemptions.
- Quarterly Median Updates: The median value might be refreshed each quarter, based mostly on redemption information from the earlier 4 quarters.
- Most well-liked Pricing for Elite Members and Credit score Cardholders: Aeroplan Elite members and people with Aeroplan co-branded bank cards will proceed to get discounted charges when reserving by this new chart.
This alteration is supposed to offer members with a clearer expectation of typical redemption prices, quite than an unpredictable vary.
Nevertheless, median costs received’t be displayed for First Class redemptions or routes exterior North America, as decrease redemption volumes in these classes may lead to vital fluctuations over time.
Aeroplan has offered a pattern chart for redemptions inside North America, with full particulars on different zones anticipated quickly.
What Stays the Identical?
For these anxious about Aeroplan’s conventional fixed-price companion chart, there’s some excellent news. The mounted pricing for all different companion airways stays unchanged.
This implies airways like ANA, EVA Air, and Lufthansa will nonetheless observe the predictable fixed-price mannequin.
What This Means for Award Travellers
These modifications may very well be a double-edged sword for Aeroplan members. On one hand, expanded companion availability means extra redemption alternatives—particularly for premium cabins on airways like Etihad and Emirates.
However on the flip aspect, dynamic pricing could make redemptions dearer, significantly for last-minute bookings or high-demand routes.
We’ll be keeping track of how these modifications affect redemption values and availability as soon as they go dwell.
Within the meantime, in case you’ve been eyeing flights on United, Etihad, or regional Canadian airways, you would possibly need to lock in your bookings earlier than March twenty fifth to benefit from the present mounted companion pricing.
Personally, I’ll be trying to e book flights to discover Arctic Canada and expertise the northern lights earlier than the brand new pricing kicks in.
For instance, a round-trip flight from Winnipeg to Churchill with Calm Air hovers round $2,000 (all figures CAD) in money fare, however with Aeroplan, it may be booked for 15,000 Aeroplan factors and round $300 in taxes.
That’s a shocking redemption worth for an unforgettable journey to see polar bears and the aurora borealis in Churchill, Manitoba.
An alternative choice I’ll be trying into is exploring the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
A flight from Ottawa to Iqaluit typically hovers round $900 in money fare, however with Aeroplan, it’s simply 10,000 Aeroplan factors and $90 in taxes.
With these redemptions doubtlessly affected by the pricing replace, now is a good time to e book in case you’ve been contemplating these adventures.
Conclusion
With these modifications, Aeroplan is doubling down on dynamic pricing for key companions, whereas attempting to steadiness it with higher availability.
For travellers who worth predictability of their redemptions, this shift could come as a disappointment. Then again, the return of Etihad Enterprise Class rewards and doubtlessly deeper companion stock may very well be a silver lining.
These updates will take impact on March 25, 2025, so when you’ve got Aeroplan factors to burn, now may be the time to lock in flights underneath the prevailing system.
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