What Is Frequent Flyer Number Air Canada

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In November 2020, Air Canada completely overhauled its Aeroplan mileage and elite status program. In doing so, Air Canada killed off old award chart sweet spots while creating new ones. Aeroplan removed massive carrier-imposed surcharges from some partner awards but added a pesky partner award fee to all partner awards. There are a lot of details of the new program to cover, so let's dive right in.

Why Air Canada Launched a New Aeroplan Program

That's a long, complicated story. Air Canada began the process of spinning off its mileage program in 2002, leveraging it for much-needed cash during the post-9/11 downturn. The Aeroplan mileage program operated as a separate entity from late 2020.

In 2017, contract renewal negotiations broke down between Air Canada and Aeroplan. In response, Air Canada announced that it would end its relationship with Aeroplan and would launch a new in-house loyalty program in 2020. That announcement caused the stock of the parent company of Aeroplan to crash. Shortly later, Air Canada launched a bid to buy Aeroplan back.

After a dramatic back-and-forth, Air Canada completed its acquisition of Aeroplan in 2019. Despite the acquisition, Air Canada stuck to its commitment to launching a new loyalty program in 2020. The new Aeroplan program launched on November 8, 2020, with Aeroplan miles transferring 1-to-1 to the new program's points.

Earning Aeroplan Points

Currently, Aeroplan points are earned based on the flight miles and booking class for a particular flight. That's regardless of if the flight is operated by Air Canada or a partner. However, that's going to change "later in 2021."

Earn Aeroplan Points on Air Canada Flights

Aeroplan currently awards points based on the flight distance, booking class of the ticket, and—in some cases—even the destination of the flight. This is the same as before the new Aeroplan program launched. Points are earned according to this chart.

How You'll Earn Points Starting Later in 2021

On an unknown date "later in 2021," Aeroplan will switch from a distance-based program to a spend-based earning program for Air Canada flights. That means you'll earn Aeroplan points by multiplying the flight's airfare by an earning rate. That rate is based on the fare type and elite status of the traveler.

Eligible spending for the sake of earning Aeroplan points includes the base airfare and any carrier-imposed surcharges. Alternatively, you can take the total cost of the flight and subtract government-imposed taxes, fees and other third-party charges. Either way, make sure that you're calculating the spending amount using Canadian dollars.

General Aeroplan members will earn 2 Aeroplan points per Canadian dollar for basic economy flights. All other fare types—from standard economy to business class—will earn 3 Aeroplan points per Canadian dollar.

The switch to a revenue-based program will have winners and losers. High spenders will be rewarded with more earnings, regardless of which cabin they fly. However, flyers will earn fewer points on cheap, long-haul flights on Air Canada.

Interestingly, some budget travelers may come out ahead in the switch. Formerly, basic economy flights didn't earn Aeroplan miles. That changed on August 11, 2020, when Aeroplan started allowing basic economy flights to accrue miles at a rate starting at just 10% of the flight miles. Basic economy fares will continue to earn points after the switch to a revenue-based program.

Bonus Points for Air Canada Elites

Currently, Air Canada Altitude elite members must use a Select Privilege to earn bonus miles from flying. Even then, the bonus only applies to eligible flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Express, Air Canada Rouge, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and United.

Altitude members that choose this Select Privilege will earn the following bonuses on eligible flights:

Bonus Points for Elites Starting Later in 2021

"Beginning later in 2021," Aeroplan is eliminating this opt-in bonus system and offering all Aeroplan elite members an elite bonus on top of the base earning rate when flying on Air Canada.

That means that the earning rate for Air Canada flights will vary from 2 Aeroplan points per Canadian dollar for a general member flying in basic economy to 7 Aeroplan points per Canadian dollar for Super Elite members flying on a non-Basic fare.

Earn Aeroplan Points on Partner Flights

Currently, Aeroplan members earn points based on the distance and the fare class on partner flights. And each partner airline has a different earning chart. You can find these earning charts on Aeroplan's website.

For example, here's the current earning chart for United flights credited to Aeroplan:

If you're booking a cheap United flight, it's a good rule of thumb that you'll earn 25% of the flight distance as Aeroplan points. For example, a round-trip nonstop flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Newark (EWR) covers 5,131 miles in distance. So, you'll earn around 1,283 Aeroplan points if you booked a basic economy or cheap economy ticket. That's not a lot of points.

As with many distance-based partner award charts, the sweet spot is premium economy. You'll earn Aeroplan points based on 100% to 125% of flight miles for tickets booked in United premium economy. A round-trip nonstop flight from Newark (EWR) to Paris (CDG) is 7,298 miles in distance. So, you'd earn at least 7,298 points by crediting these flights to Aeroplan.

Earn Aeroplan Points Through Credit Cards

Currently, only Canadians can sign up for Aeroplan-branded credit cards. However, that's changing soon with Aeroplan's pending launch of a Chase co-branded credit card for the U.S. market in late 2021.

Until then, Americans can still easily generate Aeroplan points for the great redemptions we cover below. That's because Aeroplan partners with four major U.S. transferrable point programs:

• American Express Membership Rewards (1:1 transfer ratio)
• Capital One Miles (4:3 transfer ratio)
• Chase Ultimate Rewards (1:1 transfer ratio—new as of August 3, 2021)
• Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 transfer ratio with a 5,000-point bonus for transferring 60,000 Marriott points)

That means there are plenty of ways to earn Aeroplan points through U.S.-based credit cards. For example, The Platinum Card® from American Express (Terms apply. See rates and fees) offers the following rewards rates: 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 per calendar year, 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel and 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases. This means you can effectively earn 5 Aeroplan points per dollar when you leverage the 5 points per dollar category. Or, use the Chase Sapphire Reserve® which offers the following rewards: 5 points per dollar on air travel and 10 points per dollar on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3 points per dollar on other travel and dining and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. Those rewards can be transferred to Aeroplan points at a 1:1 ratio.

Alternatively, you can earn at least 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on all purchases through the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. That's because the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card earns 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and an unlimited 2 miles per dollar spent on other purchases and points transfer to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio.

Or, you can effectively earn 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent at Marriott hotels and 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent on purchases at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines using the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card (Terms Apply). The card offers the following rewards: 6 Marriott Bonvoy points for each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy™ program, 3 points per dollar at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines and 2 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases. And you can boost this rate by transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to Aeroplan points in increments of 60,000 points to earn 5,000 bonus points on your transfer.

As mentioned above, U.S. cardholders will soon get an Aeroplan card of their own. Aeroplan is teaming up with Chase to issue a new Aeroplan-branded card in late 2021. You can register now for a waitlist for the Chase Aeroplan Card. By doing so, you can get 10,000 additional bonus points on top of the to-be-announced welcome bonus.

New Aeroplan Credit Card Benefits

As part of the Aeroplan program relaunch, Air Canada rolled out a new suite of personal and business Aeroplan-branded credit cards issued by TD, American Express and CIBC.

Two perks are available to all cardholders:

• Preferred pricing on Air Canada Aeroplan flight awards
• No expiration of Aeroplan points

Mid-tier, grey-colored Aeroplan credit cards offer additional benefits such as:

• Free first checked bag
• Share Air Canada travel benefits with additional cardholders
• Status Qualification Boost—earn elite status credits through credit card spending

In addition to these benefits, top-tier cards offer the ability to spend toward a companion pass, rollover elite earnings, rollover upgrade credits and elite-like benefits including lounge access, priority airport services, priority standby and priority upgrades.

Family Sharing

One of the frustrating aspects of loyalty programs is not being able to earn enough points or miles to be able to make a redemption. If you only travel periodically, you may only have a few miles in your account. Aeroplan is making it easier for families and friends to get enough points for an award with Family Sharing.

Up to eight friends or family members can voluntarily pool their points. Then, the Family Lead will be able to redeem the pool's combined Aeroplan points. Other members can be designated as either a contributor or a contributor and redeemer by the Family Lead. Points will be proportionally deducted from each pool member's points based on how many points they brought into the pool.

Best of all, elite and credit card benefits apply to all members of the pool. That can mean savings on award flights for up to eight passengers from one credit card or elite status member.

To prevent pool-hopping, Aeroplan requires members to remain in a Family Sharing pool for at least three months. You won't be able to join another pool within six months of leaving a pool.

New expiration policy

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Aeroplan changed its points expiration policy. Effective July 20, 2020, Aeroplan miles expire after 18 months of inactivity instead of 12 months. This policy was retained in the new Aeroplan program. Even better, your points never expire if you have an Aeroplan-branded credit card.

Redeeming Aeroplan Points

The most valuable way to redeem airline miles is generally for reward flights. With the new Aeroplan program, you'll have lots of options. Between Air Canada flights and Star Alliance partner flights, Aeroplan boasts that members can redeem points to over 1,300 destinations.

The award pricing to fly to these 1,300+ destinations varies widely—from 6,000 points one-way for short hops in North America up to as much as 350,000 points one-way for Air Canada first-class awards over 11,000 miles in distance.

No Blackout Dates on Air Canada Flights

One nice aspect of the new program is that every available Air Canada seat is available with Aeroplan points. There are no blackout dates or need to figure out different award types.

However, it will pay to be flexible. As you'll see below, Air Canada charges a range of prices for award tickets on its flights. Peak dates are priced on the higher end of the range. But, considering that any available seat on an Air Canada flight is available with points, the maximum rates are actually quite reasonable.

Aeroplan Award Pricing

The new Aeroplan award chart breaks the world into just four "travel zones": North America, South America, Atlantic and Pacific. Atlantic includes Europe, Africa and as far east as India. Meanwhile, the Pacific zone includes much of Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

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The pricing for award flights depends on two factors: the travel zones and the flight distance between the origin and destination—including any stops. Effectively, Aeroplan combined the distance-based award pricing model that some airline loyalty programs use with a zone-based award chart that other types of airline mileage programs employ. The result is that pricing an award requires both an atlas and the Great Circle Mapper, not to mention a stack of time and patience.

To determine how much an award will cost, first check the award chart. Or, you can use the "Points Predictor Tool" to price out a nonstop itinerary. For Air Canada flights, you'll see a range of prices. Award flights on partners have a fixed price.

The new Aeroplan program has some sweet spots, as we cover below. But, it also has some serious downsides. For example, a flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to New Delhi (DEL)—which is considered part of the Atlantic zone—starts at 70,000 in economy, 85,000 in premium economy, 100,000 in business class and 130,000 in First Class.

Several other loyalty programs charge less than 35,000 miles in economy for this route. American Airlines AAdvantage charges 40,000 miles for economy and 70,000 miles in business class between the U.S. and Indian Subcontinent. Unfortunately it seems the new Aeroplan program isn't going to be competitive on these longer routes.

If you aren't able to find award availability in a premium cabin for all legs of your trip, mixed cabin awards are available. However, award pricing is based on the highest class of service. So make sure to check the flight details carefully before booking.

Aeroplan Redemption Partners

Speaking of Aeroplan partners, you can redeem your Aeroplan points on Air Canada and 36 partner airlines. This includes all 26 Star Alliance member airlines plus 1 Star Alliance connecting partner:

• Air Canada
• Aegean Airlines
• Air China
• Air India
• Air New Zealand
• ANA – All Nippon Airways
• Asiana Airlines
• Austrian Airlines
• Avianca
• Brussels Airlines
• Copa Airlines
• Croatia Airlines
• EGYPTAIR
• Ethoipian Airlines
• EVA Air
• Juneyao Airlines (connecting partner)
• LOT Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Scandinavian Airlines
• Shenzhen Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways
• Swiss
• TAP Portugal
• Thai Airways
• Turkish Airlines
• United Airlines

In addition, you can redeem your Aeroplan points on 10 non-alliance partners:

• Air Creebec
• Air Serbia
• Azul Airlines
• Calm Air
• Canada North
• Etihad Airways
• Eurowings
• GOL Airlines
• Gulf Air
• Olympic Air
• Vistara

The redemption rates are the same for all of these partners in the new Aeroplan program. So, you don't need to refer to a different award chart for each. And, although there's a range of award rates for Air Canada-operated flights, the award rate is fixed for partners.

You can find the full Aeroplan award chart here (caution: PDF link). Alternatively, you can use the Aeroplan Predictable Pricing tool to estimate how much a particular flight will cost.

However, there's one noteworthy aspect that's missing from the new Aeroplan program. Aeroplan members still can't book premium economy awards on partners. Aeroplan premium economy awards are only available on flights operated by Air Canada.

New Fees on Award Bookings

The new Aeroplan program added a couple of new fees for booking award flights. The most noteworthy addition is a new C$39 fee ($31) for flight awards that include flights operated on partner airlines. That's going to cut into the value members can get from partner award flights, particularly on short-haul and economy class flights.

If you book flights online, there's no (additional) booking fee. However, there's a C$30 ($24) fee for booking through a call center. And this fee will not be waived for awards that cannot be booked online. That's bad news for those that want to piece together complex itineraries with phone agents or book a stopover award.

Fees for Changing or Canceling Awards

Awards can be changed or canceled up to two hours until departure. The fee depends on whether you're making a change or canceling the flight and how long before departure you're making a change. However, Aeroplan allows members 24 hours after booking to cancel an award reservation with no fee.

For changes to awards more than 60 days until travel, you'll pay C$75 ($60) for Standard awards, C$25 ($20) for Flexible economy awards. There's no fee to change Flexible awards in premium cabins or on Latitude tickets.

To cancel and refund an award ticket, you'll generally need to pay C$150 ($119) for cancellations completed on Air Canada's website. Flex economy awards are subject to a reduced C$75 ($60) cancellation fee. If you cancel via the Contact Center, you'll need to pay C$175 ($139) to cancel and refund many award tickets, reduced to C$125 ($99) for Flexible economy awards. There's no fee to cancel Flex awards in premium cabins or on Latitude tickets.

There is a reduced C$100 ($80) fee for changing or canceling an Aeroplan award booked before November 8, 2020. These changes must be made over the phone and changes will be subject to the new pricing.

No More Fuel Surcharges

One of the best changes to the Aeroplan program is the elimination of carrier-imposed surcharges on awards.

Aeroplan's European-based Star Alliance partners—like Lufthansa—are infamous for charging hefty surcharges on award flights. Under the old program, the taxes and fees on a Lufthansa business class award could be a whopping C$1,101 (around $876).

Of this total, C$1,088.07 (or about $865) is the carrier-imposed surcharge:

Under the new program, that carrier-imposed fee is no longer charged to award travelers. That drops the out-of-pocket cost down to around $10—at least before the new C$39 ($31) partner booking fee. That's a net decrease of around $800 in out-of-pocket costs.

Although some award prices are increasing, that's not the case on all routes. For this particular award, the award rate is still just 70,000 points:

New Stopover Policy

One of the greatest ways to see more than one destination on a trip is by using a stopover. Some award programs allow you to build in an extended stay in a connection city, and Aeroplan continues to be one of those programs.

For just 5,000 Aeroplan points, you can add a stopover to your Aeroplan award. That can let you spend a few days in Brussels before continuing to Paris, or you can see Zurich on your way back home from Italy. Unfortunately, no stopovers are allowed within Canada or the United States, and you need to call Aeroplan to book awards with stopovers.

Aeroplan Sweet Spots

With Aeroplan's new zone- and distance-based award chart, you're going to find the best sweet spots on short routes. That can be inside of a single region or short routes from one region to another.

For example, flights within North America that are under 500 miles cost just 6,000 points each way. That might not sound like a lot, but it covers a lot of potential routes.

That means the short hop between New York LaGuardia (LGA) and Toronto (YYZ)—one of the busiest international airline routes in the world—costs as few as 6,000 points in economy or 15,000 points in business class.

Flights within North America between 501 and 1,500 miles cost just 10,000 Aeroplan points in economy or 20,000 points in business class. That's long enough to cover award flights from Chicago (ORD), Washington DC (IAD) or Houston (IAH) to Cancun (CUN).

The next distance band covers award flights up to 2,750 miles in distance. That means you can fly between the U.S. west coast and Hawaii on United for as few as 12,500 points each way in economy. Or, upgrade to business class for just 25,000 points each way.

If you want to head overseas, you can fly from the U.S. east coast to Europe for as few as 60,000 points in business class. You'll need to keep your flight distance under 4,000 miles to get this rate.

For flights across the Pacific, you can book economy flights for as few as 35,000 points in economy or 55,000 points in business class if you keep the route under 5,000 miles in distance. That covers Air Canada flights from Seattle (SEA) or Vancouver (YVR) to Tokyo (NRT) or Osaka (KIX).

Aeroplan Elite Status

The new Aeroplan Elite Status program is similar to the previousAir Canada Altitude program. However, Aeroplan added a few additional perks to spice up the program. Let's recap how you earn Aeroplan elite status and some of the new benefits.

Earning Elite Status

There are five different elite levels in the new Aeroplan program. To earn Aeroplan elite status, members need to meet a spending requirement and either the mileage or segment requirement.

Non-Canadian Aeroplan members only need to earn half of the standard Status Qualifying Dollars (SQD) requirements.

If you aren't able to fly enough to reach these thresholds, you can still earn elite status through Everyday Status Qualification. By earning at least 100,000 points through credit card spending, flying partner airlines or earning points through other partners, members earn Aeroplan 25K elite status.

You can also use an Aeroplan credit card to help you toward earning and maintaining elite status. Certain cardholders can earn Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) and Status Qualifying Segments (SQS) by spending on an eligible credit card. And, top-end cardholders can rollover SQM and eUpgrade credits to the next year.

Earn Discounted Awards via Priority Rewards

Aeroplan elite status members can earn discounted awards called Priority Rewards. These vouchers can be redeemed to slash the price of an award by 50%—even on partners. You'll need to redeem one voucher per traveler.

However, there are region and cabin restrictions based on your elite status level:

• 25K and 35K elites can only redeem Priority Rewards for economy awards within the U.S. and Canada
• 50K elites will be able to redeem vouchers for awards within North America, up to premium economy
• 75K elites can redeem Priority Rewards worldwide in either economy or premium economy
• Super Elites can redeem vouchers worldwide up to Signature / Business Class.

Elites earn a Priority Reward voucher at set Status Qualifying Dollar (SQD) levels: 4,000 SQD; 7,000 SQD; 10,000 SQD and then every 5,000 SQD up to 50,000 SQD. That means that a member can earn up to 11 Priority Rewards vouchers per year. Vouchers are good for one year from the date earned.

On November 8, 2020, Air Canada Elites received Priority Reward vouchers based on their existing status:

• 35K: 1 voucher
• 50K: 2 vouchers
• 75K: 3 vouchers
• Super Elites: 4 vouchers

Gift Your Status with Status Pass

Air Canada Altitude elite members have the opportunity to gift elite status benefits through Status Pass. This Status Pass lets a friend, family member or colleague experience the benefits of Aeroplan Elite Status for a trip.

Benefits include priority check-in, up to three free checked bags per passenger, lounge access and priority security, boarding and airport standby. Even better, these benefits extend to up to nine passengers on the same reservation. However, Status Pass does not grant elite benefits when flying on a partner airline.

To apply a Status Pass to a reservation, a reservation needs to have at least one flight operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge or Air Canada Express. Benefits apply to all travelers on the reservation and in all directions of travel. Elite members can revoke a Status Pass up to six hours prior to travel. If you do so, the Status Pass will automatically return to your account for future trips.

Existing 50K, 75K and Super Elite members should have received a bonus Status Pass when the program is launched in March 2021. Going forward, 50K, 75K and Super Elite members can use their Select Benefits to get additional Status Passes.

Alternative Uses of Aeroplan Points

In addition to using points for reward flights, Aeroplan members have the opportunity to redeem points for travel extras. Members can redeem as few as 850 points for in-flight Wi-Fi. And Aeroplan members can use their points to bid for upgrades on Air Canada flights.

Aeroplan members also have the opportunity to redeem points for hotels, car rentals and Air Canada Vacations packages.

Members can also donate their Aeroplan points to charity or transfer points to another Aeroplan member.

Lap Infant Fees

The cost of a lap infant varies wildly between mileage programs. Some programs charge as few as 1,000 miles for a lap infant while others charge up to 25% of an adult revenue ticket. If you're flying in a premium cabin, that can be extraordinarily expensive.

Aeroplan has always been one of the better options for booking award flights when traveling with a child under 2 years old. But, with the new program it's even better.

The new Aeroplan program charges no more than C$25 ($20) or 2,500 Aeroplan points for a lap infant. Even better, there's no cost for flights within Canada or between Canada and the U.S. That's the case no matter which cabin of service you're flying.

Bottom Line

As you've seen, there's a lot to learn about the new Aeroplan program. And there's a lot to like about the program for all types of travelers—from discounted awards for credit cardholders and elites to reasonable lap infant fees. The new C$39 ($31) partner award booking fee is a pesky addition. However, this additional fee is going to be more than offset on most awards thanks to Aeroplan slashing carrier-imposed surcharges on partner awards.

Overall, the new Aeroplan program is worth a look. That's especially true if you have a stash of Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards or Marriott Bonvoy points. Whether you're looking to fly within North America or overseas, it's worth comparing the miles and cash cost of awards booked through both Aeroplan against other programs.

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Aeroplan Capital One

To view rates and fees of Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, please visit this page .

What Is Frequent Flyer Number Air Canada

Source: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-rewards/air-canada-aeroplan/

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