About Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada is a long-established airline whose history dates back to 1937, when it was founded under the name Trans-Canada Air Lines. Sixty years later, Air Canada became one of the five founding members. Today, this Montreal-based airline and its subsidiaries operate a fleet of more than 400 aircraft, serving more than 200 destinations across six continents. The airline has hubs in Toronto (YYZ), Vancouver (YVR), Montreal (YUL), and Calgary (YYC), and operates more than 1,500 scheduled flights every day.

Air Canada's points program is called Aeroplan. Points can be redeemed for award tickets, and with a credit card they can also be converted to cash. In the past, Aeroplan was not run by Air Canada itself, but by a third-party company called Aimia (which, in fact, also came up with the name). Recently, Air Canada took back control of the points program, and it will now be run by Air Canada itself. For convenience, this article may refer to Aeroplan points, AC points, or Air Canada points—they are all the same thing.

Air Canada is also a member of Star Alliance, so its points can be used to book Star Alliance flights. UA, Air China, ANA, and the like are all possible. Tickets can all be issued directly online.

In addition to Star Alliance, AC also has some non-alliance partners whose award tickets can be booked with points as well. Examples include Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Virgin Australia, FlyDubai, and others.

Elite Status

【Updated Aug. 2025】Air Canada will change the way Aeroplan points are earned and the way Aeroplan elite status is obtained, making everything spending-based. It will introduce “Status Qualifying Credits” (SQC for short). The changes take effect on January 1, 2026, as follows:

  1. Earn points based on spending: Members will earn at least 1 Aeroplan point for every US$1 spent on eligible Air Canada flights (base fare and carrier surcharges, excluding applicable taxes and third-party fees). For example: spending US$427 on base fare and carrier surcharges (excluding applicable taxes and third-party fees) would earn 427 Aeroplan points.
  2. Frequent points bonuses: Frequent points bonus promotions will be offered, helping members earn rewards faster.
  3. Aeroplan elite members earn more on Air Canada flights: Depending on their status at the time of travel, Aeroplan elite members can earn 2x to 6x Aeroplan points on eligible Air Canada flights for every US$1 spent.
  4. Earn elite status through SQC: Based on fare type, eligible Air Canada fares (base fare and carrier surcharges, excluding applicable taxes and third-party fees) can earn up to 4 SQC for every US$1 spent; in addition, eligible Aeroplan credit card spending can earn up to 25,000 SQC, and eligible partner activity can earn an additional up to 25,000 SQC.

In addition to this new SQC-based path, Aeroplan elite members will have more ways to unlock benefits and make the most of their status:

  • Core benefits: These will continue to be offered based on status level, including free checked bags, priority airport services, and more.
  • Milestone benefits: These unlock every 10,000 SQC and offer perks such as extra SQC, status experience vouchers, and more.
  • 10% head start: Starting in 2027, primary cardholders of eligible premium Aeroplan credit cards will be able to receive an additional 10% SQC bonus based on the SQC they earned in the previous year.

Collecting Aeroplan Points

There are quite a few ways to earn Aeroplan points. In addition to the usual flights, you can also transfer points from AMEX, Chase, and Bilt, which is pretty convenient. For flights, I still recommend that beginners credit their miles to UA to keep things a bit more consistent. If you are more familiar with miles, you can use where to credit to decide. So we won't go into the flight-earning side here. Just know that when you fly Air Canada, earning points is no longer based on distance flown, but on how much you spend, and earnings also depend on your status level and fare class.

Credit Cards

For U.S. users, Air Canada and Chase have a co-branded credit card that offers a solid welcome bonus. Spending US$15,000 per year can maintain Aeroplan 25K status; spending US$50,000 per year can earn a one-level status boost, up to Air Canada 35,000 status. Cardholders can also use the Air Canada points Pay Yourself feature to offset travel purchases on their credit card at a value of 1.25 cents per point. And transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards to Aeroplan points comes with an extra 10% bonus. If you like Air Canada points and Air Canada, it may be worth getting one.

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Full review

Chase Aeroplan Air Canada Co-Branded Credit Card

3x on groceries, dining, and airfare!

  • Welcome bonus: 75,000 miles (spend $4,000 in 3 months) + 25,000 (spend $20,000 in 12 months)
  • Rewards: 3x on groceries, dining, and Air Canada website ticket purchases, 1x on all other purchases
  • Redemption: Points can be redeemed for domestic and international flights on Air Canada and other Star Alliance member airlines, with a value of 1.6 cent/point
  • Annual fee: $95
  • Apply now>>

Points Transfers

Aeroplan has many partners. Banks including AMEX, Chase, Capital One, and Bilt all transfer at a 1:1 ratio and the transfers are instant, so there is usually no need to stockpile AC points. Beyond bank partners, Marriott is the only hotel program that is still somewhat worth transferring at a 3:1 ratio, which is the standard ratio for transferring to airline miles; but for AC, since points come from so many sources, it is not really worth it. Alaska is still better. The other partners are not worth it and can be ignored.

Family Pool

Two years ago, Air Canada's Family Pool feature was suspended for new member additions, though existing users who had already added members could continue using it normally. Recently, this feature has finally reopened! Everyone can now add new people to a Family Pool and share points together. However, Air Canada has added restrictions, and adding a new member now requires identity verification.

The identity verification process is fairly strict. There are four ways to verify: having flown twice within the past five years, having an Air Canada co-branded card, verifying your ID at the airport, or completing third-party online verification (which requires things like photos while holding your ID).
Marriott

This is mainly to prevent people from creating dummy accounts or using other people's accounts to pool points, and then, after others have flown, combining several similar accounts to book award tickets in a Pinduoduo-style setup. Adding verification raises the bar for joining Air Canada Family Pool, and should keep some people out.

Air Canada will allow up to 8 households to form a group. All points in the group will be pooled together, and points can be used by any member of the group. In addition, if one person has Air Canada elite status or holds an Air Canada co-branded credit card, the others can also receive preferred pricing benefits and redeem flights for fewer points.

A few rules to note:

  • The account must be at least 6 months old before it can join a family account. After leaving one, you must wait another 6 months before joining a new one
  • After joining a family account, you must stay for at least 3 months
  • To remove a member, you need to call Aeroplan; the family head can remove other members

If your family flies Star Alliance, you can earn points into Aeroplan and then use them together through family pool.

Redeeming Air Canada Aeroplan miles

Aeroplan miles are also easy to use, and you can ticket awards online directly. They are usually especially valuable for short-haul and long-haul business and first class. In fact, this program is very similar to UA. Although Air Canada has already moved to dynamic pricing for its own flights, partner airlines still use a fixed chart! Here are a few must-know basics

  • One-way tickets are allowed; round-trip is twice one-way
  • Air Canada's own dynamic pricing: Award tickets on Air Canada flights will use dynamic pricing; in other words, there is no fixed mileage amount for the same route, and the number of miles required will adjust based on the current cash price
  • Partner awards are priced by distance and region (distance based): the miles required will depend on the region and the distance
  • cash+points redemptions are not a good deal; don't use them
  • Stopover fee: 5,000 miles each
  • Infant awards are very friendly. Partner fuel surcharges are fixed at $39

Award chart

Dynamic pricing is likely to be the award pricing model that major airlines will adopt over the next few years, after all because it gives them the most direct control over mileage usage. Right now, Delta and UA both use this pricing model, while most Asian airlines still use the old fixed award charts. Now Aeroplan is also introducing this model

Air Canada's own flights will use a redemption range. Aeroplan says that for its own flights, if you can buy it with cash, you can redeem it with miles. Of course, the miles required may also be very high. Partner airlines are still using a fixed award chart for now, and the miles required will depend on the region and the distance.

  • First, Air Canada divides the world into these regions, and each region has its own award chart
  • Within North America, Air Canada uses the chart below. It is clear that Air Canada will adopt a pricing model based strictly on flight distance. After the distance is determined, Air Canada's own flights will then add an upward-flexing range, which is the so-called price-based pricing. The business-class range can even be as much as twice the minimum. Partner awards are fixed values that sit in the middle of this range.
  • The common North America-China routes will work the same way.
  • For example, on LAX-PVG, about 6,400 miles, the chart calls for 45,000-90,000 in economy (Air Canada), 50,000 (partner); and 110,000-250,000 in business (Air Canada); 110,000 (partner). Compared with the previous partner award chart, partner economy awards increased quite a bit (it used to be 35,000), while business class should be unchanged.

Canada Air also has a separate chart for flights on Emirates and flydubai. Like its own flights, award pricing on Emirates and flydubai is also dynamic.

Unexpectedly, the first devaluation of the new year is AC miles. They announced that starting March 25, 2025, the partner airlines below will, like Air Canada itself, use a dynamic award chart instead of a fixed mileage chart.

  • United
  • Emirates
  • Etihad
  • FlyDubai
  • Regional partners: Calm Air, Canadian North and PAL Airlines

The new chart format below will only show the minimum miles to start, and the median mileage amount. The actual miles required will fluctuate based on the fare at the time and factors like remaining seats. That leaves a lot of room for manipulation; in other words, AC can basically control whatever redemption value it wants your miles to have.

In addition, it is said that AC elite status members and credit card holders will get extra mileage discounts, but details have not been released yet

Aeroplan Elite members and co-brand credit card customers will be eligible for discounts on redemptions which fall under this charge, which is a broadening of the benefit.

How to search for awards

For Air Canada awards, both its own flights and partner airlines can generally be ticketed directly on the website. You can search without logging into an account.

  • Just sort through the results. For international flights, I recommend choosing partner airlines, since they are usually better than Air Canada's dynamic pricing (on this day Air Canada wanted 135,000 miles in economy — highway robbery).
  • Air Canada itself does not have a 30-day calendar view. If you need that, you can use UA to search, lock in the dates, and then go back to AC to ticket it. The flights that UA and AC can see should be exactly the same. You can also use third-party search tools like https://seats.aero/

Fees related to award tickets

Air Canada does a good job here; all fees are listed in the chart. This also makes it clear how flexible BA is with changes, cancellations, and refunds.

Stopover (Stop Over)

Air Canada allows stopovers, but with the following rules:

  • Aeroplan miles are priced per one-way itinerary.
  • One stopover is allowed in each direction.
  • Stopovers are only allowed on Aeroplan awards outside Canada and the U.S.
  • Each stopover costs 5,000 Aeroplan points.
  • Stopovers cannot exceed 45 days.

A maximum of four segments is allowed per itinerary, and stopovers can be booked online directly. But if you need to add a fifth or sixth segment, you need to call Aeroplan to book a complex itinerary.

Best uses for Aeroplan miles

In general, using Aeroplan to book partner business and first class is the best value, such as ANA, Asiana, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, and others, because they have fixed award charts and fixed fuel surcharges. U.S. domestic economy can also be worth considering, since there are many sources and you can save UA miles for international flights.

  • Fly Lufthansa from New York (JFK) to Munich (MUC)
  • Air New Zealand business class from the United States to Auckland (AKL)
  • Oman Air first class or business class from Asia to Europe
  • Swiss business class from Los Angeles (LAX) to Zurich (ZRH)
  • Short-haul domestic U.S. flights, under 500 miles, require 6,000 points

Fuel surcharges

Fuel surcharges have always been one of the more frustrating parts of award tickets. Air Canada says it will "eliminate" Air Canada's own fuel surcharges. Why the quotation marks? Because I think that with dynamic pricing, the fuel surcharge is already baked into the dynamic award price. For example, when we buy a ticket with cash normally, we don't have to pay an extra fuel surcharge or airport fees. For partner airlines, Air Canada uses a flat model, charging a fixed booking fee of $39 per ticket. In addition, this amount can also be redeemed with points. For some partners with high fuel surcharges, such as Air China, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airways, Lufthansa and Thai Airways, this change is still very good. But for UA, which doesn't have much in the way of fees to begin with, it's a little bit of a loss, since it may originally only require $5.6 in airport fees.

Infant tickets

Their award-ticket infant policy is also very good. If you're traveling with an infant under 2, you may want to consider them.

Infants under the age of 2 and not occupying a seat may accompany an adult travelling on a Flight Reward and will require a separate ticket for travel, subject to the below:
  • For travel wholly within Canada, no fare will apply and the infant requires a ticket.
  • For travel between Canada and the United States, no fare will apply and the infant requires a ticket.
  • For all other itineraries, a discounted fare of CAD25 or 2,500 Points will apply per direction of travel and the infant requires a ticket.

Where applicable, taxes, fees and charges will be assessed and must be paid in cash. Only one infant under the age of 2 not occupying a seat is permitted per adult travelling.


If you're adding an infant ticket to an award ticket, there's no fee within Canada or between Canada and the United States. In other cases, it's only 25 Canadian dollars or 2,500 miles, which is a fantastic deal. If you issue the ticket with UA miles, an infant can fly free within the U.S.; for round-trip travel between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, you only need to pay taxes and fees. But for international flights, you have to pay 10% of the full-fare ticket plus taxes and fees. Back to China, even economy can cost a couple hundred dollars, and business class is even shockingly expensive.

Conclusion

Air Canada miles are relatively easy to earn, since you can transfer from MR, UR, and Capital One, and redeem for Star Alliance partners like UA, ANA, Lufthansa, and Air China. It also has Chase's fairly versatile Aeroplan credit card. It's still worth getting to know and using.

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