Good news for Canadian frequent flyers this morning, as Air Canada announces that Aeroplan Elite members will have their status automatically extended until the end of 2022. They’ve also added new a rollover bonus for anyone who’s been flying a lot in 2021, but more on that further down.
In short, anyone currently holding Aeroplan Elite Status will see it extended at the same level, pretty much as if you had requalified normally; you’ll choose Select Benefits and receive a new set of eUpgrade credits again in early 2022.
Any Priority Rewards earned in 2020 will be extended by a year, remaining valid until the end of October 2022. This is a huge bonus for anyone waiting for the perfect time to use the “Latitude Trick” for a huge discount on long-haul travel.
Elite Status Qualification Jumpstart for 2022
I was a bit surprised to read this, but it’s smart marketing: anyone who flew enough in 2021 to qualify for at least the entry-level 25K status (or higher), will see their 2021 totals rolled forward into their 2022 qualifying totals.
To hit 25K, you’ll need either 25,000 Status Qualifying Miles or 25 Status Qualifying Segments, plus $3,000 CAD in Status Qualifying Dollars (qualifying spend) or $1,500 CAD for non-Canadian residents. If you do, then on January 1 of 2022, you’d already be halfway towards qualifying for 50K status and the accompanying Star Alliance Gold. However, anyone who doesn’t reach at least the qualification level for 25K, won’t roll anything forward to 2022.
To be clear, Air Canada offers the following example:
“Based on your 2021 flight activities, if you earn 26,000 SQM, 15 SQS, and 3,500 SQD, you’ll have met the qualification requirement for Aeroplan 25K, and therefore all 26,000 SQM, 15 SQS, and 3,500 SQD will be added to your qualification balance in 2022.”
I’m a 75K member, who qualifies primarily on business travel that’s been reduced to 0% since the start of the pandemic, and won’t even begin to recover until at least September this year. Based on my current calendar, I’m likely to reach December just below the threshold for this offer, so the incentive to do an end-of-year mileage run will be pretty strong.
A Huge Bonus For Aeroplan Premium-Credit-Card Holders
The announcement notes “this special grant will be incremental to Rollover Status Qualifying Miles” normally offered to any Elite member holding a premium Aeroplan-branded credit card.
In a normal year, any qualifying AQM/S/D you earn *above* your current status level would roll forward into the next qualifying year. So, a 50K member earning 60,000 SQM would roll forward 10,000 SQM into the following year.
Air Canada confirmed to me this morning that any rollover miles earned this way from 2021 flights will *stack* with the 2022 status extension.
So, in the example above, a 50K member earning 60,000 AQM, 10 SQS and 6,500 SQD in 2021, would roll over all three numbers under the newly-announced status extension, but they would *also* get the 10,000-SQM rollover granted by their premium credit card, so they'd be starting off 2022 with 70,000 AQM, 10 SQS and 6,500 towards qualifying for status in 2023.
This is a pretty big gift from Aeroplan to its high-spending credit card members, and the way it's set up suggests to me that they still think people will need incentives to get back in the air in 2022.
Air Canada is publishing details and ongoing updates at: