"Loyalty is a two-way street," said Mark Nasr, Senior Vice President, Products, Marketing, and eCommerce Air Canada, when announcing new changes to the Aeroplan program on March 31. "We understand and appreciate why so many of your travel plans are interrupted this year."
Nasr's statement couldn't be more accurate, with many Canadians grounded from travelling during the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and airlines cutting routes across Canada due to low travel volumes.
Aeroplan continues to adjust to the global pandemic's changing landscape, this year announcing several changes for Aeroplan Elite Status members. These changes aim to help Canadians maintain their status and give them flexibility and certainty during these uncertain times.
Aeroplan Elite Status changes
Aeroplan Elite Status members face a slate of changes aimed at helping them maintain their status even if they haven't been travelling in 2020 or 2021. The first change has the most significant impact: all Aeroplan Elite Status members will automatically have their status extended through to the end of 2022.
On top of that, all unused priority vouchers issued in 2020 will have their validity extended by one full year. That means you'll be able to use your vouchers until October 2022.
Finally, all Aeroplan Elite Status members who earned their Elite Status through 2021 flight activity, whether that be qualifying miles, segments, or dollars earned in 2021, will have those earnings honoured in 2022. This change will help members get ahead in achieving their Elite Status for next year.
Aeroplan changes for all members
Aeroplan Elite Status members aren't the only Aeroplan members to be impacted by recently announced changes. Regular members are now eligible for the following program changes.
First, Aeroplan flight rewards booked through April 2021 for travel up to April 2022 can now be changed or cancelled at any time at no extra cost. If you choose to cancel your travel plans, you'll receive your Aeroplan points refunded back into your account, along with a full refund of any taxes or other fees. This change will go a long way to improving the Aeroplan program's flexibility and should make planning travel much more manageable during these uncertain times.
Second, no Aeroplan points will expire until January 31, 2022. Any points that members currently have with expiry dates from now through January 30, 2022, will have their expiry extended. This expiry date extension is an excellent move to ensure members can use their hard-earned points, as currently, travel is restricted due to the global pandemic.
Travelling in 2021 has not been easy so far, and many Canadians have found that their travel plans have either been wholly sidelined or required substantial revisions. With these recent changes, Aeroplan members now have the flexibility they need to travel when deemed safe and wise. In the meantime, they can continue to accumulate points through their travel rewards credit cards without fearing that they'll never be able to use those points before they expire.
