Contrary to what many of us hoped, 2021 wasn’t exactly the golden year of traveling. Though we weren’t as “land locked” and “locked down” as 2020, certain travel restrictions obstructed plans to travel out of country, with major climate events in Canada disrupting national travel.
Fortunately, Aeroplan recognizes the effects of COVID-19 on their rewards program. As Canada continues to battle new variants of COVID, most recently Omicron, Aeroplan has made adjustments to help its members keep their rewards. Here are just five changes Aeroplan members should be aware of.
1. Extension of your Elite Status
Qualifying for an Elite Status on Aeroplan isn’t easy. Even for the bottom tier (25K status, or “Everyday Status Qualification”), you need to spend at least $3,000 on Air Canada or Star Alliance flights per year, along with traveling 25,000 qualifying miles or taking 25 individual flights or stopovers.
That’s a lot of flying. And, if you were stranded at home in 2021, you might have found it impossible to meet those requirements.
Aeroplan understands this. So, it’s extending your current Elite Status (whatever that is) through the end of 2022. That means, if you currently hold Aeroplan’s 25K status, you’ll continue to hold it through 2022, even if you didn’t meet the requirements in 2021.
But who knows? Maybe, instead of feeling stranded in 2021, you actually flew more. In that case, you might be due for a status upgrade. Aeroplan will honour this upgrade, even while it freezes the statuses of those who didn’t fly frequently.
2. Aeroplan points won’t expire
For those Aeroplan members with expiring points, this is a sigh of relief. If your points will expire between now and September 29, 2022, Aeroplan will pause their expiry. After September 29, Aeroplan will resume its expiration policy — at least for now.
If more variants upset travel, I wouldn’t be surprised if the company extends this until the end of the year. But, for now, try to use your expired Aeroplan points before they really expire on September 29.
3. Extension of Priority Reward vouchers
Like the extension of your flyer status, any unused Priority Rewards vouchers from 2021 will extend until the end of December 2022. By now, you should see these 2021 vouchers in your account.
4. Change your flights for free (until January 31)
For those who bought tickets last year or this year, you can change your flights with no additional charges. Aeroplan will extend this fee waiver until January 31, 2022, after which you will pay a fee to change your flight.
After February 1, 2022, you can still make changes. But it won’t be free. Additionally, if your new flight is more expensive, you’ll pay the difference (for cheaper flights, you’ll get a “partial refund”).
5. Updated cancellation policy
Finally, those who booked flights before September 30, 2021, can cancel anytime at no additional charge. Any flights booked after October 1, 2021, however, will be subject to a cancellation fee.
Is 2022 a good year to be an Aeroplan member?
Well, it’s hard to say. Surely, with these changes, you won’t suffer losing points or vouchers due to your inactivity. That said, if you’re not flying frequently, if you’re still accumulating and hoarding Aeroplan points, you might be missing out on valuable rewards elsewhere.
Like earning cash back on groceries. Or gas. Or other major expenses that have been hurt by inflation. If you don’t have a cash-back or reward card that’s helping you take advantage of high inflation, now might be the right time to look at Canada’s best rewards and cash-back credit cards.
