Air Canada’s frequent flyer program, Aeroplan, has announced some changes to their award chart that will take effect on December 15, 2015. Some award redemptions originating outside of the U.S. and Canada are decreasing. In addition, one-way redemptions on award originating outside of the U.S. and Canada will be allowed in these regions once the changes set in. In other words, it’s not all bad.
However, what affects most of us are awards originating in the U.S. and Canada, so I’m going to focus on that region. A total of eight award types are increasing in the number of miles required:
Aeroplan Economy Class Changes
- To Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific: From 80,000 to 90,000 Aeroplan miles
Aeroplan Business Class Changes
- US & Canada Short Haul: 25,000 to 30,000 miles
- US to Europe 1: 90,000 to 110,000 miles
- To Europe 2: 105,000 to 115,000 miles
- To Southern South America: 95,000 to 110,000 miles
Aeroplan First Class Changes
- US to Europe 1: 125,000 to 140,000 miles
- To Europe 2: 145,000 to 160,000 miles
- To Southern South America: 135,000 to 140,000 miles
So how do these new redemption rates stack up against other frequent flyer programs? Below is a table comparing round-trip redemption requirements between the major reward programs.
It’s especially useful to compare Aeroplan rates with Lifemiles, MileagePlus, and Krisflyer since these programs are members of the Star Alliance.
| Air Canada Aeroplan | American AAdvantage | Avianca Lifemiles | Singapore Krisflyer | United MileagePlus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy Class | |||||
| Australia, New Zealand, & South Pacific | 90,000 | 75,000 | 80,000 | 110,000 | 80,000 70,000 out of Hawaii |
| Business Class | |||||
| US & Canada (short-haul) | 30,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 40,000 60,000 out of Hawaii | 50,000 80,000 - 100,000 out of Hawaii |
| Europe 1 | 110,000 | 100,000 | 126,000 | 130,000 140,000 out of Hawaii | 115,000 - 140,000 130,000 - 150,000 out of Hawaii |
| Europe 2 | 115,000 | 100,000 | 126,000 | 130,000 140,000 out of Hawaii | 115,000 - 140,000 130,000 - 150,000 out of Hawaii |
| Southern South America | 110,000 | 100,000 | 120,000 | 100,000 80,000 out of Hawaii | 110,000 120,000 out of Hawaii |
| First Class | |||||
| Europe 1 | 140,000 | 125,000 | 174,000 | 160,000 165,000 out of Hawaii | 160,000 - 220,000 170,000 - 240,000 out of Hawaii |
| Europe 2 | 160,000 | 125,000 | 174,000 | 160,000 165,000 out of Hawaii | 160,000 - 220,000 170,000 - 240,000 out of Hawaii |
| Southern South America | 140,000 | 125,000 | 140,000 | 140,000 110,000 out of Hawaii | 140,000 150,000 out of Hawaii |
When it comes to economy class award redemptions to Australia, AAdvantage has the lowest rates at 75,000 miles round-trip. However, keep in mind that award space is much more sparse on American than it is within the Star Alliance.
On the same note, American Airlines offers the lowest business class award redemption rates to Europe, but with limited partnerships it’s more difficult to get to Europe on an AAdvantage saver award or without incurring fuel surcharges.
Overall, the new Aeroplan redemption rates are pretty much on par with those of United MileagePlus. The down side is that Aeroplan awards carry higher taxes and fees on certain Star Alliance partners than United MileagePlus. This used to balance out with lower award redemption rates. But now Aeroplan has mostly the same rates as MileagePlus on the routes listed above.
Unless American Express runs an especially generous promotion on Membership Rewards-to-Aeroplan transfers or you get in on a massive credit card sign-up bonus, Aeroplan redemptions for Star Alliance awards between the U.S. and most of the above-listed destinations aren’t going to be such a good value anymore.
Final Thoughts
While devaluations are never good, at least the United MileagePlus devaluation of 2014 has softened the blow for this one (it also may have caused it, but that’s a whole other blog post). It helps that over 70 different award redemptions are decreasing. These changes apply to award redemption rates outside of the U.S. and Canada, but they may still provide good value for connecting flights if you’re traveling to multiple regions.
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