August 12, 2020 - Air Canada's Revamped Aeroplan

Air Canada has announced its revamped new loyalty program and redemption rates. The biggest improvement is the incredibly big surcharge on Air Canada (less so for its Star Alliance partners) flight rewards will now be removed. The offset is varying "market" redemption rates, which looks like an extension of its market fare rewards that were introduced in the last program revamp.

Historically, Air Canada had been an awful choice to redeem short haul, even though its cheapest North America rate was only 7,500 miles one-way. A long weekend from Toronto to New York seemed a steal until the engine spits out taxes, fees, and surcharges of almost CAD $100 with the carrier surcharge accounting for about a third of that. Montreal was not much better, with over $80 in extra costs, half of which being the carrier surcharge. Granted, taxes out of Toronto Pearson are atrocious, but these add-on charges make redeeming not a great value for points and even flying as an alternative uneconomical.

This post focuses on the redemption side of the new program. Using the Points Predictor Tool on their website, I extracted the key redemption possibilities primarily from an Asia-based member's perspective, then compared the lowest new rate in the bucket for Economy to the current rate. Granted, the assumption that the lowest rate in the bucket being available is highly questionable, but the conclusion is you will be worse off redeeming transpacific long-haul, so better start clearing out your stash of Aeroplan miles before November 8.

For Hong Kong-based members, the improvements are for medium-range destinations. Tokyo and Seoul are now 12,500 miles one-way, although still more expensive than the 10,000 miles before the last devaluation years ago and still above Asia Miles' rates. North America short-haul will also get cheaper, and with so many flights out of Toronto to New York and Chicago, hope the "market" rates won't get too crazy.

Transcontinental Long-Haul
Routing
Economy Class Before
Air Canada After
Partner Airlines After
Conclusion
HKG-YYZ/JFK
37,500
50,000-90,000
60,000
Major worse off
HKG-YVR/SFO/LAX
NRT-YYZ
37,500
45,000-80,000
50,000
Worse off
NRT-YVR
37,500
35,000-65,000
35,000
Minimal change
HKG-LHR/FRA/KEF
40,000
N/A
50,000
Worse off

Intra-Asia
Routing
Economy Class Before
Air Canada After
Partner Airlines After
Conclusion
HKG-TPE
20,000
N/A
8,000
Major improvement
HKG-NRT/ICN/SIN
20,000
N/A
12,500
Major improvement
HKG-CTS
20,000
N/A
25,000
Worse off

For North America Members
Routing
Economy Class Before
Air Canada After
Partner Airlines After
Conclusion
YYZ-LGA/BOS/ORD
7,500
6,000-10,000
6,000
Improvement
YYZ-YVR/SFO/LAX
12,500
12,500-17,500
12,500
No change
YYZ-MEX/CUN
20,000
12,500-17,500
12,500
Major improvement
YYZ-LHR/CDG/FRA
30,000
35,000-60,000
35,000
Worse off
YYZ-ZRH/FCO
30,000
40,000-70,000
40,000
Major worse off
YYZ-PRG/WAW
37,500
40,000-70,000
40,000
Worse off
YYZ-BOG
25,000
30,000-60,000
30,000
Worse off

I am skeptical the new Aeroplan will be generous in releasing its cheapest redemptions after the program changes in November. The new redemption buckets have a huge range, and I suspect a free ticket going forward will cost more to offset the surcharges that are now included. As with the current Aeroplan, look for partner awards which will have a set charge and probably would have less surcharge and tax.

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