Air Canada Announces Changes To Aeroplan For 2026 (Spend Based Program)

Air Canada has announced a number of changes to Aeroplan that will begin on January 1, 2026. 

  • Points will be earned based on dollars spent vs distance flown (1 point per $1 spent, excluding taxes fees and third party charges). Increased earning rates for elites (2x-6x depending on status)
  • Introduction Status Qualifying Credits (SQC). Earn up to 4 SQC per dollar spent plus up to 25,000 SQC via spend on Aeroplan credit cards
  • 10% based on previous years SQC as a head start
  • Frequent bonus points offers
    William Charles
  • On August 7, 2025, 10:00
Tags: aeroplan

View Comments (13)

  • Does anyone know why none of the other USA based bloggers have posted about this? VFTW, OMAAT, FM etc usually would at least cover this. Did the banks tell them to NOT post about this, at the risk of losing their affiliate relationship...? I mean, even if Air Canada refused to answer any of their questions, they could still cover this as a news item (sort of like how it's being posted here).

  • Are we talking about USD or CAD? I have an Aeroplan account but never use it. This looks rather daunting for new members to gain status.

  • Update: Air Canada has just announced that this rollout has been delayed, just like one-third of its flights.

    Source: Dude trust me

    • Or cancelled... I booked two flights with them. Both flights were canceled and they rebooked me on Lufthansa Airlines and the other one was on ITA Airlines. I still haven't flown with Air Canada.

  • It would be worth it if Air Canada had a decent credit card in the USA, with a $0 annual fee downgrade option.

  • Air Canada: "If you have a chase reserve just show it to us and we'll give you a buncha points"

    Air Canada the next day: "If you fly economy with us, gross"

    I get why they're doing it, but lmao. Air Canada also kind of sucks as an airline in my personal experience so I'm not sure how viable their pathway is compared to other airlines trying to upsell people.

  • They took the worst parts of each program refresh and added differential earning rates by ticket class. Someone flying regular economy has to spend $25k on flights for Star Alliance Gold… ludicrous

      • I mean, this is their golden goose. Corporate luxury travel and banking. Their golden goose is not actually economy flights.

        • The golden goose is credit card miles and they're devaluing earning and redeeming them so much that travelers are just going to start walking away and the (N. American) airlines will have to try to turn a profit based on their flight product alone.

          • Retail/typical travelers will, elite or high spending ones this seems to really only benefit unless I'm missing something, so that seems to be the strategy.

            Why Air Canada, a relatively non-luxurious airline, is targeting that segment is beyond me though, yeah.

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