For the past couple of years airlines around the globe have either extended elite status, or have made it really easy to extend elite status. It’ll be interesting to see what happens this year — in many parts of the world leisure travel has entirely recovered, while business travel continues to remain down.
Air Canada’s Aeroplan program has just unveiled an interesting new promotion to extend status this year.
Earn 30,000 points with Aeroplan credit cards, maintain status
Air Canada Aeroplan has a new way for members to secure elite status for 2023 (this follows Aeroplan outright extending status for the past two years). Specifically, members who earn 30,000 points through Aeroplan co-branded credit cards will have their status extended through December 31, 2023.
As you’d expect, there are some terms to be aware of:
- No registration is required
- This is valid for points earned between January 1 and November 30, 2022
- This applies to existing Aeroplan elite members who are also the primary cardmember on an eligible co-branded credit card; if you’re not yet a cardmember you can open an account and still qualify for this offer
- Eligible points earnings opportunities include base and category accelerator earn of Aeroplan points on an eligible card
- Welcome and acquisition bonuses, as well as points converted from other programs, are excluded from this offer
- Status extensions will begin in June 2022, though it can take up to eight weeks for the status extension to be processed after requirements are met
For example, the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review) has some fantastic bonus categories, as the card offers 3x Aeroplan points on dining purchases, grocery store purchases, and flight purchases. In other words, spending just $10,000 on those purchases would earn you 30,000 eligible points, enough to have your status extended.
Will other airlines offer similar promotions?
Air Canada Aeroplan is the first major frequent flyer program in North America to make it really easy to requalify for status in 2022 (for the 2023 program year). Should we expect other airlines in North America to follow?
- Canada has definitely seen a slower recovery in travel demand than the United States, especially when it comes to leisure travel
- On top of that, Canada is a much more seasonal domestic tourist market, which doesn’t work in its favor (vs. the United States, where airlines simply shift a lot of capacity to places like Florida)
- While business travel is coming back more slowly than leisure travel, it’s increasingly clear that business travel is changing permanently on some level (even if it’s just the type of business travel people do)
While I doubt any major US airline will have an offer as generous as what we’re seeing from Aeroplan, I do think we’ll see some offers from US airlines. Specifically, I think airlines will offer members more pathways to earning status, given that there are many ways that people can engage with an airline and show loyalty.
American AAdvantage’s new Loyalty Points system addresses this in many ways, as members can earn elite status for all kinds of activities, ranging from flying, to staying in hotels, to credit card spending. I think we’ll increasingly see airlines shift to a model like that, especially in a post-pandemic world.
Bottom line
Air Canada Aeroplan has launched a new promotion that makes it easy to requalify for status in 2022. Specifically, earning 30,000 eligible points on a co-branded Aeroplan credit card will have your status extended through the end of 2023. This is pretty generous so early in the year, and I’m curious to see what other airlines offer, if anything.
What do you make of Aeroplan’s status extension promotion?
