Frequent Air Canada passengers who rely on Aeroplan points to redeem tickets should take note: Air Canada has announced adjustments to its Aeroplan flight rewards program starting June 1st, with the points required for most routes increasing—essentially devaluing the points.
Air Canada recently released its updated rewards redemption chart, clarifying the new redemption standards for different cabin classes. This adjustment significantly impacts many popular routes within North America and between North America and the Atlantic. While the points requirements for some routes remain the same or have slightly decreased, the overall trend is an increase in the redemption threshold.
Within North America, for example, the number of miles required for economy and business class tickets has generally increased for different distances: 0-500 miles: Economy class increases from 12,000 to 12,400 points, and business class increases from 19,000 to 19,900 points;
501-1,500 miles: Economy class increases from 13,700 to 14,000 points, and business class increases from 29,500 to 30,000 points;
1,501-2,750 miles: Economy class increases from 15,800 to 15,900 points, and business class increases from 43,000 to 44,400 points;
For flights exceeding 2,751 miles: Economy class points remain unchanged, while Business class points increase from 56,400 to 57,200.
Some cabin classes, such as premium economy for 0-500 miles and premium economy for 2,751 miles and above, saw a slight decrease in points, but the overall increase was significant.
For routes between North America and the Atlantic region (such as flights to Europe), the points required for economy class remain unchanged at 40,000, but the points required for higher-class travel have increased significantly. Premium economy class has increased from 74,200 to 75,300 points;
Business class tickets surged from 107,500 to 129,300 points, an increase of 21,800 points in a single transaction;
The starting points for first class remain at 90,000.