LAST CHANCE: Aeroplan Goes on Pause Tonight; Reopens Nov 8th

You have just hours left to book at the old pricing.

You may recall that Air Canada’s Aeroplan announced some major changes in August. The program is getting a complete overhaul and they will launch on November 8th.

But November 6th at some unspecified time in the “evening” will be your last chance to make bookings with the old Aeroplan award chart, and you should definitely think about whether you want to book anything now, with just over two weeks to go.

On November 6th, points transfers from Aeroplan partners like American Express and Capital One will be paused as will redemptions. On November 8th, both will restart. If you need help with an existing reservation you’ll need to call – and many will recall the overwhelmed call centers at Aeroplan during their system changeover not too long ago. I would do anything I could to avoid needing to call.

If you are an Aeroplan member that redeems upgrade awards on Star Alliance airlines, that capability will be paused from October 31st until sometime in 2021, so get that in now.

The New Aeroplan Award Chart and Surcharge Removal

If you have a trip in mind, you should reference the new Aeroplan award chart and compare with current pricing. Most flights will cost more miles.

If you are flying from the West Coast of the USA to Europe, you will see significant increases as your flights will be over 4,000 miles.

Business Class flights will jump from 55,000 miles to 70,000 miles if the flight is 4,001 – 6,000 miles and to 85,000 miles if it’s over 6,000 miles.  

At the higher end, that’s a 64% increase!

However, they are removing all YQ carrier surcharges and replacing that with a flat $39 (CAD) fee for each partner booking.

That means that if you want an award on a carrier that currently has high fees, you may want to wait and pay more miles to save the fees.

The worst surcharges as it stands now are on Air Canada, Austrian Airlines, and Lufthansa awards. Air China, ANA, LOT Polish Airways and Thai Airways also have YQ, though less than the first three mentioned.

If you are booking a current non-YQ carrier like United, Etihad, or SWISS you should book now as you’ll pay less miles, no booking fee, and no surcharge.

Add a Stopover on a One Way Flight

For just 5,000 miles, you can now (from Nov 8th) add a stopover on one way flight. If you want a stopover, it may make sense to wait to book.

Family Pooling

You’ll be able to pool miles with up to 8 people at no cost. That will make it easier to get to an award level within your family (or friends).

New Transfer Partners are Promised

They haven’t announced the new partners, but I just have a *hunch* that Chase could add Aeroplan as an Ultimate Rewards partner.

Capital One added them, so we know they are expanding reach, and Chase has been in great need of new useful partners since losing Korean. Wish or prediction, I hope to see it.

Thoughts?

Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.

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New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.