Air Canada Reveals Enhanced New Features for Aeroplan Loyalty Program

As airlines worldwide are preparing for the steady return of travel, Air Canada announced it is providing enhanced new features for its AeroPlan Miles program. Among the changes, members will soon be able to buy or gift miles at any time, and use miles to bid on cabin seating upgrades on Air Canada flights. 

"The redesigned Aeroplan will make it easier to travel and offer an improved experience to all members—both frequent and infrequent travelers," said Mark Nasr, Vice President, Loyalty and eCommerce at Air Canada. “We're confident that everyone will see new features that speak directly to them and better suit their travel needs, once they are ready to travel again."

Air Canada previously announced the relaunch of its AeroPlan Loyalty program scheduled for 2020, and ahead of the program’s debut, the airline added two new features to allow members added freedom for how they use their miles.

Members will be able to purchase miles for themselves, or send miles as gifts to other Aeroplan Members, at any time, where previously they could only purchase miles for their Aeroplan account when they were making a flight reward booking.

Air Canada will also allow members to use Aeroplan Miles to submit offers for an AC Bid Upgrade, for the chance to upgrade to a higher cabin.

Additionally, as part of Air Canada’s “Travel at Home” initiative, Aeroplan will match a portion of the Miles purchased, and donate them towards The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation (CAMH), one of our Aeroplan Member Donation program charities.

The airline worked with two Canadian firms to help developing these new options; Montreal-based Plusgrade, the ancillary revenue and merchandising solutions for AC Bid Upgrade, and Toronto-based Points, which helped with the buy/gift Miles feature.

“Working together with these businesses during such challenging times, while utilizing at-home resources, shows just how capable our partners are and helps support local jobs and our economy during this difficult period," said Mr. Nasr.

“With airline and hotel customers in every corner of the globe, they're the undisputed leaders in their respective spaces because they innovate with win-win products benefiting both travelers and loyalty program operators.”