Air Canada is expanding its award availability with select partners on March 25, 2025, but that comes with a cost.
Miles pricing with airlines such as United, Emirates, and Etihad may exceed the standard partner award chart maximum but allow greater availability.
You can access Air Canada here.
The Etihad business class awards are again available from March 25, 2025.
The variable award pricing will affect the following airlines:
- United Airlines
- Emirates
- Flydubai
- Etihad Airways
- Calm Air
- Canadian North
- PAL (Provincial Airlines).
Air Canada’s Update:
We wanted to give you a preview of some changes we’re making to flight reward charts and redemption rates with certain airlines, effective March 25th.
Redemption rate changes and more availability with select partners
Starting March 25th, the reward chart for Air Canada flights will expand to include United Airlines, Emirates, Flydubai, Etihad Airways, and our Canadian regional airline partners Calm Air, Canadian North, and PAL (Provincial Airlines). These updates reflect special arrangements we have with these partners, offering improved access to redemption flights, and in some cases, deeper inventory levels.
While the redemption rates under this chart can be higher than our fixed partner award chart and can vary from one itinerary to another, these changes will enable greater availability for reward seats on these airlines than before.
Additionally, we’re happy to announce that, starting March 25th, Etihad Business Class reward inventory will once again be available systemwide. However, there are no changes to Etihad First Class reward availability at this time.
The new “Air Canada and Select Partners” reward chart
The Air Canada section of our reward chart will be renamed “Air Canada and Select Partners.”
Key updates include:
- Simplified redemption details: We’re replacing reward amount ranges with a starting amount (unchanged from the current values) and a new median amount, which will be based on historical Aeroplan member redemptions with these carriers. This change aims to give our members a better understanding of typical redemption amounts while making the charts easier to navigate. Please note:
- Median amounts will not be displayed for ranges outside North America or for First Class ranges, as lower redemption volumes in these categories could result in significant fluctuations from one update to another.
- The median amounts will be updated quarterly, based on redemptions from the previous four quarters, ensuring greater accuracy.
- Preferred pricing: Discounted redemption rates for Aeroplan Elite members and credit cardholders will apply to these rewards.
Here’s an example of how the updated chart will look starting March 25th:
The fixed partner airlines reward chart will otherwise remain unchanged.
Conclusion
This means that the mileage pricing you see on Aeroplan award searches for partners will fluctuate as much as the pricing on plain Air Canada awards, which can be all over the map.
I wish there would be a search option that would only show the standard awards without all the expanded availability at a very high cost.
