UPDATE:
Alright, just finished an interview with John Boyton of Aeroplan and have a few more details:
- The launch of this feature is just one more of the many changes we have seen from Aeroplan to make the user experience better (ie one way flights at 50% etc.) and was based upon the many tests they ran last year just like the one we had mentioned.
- An exact launch date in April has not been set but they will pass along the date to us to pass along to you as soon as it is set
- and the one item everyone is curious about, what about the redemption rate? Aeroplan wouldn't let me know exactly what the rate will be because it will actually be dependent on the location you are flying to. For example the redemption rate for an award ticket to the U.S. will be different than Europe, Australia and Asia. My guess at this time is that higher priced locations (think International) with large carrier surcharges will see a better ratio than flights within Canada or to the U.S. where charges are lower. This should hopefully alleviate some of the sting of those dreaded surcharges for those who choose to redeem miles for them but to what amount it will alleviate we'll have to wait and see. John did say it will only be a slight variation for all destinations.