I think it is significant for those who do not live in Canada.
The old Exxon (or Exxo in Canada) partnership made it easy for us as family members can do a fill up using my account number once a year to take care of such when we do not have activity that period.
Shopping on the Aeroplan Mall is not useful once again if you dont live in Canada, nor the survey as that is only open to Canadians.
The biggest improvement on this is, it allows you to reinstate the miles with an AC flight within 6 months after the miles expire, at no cost. That is a very customer friendly improvement and it is a Win Win for both the airline and the customer.