Originally Posted by cmill007

This is called dynamic pricing. You’ll find plenty of info (and griping) if you search that. Essentially, if availability is low, redemption prices goes up accordingly.

sadly, this is very common these days and finding long-haul business redemptions at chart prices is rare. If you look constantly you may manage to find them before others when reward space is released (no set pattern as to when this occurs).

Originally Posted by canopus27

With this being your first post - welcome to Flyertalk!

The super quick summary is that the "old" way of pricing award tickets, included a very limited number of award tickets - but they were each available for a fixed price. The problem with that approach is that for most people, it was impossible to get a ticket on the dates you wanted, or to the destination you wanted.

The new model ("new" since 2020) is that they now make every ticket available as an award ticket - but as a result, the "price" of those tickets is now variable. It's a trade-off ... you can now buy tickets that you likely couldn't before, but they will cost more. If you're prepared to book a long time in advance, or perhaps choose destinations that are less possible, then you can still find cheaper prices.

There is a (now closed for new questions, but still informative) thread which describes the "new" Aeroplan:
You can also find a variety of more specific threads, such as

Originally Posted by trooper

Best to be realistic. Transpacific awards, particularly in premium cabins are VERY difficult to find. You are it seems also looking to fly several people together... which multiplies the difficulty by a significant amount.