Canadap

Good day I need some clarification from you experienced travellers. I'm currently a Altitude 25k and will have 35k once I return home in a few weeks. Now I wanted to go on some trips to secure 50k status. I want to know if it's worth it to take the trips now or wait till the new year? I'm still very confused with how altitude works with early recognition etc. Thanks for the advice in advance! Thanks

Nitehawk

Two points:

1. The qualification period is based on the calendar year.
2. The benefit year is from Mar 1-Feb 28 or 29th of the following year.

If you wait until next year to travel your mileage accrual will count towards your 2017 benefit year.

Travel this year is applied towards the 2016 benefit year.

Until mid October you can early qualify for status so that means you get to enjoy it for the remainder of the current benefit year as well as the 2016 benefit year.

It would be best to cross 50k before October 15th (I believe that is when early qualification ends). Then you will have 50K status until February 28, 2017 (the end of the 2016 benefit year). Of course you can requalify or qualify for higher or lower status in the 2016 calendar year.

canopus27

And then in January, your annual total resets to zero, and you start all over again.

Canadap

So my mile count resets at Jan 1st 2016 but I still will have my current status for the 2016 year?

Nitehawk

As long as you qualified for it in the 2015 year! IE if you flew 50k miles (and met the AC minimum requirements) in 2015 calendar year you will have E50K for the 2016 year.

canopus27

Just to be super clear...

There are AQM (Altitude Qualifying Miles) and Aeroplan Miles. They are different.

When flying, you will accumulate them both at the same time ... if you fly YYZ-LHR, you'll get 3546 miles, which will count as both AQM and Aeroplan Miles. AQM miles are only obtained by flying. You can also get Aeroplan miles by using a credit card, spending money at Esso, etc ... but those miles are only Aeroplan miles, they are not also AQM.

The AQM miles only count towards gaining Altitude status. You accumulate them from Jan 1 -> Dec 31, and the number of miles you have will determine your Altitude status (25K, 35K, 50K, 75K, 100K) for the following year. On Jan 1, your AQM total resets to zero.

The Aeroplan miles only count for reward redemption. You can "spend" those miles for flights (or toasters). Those miles don't reset annually, the miles you acquired every year will just be added to your balance, just as the miles you spend every year are subtracted from your balance.

Adam Smith

Good post, and hopefully useful for the OP. I would just add that if you're trying to attain status, be careful what fare class you book. Flex fares earn AQM based on mileage flown. Tango fares earn 25% or 50% of the mileage flown. Latitude fares earn 125% and business class fares (lowest or flexible) earn 150%.

So, in the example quoted above, YYZ-LHR gets you:

• 1773 AQM in Tango
• 3546 AQM in Flex
• 4433 AQM in Latitude
• 5319 AQM in Business

There are online calculators that can tell you roughly how many miles you'll earn by flying from one airport to another.

Canadap

Cheers thanks for the insight everyone. Actually the yyc-lhr is the flight I was going to take end of sept for a mileage run/holiday then accrue the rest thru Lufthansa flight in Europe.

Adam Smith

Sounds like fun! Base mileage for YYC-LHR (what you'd earn in Flex) is 4359.

Be careful with Lufthansa that you've double-checked your fare classes and what they'll earn in AQM/Aeroplan (see here).

And are you aware of the AC "metal" requirements? Assuming you're a Canadian resident, you need a minimum of 50% of the threshold amount to be flown on Air Canada-operated flights (i.e. AC metal). So, to get E50K status, you need a minimum of 25K AQMs from flights on Air Canada. This does not include AC codeshares operated by partners, e.g. if you fly a Lufthansa flight that you booked with an AC flight number, that will give you AQM (based on Lufthansa's rules), but not count towards the AC metal requirement.

HometoYYZ

Be careful on counting on LH flights within Europe. Most face buckets -- all economy and even cheap J -- earn 50% on Aeroplan. See here.

tinchote

@Canadap, if you will just spend to get enough miles for E50, I suggest you evaluate carefully how much you would spend to get what. Most benefits at that level can be obtained by paying for them (i.e. with the proper credit card, etc.) for less money than buying the tickets to get status.

Unless you plan to fly a lot next year, but in that case you'll requalify quickly for the status.