Altitude benefit - eUpgrade Credits for eligible Flight Pass activities
 

Good day,

I'm considering purchasing a flight pass, specifically "Europe and Morocco Pass - Western Canada" for 8 flight credits, good for two or more people.

For 2019 I qualified for Altitude 50K and was looking at the benefits and I'm hoping someone here can explain how many eUpgrade credits I would qualify for if I selected "eUpgrade Credits for eligible Flight Pass activities" as one of my Altitude benefits next year and then purchased that flight pass. I've read the description provided on the Altitude benefits page - "For every eligible Flight Pass activity, eUpgrade Credits will be deposited into your aircanada.com eUpgrade account. Credits can be used on eligible flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge in order to upgrade to premium cabins." - but I'm admittedly unsure what qualifies as a "Flight Pass Activity".

Is an activity the purchase of a flight pass, so I would get only 8 eUpgrade credits for buying the one flight pass? Or is it 8 eUpgrade credits for each flight credit I use in the Flight pass for a total of 64 credits ultimately? I'm looking to book two trips to Europe next year for me and my girlfriend (she does not have any status) using that pass and I'm trying to understand how many eUpgrade credits I'd collect along with the 40 i get in the 50K base to see if I could upgrade to business class for the transatlantic legs for both trips or just one.

Thanks for your help.

It's this.

Using 10 credits on yourself is also a 'Flight Pass Activity'. You would only use 4 credit on yourself though.

Thanks for the prompt response. Initially thought it was per flight credit but common sense told me that was unrealistic since it would have provided more eUpgrade credits than I got hitting 50K this past year, so began to assume it was just 8 total for that one pass. Appreciate the clarification.

Cheers.

You're welcome. Unfortunately it is not much of a benefit.

8 Eupgrade credits are useful if you fly within North America on Latitude fares. That's about it.

You can't even upgrade to business on a Latitude fare if you're going to Europe from Western Canada (11 eupgrade credits needed).

I think that only applies to the large-credit business passes.

The complete language I have for this benefit (at least for this year) follows:

So if I buy a 6 credit Y FP I get eUps, but if I buy a J FP, I have to buy and fly 10 credits?

That phrasing has certainly changed. I also don't believe it is correct.

I suspect someone took "business flight pass" to mean "business class" and not "100 credits owned by one company, usable by designated employees".

You may be right, but here's a data point that may support the language in my post upthread. I bought a Western Canada 6 credit J pass in November (AC had a promo) and I received no eUps for this as of yet.

Some previous benefit booklets (example in link below) for eligible flight pass activities had this caveat (don't see it anymore but maybe they are still enforcing it or maybe it is in the fine print of the promotional pass you purchased?)

"This select privilege is not valid for time limited promotional Flight Passes"

2008 benefits

This is correct....I have benefited from eupgrades being deposited into my account for having used 10 of my work's FPs and they are Y credits.

On another note - Does anyone know at what point in the year the eupgrades deposited into the account for FP activities are given an expiry date of the end of the following benefit year? Ex. I was awarded 10 credits in Dec/2017 but they were given an expiry date of Feb.2019 even though we were still in the previous benefit year. When are they given until the end of the current benefit year and when do they go to the next?

Cut-off date is Nov 1. All e-upgrade credits earned on or after Nov 1 will expire the following benefit year, I believe. At least that's been my experience.

In addition the the OP's question, how does it work for the part that's highlighted in green? I am considering purchasing an unlimited flight pass between YYC and YEG and also wondered if I would receive an additional 1250 status miles each time I complete one segment as part of my bundle 2 for one of the E50 selections.

If you buy an X-month UFP, you will be credited PER month, approximately two to three weeks following the credit card charge date for that month.

So if you buy a 6-month UFP and you are SE having chosen the select benefit, you will get 8 credits per month for the the 6-month UFP, for a total of 48 credits when all is said and done. Same goes with the status miles. You will get 1,250 per month, IIRC. I did this one year (with status miles) the first year it started as a benefit, so someone else might want to pipe in if this has changed.

With an unlimited FP, you would receive an additional 1250 status miles (AQM) for each month you have the pass. If you fly 100 segments one month, and 0 segments the next, then you would still only receive 1250 AQM per month.