Last edit by: Adam Smith
How can I qualify for elite status on AC?
There are four main ways to qualify for status:
For further questions on Everyday Status Qualification or the Chase cards, please see the threads dedicated to those topics, which are linked above.
What are the levels of status?
The Aeroplan Elite program has five published levels of status:
Before the late-2020 revamp of the Aeroplan program, the 25K level was formerly known as Prestige 25K, the three middle tiers were known as Elite 35K / Elite 50K / Elite 75K, and Super Elite was Super Elite 100K. You may see the terms P25K, E35K, E50K, E75K, and SE100K on FT as references to the former branding (sometimes minus the K, e.g. P25).
Air Canada also operates an unpublished VIP program. Unlike UA GS, AA CK, and DL 360, it is not possible to qualify for VIP through flying. AC’s VIP program is targeted at a different audience that would not normally qualify for a high level of status through their own level of flying. For example, they might award VIP status to the CEO of a large corporation that buys a lot of travel from AC. Those curious about the VIP program can visit that thread; no discussion of the VIP program will be permitted in this thread.
What are the qualification requirements?
For the level you want to qualify for, it is necessary to the requirements for:
The requirements are:
Beginning in 2022, all members must meet the SQD requirements. (Prior to 2022, non-residents only had to achieve 50% of the SQD requirements).
What are SQM, SQS, and SQD, and how do I earn them?
SQM are Status Qualifying Miles. You earn them by taking flights with AC or Star Alliance airline partners. They can also be earned by spending money on certain Aeroplan credit cards.
For flights, SQM are equal to approximately the distance between the two airports, multiplied by the earning rate for the fare type purchased. For example, Aeroplan calculates the distance from YYC to YYZ as 1,669 miles. A flight in Flex would earn 100% miles, i.e. 1,669 SQM. A flight in Standard would earn 25% miles, i.e. 417 SQM.
Certain credit cards award 1,000 SQM for each $10,000 spent on Core credit cards or $5,000 spent on the Premium "Black" credit cards.
Premium credit cards allow you to roll over up to 200K SQM over the level you qualified for in the previous year. For instance, if you flew 56,700 SQM and qualified for 50K status, you would roll over 6,700 SQM to the following year. Please see this thread for more information about the rollover benefit.
SQS are Status Qualifying Segments. You earn them by taking flights with AC or Star Alliance airline partners, by using certain Aeroplan credit cards, or as a Select Benefit selection (as of 2024).
Each qualifying flight earns 1 SQS; there are no multipliers.
Certain credit cards award 1 SQS for each $10,000 (Core credit cards) or $5,000 spent (Premium credit cards).
Starting in 2024, a new Select Benefit is available to Aeroplan 50K, 75K and SE status holders that awards 5,000 SQM and 5 SQS. This replaces the "Lower Requalification Level" Select Benefit offered in 2023 and prior years.
There is no SQS rollover.
SQD are Status Qualifying Dollars. These are equal to the base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges for the ticket. Or you can think of SQD as the total amount paid for the ticket minus taxes and 3rd party surcharges (e.g. airport improvement fees). On receipts from AC, the amount listed as “Air Transportation Charges” will equal the total SQD for the ticket.
On itineraries with more than one segment, SQD are allocated across the segments based on distance, regardless of what you paid for each segment. For example, if you purchase a YYC-YYZ round trip, each segment (YYC-YYZ and YYZ-YYC) will earn 50% of the SQD, even if you paid different amounts for the two segments. Let’s say you paid $300 for YYC-YYZ and $500 for YYZ-YYC (excluding GST, AIFs, etc). The total SQD would be 800, and each segment would earn 400 SQD.
SQD are earned only from flying (one-time promotions aside). Only flights themselves, eUpgrade add-ons, and unlimited flight pass monthly payments qualify. Fees for extra services (e.g. baggage fees, seat selection, on-board purchases, etc) do not count towards SQD.
There is no SQD rollover.
SQD: Air Canada Vacation / ACV: The one exception to "only from flying" for SQD is the purchase of an Air Canada Vacation Package. Air Canada will take 25% of an eligible package value and split it equally amongst all passengers over two years old. So a $10,000 package with two adults and two teens will see each passenger get 625 SQD. An “Eligible Package” refers to a vacation package consisting of a flight-inclusive vacation package or a Flight & Cruise package.
SQD: Companion Pass / Buddy Pass: If through a credit card or Aeroplan you have earned a buddy pass or companion pass that allows a second traveller at no-charge or low-charge the primary pax receives 100% of the SQD and the second pax does not receive any credit.
Do all flights qualify for SQx?
No. Many flights do not earn SQx.
Basic Economy fares on AC earn no SQx, although they do earn Aeroplan points.
Points tickets redeemed from Aeroplan or a Star Alliance partner airline do not qualify, even if paying with a mix of cash and points.
Points redeemed from 3rd party loyalty programs (e.g. Air Miles, RBC Avion) have a mixed track record. Be very cautious relying on ANY ticket you purchased through a "points" programme even if previous tickets have earned SQx or the website says it will. The companies operating this can (and have) changed the way they source tickets without notice. The Air Canada Aeroplan T&C explicitly say anything points related does not earn SQx and thus any dispute will almost certainly be denied.
In recent years, AC has added a number of non-Star Alliance partners. Flights on most of these partners only earn Aeroplan points (i.e. no SQx), and some only earn Aeroplan points on certain routes (e.g. Cathay Pacific).
SQD can only be earned on:
To illustrate, let’s use an itinerary consisting of (i) YYC-EWR, operated by AC, and (ii) EWR-CHS, operated by UA. If this itinerary were purchased from AC, both flights would earn SQD. If purchased from UA, only the YYC-EWR flight would earn SQD.
How do I know how many SQx I’ll earn for a given itinerary?
AC doesn’t tell you when you book a ticket, but it’s relatively simple to calculate. The AC website lists all partners, eligible fares, and accumulation rates.
To make life easier, some FTers have built a tool to calculate SQM/SQD earnings, discussed in this thread: Calculator for SQM, Aeroplan miles, & SQD
Important caveat for flights involving partners: miles earned always depends on the operating carrier. This is the airline whose aircraft you are sitting on when you fly. Sticking to the YYC-EWR-CHS example from above, you would earn miles according to the AC accumulation chart for YYC-EWR, and according to the UA chart for EWR-CHS, regardless of which airline sold the ticket and whether the flight is a codeshare.
This can create confusion in several ways:
What are Premium and Core credit cards?
Premium cards are the highest tier Aeroplan credit cards that have an annual fee of around $600 – Amex Reserve cards or Visa Infinite Privilege cards from TD or CIBC.
Core cards are mid-tier Aeroplan credit cards with an annual fee of around $120 – Visa Infinite from CIBC or TD, the Chase card, or Amex’s basic card.
There are four main ways to qualify for status:
- Earn a sufficient number of SQM/SQS/SQD (sometimes collectively referred to as “SQx” on FT) to qualify for status
- Achieve Everyday Status Qualification, which requires only earning 100K qualifying Aeroplan points (EDQ) in a calendar year to earn 25K status
- Be gifted status from an existing member. Super Elite may choose as a select benefit to gift an E50 package and E75 can gift an E35 package
- Through the Chase Aeroplan credit card, which:
- Grants 25K status for the year in which it’s first obtained, and the following year; after that, 25K status can be maintained by spending US$15K on the card in a calendar year
- Allows you to boost your status one level by spending US$50K on the card in a calendar year
- Some have received E25 through their Canadian credit card provider. TD specifically did issue some E25 packages one year
For further questions on Everyday Status Qualification or the Chase cards, please see the threads dedicated to those topics, which are linked above.
What are the levels of status?
The Aeroplan Elite program has five published levels of status:
- 25K
- 35K
- 50K
- 75K
- Super Elite
Before the late-2020 revamp of the Aeroplan program, the 25K level was formerly known as Prestige 25K, the three middle tiers were known as Elite 35K / Elite 50K / Elite 75K, and Super Elite was Super Elite 100K. You may see the terms P25K, E35K, E50K, E75K, and SE100K on FT as references to the former branding (sometimes minus the K, e.g. P25).
Air Canada also operates an unpublished VIP program. Unlike UA GS, AA CK, and DL 360, it is not possible to qualify for VIP through flying. AC’s VIP program is targeted at a different audience that would not normally qualify for a high level of status through their own level of flying. For example, they might award VIP status to the CEO of a large corporation that buys a lot of travel from AC. Those curious about the VIP program can visit that thread; no discussion of the VIP program will be permitted in this thread.
What are the qualification requirements?
For the level you want to qualify for, it is necessary to the requirements for:
- SQM OR SQS; and
- SQD
The requirements are:
- 25K: 25,000 SQM / 25 SQS / 3,000 SQD
- 35K: 35,000 SQM / 35 SQS / 4,000 SQD
- 50K: 50,000 SQM / 50 SQS / 6,000 SQD
- 75K: 75,000 SQM / 75 SQS / 9,000 SQD
- Super Elite: 100,000 SQM / 100 SQS / 20,000 SQD
Beginning in 2022, all members must meet the SQD requirements. (Prior to 2022, non-residents only had to achieve 50% of the SQD requirements).
What are SQM, SQS, and SQD, and how do I earn them?
SQM are Status Qualifying Miles. You earn them by taking flights with AC or Star Alliance airline partners. They can also be earned by spending money on certain Aeroplan credit cards.
For flights, SQM are equal to approximately the distance between the two airports, multiplied by the earning rate for the fare type purchased. For example, Aeroplan calculates the distance from YYC to YYZ as 1,669 miles. A flight in Flex would earn 100% miles, i.e. 1,669 SQM. A flight in Standard would earn 25% miles, i.e. 417 SQM.
Certain credit cards award 1,000 SQM for each $10,000 spent on Core credit cards or $5,000 spent on the Premium "Black" credit cards.
Premium credit cards allow you to roll over up to 200K SQM over the level you qualified for in the previous year. For instance, if you flew 56,700 SQM and qualified for 50K status, you would roll over 6,700 SQM to the following year. Please see this thread for more information about the rollover benefit.
SQS are Status Qualifying Segments. You earn them by taking flights with AC or Star Alliance airline partners, by using certain Aeroplan credit cards, or as a Select Benefit selection (as of 2024).
Each qualifying flight earns 1 SQS; there are no multipliers.
Certain credit cards award 1 SQS for each $10,000 (Core credit cards) or $5,000 spent (Premium credit cards).
Starting in 2024, a new Select Benefit is available to Aeroplan 50K, 75K and SE status holders that awards 5,000 SQM and 5 SQS. This replaces the "Lower Requalification Level" Select Benefit offered in 2023 and prior years.
There is no SQS rollover.
SQD are Status Qualifying Dollars. These are equal to the base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges for the ticket. Or you can think of SQD as the total amount paid for the ticket minus taxes and 3rd party surcharges (e.g. airport improvement fees). On receipts from AC, the amount listed as “Air Transportation Charges” will equal the total SQD for the ticket.
On itineraries with more than one segment, SQD are allocated across the segments based on distance, regardless of what you paid for each segment. For example, if you purchase a YYC-YYZ round trip, each segment (YYC-YYZ and YYZ-YYC) will earn 50% of the SQD, even if you paid different amounts for the two segments. Let’s say you paid $300 for YYC-YYZ and $500 for YYZ-YYC (excluding GST, AIFs, etc). The total SQD would be 800, and each segment would earn 400 SQD.
SQD are earned only from flying (one-time promotions aside). Only flights themselves, eUpgrade add-ons, and unlimited flight pass monthly payments qualify. Fees for extra services (e.g. baggage fees, seat selection, on-board purchases, etc) do not count towards SQD.
There is no SQD rollover.
SQD: Air Canada Vacation / ACV: The one exception to "only from flying" for SQD is the purchase of an Air Canada Vacation Package. Air Canada will take 25% of an eligible package value and split it equally amongst all passengers over two years old. So a $10,000 package with two adults and two teens will see each passenger get 625 SQD. An “Eligible Package” refers to a vacation package consisting of a flight-inclusive vacation package or a Flight & Cruise package.
SQD: Companion Pass / Buddy Pass: If through a credit card or Aeroplan you have earned a buddy pass or companion pass that allows a second traveller at no-charge or low-charge the primary pax receives 100% of the SQD and the second pax does not receive any credit.
Do all flights qualify for SQx?
No. Many flights do not earn SQx.
Basic Economy fares on AC earn no SQx, although they do earn Aeroplan points.
Points tickets redeemed from Aeroplan or a Star Alliance partner airline do not qualify, even if paying with a mix of cash and points.
Points redeemed from 3rd party loyalty programs (e.g. Air Miles, RBC Avion) have a mixed track record. Be very cautious relying on ANY ticket you purchased through a "points" programme even if previous tickets have earned SQx or the website says it will. The companies operating this can (and have) changed the way they source tickets without notice. The Air Canada Aeroplan T&C explicitly say anything points related does not earn SQx and thus any dispute will almost certainly be denied.
- Air Miles have generally never posted
- RBC Avion used to consistently earn SQx but many flights booked now don't earn (see thread)
In recent years, AC has added a number of non-Star Alliance partners. Flights on most of these partners only earn Aeroplan points (i.e. no SQx), and some only earn Aeroplan points on certain routes (e.g. Cathay Pacific).
SQD can only be earned on:
- Flights operated by AC
- Flights operated by *A partners, ticketed by AC
To illustrate, let’s use an itinerary consisting of (i) YYC-EWR, operated by AC, and (ii) EWR-CHS, operated by UA. If this itinerary were purchased from AC, both flights would earn SQD. If purchased from UA, only the YYC-EWR flight would earn SQD.
How do I know how many SQx I’ll earn for a given itinerary?
AC doesn’t tell you when you book a ticket, but it’s relatively simple to calculate. The AC website lists all partners, eligible fares, and accumulation rates.
To make life easier, some FTers have built a tool to calculate SQM/SQD earnings, discussed in this thread: Calculator for SQM, Aeroplan miles, & SQD
Important caveat for flights involving partners: miles earned always depends on the operating carrier. This is the airline whose aircraft you are sitting on when you fly. Sticking to the YYC-EWR-CHS example from above, you would earn miles according to the AC accumulation chart for YYC-EWR, and according to the UA chart for EWR-CHS, regardless of which airline sold the ticket and whether the flight is a codeshare.
This can create confusion in several ways:
- During the booking flow on the AC website, AC displays only the earning rates for AC flights. You may buy a Flex fare thinking you will earn 100% miles, only to find out that on a partner flight you were booked in a fare class that earned less. For instance, if you buy a business class fare involving an intra-Europe flight on Lufthansa in a P fare, the website will show that you'll earn 150% miles, but you will earn only 50% on the Lufthansa leg
- When booking codeshares, it may be impossible to know the operating carrier's fare class. For instance, the AC website may sell you UA's EWR-CHS flight as "AC5678" and show you an M fare when you select Flex. But you may actually be actually be booked on a UA Q fare and only earn 75% miles
- When booking AC flights through a partner airline, you may not know the fare brand (Flex, Latitude, etc). United might show you an H fare on YYC-EWR, but this could map to Flex, Standard, or Comfort, and your earning would be impacted accordingly
What are Premium and Core credit cards?
Premium cards are the highest tier Aeroplan credit cards that have an annual fee of around $600 – Amex Reserve cards or Visa Infinite Privilege cards from TD or CIBC.
Core cards are mid-tier Aeroplan credit cards with an annual fee of around $120 – Visa Infinite from CIBC or TD, the Chase card, or Amex’s basic card.
Qualifying for Aeroplan Elite Status - overview/FAQ
#122
Join Date: Jul 2022
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC 50k
Posts: 74
Offer extended! Until September 30, 2022, get 100% bonus SQM, SQS, and SQD every time you fly to Europe with Air Canada on Economy Standard fares or higher.
https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...ication.html#/
#123
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Toronto, ON
Programs: AC 75K
Posts: 6,361
Hi - I've been searching for more flight deals and I think I found another that looks reasonable.
If a ticket is bought on Aircanada, does this guarantee it is 014 stock/SQD gets generated?
So if there is two legs to the flight, first is AC, second is on another star alliance but it's all bought off air Canada website - I'm assuming this is all air Canada stock so SQD/SQM etc. all calculate as you would expect for the fare? e.g. a PY fare off ac.com I'll get premium economy everything ?
Or is this where some ppl have gotten tripped up as I think I've read about with Singapore?
If a ticket is bought on Aircanada, does this guarantee it is 014 stock/SQD gets generated?
So if there is two legs to the flight, first is AC, second is on another star alliance but it's all bought off air Canada website - I'm assuming this is all air Canada stock so SQD/SQM etc. all calculate as you would expect for the fare? e.g. a PY fare off ac.com I'll get premium economy everything ?
Or is this where some ppl have gotten tripped up as I think I've read about with Singapore?
#124
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: YYZ
Programs: Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, Club Accor Silver, AC 75K
Posts: 264
I often found that its more expensive to book on AC ticket stock, just beware that sometimes the P fares are only available booking through the *A carriers
#125
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: FRA
Programs: AC SE 1MM, UA 1K, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Marriott Gold Elite, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,935
#126
Join Date: Jul 2022
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC 50k
Posts: 74
e.g. are you buying a UA codeshare flight as somehow it's cheaper if the underlying plane (metal?) is AC?
Or am i missing something completely?
Tried to use ITA matrix and got horribly confused last weekend so will need to spend some more time climbing the learning curve.. until then it's mostly google flights/ac.com for now :|
#127
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YVR - MILLS Waypoint (It's the third house on the left)
Programs: AC*SE100K, wood level status in various other programs
Posts: 6,224
For example a round trip in J from YVR to SCL can be had for about $2,500 CAD. That's not much more than a YVR-YYZ trip on AC in J.
Sure, there's connections in YYC and IAH and segments on AC and UA, but that's just a quick example that I found in about two minutes using Google Flights.
Airlines like TP give you up to 200% Aeroplan miles for J. Other options are available depending on your needs / availability.
#128
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,316
First, AQM hasn't existed for years. It's SQM now.
Second, if I see "AC SQM", my mind jumps to LQM before SQM+SQD. But that's me.
If all you want is SQM, then yes, TP is probably the cheapest way to do it.
Based on liquidpop's post I'd assume it's more "I want SQM as cheap as possible while still getting 1 SQD per dollar spent", but it wasn't clear, and it certainly isn't obvious in the general case.
#129
Join Date: Jul 2022
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC 50k
Posts: 74
An example would be an MR on a Star Alliance partner. Little or no SQD, but lots of SQM are possible.
For example a round trip in J from YVR to SCL can be had for about $2,500 CAD. That's not much more than a YVR-YYZ trip on AC in J.
Sure, there's connections in YYC and IAH and segments on AC and UA, but that's just a quick example that I found in about two minutes using Google Flights.
Airlines like TP give you up to 200% Aeroplan miles for J. Other options are available depending on your needs / availability.
For example a round trip in J from YVR to SCL can be had for about $2,500 CAD. That's not much more than a YVR-YYZ trip on AC in J.
Sure, there's connections in YYC and IAH and segments on AC and UA, but that's just a quick example that I found in about two minutes using Google Flights.
Airlines like TP give you up to 200% Aeroplan miles for J. Other options are available depending on your needs / availability.
For 2022 SQD is low priority as i have no ambitions of shooting past E50k in year, it's just a matter of is there a way to get to 50k or do I save my coin and focus on next year when i have more calendar runway.
What was confusing me was seeing some of the threads where I know folks have had 0 SQM even when flying as far as Singapore which is why i was seeking guidance on who to use. Sounds like TP (tap Portugal?) is the best bet from your above but if you have other specific airlines to add to my list to search under that would be helpful...
Well this is where I'd step back and ask what the question really is...
First, AQM hasn't existed for years. It's SQM now.
Second, if I see "AC SQM", my mind jumps to LQM before SQM+SQD. But that's me.
If all you want is SQM, then yes, TP is probably the cheapest way to do it.
Based on liquidpop's post I'd assume it's more "I want SQM as cheap as possible while still getting 1 SQD per dollar spent", but it wasn't clear, and it certainly isn't obvious in the general case.
First, AQM hasn't existed for years. It's SQM now.
Second, if I see "AC SQM", my mind jumps to LQM before SQM+SQD. But that's me.
If all you want is SQM, then yes, TP is probably the cheapest way to do it.
Based on liquidpop's post I'd assume it's more "I want SQM as cheap as possible while still getting 1 SQD per dollar spent", but it wasn't clear, and it certainly isn't obvious in the general case.
SQM can be earned on AC metal and some star alliance.
SQD/LQM can only be earned on AC.
Long-term my current goal is to see if i can hit 1MM but maybe that is still a pipe dream as I'm so far away lol.
2022 i don't need anymore SQD so it's a question if i farm SQM sometime in Q4.
2023 will ideally want to hit all of SQM/SQD/LQM - but if I reflect on what i think I've read in this overall thread, folks are using a combination of AC metal and * alliance to hit their objectives to try and maximize their ROI on airfare dollars..
Are there any other benchmarks folks can share for me to keep in mind? e.g. on AC metal - $0.1 per SQM is great, but on star alliance $0.1 is only good and you can go as low as $0.05?
[understand that covid/fuel/inflation may impact this but curious to know how folks determine/benchmark if a fare is good or not]
#131
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,765
I would suggest you're putting the horse before the cart. Those of us who chase status and do things like MRs tend to already fly quite a bit for other reasons, whether work, personal, or both, and then figure out where, on the margins, we can fly a few more miles or whatever to improve our status.
But flying purely for the sake of earning status will have a very poor ROI.
Whose aircraft you're flying on. If you fly AC9281 from Frankfurt to Stockholm, this flight is actually operated by Lufthansa (LH802), i.e. it's an LH metal flight even though you bought it with an AC flight number. In this case, Lufthansa is the operating carrier (the one flying the plane), and AC is the marketing carrier (the one whose code is on the flight you purchased). AC would also be the ticketing carrier (the one that sold you the ticket).
Last edited by Adam Smith; Jul 14, 2022 at 10:53 am Reason: Fixed quote
#133
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, BA Gold, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,316