ajcopley

Not holding my breath here, but has there been any word on whether AC will auto-extend aeroplan status through 2023 as they've done in the past two years? I realize travel is becoming more commonplace for some, but I for one am still not back to my regular international biz trip cadence which has earned me SE status the past few years (but expect it to be resuming in the next couple of months).

vernonc

I do not think they will extend. They may lower the criteria but I am just guessing, and hoping.
Or they will repeat the current promo of 2X the miles/dollars.

SYM

I've been wondering the same thing. In my own case, the places that I fly to earn SE are simply not open to non-citizens and/or require lengthy quarantine. Even if it was easier to get in AC has suspended/been forced to suspend flights there so even if I could resume travel it wouldn't be on AC. So extending seems like the right thing to do. But I don't imagine AC will be parsing down to that level of detail when they make their decision.

Stranger

Given how easy it will be this year, with rollover of both miles and dollars, I cannot imagine that they would further extend.

edmond00

Maybe, but maybe will have more promotion

canadiancow

If you qualified for 25K last year, everything rolled over.

Everything you earn in the first third of the year is doubled.

And we don't know what other promotions there will be.

No, I don't think they'll do a blanket extension.

And personally, I wish they'd stop with the promos too. At some point, if you haven't flown for 3 years, you should have to start over.

It was discussed last year, but even something like a new status tier recognizing "real" status, so that a qualified-SE has higher priority (for everything) than an extended-SE... that would make me happy. The same way that SM > SE. But having qualified in 2021 with no tangible benefit, I do not want another year where the ranks increase without people actually flying.

ajcopley

Rollover of miles / dollars from when? 2021? I may be in the minority here, but I had no business travel in 2021. This lack of travel has again extended into 2022 for the same reasons.

ajcopley

Yeah I do actually think that makes sense (a new status tier recognizing "real" status over an extended SE), and I'd be ok with that.

But without having status, I have much less incentive to exclusively book with AC. I'm literally half-way between YVR and SEA, so my SE status keeps my loyal to AC and keeps me driving north (vs. heading south to SEA and flying international every 6-8 weeks or so with Delta, United, etc).

supatight80

I live in Asia which has one of the strictest border entry rules for covid. If I could requalify for SE this year, I don't see how others cannot, especially folks living in Canada. Do have sympathy for SEs living in HKG and China though.

Symmetre

If Aeroplan is truly a loyalty program, or a frequent flier program, then it should ditch the distance qualification altogether and focus on segments alone. I have a LOT more respect for some poor sod commuting every week on narrowbodies and Q400s to earn 50k status than I have for someone who does three long hauls a year in J and gets the same thing. The former is much more of a frequent flier, and by virtue of their greater activity level, demonstrates a higher level of loyalty. That should be recognized accordingly, especially since their annual spend would probably be similar.

But back to the original discussion, I agree it's highly unlikely we'll see a blanket rollover.

yyznomad

Then they should ditch the segments qualification and go by pure spend alone.

YVRtoYYZ

Even with no further promotions, the number of SEs will be inflated until 2024.

Symmetre

If they did that then I believe the weekly commuter could very well come in higher than the occasional long-hauler, depending on routes, flight passes, etc.

That said, I wouldn't want to see segments removed from the equation. If the objective is to reward loyalty, then someone who makes 20 or 30 purchase decisions in favour of AC each year should be recognized ahead of someone who chooses to give them the business just three or four times.

Mods - sorry, didn't mean to steer this off topic.

canadiancow

That's my issue. We went from "you want status? fly" to "everyone gets 25K" and "it's not hard to get a one-level bump" and "double everything" and "you have two years to qualify for 2023 status".

2 years to qualify, and 4 months of that time counted double. Please no extension at all.

IluvSQ

I usually do a lot of travel to Asia, which is still impossible - at least in terms of 5 countries/7 cities in 2 weeks.
China - no way. Taiwan - closed. Indonesia - basically closed. Korea - closed. Singapore. Thailand - starting to open, but still
testing requirements. So I am in the same boat as the OP.