Are There Sweet Spots in Air Canada Aeroplan Devaluation?

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Andy Shuman • 2 Comments

Air Canada Aeroplan is an amazing program that lets you build a mini round-the-world itineraries for next to nothing (in miles of course). It is not a program I’m intimately familiar with, as I don’t have any Aeroplan miles and have never redeemed them in the past. Having said that, I’ve heard a lot of things about Aeroplan—good and bad—enough to make me try and find out how it ticks.

Aeroplan has recently announced a new devaluation that goes into effect on December 15, 2015. It needs to be said that Aeroplan doesn’t have a generous award chart as it is, with an exception of 90,000 miles for business class to Western Europe. On December 15, this exception will fly out of the window, too.

However, the appeal of Aeroplan is in its generous stopover policy. Aeroplan allows two free stopovers or a stopover and an open jaw on a roundtrip. You can add a stopover wherever you want, and the only thing you need to watch is some routing rules, which are kind of complicated. You will have to call to have the second stopover added, as the website only allows one. But the point is, you can!

So while the Aeroplan chart doesn’t offer exemplary generosity, getting to visit three European cities instead of one for 90,000 miles in business class is yummy! It’s not going to be as yummy at 110,000 miles after December 15, but it’s still not too bad. United charges from 5,000 to 30,000 miles more, although United doesn’t add fuel surcharges. Aeroplan does, but not to everyone.

Here is the Aeroplan’s side-to-side comparison award chart.

Levels increasing from North America

Europe 1: 90K to 110K in business and 125K to 140K in first
Europe 2: 105K to 115K in business and 125K to 160K in first
Southern South America: 95K to 110K in business and 135K to 140K in first
Australia, NZ, and South Pacific: 80K to 90K in economy

Oh, the U.S. and Canada short hauls are rising in business from 25K to 30K, but who cares!

And here are the worst Aeroplan devaluations that would’ve made me scratch my head if I hadn’t made peace with FF programs clinical insanity a long time ago.

South, West and East Africa: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

To South, West and East Africa levels go up from 60K to 80K in business and from 85K to 120K in first. It’ll soon cost you almost as much for a business class seat as you are now paying for first.

Asia 1: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, North Korea, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam. (Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will become Asia 2 on 12.15.15).

to Asia 1 from 20K to 40K, 30K to 80K (!), and 50K to 110K (!)
to Asia 2 from 60K to 80K in business, and from 85K to 130K in first
to Europe 1 from 105K to 150K in business and from 145K to 210K in first
to Australia, NZ, and SP from 90K to 135K in business and from 130K to 190K in first
to Southern South America from 150 to 210 in business and 210 to 280 in first

Asia 2: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Micronesia (Incl Guam), Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Eastern Russia. (Eastern Russia and Mongolia will become Asia 1 on 12.15.15).

to Europe 1 from 105K to 150K in business and from 145K to 220K in first
to Mexico from 150K to 190K in business and from 200K to 260K in first
to Australia, NZ, and SP from 90K to 135K in business and from 130K to 190K in first
to Southern South America from 150K to 190K in business and from 200K to 260K in first

Caribbean and Central America: Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grand Cayman, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Netherland Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands.

to Asia 1 from 150K to 180K in business, and from 200K to 240K in first
to Asia 2 from 150K to 190K in business, and from 200K to 260K in first
to Australia, NZ, and SP from 150K to 180K in business, and from 200K to 240K in first

Europe 1: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland (will become Europe 2 on 12.15.15), Portugal, Spain (incl. Balearic Islands; excl. Canary Islands), Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

to Africa: from 105K to 125K in business and from 145K to 175K in first
Indian Subcontinent: from 105K to 125K in business and from 145K to 175K in first
to Australia, NZ, and SP from 145K to 190K in business, and from 205K to 260K in first

Europe 2: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg(will become Europe 1 on 12.15.15), Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia (Western), Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine.

to Africa from 105K to 125K in business and from 145K to 175K in first.
to Asia 1 from 105K to 150K in business, and from 145K to 220K in first
to Asia 2 from 105K to 150K in business, and from 145K to 220K in first

Hawaii: My goodness! What an insane devaluation, almost across the board. I’m not going to list these tragic numbers here, check the above link and weep!

Mexico

to Europe 1 from 115K to 150K in business and from 160K to 200K in first
to Australia, NZ, and SP from 150K to 180K in business, and from 200K to 240K in first

Northern South America: Colombia, Ecuador (Incl Galapagos Islands), Guyana, Venezuela.

Ouch! That will really hurt!

to Asia 1 from 130K to 200K in business, and from 180K to 270K in first
to Asia 2 for 130K to 210K in business, and from 180K to 280K in first
to Europe 1 from 100K to 140K in business and from 130K to 190K in first
to Europe 2 from 100K to 160K in business and from 130K to 210K in first

Southern South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay.

to Europe 1 from 115K to 160K in business and from 145K to 200K in first
to Europe 2 from 115K to 170K in business and from 160K to 220K in first

So, I disagree with some bloggers opinions that this devaluation is mild. If you start your travel from the U.S., it might be, somewhat, but in the global sense, this is major! Some levels will increase over 100%. There is nothing mild about it.

But since it is in the human nature to try and find some silver lining in anything, I tried that too.

Here are the most notable reductions in mileage cost that go into effect on Dec. 15.

Africa to Australia, NZ, and South Pacific: from 250K to 220K in first
Asia 1 to Africa: from 140K to 100K, 210K to 180K, 290K to 250K
Asia 2 to Africa: from 140K to 90K, 210K to 170K, 290K to 240K
Caribbean to Africa: from 140K to 100K in economy and 280K to 240K in first
Mexico to Africa from 280K to 240K in first

Hawaii has a couple of bright spots amidst otherwise horrible pictures:

to Africa from 140 to 100 in economy
to Indian subcontinent from 140K to 100K in economy and 280K to 250K in first

Indian subcontinent: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.

This part of the world shows real improvements in the Aeroplan chart. I’ll post all reductions even small ones, since there aren’t too many anyway.

to Africa: from 140K to 80K, 200K to 160K, 280K to 200K
to Indian subcontinent: from 50K to 30K, 75K to 60K, 105K to 80K
to Australia, NZ, and SP from 110K to 90K in economy and 250K to 220K in first

And then there is Middle East and North Africa. And this region totally shines in the new chart. Well, almost totally!

UPDATE: Sorry, it doesn’t. Read my updated report

Algeria, Bahrain, Canary Islands (Spain), Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

to Africa: from 120K to 65K, 180K to 120K, 250K to 160K (!!!)
to Indian subcontinent: from 140K to 45K, 200K to 80K, 280K to 110K (!!!)
to ME and NA: from 50K to 35K in economy, small increase in premium classes
to Australia, NZ, and SP from 115K to 100K in economy, mild increase in business

Can you see some awesome opportunities here?

Northern South America: