Earn Air Canada Altitude Prestige 25K from Home
UPDATE (April 22, 2020): There was some confusion on how to get bumped to Altitude 75K status. I clarified that section in bold below.
Just a quick history lesson. Air Canada currently operate two loyalty programs at the same time, but a full integration is coming soon. It as suppose to be June 2020, but it may get delayed. Basically, Air Canada has Altitude, which is their elite status program, while Aeroplan is their miles collection arm. They used to be the same company, but then Air Canada sold off Aeroplan to Aimia, and then Air Canada bought it back not too long ago.
The history lesson is to set up more context so that there is less confusion when I explain the promotions, which starts today (April 20, 2020) and runs until May 31, 2020.
What counts as earning miles?
Aeroplan members who earn 50,000 miles will receive an Air Canada Altitude Prestige 25K status valid through 2021.
The terms and conditions have “Eligible Aeroplan Miles” in the fine print. Here are some of the keys ones to look out for:
- Credit card welcome bonus
- Credit card spend
- eStore purchases
- All other activity (unless otherwise stipulated)
Looks to me that transferring 50,000 American Express Membership Rewards points over to Aeroplan should do the trick (to earn Altitude Prestige 25K), like what Prince of Travel, mentioned!
It does not seem like there are too many restrictions to worry about. But you do spot any, please let us know in the comment section below.
Altitude Prestige 25K
In case you were curious, normally you need to earn either 25,000 AQM or 25 Altitude Qualifying Segments (AQS), plus $3,000 AQD, which is probably way more difficult than earning 50,000 Aeroplan miles (especially in 2020).
As an Altitude Prestige 25K member, you can enjoy the following exclusive privileges:
- Priority reservation waitlist
- Priority seat selection
- 50% discount on preferred seats
- Priority airport check-in
- Priority airport standby
- 2 complimentary checked baggage allowance
- Complimentary sports equipment handling
- Priority boarding
- 2 Maple Leaf Lounge One-Time Guest Passes
Earning Bonus Altitude Qualifying Miles (AQM)
There is also other promotions happening at the same time whereby, if you continue to earn Aeroplan miles, you can receive other benefits, as shown in the table below.
Note that the Bonus Altitude Qualifying Miles (AQM) will be credited by to a member’s account in August 2020. The Bonus Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQD) will be credited by December 15, 2020.
Elite 75K
Clarification: when you earn 250,000 or more miles, you can receive a one-time Altitude status upgrade up to Altitude Elite 75K. So depending on what level you are at, you receive a one-time bump to the next level.
Not to be overlooked, the 250,000 miles for Elite 75K is actually quite an amazing offer if you can pull it off. Not only are you getting a lot of other benefits (e.g. Altitude Wi-Fi Plan), one key one is being able to gift Altitude Elite 35K status for a friend, which greatly increases the value of earning 250,000 miles in the time frame.
Thoughts
This is yet another move to fully integrate Air Canada’s Altitude program with Aeroplan or vice versa (whichever way you see it). I’m not sure I would go out of my way to earn 50,000 miles just to get Prestige 25K. But if you had plans to earn 50,000 Aeroplan miles anyway in 2020, I would definitely consider moving up your plans to earn the necessary miles in time.
Wait! So if I read the correctly, 250,000 = Elite75K or “upto”?
Yes, “up to”. I clarified the post accordingly.
I think the point should be clarified, that the chart showing “earn” and “get” columns are only applicable for those who currently hold some kind of altitude status already. Ie, one cannot earn E75k from no status, you would have to currently be E50k AND earn 250k AP miles in the promo period.
This promo essentially dilutes the value of those who currently hold status by adding to the elite ranks, so this bonus chart offers additional value to current status holders for their non-flying activity as well.
Thanks for pointing that out Derek, I updated the post accordingly.
Also, thanks for the feedback about the dilution. I’m thinking, if flying is way down and people are earning status this way, it may not necessarily be people who travel frequently. So they may not end up enjoying the status as much as others. But this does give people an opportunity to earn elite status a different way that just flying.