Book an Air Canada flight today and you’ll earn at least 1 Aeroplan point for every dollar you spend — up to 6 points per dollar if you hold elite status. Distance doesn’t come into it any more. What you pay for the fare is the whole equation.
That’s a change from how the program used to work, and it still catches people out when the points post lower than they expected. Here’s what you earn now, what counts toward it, and what it means for the card in your wallet.
How Does Aeroplan Earning Work Now?
Every member earns a minimum of 1 Aeroplan point for every dollar of eligible spending on an Air Canada flight. Air Canada’s own example is a ticket with $427 of eligible spending, which earns 427 points. Elite members multiply that, which the next section breaks down.
This replaced a distance-and-fare-class chart, under which a cheap seat on a long flight could out-earn an expensive seat on a short one. Air Canada announced the switch in August 2025 and applied it to travel from January 1, 2026. The upside is that earning is now easy to predict before you book — it just isn’t always generous.
How Many Aeroplan Points Per Dollar Do You Earn Now?
Your status at the time you travel sets the multiplier. Air Canada confirms elite members earn between 2x and 6x, and the breakdown reported by Prince of Travel and other loyalty trackers looks like this:
| Status | Points per $1 of eligible spending | $500 ticket earns |
|---|---|---|
| No status | 1x | 500 points |
| Aeroplan 25K | 2x | 1,000 points |
| Aeroplan 35K | 3x | 1,500 points |
| Aeroplan 50K | 4x | 2,000 points |
| Aeroplan 75K | 5x | 2,500 points |
| Super Elite | 6x | 3,000 points |
At our usual valuation of roughly 1.5 to 2 cents a point, a no-status flyer is getting something like 1.5% to 2% back on the fare. That’s respectable, but it’s the kind of return a decent cash back card gives you on everything — which is worth remembering before you book with Air Canada purely for the points.
Which Spending Earns Aeroplan Points Per Dollar?
This is where people get caught out, because the number Aeroplan earns on isn’t the number on your credit card statement. Points are calculated on the base fare plus carrier surcharges only. Taxes, government fees and third-party charges are all excluded.
On a transatlantic ticket, where taxes and surcharges can run to hundreds of dollars, the gap between what you paid and what you earn on can be substantial. So if you’re estimating your points before a trip, work from the fare breakdown rather than the total — otherwise you’ll be disappointed when the points post.
Who Wins and Loses Under Aeroplan Points Per Dollar?
The honest answer is that paying Aeroplan points per dollar picks a side, and it isn’t the bargain hunter’s.
You come out ahead if you buy expensive tickets on short routes — business travellers on last-minute Toronto–Ottawa or Calgary–Vancouver runs, or anyone regularly booking premium cabins. Distance never helped those trips much under the old chart; the fare does now.
You come out behind if you’ve been hunting cheap long-haul economy fares. A $600 seat to Europe used to earn on thousands of miles flown. Now it earns on $600 of fare, minus the taxes and fees — and if you booked Basic Economy, the status side of the equation gives you nothing at all.
If that sounds familiar, it’s the same direction of travel as the Aeroplan devaluation on the redemption side. Earning and redeeming both moved, and both moved against the same kind of flyer.
How Does Aeroplan Elite Status Work Now?
Status changed at the same time, and this part is genuinely different. Qualification now runs on Status Qualifying Credits, or SQCs, rather than miles and segments.
On Air Canada fares you earn up to 4 SQCs per dollar, and the fare type decides where you land. Basic Economy earns nothing toward status, Economy Standard earns 2 per dollar, and Flex, Comfort, Latitude, Premium Economy and Business all earn 4. You can also pick up SQCs away from the aircraft: eligible Aeroplan credit card spending counts for up to 25,000 SQCs, and partner activity for up to another 25,000.
Milestone benefits unlock every 10,000 SQCs along the way, so there’s something to collect before you reach a status tier at all.
Does This Change How Your Credit Card Earns?
No — and this is the part worth being clear about, because it’s where most Canadians earn the bulk of their points anyway. Your Aeroplan credit card still earns at its published rates on everyday spending. Groceries, gas and bills are untouched by any of this.
What changed is only the flying side of the ledger. The practical upshot is that cards matter more than they used to for anyone who isn’t buying expensive fares: if flights earn you less than they once did, the card becomes the main engine. Our comparison of the Amex Cobalt against the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite is a good place to start, and if you’re weighing Aeroplan against other Canadian programs entirely, we put it head to head with Scene+ and Blue Rewards.
One more wrinkle worth knowing: partner flights don’t all follow the new rules. A Star Alliance flight on a ticket Air Canada issued earns the revenue-based way, but a ticket issued by the partner airline still earns on the old distance-and-fare-class chart, without your elite multiplier.
What Changes Next in 2027?
One piece of this is still ahead of you. From 2027, primary cardholders on a premium Aeroplan credit card who hold elite status get a 10% SQC head start, calculated on the previous year’s earnings. If you’re close to a tier, that bonus is worth factoring into whether you keep the card through the end of this year.
Aeroplan publishes the current SQC thresholds for each tier, and those are worth checking directly rather than relying on third-party summaries — the reporting on them hasn’t been consistent.
Key Takeaways
- Aeroplan points per dollar replaced distance-based earning on Air Canada flights, for travel from January 1, 2026 onward.
- Everyone earns at least 1 point per dollar; elite members earn 2x to 6x depending on status at the time of travel.
- Only the base fare and carrier surcharges count — taxes, government fees and third-party charges don’t.
- Expensive short-haul and premium-cabin flyers gain; cheap long-haul economy flyers lose.
- Status now runs on Status Qualifying Credits: up to 4 per dollar by fare type, nothing on Basic Economy, plus up to 25,000 from card spending and 25,000 from partners.
- Credit card earn rates are unchanged, which makes your card more important than before if you don’t buy pricey tickets.
The short version: Aeroplan now rewards what you spend with Air Canada rather than how far it carries you. If you fly often and pay up, you’ll do better than before. If you’ve built your balance on cheap seats and long distances, your points are going to come from your credit card from here on — and it’s worth making sure that card is pulling its weight. Our guide to what Aeroplan points are actually worth covers the redemption side.
Details confirmed against Air Canada’s announcement of the changes, with the per-tier multipliers and fare-by-fare SQC rates as reported by Prince of Travel. Checked October 24, 2026. Loyalty programs change often — confirm current rates with Aeroplan before booking.