Aeroplan Elite Status: What Are Threshold Rewards?

In addition to the Core and Select Benefits that Aeroplan Elite Status holders can benefit from, Air Canada offers threshold rewards to those with Aeroplan 50K status and above.

The rewards take various forms, including extra eUpgrades, bonus Aeroplan points, gift cards, and more, and they’re a way for the airline to continue to recognize loyalty. 

This guide looks at Aeroplan Elite Status threshold rewards in detail, including how to earn them, what you stand to gain, and some examples of where they may provide particularly exceptional value.

What Are Aeroplan Elite Status Threshold Rewards?

Threshold rewards are additional gifts given to Aeroplan Elite Status holders as they cross various Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) and/or Status Qualifying Segment (SQS) thresholds.

Those with Aeroplan 50K status or above are eligible to earn threshold rewards, so if you haven’t yet reached at least 50K status, you won’t be able to earn them.

Threshold rewards fall into two categories: eUpgrades and gifts, and depending on which SQM/SQS threshold you cross, you’ll get one or the other, and sometimes both!

For the most part, the SQM/SQS thresholds differ from those used to qualify for Aeroplan Elite Status. The only threshold that’s the same as an Aeroplan Elite Status threshold is at 100,000 SQM / 100 SQS, which aligns with half of the requirement to earn Super Elite status.

The following are the thresholds at which bonus eUpgrades are offered:

• 60,000 SQM / 60 SQS
• 80,000 SQM / 80 SQS
• 100,000 SQM / 100 SQS
• 140,000 SQM/ 140 SQS
• Every subsequent 40,000 SQM / 40 SQS, up to 700,000 SQM / 700 SQS

Meanwhile, the following are the thresholds at which various threshold gifts are offered:

• 60,000 SQM / 60 SQS
• 90,000 SQM / 90 SQS
• 150,000 SQM / 150 SQS
• 200,000 SQM/ 200 SQS
• 250,000 SQM/ 250 SQS
• 300,000 SQM/ 300 SQS
• 350,000 SQM/ 350 SQS

To see how many SQM/SQS you’ve earned, sign in to your Aeroplan account and click on “My Aeroplan” on the dropdown menu. Under the “Status” tab, you’ll be able to see your current SQM, SQS, and SQD values. 

As a reminder, SQM and SQS can be earned by flying with Air Canada and Star Alliance member airlines and crediting the flights to your Aeroplan account. 

Importantly, you can also earn SQM and SQS through credit card spending on eligible Aeroplan co-branded credit cards.

Holders of premium cards, including the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* Card, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, the American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card, and the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege* Card – receive 1,000 SQM and 1 SQS for every $5,000 of eligible spending. 

Holders of core and small business cards – including the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, the American Express Aeroplan Card, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, and more – receive 1,000 SQM and 1 SQS for every $10,000 of eligible spending.

As a reminder, if you hold a premium co-branded Aeroplan credit card, any unused SQM can also be rolled over to the next calendar/benefit year.

For example, if you have an American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, hold 50K status, and finished the year with 70,000 SQM and 70 SQS, then 20,000 SQM will be carried forward to the next year. This will make requalifying for 50K status and earning threshold rewards easier the next year.

If you hold Aeroplan Elite Status, my strong recommendation would be to invest in a premium Aeroplan co-branded credit card, since you can pair earning SQM/SQS through daily spending with the card’s SQM rollover benefits and extended eUpgrade validity period. As we’ll explore below, this is a powerful and perhaps underappreciated tool for the savvy Air Canada frequent flyer.

Full details about SQM and SQS can be found in our Guide to Qualifying and Privileges for Aeroplan Elite Status.

Earning Aeroplan Elite Status Threshold eUpgrades

We’ve covered eUpgrades in considerable detail here on Prince of Travel, and I believe that they’re one of the most valuable parts of Aeroplan Elite Status, especially if used strategically. Recall that you can use eUpgrades to potentially travel in a higher class of service on both paid Air Canada flights and Aeroplan reward bookings for Air Canada flights.

One of the many quirks about eUpgrades is that there are limited ways to earn them: some are earned as a Core Benefit that everyone gets, and others must be chosen as a Select Benefit. 

Threshold eUpgrades offer another way to boost your eUpgrade balance.  

For the first two thresholds – 60,000 SQM / 60 SQS and 80,000 SQM / 80 SQS – an additional 10 eUpgrade credits are deposited into your account.

At the 100,000 SQM / 100 SQS threshold, and with each interval of 40,000 SQM / 40 SQS thereafter, you are rewarded with an additional 20 eUpgrades. 

Upon crossing each threshold, the eUpgrades are automatically added to your account. These eUpgrades are valid for one year from the date of issuance, but you can also get an additional year of validity if you hold a premium Aeroplan co-branded credit card with the rollover benefit.

Let’s suppose you’re gunning to renew your Super Elite status this year.

You receive 20 eUpgrade credits automatically as a Core Benefit, and then choose to select 50 eUpgrades as one of your Select Benefits.

Over the course of the year, you’d also receive 10 eUpgrades at the 60,000 SQM / 60 SQS and the 80,000 SQM / 80 SQS thresholds, and an additional 20 eUpgrades after earning 100,000 SQM / 100 SQS. 

This would bring the total amount of eUpgrades at your disposal over the course of the year to 110.

110 eUpgrades would be enough to upgrade from an Economy (Latitude) fare to business class on four round-trip flights between Vancouver and Sydney on an Aeroplan redemption. This assumes, of course, that there is eUpgrade space available – if you don’t clear in advance, you’ll be waitlisted. 

However, those same 110 eUpgrades could also save you a significant amount of money when flying with Air Canada on any other route where you would have otherwise paid for business class outright.

If used strategically, you could wind up paying for economy or premium economy, and flying in business class for a fraction of the price.

Earning Aeroplan Elite Status Threshold Gifts

Threshold gifts are additional rewards given to Aeroplan Elite Status holders upon reaching various SQM and SQS thresholds. 

As mentioned above, threshold gifts are mostly given at different intervals than the eUpgrade threshold rewards. 

At 60,000 SQM / 60 SQS, you’ll receive 2,500 SQM for the following benefit year and 2,500 Aeroplan points. These gifts will appear in your account by the end of February of the following year, giving you a head start towards requalifying for status and a boost to your Aeroplan account.

At 90,000 SQM / 90 SQS, you’ll receive 5,000 rollover SQM and 5,000 Aeroplan points. These gifts will also appear in your account by the end of February of the following year.

There is a large jump to the next threshold of 150,000 SQM / 150 SQS. At this tier, Super Elites receive 20,000 bonus Aeroplan points, which is enough for a one-way flight in premium economy between Vancouver and Montreal. 

We value Aeroplan points at 2.1 cents per point, and using this metric, we’d estimate a value of $420 for this threshold gift.

At 200,000 SQM / 200 SQS, there is a gift of 35,000 Aeroplan points (which we’d value at $735). This could be enough for a one-way flight between Vancouver and Tokyo in economy class.

Beginning at the next threshold, this is where the benefits start to get quite interesting.

If you manage to reach 250,000 SQM / 250 SQS, you’d be rewarded with a banked year of Super Elite status. This would allow you to enjoy a year of Super Elite benefits without having to work for it. 

(If you’re an Air Canada Three Million Miler and already enjoy Super Elite Status for life, you’ll receive 75,000 Aeroplan points instead.)

Reaching the 250,000 SQM / 250 SQS threshold is equivalent to flying between Toronto and Vancouver 119 times over the course of a calendar year. Of course, this doesn’t take into account any bonus SQM earned through different fares or credit card spending, but it’s a good illustration of what you’d have to do to get here.

Alternatively, you’d have to spend $1.25 million to earn 250,000 SQM / 250 SQS with a premium Aeroplan co-branded credit card, or $2.5 million on a core Aeroplan co-branded credit card.

In my opinion, this is the sweet spot to aim for in the threshold rewards program – particularly if you have a large amount of credit card spend – and here’s why.

Recall that you can roll over up to 200,000 unused SQM as a premium Aeroplan co-branded cardholder each year. This means that if you roll over the full 200,000 SQM, you’d have satisfied the 100,000 SQM / 100 SQS requirement for Super Elite status already, and your attention could turn to earning the SQD to qualify for another year of Super Elite status.

All of the excess SQM that you earn through flying that year, as well as what you earn through credit card spending, add up to more SQM over the course of the year, which you can then roll over to the following year to start the cycle all over again. 

Plus, the rolled-over SQM count towards earning threshold rewards, and if you can reach the 250,000 SQM / 250 SQS threshold every year, you’ll find yourself with a healthy amount of banked Super Elite statuses for years when you no longer travel as much.

Indeed, this is a sweet spot that many Super Elites I know strive to hit every year, and one that could be incredibly valuable.

At 300,000 SQM / 300 SQS, you’re given a choice between either 150,000 Aeroplan points or a $2,000 Air Canada gift card. 

And at the final threshold of 350,000 SQM / 350 SQS, you can choose between 300,000 Aeroplan points or a $4,000 Air Canada gift card. 

In the latter two options, my inclination would be to choose the points over the gift card for two reasons. 

Using our current valuation of 2.1 cents per point, the estimated value of the points ($3,150 and $6,300, respectively) exceeds that of the gift cards. If you redeem the points for high value redemptions in premium cabins, such as ANA First Class, you can gain even more value from the points.

Plus, you’d also be able to pair the points with valuable Priority Rewards. As a Super Elite, these Priority Rewards may be redeemed for business class flights with any Aeroplan partner airline anywhere in the world.

Since each Priority Reward cuts the required number of points for your redemption in half, you could consider the gifted points to effectively double in value, as you’d be able to redeem them for what would usually cost 300,000 or 600,000 points, respectively, with Priority Rewards.

Let Us Take Care of You

If you’re an Air Canada frequent flyer looking to maximize the benefits of the Aeroplan Elite Status program, Aeroplan points, eUpgrades, and more without putting in all of the work yourself, head over to the Prince of Travel Concierge website to learn more about our white-glove service.

Our expert Concierge account managers will look after everything on your behalf: crafting a comprehensive credit card strategy, ensuring you’re earning elite status and leveraging all of the benefits, and saving you time and money on booking travel.

Conclusion

Threshold eUpgrades and gifts are additional perks afforded to those with Aeroplan 50K status and above as they cross various SQM and SQS thresholds. These rewards are in addition to the Core and Select Benefits that come with having Aeroplan Elite Status. 

Between eUpgrades and the gifts, extra eUpgrades can offer better value until reaching the 250,000 SQM / 250 SQS threshold, which is where the gifts become more interesting. 

One way to boost your progress towards reaching the different SQM / SQS thresholds is to put spending through on a premium Aeroplan co-branded credit card. 

If you’re a high-volume spender, or a very frequent flyer, Air Canada’s threshold rewards offer extra perks as you make your way through and above the airline’s upper three status tiers.