As part of Air Canada’s overall rebrand of their reacquired loyalty program, Aeroplan, the airline announced Thursday they are rolling out their latest perk: Status Pass.
Status Pass allows eligible members Aeroplan 50K and above to gift their status benefits as a limited number of one-time passes to friends and family members.
Benefits include:
- Complimentary Checked Baggage – 3 bags, up to 32kg/70lb each
- Priority Check-in – when departing on AC flights
- Priority Baggage Handling –when checking in with AC
- Priority Security Clearance – at select airports, when departing on AC flights
- Maple Leaf Lounge access
- Priority Airport Standby
- Priority Boarding – Zone 2 boarding
A standout feature of Status Pass is that Aeroplan Elite Status member does not have to be travelling with the one-time pass nominee. Air Canada says, “For certainty, Status Pass does not confer benefits, such as Star Alliance Gold recognition, when traveling with our airline partners.”
How to earn a Status Pass
Aeroplan members 50K and above may choose Status Passes as a select benefit at the beginning of the year, while Super Elite members receive 2 passes as a core benefit.
Select Benefits:
- 50K members can choose 2 passes
- 75K members can choose 3 passes
- Super Elite members can choose 4 passes
In addition, for the introductory year, Air Canada is depositing one Status Pass for Aeroplan 50K and 75K members, while Super Elite members get two. These will be rolled out through mid-March.
How to redeem a Status Pass
Simply log on on the Air Canada app, or at AirCanada.com/aeroplan, and select the Status Pass benefit to enter the reservation details of the one-time Status Pass nominee. It can be applied to any reservation, including flight rewards, on flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada rouge, and Air Canada Express. Benefits will apply to all travelers on the reservation, for all directions of travel.
Other details provided by Air Canada:
- Status Passes will be considered used as soon as one Air Canada flight on the reservation has been flown.
- The member can “revoke” an unused status pass that has been awarded, so long as it is done at least six hours prior to travel. It will automatically be returned to the member’s account.
- If a reservation including a Status Pass is changed, the Status Pass will continue to apply so long as at least one Air Canada-operated segment remains on the reservation. Otherwise, assuming travel has not commenced, it will automatically be returned to the member’s account.
- If a reservation including a Status Pass is cancelled, the Status Pass will be returned, unless travel has already commenced. If travel has not commenced, it will automatically be returned to the member’s account.
Final thoughts
This is a great perk to extend to friends or family travelling without you. Aeroplan has, in their new program, tried to make everything sharable, and this continues that journey. This is something that’s new to the global market—and really exciting to see from the perspective of airline loyalty programmes.
