Air Canada Adopts Spend-Based Aeroplan Status

Air Canada’s popular Aeroplan program will start awarding status based on spend from next year.

It will also change the way it awards points for flying, with Aeroplan points soon to be awarded based on the cost of the ticket as well, rather than the distance flown and fare type.

Air Canada says it’s making these changes to “keep Aeroplan Elite Status among the very best in the industry”. But the reality is that this will make it harder and more expensive for most members to earn or maintain status with the airline.

The new Aeroplan program from January 2026

From 1 January 2026, Air Canada will move to a new system for awarding Aeroplan status which will be based on “Status Qualifying Credits” (SQC).

These will replace the current system where Aeroplan members need to earn a combination of Status Qualifying Dollars (SQD) and either Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) or Status Qualifying Segments (SQS) to earn status. SQM and SQS can only be earned by flying with Air Canada and selected partner airlines, including Star Alliance partners and Virgin Australia.

From next year, Aeroplan members will be able to earn SQC not only through flying, but also with selected Aeroplan co-brand credit cards and everyday partners.

SQC will be earned on Air Canada flights – but will be based on the amount spent on the ticket. They can also be earned with Star Alliance partner airlines. But it’s not yet clear whether Virgin Australia flights would count towards Aeroplan status qualification going forward.

You can read more about the Aeroplan status changes on the Air Canada website.

Another one bites the dust…

Sadly, Air Canada is far from the only airline to move to awarding status credits based on spend in recent years.

Virgin Australia infamously made a similar change to its Velocity Frequent Flyer program in April this year. As a result of this change, many Velocity members now have to spend a lot more on Virgin Australia flights – as much as four times the amount, in some cases – to maintain their existing status tier. Many say they won’t bother, and have already switched their loyalty to Qantas.

British Airways and Iberia also switched to awarding status based on spend earlier this year, while fellow Oneworld airline Finnair went down that road last year.

Qantas isn’t following

After Virgin Australia switched to spend-based status credit earning, there had been a lot of speculation that Qantas could follow.

Fortunately, it seems Qantas has read the room and does not plan to do the same thing. For now, at least.

That’s not to say that Qantas isn’t considering making any changes to the way it awards status credits, though. Although the flying kangaroo has ruled out directly linking status credits earned from flying to the cost of the ticket, it may be considering introducing new ways to earn status credits in addition to flying – such as credit card spend.

Aussies can still earn Aeroplan status without flying

If you live in Australia and value Aeroplan status – or Star Alliance status more generally – the good news is that there is still a really simple shortcut to get Star Alliance Gold without even flying at all!

With the HSBC Star Alliance credit card, you can get a year of Star Alliance Gold status with your choice of seven airlines – including Air Canada – just by signing up and spending at least $4,000 on the card within the first 90 days. There’s no annual fee in the first year, either. You can then retain your status in subsequent years by spending a minimum amount on your card.