Aeroplan Devaluation: Increased Reward Prices From June 2026

Air Canada Aeroplan has announced a broad set of changes to its flight reward chart, increasing the number of points required to book most flights from 1 June 2026. While the updates vary by route and distance, the direction is clear: Aeroplan award flights are becoming more expensive, particularly in premium cabins.

For Australian frequent flyers, the impact is more significant than it first appears. Many of the most popular redemptions, including flights to Asia and Europe, fall within distance bands that will see increases of around 20%.

Aeroplan has long stood out for its strong partner network, including Star Alliance partners in Singapore Airlines, United, ANA, and Turkish Airlines, competitive redemption rates and the option to add stopovers for just 5,000 points. These changes show that even well-regarded programs are not immune to devaluation. Earn and burn is always key to maximising loyalty points!

Aeroplan Is Devaluing Rewards From June 2026

Aeroplan has announced its updated flight reward chart that will apply to redemptions made on or after 1 June 2026. The changes apply to both Air Canada and partner airline flights, and are likely to also apply if you make changes to an existing booking.

Air Canada said, “We don’t take increases lightly, but they’re sometimes necessary as our underlying costs rise,” which is at least honest.

You can compare the old chart here and Aeroplan’s new Flight Reward Chart here. Rather than reproducing the full award chart, we will look at a few routes that actually matter to Australian travellers below.

Aeroplan reward charts are based on the following zones:

• North America includes Canada, United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.
• Atlantic includes Europe, Africa, Middle East and India.
• Pacific includes Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

How The Aeroplan Devaluation Impacts Australian Travellers

Let's take a look at some specific examples of how these changes affect Australian members.

Australia to Asia

Perhaps the most noticeable Aeroplan devaluation for Australian travellers lands on flights into Asia. Many of these routes sit within the 2,001–5,000 mile band, which has long been a sweet spot for business class at 45,000 points. That pricing will soon disappear.

Partner airline flights within the Pacific zone covering 2,001-5,000 miles:

• Economy: 25,000 → 30,000 points (+20%)
• Business: 45,000 → 52,500 points (+17%)

Some of the routes affected:

• Thai Airways Melbourne, Perth, Sydney → Bangkok
• ANA Perth, Sydney → Tokyo
• Singapore Airlines Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney → Singapore
• Turkish Airlines Melbourne → Singapore & Sydney → Kuala Lumpur

Turkish Airlines business class can be booked with Aeroplan Points

Australia to Europe

Flights from Australia to Europe are naturally an aspirational use of Aeroplan points, typically booked via Asia on partner airline airlines. These itineraries almost always fall into the 7,001+ mile band, which is now seeing a noticeable increase in pricing.

This covers routings via hubs such as Singapore on Singapore Airlines, Bangkok on Thai Airways or Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.

partner airline flights between Atlantic and Pacific zones over 7,001 miles:

• Economy: 65,000 → 75,000 (+15%)
• Business: 110,000 → 130,000 (+18%)

Aeroplan offers redemptions with Singapore Airlines

Best Ways To Earn Aeroplan Points In Australia

Aeroplan points are somewhat difficult to earn in Australia compared to other frequent flyer programs. At present, the HSBC Star Alliance card is the only Australian credit card that allows direct transfers to Aeroplan.

Another common strategy is to buy Aeroplan points at a discount during one of the program’s regular sales. Air Canada frequently offers promotions with bonus points or discounts of around 100%, which can make purchasing points a viable option.

Best practice is to only buy Aeroplan points after you have found a reward seat to book, instead of purchasing just because there is a sale. In many cases, it is possible to unlock a significant discount on business class tickets by purchasing Aeroplan points.

Summing Up: My Take

Aeroplan’s latest update doesn’t completely nuke the program, but it does remove several of its most attractive sweet spots. That’s especially the case for Australian travellers, who lose access to those high-value 45,000 business class redemptions to Asia.

That said, the new pricing is still competitive, and over the years Aeroplan has done a good job at keeping its program valuable. So while these changes make Aeroplan less appealing, they don’t make it unappealing.