Air Canada Aeroplan just announced big changes to its award chart starting March 25, 2025. The regular partner chart will stay the same with fixed prices, but several airlines are moving to a new “Air Canada and select partners” category. This new group includes United, Emirates, Flydubai, Etihad Airways, and Canadian regional airlines (Calm Air, Canadian North, and Provincial Airlines). The pricing for these partners will become dynamic, without the maximum pricing caps that exist now. The new chart will show “starting” and “median” award rates for North American flights, but won’t have maximums. For international flights and first class, you’ll only see “starting at” prices with no listed median values.

Some good news comes with these changes. Aeroplan promises greater availability on these select partners, and Etihad business class awards will be bookable again worldwide. Both Aeroplan elite members and credit card holders will get special discounted rates. The “starting at” prices will match current minimums, and Aeroplan gave almost two months’ notice before making these changes – which is pretty rare these days.

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Our Take

Dynamic pricing without maximum caps is rarely good news for people who use points. When airlines remove price caps, it means award tickets can cost a lot more during busy times. Looking at the new North American chart, we’re concerned that the listed median prices are close to the current maximums. For example, Air Canada economy flights between 501-1,500 miles will have a median price of 13,600 points. Since half of all awards will price higher than that, many will likely exceed the current 15,000 point maximum.

Our overall feeling about these changes is mixed. The removal of maximum pricing is definitely a downside, especially for international and first class flights where we won’t even see median prices listed. However, the discounts for cardholders and elite members could mean cheaper awards for many people. The promised increase in United partner availability could be very helpful too. The nearly two-month notice is refreshing compared to the surprise changes we often see from other programs. We’ll need to wait until after March 25th to see how high these dynamic prices actually go in practice, especially for those international partner flights.