Air Canada Million Mile – How to Get Elite Status for Life and is it Worth it?
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What is the Air Canada Million Mile Program?
Air Canada Million Mile is Air Canada’s program that recognizes passengers that have flown over one million miles with them. This essentially gives them the main benefit of having elite status for life, amongst some other perks.
The program was originally launched in 2010. Only those that had achieved that level of flying miles were contacted letting them know about their status.
While many airlines have a similar type of program Air Canada’s tends to be particularly difficult to get to this level. This is because there are very specific qualifications that need to be met to obtain it.
Air Canada does give some basic details about their Million Mile program on their corporate website. However, if you want in depth details about it including how to get it and all the perks that come with it, keep on reading below.
How to Get Air Canada Million Mile Status
There are four levels to the program including:
- One Million Miles
- Two Million Miles
- Three Million Miles
- Four Million Miles
Each level comes with its own set of perks that we will go through below. But let’s first talk about how to get into this elite club.
The only way to to get membership is to have flown a minimum of one million Lifetime Qualifying Miles (LQM) with select Air Canada flights. Plus, any Lifetime Qualifying Miles that have been earned since 1988 also count towards your status to getting admission to Million Mile.
The only way to earn Lifetime Qualifying Miles is to earn eligible Status Qualifying Miles with Air Canada. Status Qualifying Miles are the actual distance flown on a flight.
This means earning Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) on flights that are a minimum of 250 miles and operated on the following:
- Air Canda
- Air Canada Rouge
- Air Canada Express
In addition any bonus Status Qualifying Miles earned through the below will also count towards getting Million Mile Status:
- Purchases of Business Class Fares
- Earned with purchases of Unlimited Flight Passes
In a nutshell though, this generally (but not always) means that the higher the airfare the higher amount of Status Qualifying Miles you will obtain.
If your goal is to make it into the Million Mile club you’ll also have to keep in mind that not all flights are eligible. Even if they are operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, or Air Canada Express they may not get you the Status Qualifying Miles you’ll need. Let’s take a look at the below so you’ll know exactly if you’re earning Status Qualifying Miles or not. We’ll also see how many you’ll earn if you do.
Here is a sample of what you will see if you’re looking to book an Economy Class ticket on the Air Canada website.
If you book the Basic fare in Economy Class you’ll earn 25% Aeroplan points, but no Status Qualifying Miles (SQM). That means if you’re looking for Status Qualifying Miles you’ll have to purchase at a minimum the Standard Class fare. Even then you’ll only be awarded with 50% of the Status Qualifying Miles. You won’t start earning 100% of Status Qualifying Miles until you start purchasing at least Flex or Latitude Economy Class tickets.
Unsurprisingly only when you start purchasing higher class fares (RE: more expensive), will you then get bonus Status Qualifying Miles. These bonus Status Qualifying Miles will also count towards Million Mile Status.
Check out the amount of Status Qualifying Miles you’ll get for the different fares in Premium Economy and for Business class fares below
For Premium Economy you’ll start earning 125%, or an additional 25%, Status Qualifying Miles.
For Business class you’ll start earning 150%, or an extra 50%, more Status Qualifying Miles for your flight.
If you’re lucky enough to have won the lottery, have a job that is willing to pay for Business Class fares, or have a sugar daddy (no judgement here lol), then booking Business Class is your quickest way to get into the Million Mile club and earn Elite Status for Life.
Status Qualifying Miles Not Eligible for Air Canada Million Mile Club
There are a couple of ways to earn Status Qualifying Miles that won’t count towards the Million Mile Club. These Status Qualifying Miles might count towards getting Elite Status for the qualifying year, but won’t count towards your Million Mile Status. This is part of what makes Air Canada’s Million Mile program more difficult to obtain. These include
- Any Status Qualifying Miles earned prior to 1988
- Any Status Qualifying Miles or bonuses earned through credit card or other promotions
- Any Status Qualifying Miles earned through Air Canada’s Star Alliance partners
In short, only Status Qualifying Miles that are earned through actually flying on eligible Air Canada flights that are more than 250 miles will count towards Million Mile club.
How to Check Your Progress to Million Mile
Want to see how close you are to getting into the Air Canada Million Mile Club? There are two ways to do so:
- Through your Air Canada dashboard on the Air Canada website
- Through the Air Canada app
To check through the Air Canada dashboard on the Air Canada Website:
- Go to aircanada.com
- Login to your Aeroplan account
- Click on Aeroplan dropdown menu and select My Aeroplan
- Click on Status
- Scroll to the bottom to see your progress to the Million Mile club. It will look like the below
To check using the Air Canada app do the following:
- Login to the Air Canada app
- Select Aeroplan from the menu options at the bottom of the screen
- Swipe left until you reach the Status screen
- Scroll down to the bottom of the Status screen until you see the following
Benefits of Air Canada Million Mile Status
As mentioned above there are four levels of Million Mile Status – One Million, Two Million, Three Million, Four Million. Each comes with increasing benefits for each milestone. Let’s review the perks and the benefits of each.
One Million Miles
Once you’ve reached one million Lifetime Status Qualifying Miles you’ll reach the first level, the One Million Miles. You’ll receive a welcome package in the mail welcoming you to the Million Mile program.
The welcome package contains a special Million Mile membership card, luggage tags indicating your Million Mile status, and a model airplane of the Air Canada 787 Boeing Dreamliner. You can watch an unboxing of the entire welcome package here.
At One Million Miles you’ll also be given Aeroplan 50K status for life without having to re-quality for it every year.
Normally you would have had to earn 50,000 Status Qualifying Miles AND have earned $6,000 in Status Qualifying Dollars in order to get Aeroplan 50K status each year. But once you reach the One Million Miles level you won’t have to meet these requirements anymore to reap the benefits of 50K status which include:
- Priority Check-In for Air Canada flights + Star Alliance Flights
- Priority Stand-by for Air Canada flights + Star Alliance Flights
- 3 Complimentary checked bags at 32kg each for Air Canada flights + Star Alliance Flights
- Priority Baggage Handling for Air Canada flights + Star Alliance Flights
- Complimentary Sports Equipment Handling
- Complimentary access to Maple Leaf Lounges in Canadian domestic airports, t U.S airports in Los Angeles and New York (La Guardia and Newark)
- Three complimentary one-time guest passes to the Maple Leaf Lounges in Canadian domestic airports, t U.S airports in Los Angeles and New York (La Guardia and Newark)
- Access to the Air Canada Café
- Complimentary access to Star Alliance Gold lounges
- Priority security clearance for yourself and up to 9 travellers on the same itinerary
- Priority boarding for Air Canada flights + Star Alliance flights
- 20 eUpgrade credits that can be used to upgrade to business class
- Option to choose a select benefit receive an additional 20 eUpgrades that can be used to upgrade to Business class as part of your select benefit each year. This means you would earn a total of 40 eUpgrade credits for the year including the 20 eUpgrade credits you automatically receive if you choose this as your select benefit.
- Complimentary preferred seat for North American flights on eligible Air Canada flights and 50% off preferred seats if you book flex fare on eligible Air Canada flights
- Priority Contacts – where you’ll have priority when calling into Air Canada call centres
- Priority Reservation Waitlist – If you are on standby for a full flight you’ll have priority to be assigned a seat if one becomes available
Two Million Miles
Once you double up on Lifetime Qualifying Miles and hit Two Million Miles you’ll continue to get everything you got on the One Million Mile milestone but you’ll also be able to gift a person of your choice with 50K Elite Status for life. This is HUGE to be able to gift someone 50K Elite Status for life so choose wisely!
You won’t be able to change the person you select to receive 50K Elite Status for life, so make sure it is someone you think could make the most of it. It is also especially important as this person will also get an upgrade should you make it to the highest level in the Million Mile program.
You’ll also receive 75K Elite status for life which means you’ll never have to meet the minimum requirement each year to get 75K Elite Status. Normally you need to earn 75,000 Status Qualifying Miles or 75 Status Qualifying Segments AND $9000 in Status Qualifying Dollars to get 75K Elite Status.
With 75K Elite Status you’ll get everything that you had at 50K Elite status but with the following added bonuses:
- Complimentary preferred seats on all flex fares both in North America and Internationally
- Guaranteed Economy Class Reservations – if a flight is full, you and one travelling companion will be able to book a full-fare ticket on any Air Canada or Air Canada Express flight with minimum 6 hours prior to departure
- Option to choose a select benefit to receive an additional 35 eUpgrades that can be used to upgrade to Business class as part of your select benefit each year. This is in addition to the 20 eUpgrades you automatically get so you could earn up to 55 eUpgrades total for the year should you choose this as your select benefit.
- Option to choose a select benefit to gift Aeroplan 35K Elite status to a friend for one year. Unlike gifting someone 50K Elite Status for life this benefit allows you to change who you gift 35K Elite Status to each year.
Three Million Miles
Once you tripe your Lifetime Status Qualifying Miles and hit the Three Million Miles level you’ll be gifted with Super Elite Status for life! Getting Super Elite Status is the equivalent of earning 100,000K Status Qualifying Miles or 100 Status Qualifying Segments AND $20,000 in Status Qualifying Dollars each year.
As a Super Elite Status member you’ll continue to receive everything a 75K Elite Status member receives with the following added perks:
- Air Canada Concierge Service – you can make special requests, they will pro-actively re-book flights as needed and monitor flight progress.
- You’ll receive 4 Maple Leaf Lounge one-time guest passes for lounges in Canadian airports, Los Angeles, and New York (La Guardia and Newark)
- Access to London Heathrow Arrival Lounge
- Option to choose a select benefit to receive an additional 50 eUpgrades that can be used to upgrade to Business class as part of your select benefit each year. This is in addition to the 20 eUpgrades you automatically get so you could earn up to 70 eUpgrades total for the year should you choose this as your select benefit.
- Option to choose a select benefit to gift Aeroplan 50K Elite status to a friend for one year. Unlike gifting someone 50K Elite Status for life this benefit allows you to change who you gift 50K Elite Status to each year.
- One eUpgrade Nominee. This means you can share your eUpgrade credits with someone else even if they aren’t flying on the same itinerary as you
- Two Elite Status Passes. You can gift someone an Elite Status pass and they will receive Elite Status treatment even if they aren’t travelling with you. This includes 3 complimentary checked bags up to 32kg each, priority baggage handling, priority checkin, priority boarding, priority security clearance and Maple Leaf Lounge access.
Four Million Miles
At four million Lifetime Status Qualifying Miles the person you originally gifted 50K Elite Status for life when you reached Two Million Miles will be bumped up to 75K Elite Status for life. This is why it’s important to choose the person you gifted 50K Elite Status for life when you reached Two Million Miles is so important.
Unfortunately there isn’t any additional bonuses provided to the person who actually reached Four Million Miles.
Personally, I think it would be a great benefit if Air Canada gave Four Million Mile members access to their Signature Suite Lounge and the Air Canada Café regardless of what destination they are flying to or what fare they are flying on.
Typically the Air Canada Signature Suite Lounges are only available to those that are flying on Buiness Class tickets to Europe, Asia, and South America. Additionally the tickets must have either been paid for outright or paid for using Aeroplan Rewards on a Flexibly Business Class ticket or First Class flight reward. Business Class tickets obtained through other means (eUpgrades, last minute upgrades AC Bid upgrades) are excluded.
For the Air Canada Café access you need to be flying on either a Business Class ticket or Premium Rouge ticket on a domestic Air Canada flight, or be a 50K, 75K, Super Elite, Star Alliance Gold, or a credit card holder of an eligible Aeroplan credit card.
After flying four million miles it only seems fitting to give the most loyal of members access to their premium suite lounges and cafés regardless of ticket class or destination flying to. Plus I imagine that not many people have seen Four Million Mile Status and that deserves some sort of recognition in my humble opinion.
