An Ultimate Guide to Air Canada Upgrade

The frequent flier programme for Air Canada is called Aeroplan. Many award travelers have utilized it to request the Air Canada upgrade. This way the passengers redeem rewards and mileage points to purchase premium cabin tickets on a range of Star Alliance carriers.

While many people have used the Aeroplan programme to upgrade Air Canada flights, less is known about using the other ways to upgrade the Air Canada fare classes.

So that’s exactly what we’ll be discussing today. We have a lot of territory to cover, so let’s get started!

Methods to upgrade Air Canada Flight Seat

Before we go into how to upgrade your flight, let’s go over the many sorts of Aeroplan upgrades chart you should be aware of:

• Air Canada eUpgrades – You can upgrade using Air Canada-issued credits. These are valid on any Air Canada, Air Canada Express, or Air Canada Rouge flight.

• Star Alliance Upgrade Awards – With codeshare partners, you can utilize Star Alliance Upgrade Awards to upgrade your flights on Air Canada and Air Canada Express.

• Air Canada bid upgrade – Upgrade any economy or premium economy ticket with an AC bid using cash. This rule is applicable to Air Canada, Air Canada Express, and Air Canada Rouge.

• Air Canada last-minute upgrade – Upgrades can be purchased at the last minute using cash at check-in or through a self-service check-in kiosk. This programme is designed to fill seats that might otherwise be unfilled right before the scheduled departure.

How to upgrade an Air Canada flight seat?

There are plenty of ways to request the Air Canada upgrade. Let’s discuss each of them in detail – 

Air Canada eUpgrade

Your eUpgrade credits normally expire on January 15 of the following year, allowing you approximately 14 months to use them. In addition – 

• Nevertheless, each route has a unique minimum requirement for eUpgrade credits. 
• Download this PDF guide that will help you determine how many points you’ll need. Also, the Air Canada upgrade chart is mentioned here. 
• Air Canada provides a way to upgrade a travel companion called the eUpgrade Travel Companion. 
• You can use eUpgrade credits to ask for an upgrade for yourself and a travel companion on the same reservation if you are Aeroplan frequent flier member. 
• If you want to upgrade a companion, Air Canada has a programme called eUpgrade Travel Companion. 
• If you have any Aeroplan status, you can use your eUpgrade credits to ask for an upgrade for yourself as well as a travel companion.
• The eUpgrade Nominees advantage is also available to Super Elite members at the highest tier. 
• If they are an Aeroplan member, you can really grant upgrades to anyone for any reason. The nominee can only receive upgrades from Super Elite members.

Air Canada Points Upgrade

There are two basic ways to upgrade with points or miles:

• You can bid for an upgraded Air Canada flight using Aeroplan points.
• Your Air Canada flights can be upgraded using miles from any other Star Alliance airline.

Please note – Your particular situation will determine which currency you ultimately use. This is so that the calculation can alter based on the type of upgrade you’re seeking to get since different airlines have different transfer partners and rates.

The first topic we’ll cover is using Aeroplan points to upgrade Air Canada flights. Next, we’ll talk about how to upgrade Air Canada trips using miles from other airlines.

Aeroplan Mileage Upgrade

It’s fairly simple to use Aeroplan points to upgrade your flights:

• Reserve a flight in economy.
• To find out if your flight qualifies for an Air Canada Bid Upgrade, visit the Aeroplan website and input your booking reference and last name.

You’ll discover that the cost to utilize points is rather high due to the extremely low cent-per-point value of AC Bid Upgrades when using Aeroplan points.

Star alliance upgrade through mileage rewards – With Star Alliance, you can utilize the miles from any airline partner to get an upgrade on any other Star Alliance flight. This implies that you can use KrisFlyer miles (Singapore Airlines), for example, to upgrade flights on AC or KrisFlyer, respectively.

There are certain limitations, though:

• You can only move up one class, from first to business or from business to economy.
• You must upgrade particular fare types. This means that you’ll probably require a non-restricted or flexible economy ticket.

You should follow these procedures to determine the cost of an upgrade because different airlines have different pricing policies:

• Go to the Star Alliance Reward webpage.
• Select Book Your Upgrade.
• Decide which airline’s miles you want to redeem.
• Hit “Visit Website.”
• You are directed to a website where you must finish the Star Alliance upgrade procedure.

Air Canada Seat Upgrade with cash

Let’s look at how you can pay cash to upgrade your ticket now. There is only one option, so let’s go over it in depth.

Air Canada last minute upgrade

If your elite status and frequent flier miles are insufficient to ensure an upgrade, don’t worry. There is still hope!

• You can request an Air Canada upgrade to business class or premium economy at the airport.
• Keep in mind that these upgrades are not available for basic fares.
•  Also, passengers are required to complete the request up to 3 hours before the scheduled departure. 
• Additionally, if your reservation includes more than one passenger, there is no possibility to upgrade part of the passengers. You must either upgrade every traveler or none at all.
• The upgrade is only applicable on the flights operated and marketed by Air Canada.
• Cash upgrades may be available as early as 24 hours before departure via online check-in, or as early as 12 hours before departure via self-service check-in kiosk.
• Furthermore, Last Minute Upgrade Purchases are available for at least:
  • For flights within Canada, 45 minutes before takeoff.
  • For flights between the United States and Canada, 1 hour before takeoff.
  • For all other international routes to or from Canada, 1 hour prior to departure.

Air Canada cost to upgrade to Business Class

Last-minute upgrades can frequently be purchased for amazing discounts. Below is the list of the upgrade cost – 

Remember that the quoted prices (in USD) are for one-way flights only:

How to secure an upgrade with Air Canada?

Passengers can secure an update with or without Aeroplan Elite status upgrade. Here’s how you can increase your chances for smooth upgrades.

With Aeroplan Elite Status – Here’s how you can secure upgrade : 

• Earn Air Canada E Upgrades – Having elite status with Air Canada Aeroplan and buying a ticket with an appropriate fare class will earn you eUpgrade credits. The price of an eUpgrade varies according to the fare class, route, status, requested cabin upgrade, and Aeroplan status.
• Purchase a higher-priced ticket with fewer eUpgrade credits.
• Use Aeroplan points to reserve an award flight without worrying about if the upgrade was available.
• Search for upgrade availability as soon as you know what dates and flights you’ll be taking.
• Using your Aeroplan membership, you can select priority and preferred seating. Although this isn’t a true upgrade, it can improve the comfort of your economy or economy plus seat on a short-haul flight.
• Go for eUpgrade Travel Companions
• Use Upgrade Nominees to upgrade a passenger on any flight they are flying.

Without Aeroplan Elite Status – Here’s how you can secure upgrade  without any elite status – 

• Purchase an upgrade-eligible ticket and use Aeroplan points to bid for an upgrade on Air Canada, Air Canada Express, and Air Canada Rouge tickets.
• You can upgrade with miles for any Star Alliance airline.
• Look into deeply discounted premium fares to save miles.
• At the airport, take advantage of last-minute upgrades to get a cheap upgraded ticket.

Air Canada Upgrade priority: Who gets the preference for upgrade?

Your level of Aeroplan elite status will have a significant impact on your ability to upgrade from an economy seat to any premium class seat. The same way that United uses elite status to immediately determine your position on a queue, Air Canada Aeroplan does the same.

The higher your Aeroplan elite rank, the more priority your eUpgrades will receive.

Please note – This is referred to as your Air Canada eUpgrade clearance window by Aeroplan. Your eUpgrades won’t start clearing until the clearance time, unlike frequent flier programmes with other airlines. 

The Aeroplan eUpgrade chart is shown below:

For instance, if you are an Aeroplan 50K member and want to apply an eUpgrade to a ticket from Vancouver (YVR) to London (LHR) that is booked in the Comfort fare class, your eUpgrade will become effective 5 days prior to departure.

As you can see, Aeroplan 75K and Aeroplan Super Elite members can cancel their Air Canada eUpgrades after six and seven days, respectively. Members with greater elite status will therefore always be given preference.

Applying Air Canada eUpgrades to the most flexible tickets, such as Premium Economy and Latitude fares, is the only option to clear Air Canada upgrade. Here are the additional benefits – 

• You’ll be able to choose your Select Privileges if you acquire a higher level of status before the end of the year.
• You can receive up to 10 eUpgrade credits before the new year if you earn Early Recognition and reach the higher status before December 31.

Here are the potential eUpgrade credit amounts for each status level, as well as the number of credits accessible in advance with Early Recognition’s Select Privileges.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Air Canada Seat Upgrade

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Tags: Air Canada, Air Canada Airlines