Air Canada Altitude Program Changes January 1, 2016 (Altitude Qualifying Dollars Introduced)

Air Canada sent out an email yesterday regarding Air Canada Altitude program changes taking place on January 1, 2016.

Air Canada Altitude will introduce Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQDs) as part of requirement to earn an elite status with the program.

You can access the Air Canada’s web page for these changes here.

Here’s the chart for the AQD requirement for various stats levels:

You need to fly the required number of Altitude Qualifying Miles (AQMs) or Altitude Qualifying Segments (AQSs) plus have the required AQD for the status level (calculated in CAD).

Only Air Canada issued tickets issued on 014 ticket stock (may contain Star Alliance partner flights marketed by AC) and flights operated by Air Canada/Air Canada Express/Rouge that are marketed by other airlines count towards the AQD requirement.

On the latter case, Air Canada will assign prorated value for the Air Canada segments and counts that figure towards the AQDs.

Conclusion

The AQD requirement is quite high for the Super Elite level considering that tickets on Star Alliance airlines that are not ticketed on 014 ticket stock or flown on AC do not count towards the requirement. There is no AQD waiver for members that don’t reside in Canada.