A Comparison Between United and Air Canada's Mid-Tier Programs

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I am looking to switch from United's Mileage Plus to Air Canada's Aeroplan. This involves switching from United as my preferred carrier to Air Canada.

Source: http://www.aircanada.ca

What's needed for Star Alliance Gold with Air Canada?
The Star Alliance Gold benefits begin really at the Altitude 50k level. In order to achieve this level, one needs to:

• Fly 50,000 miles, or
• Fly 50 segments; and
• Spend $6,000 CAD pre-tax

There's a nice chart that Air Canada has posted which simplifies things. There is no guarantee that this chart will be here next year; like United, they may opt for different status earning criteria next year. 

As you can see, achieving the equivalent of United Premier 1K requires a yearly spend of $20,000. Because no one else pays for my travel, this is absolutely not an option for me. So the toss up is either the 50k or the 75k levels.

What are the benefits?

For Altitude 50k and above, one will always enjoy the Star Alliance Gold benefits. These include things like priority check-in, extra luggage allowance, lounge access, priority boarding, and priority waitlist in case of flight changes or irregular operations. 

Benefits similar to United Premier Gold:

• Basic Star Alliance Gold benefits
• Preferred seats on AC with flex fares within North America (United has a more generous policy of economy plus seats on any fare on any flight)
• United's benefit is irrelevant if I have to fly mostly Air Canada in order to secure Premier Gold/Platinum status
• Opportunities to upgrade on the program's carrier within North America without any additional fee. Air Canada offers upgrade points which you would have to burn but will generally give you a higher probability of an upgrade. Near the end of my tenure with United, even as a Premier 1K member, complimentary upgrades were very, very difficult to score

Where United wins:

• Same day change on United flights. This is irrelevant if most of my flights are on Air Canada in order to achieve status
• Reward bookings do not incur fuel surcharges, but are generally more "expensive" in terms of points. This is likely the biggest strength of United's program. 
• United offers upgrade points that can be used on generally higher fares for international travel. Air Canada also makes you buy the higher fare in order to be eligible, and if you are successful with your upgrade, you'd have to pay anywhere from $500-$750 each way depending on which ocean you cross. In this sense, international upgrades are not really realistic 

Where Air Canada wins:

• Higher chance of an upgrade if you encounter an irregular operations, or if they need someone to upgrade for operational reasons
• Air Canada's Altitude 50k status allows you lounge entry everywhere; United's Premier Gold status only allows you into domestic lounges in the USA only if you're flying an international segment as well
• This is less relevant as our tickets will always somehow indicate a final destination in Canada, so I have always been allowed in the lounge. 
• While United does not charge fuel surcharges, rewards are generally cheaper in terms of the number of points needed to be redeemed with Air Canada. Furthermore, more points can be earned with medium to long haul flights compared to United. 
• Air Canada has more promotions to earn bonus miles than United does in general
• If one believes that Aeroplan miles are worth it, there are credit cards in Canada that can earn Aeroplan miles.
• If I'm flying mostly on Air Canada, it would be nice to have these points applied to their lifetime status program. 

So those are the ground rules ...

What's my plan to reach 50k and $6,000 in spending? That's for tomorrow ...