Air Canada for Business: Corporate Rewards

One of the reasons why I had considered Air Canada was their Corporate Rewards program. Their website is here.

What is Corporate Rewards?

Air Canada, like many other airlines (including United Airlines' Perks Plus), has a program designed for small and medium-sized businesses. The idea is that they could help provide a booking platform and small rewards in order to entice small business owners to book with Air Canada and its codeshare partners (for whom they would undoubtedly get a small cut with). This is different than large corporate contracts which likely provide larger discounts and benefits for large, major corporations.

Relevant to me, but maybe not to everyone ...

Being an incorporated physician, I had to register for a small business number. As such, I was now able to apply for this program. You need to have a GST registration number in order to apply. In reality, I'm not sure why more people don't apply for it if they don't have a small side business on the side, as the program is free to join and you could only stand to receive its benefits.

In Canada, the small business number is a 9 digit number. Within that number, there are sub-accounts. If your small business number is 123456789, then the sub-accounts would be as follows:

• Corporate Tax: 123456789 RC 0001
• Payroll Tax: 123456789 RP 0001
• GST Account: 123456789 RT 0001

In theory, you can have several subsections to your business which require several different types of GST accounts, which would lead to RT 0002, RT 0003, RT 0004, etc.

Air Canada requires an RT XXXX. If you do not know or do not need to collect GST, you can use your business number with RT 0001.

What are the benefits of the program?

Given that I am using this for myself and my one other employee, which coincidentally happens to be the person who I travel the most with, I am not really interested in the tracking of corporate spending. It is helpful in the quick-save of the information for the employees, which is somewhat helpful.

More substantively, upon registering, you receive:

• one Maple Leaf Lounge access (one-time use, not very exciting)
• five Air Canada Bistro vouchers (good for a meal and snack, or a beverage and snack)
• 5% discount off of a Maple Leaf Lounge membership (not very helpful)

Most helpfully, there are various levels for spending. After reaching each tier, different benefits are available. Spending is defined as all base fare and certain carrier-imposed surcharges. Taxes do not count. 

• Level 1: $10,000-$150,000 (CAD) in spending (this is likely where I will be hitting)
• Up to 3% off base fares on AC flights and partner flights
• Up to $10 discounts on On My Way flights
• 10 e-upgrade credits
• 3 complimentary preferred seat selections, 10% off of other preferred seat selections
• 1 complimentary Maple Leaf Lounge membership, 5% discounts on other Maple Leaf Lounge memberships, and up to $8 off paid Maple Leaf Lounge one-time access vouchers

• Level 2: $150,000-$300,000 (CAD) in spending (this is for more serious small businesses)
• Up to 5% off base fares on AC flights and partner flights
• Up to $10 discounts on On My Way flights
• 20 e-upgrade credits
• 5 complimentary preferred seat selections, 10% off of other preferred seat selections
• 2 complimentary Maple Leaf Lounge membership, 8% discounts on other Maple Leaf Lounge memberships, and up to $8 off paid Maple Leaf Lounge one-time access vouchers
• Level 3: $300,000 (CAD) + in spending
• Up to 6% off base fares on AC flights and partner flights
• Up to $10 discounts on On My Way flights
• 30 e-upgrade credits
• 7 complimentary preferred seat selections, 10% off of other preferred seat selections
• 3 complimentary Maple Leaf Lounge membership, 8% discounts on other Maple Leaf Lounge memberships, and up to $8 off paid Maple Leaf Lounge one-time access vouchers

The savings will be worth it, I think

I will likely be a Level 1 kinda guy/company. If both my travel companion and I are both likely to reach Altitude 50k, a status that requires $6,000 CAD in spending each, we will automatically reach Level 1. If we were to save the 3% off base fares on AC, that would be a savings of ($12,000 x 3%=) $360 a year. It's not insignificant: this is a round-trip flight from YVR-YYC. 

If you were a "real" small business that regularly flies their employees out of town, and if you were able to reach $150,000 in spending, that would be a savings of $7,500 a year. 

Additional promotions and information

• Currently, until March 31, 2020 for travel by March 31, 2020, you get a 50% bonus on your spending. That is, if your base fare was $1,000, you would get credited $1,500 for the next tier
• Other employees do not need to be Aeroplan members. They can be booked using this tool, their spend can be added to the small business' spend, and that employee can still collect on their other frequent flyer program (e.g., United, Asiana, Lufthansa, etc.) 

What do you think of the Air Canada for Small Business program?