Discover how Aeroplan's Family Sharing feature prevents 'gaming' while enabling you to accumulate rewards more quickly

This morning, Aeroplan launched its revamped loyalty program. Although it retains the same name, the program has been entirely reimagined from the ground up. Frequent Aeroplan users may immediately notice increased redemption rates in certain areas, along with some significant benefits in the new program and exciting new perks.

A key benefit is the enhancement of family travel. Specifically, Aeroplan is providing members with a means to combine points, facilitating a smoother experience for earning and redeeming rewards. The end result, known as Aeroplan Family Sharing, enables members to earn and redeem points together as a group.

New to Dinogo? Subscribe to our daily newsletter and explore our beginner's guide.

Understanding the fundamentals of Aeroplan Family Sharing

To start, Aeroplan Family Sharing allows up to seven family members — eight total, including you — to join a single Family Sharing account. Each participant's points balance, including those earned prior to creating the account, will be added to the collective pool of points.

When family members gather enough points for redemption, they can utilize the total from the shared pool to book rewards for everyone. Best of all, if one family member travels frequently and possesses elite status or a cobranded credit card, all members of the Family Sharing account can benefit from the preferred pricing available to that status holder.

How Family Sharing operates

For instance, imagine a family of five where one parent frequently travels and holds status with Air Canada, granting them access to Aeroplan's preferred pricing. In this scenario, that parent becomes "The Family Lead," essentially managing the Family Sharing account.

That parent has also accumulated 123,000 points. The other parent, who travels less frequently and lacks status, has saved 19,000 points from previous trips. The family's three children hold minimal point balances of 7,000, 3,500, and 500 points respectively.

Once this family establishes a Family Sharing account, they can combine their points for a total of 153,000 points. Moreover, thanks to the elite status of one parent, every member of the account can secure preferred — and often reduced — award amounts.

As each member of the Family Sharing account earns points — whether through spending on a cobranded credit card, flying, or using a shopping portal — those points will be added to the family's pooled account. When a redemption occurs, Aeroplan will proportionally deduct points from each member's account to ensure fairness. A member's inactivity is assessed on an individual basis rather than collectively.

How this discourages gaming

There is no fee for families to create a Family Sharing account. Additionally, for families with younger children, a parental control feature allows The Family Lead to oversee the redemption privileges of each account member.

Sounds appealing, doesn’t it? However, this also creates an opportunity for those looking to exploit the system. Aeroplan, however, stresses that with its new program, it is placing trust in members to refrain from misusing the Family Sharing account feature.

In addition to trusting members, the program is implementing certain requirements to reduce the chances of gaming the system. For example, all individuals added to a Family Sharing account must remain in that account for a minimum of three months. If a member chooses to exit, they must wait six months before joining another Family Sharing account.

Aeroplan will require you to specify the relationship of each member in the Family Sharing account. Nonetheless, there will be some leeway regarding who qualifies as a family member.

Aeroplan stated that with the introduction of Family Sharing, while it is placing trust in members not to misuse the feature, it will also be keeping an eye on how members redeem points for one another.

In summary

While pooled family mileage accounts are not a novel concept in airline loyalty programs — similar to British Airways' Household Account — this represents a significant enhancement for Aeroplan. Executives involved in the Aeroplan revamp mentioned that many members expressed a desire for improved options for families during interviews.

It's important to note that the changes to Aeroplan won't take effect immediately. They won't even start this month. The program will be rolled out in phases, beginning on Nov. 8, which will see the launch of many new features along with new Canadian cobranded cards. By the first quarter of 2021, the complete program will be operational, and it is expected that Family Sharing will be available in the initial phase in November.