Air Canada's Aeroplan program ranked top in North America by rewards search platform

Air Canada's Aeroplan program has been ranked the top North American airline loyalty program, according to a new analysis from a travel rewards search platform. Point.me ranked 62 airline rewards programs across nine different categories. The airline programs selected were those that are accessible to U.S.-based travellers. The categories include ease of earning miles, redemption rates, availability on partner airlines, ease of booking, expanded availability on own airline, routing rules, ability to hold awards, customer service and change fees, with different weighting for each group. For example, ease of earning miles accounted for 25%, while customer service quality accounted for 5% of the total score. Aeroplan's overall score came in at 77.43%, making it the top-ranked rewards program in North America and the second best across all airlines, behind KLM and Air France's Flying Blue program, which had a score of 93.06. Point.me cites reward seat availability on partner airlines as one of the key benefits for the Aeroplan program, as well as its "extensive" global network and "generous routing." Air Canada reacquired the Aeroplan loyalty program in 2019, revamping it in 2020, something that has given the airline an advantage when it comes to its in-house reward program, says Tiffany Funk, president and co-founder of Point.me. "Air Canada had the opportunity to completely rebuild its loyalty program in 2020, and so it is the most modern of these programs and that is reflected in a lot of the benefits it is offering travellers," Funk said, pointing specifically to ease of earnings. "They've also expanded their partnerships. Previously, they were really locked in with Star Alliance... but they've opened up more partnerships with airline<br/>