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By The Points Standard
Special to Financial Independence Hub
If you have an Aeroplan account you haven’t touched in a while, mark November 30, 2026 on the calendar. Under Air Canada’s current notice, that’s when its normal points expiry policy resumes after a long pause. Points are protected through November 29.
Under the normal rule, an account with no qualifying activity for 18 consecutive months loses its entire balance, unless an exemption applies. November 30 is the date to watch for accounts already past that limit; it isn’t everyone’s expiry date.
For people who collect points actively, this won’t matter. It matters for the balances nobody is watching: the account built up over a working life of business trips, the one a spouse opened for a single vacation, and the one belonging to an elderly parent who hasn’t flown in years. Those accounts can hold points worth keeping, even if nobody is planning a trip.
What a dormant balance is worth
Points feel like play money until you put a price on them. At The Points Standard we publish a monthly dollar valuation of Canadian points programs. Our current Aeroplan estimate is 1.9 Canadian cents a point for an informed flight redemption, with a baseline estimate of 1 cent. These are estimates of travel value, not cash balances or guaranteed redemption rates.
At those estimates, 50,000 points represents about $500 to $950 in travel value, and 150,000 points about $1,500 to $2,850. Actual value depends on the booking. Few of us would want to lose that much simply because an account was inactive.
Who is safe
Two groups don’t have to worry while their standing lasts:
- Primary cardholders of an Aeroplan credit card. If you hold a TD, CIBC or American Express Aeroplan card as the primary cardholder, with the applicable accounts in good standing, your points don’t expire. That includes the no-fee CIBC Aeroplan Visa. Being an additional cardholder doesn’t protect your own Aeroplan balance.
- Aeroplan Elite status members (25K and up), for as long as the status lasts.
Everyone else is on the 18-month clock.
How to find your own date
Use the website for this check. Air Canada’s published instructions say to sign in to your Aeroplan dashboard, select Activity, and scroll down to the points inactivity date. If you can’t find a date, contact Aeroplan to confirm your account’s status and deadline. Don’t assume the app uses the same path, or that a missing date means your points are protected.
Air Canada says it will email members up to 60 days before expiry. Check the email address in your profile too, especially if you opened the account with a work address you no longer use.
Checking an account for someone else? If you know roughly when its points last moved, The Points Standard’s free expiry checker estimates the expiry date and what the balance is worth. The inactivity date in the Aeroplan account is still the one that counts.
What counts as activity, and what doesn’t
Qualifying activity includes earning, redeeming, donating, transferring or converting points. Earning or redeeming at least one point keeps the account active. Examples include:
- Earning points: a flight, spending on a card that earns Aeroplan, or a purchase from a partner retailer
- Redeeming points for an eligible reward
- Converting points from another loyalty program into Aeroplan, transferring Aeroplan points to another member, or donating points
Logging in to look at your balance doesn’t count.
Keep the account active before the deadline
One option is a purchase you already planned through the Aeroplan eStore, the program’s online shopping portal. Click through to a participating retailer and follow its earning conditions. An eligible redemption also counts, though it uses some of your points.
Do this well ahead of the deadline and check that the transaction appears in your account. Air Canada says partner points can take up to two months to appear. Don’t rely on a last-minute shopping transaction without confirming how it will affect your expiry date.
For families already using Aeroplan Family Sharing, a pool redemption keeps each member’s account active if that member has at least one point. Points are deducted proportionally. Joining a pool alone doesn’t reset the clock, and one member earning points doesn’t keep everyone else’s account active.
If you help an older parent with their finances, add their Aeroplan account to the list alongside the bank statements and pension deposits. Sit down together, confirm whether their points are at risk, and arrange qualifying activity well before November 30.
If you miss the deadline
Air Canada lists recovery options within six months of expiry, including flying Air Canada, getting an Aeroplan credit card, claiming eligible missing points from travel before expiry, or paying to buy points back. For the flight option, travel must occur within those six months. Confirm eligibility and any fee with Aeroplan; its policy page doesn’t quote a buy-back price.
Check the accounts in your household
Check the dormant Aeroplan accounts in your household now, including your spouse’s and your parents’. Confirm any exemption or expiry date, arrange qualifying activity where needed, and check the result. A few minutes spent checking now can save a balance you’ve spent years building.
The Points Standard (thepointsstandard.com) is an independent Canadian site that helps people find the credit cards that fit how they actually spend. It scores more than 100 Canadian cards the same way and puts a dollar value on 13 points programs every month. Its free tools suggest cards based on your own spending and show how two or three of them work together. No bank or card issuer owns it or has any say in what it publishes.
