Air Canada’s eUpgrades are a special rewards currency that rewards Aeroplan Elite Status members with the ability to upgrade into a higher class of service. And with the Aeroplan’s recent relaunch, eUpgrades have taken on a more prominent role in the strategy for booking premium travel at a fraction of the price.
By adopting the “Latitude Attitude” and booking an economy class flight in the Latitude fare category, you can instantly confirm an upgrade into business class and save a great deal of Aeroplan points for future redemptions instead.
In this video, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Air Canada’s eUpgrades – from how to earn them without necessarily having to fly a lot, to the best redemption strategies, too all of the most commonly asked questions around this mysterious currency.
Without further ado, you can watch the video below:
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So basically you can only use e upgrades for flights in the last half of the year if you are trying to “buy ahead” to get a good price? Because you have to wait for them to rollover into the new year or be awarded in order to be eligible for use that year. Just trying to figure out how to use these things! Thanks
Hi. I can see eUpgrades available for cash booking, but “waitlisted” for points booking… Will I be able to upgrade my reservation made with aeroplan (premium economy flexible)?
I actually talked to AC the day before 31 of my credits disappeared. I told them that I had the Amex Reserve Card and they should be carried forward. They told me that the card they had on file was the Amex Platinum Card (the predecessor of the current card replaced in November), and after some research they said that the credits would be deleted but should be restored by the end of March. We’ll see. What a typical c******f***!. I still don’t have my 5000 points from the fall promotion.
Same for me. Will probably wait a bit and see if everything “ corrects “ itself before putting myself through a phone call.
Did eUpgrades disappear for anyone else? I had 20 expiring Feb 28 and 25 expiring Dec 31 but now none are showing in my account – the only Benefit showing now are free lounge passes. Just my account or a larger issue?
I used to have 45 eUp before Feb 28 and 20 eUp is suppose to expire on that day. Yesterday, they were all gone but today (Mar 2) I see 25 on my account. Hopefully, the 20 that expires get reinstated as I have a premium card.
I booked a Latitude flight yesterday from YVR to OGG for December 2021. I applied for eUpgrades and the points were taken from my account, but I am still shown as waitlisted. You mentioned in the video that there is a “bug” on the AC website, but that the upgrades should be applied immediately. I called AC this morning and was told I would have to wait until 3 weeks before the flight leaves to see if I received the upgrade. This seems to be quite different from what your video indicates. Any suggestions?
There’s no basis for the 3 weeks thing – it’s meant to be an instant upgrade – and AC agents have been known to make stuff up in the past. Did you check for eUpgrade space prior to making the booking? If so, and you’re confident the upgrade should be processed, shoot me an email at ricky at wp.princeoftravel.com with your booking details and I can take a look.
Similar situation, but prior checking of flight space said “you will be waitlisted”. Since no other alternative, booked latitude BOM-YYZ for Dec 4 2021, 2 passengers. Used epgrades and status shows as “waitlisted” for business. Called AC and agent said upgrade will be confirmed only on day of departure after flight is “closed” and if Business seats are still available, if not eupgrade credits will be returned. Is that correct? Flight still wide open showing all seats available. Can I also waitlist for Pre-Eco as contingency?
Gustav, I’m in the same situation. Did you get a resolution?
No change in status: still showing as Economy (latitude) waitlisted for Business. Hoping eh upgrade will clear at the airport if not will have to fly 14 hours in coach after spending the extra points for Latitude
Thx Gustav. Cross my fingers for you.
On 1 Aug AC cancelled YYZ-BOM flight and rebooked us via Frankfurt on codeshare, so EUpgrades were returned. I called and changed to AC flight to Bom via Delhi, but even though YYZ-DEL tickets are still Latitude, eupgrades cannot be applied, and Aeroplan agent said Eupgrades are AC responsibility. Unable to contact AC so rather than travel in coach on high value latitude tickets (for no incremental benefit) am considering cancelling and re-booking basic economy and abandon the Eupgrades as unusable
with aeroplan accounts linked can the linked party access my eups? or just points? Thinking could do 2 bookings, then we could each eup another traveler on each booking, apologies to both josh “and” tj
which leads me to the next question after watching Josh’s explanation, I have 45 eups in bank and my wife has none, with aeroplan accounts linked, can we both eup on booking and eup our son at booking also even though he is third person? And does lattitude “and flex” both eup upon space at booking.
Thanks for your insight
You mean T.J.’s explanation? 😉 You can only eUpgrade one fellow passenger at the time of booking, and a second passenger at the airport. So no, you wouldn’t be able to confirm 3 upgrades in advance. And it’d only be Latitude, not Flex, that allows the instant eUpgrade.
hi Ricky, just regular bookings, trying ymm or yvr to sgn to book wife myself and son as want all on same booking before eup but as soon as put in 3 says unavailable, tried different airports and flights but more or less the same, says try Laguardia or Newark
anyone having trouble finding fares in aeroplan for 3 people, 1 and 2 travelers are fine but switching to 3 consistently comes up no flights found even though availability shows up on google and kayak
Is this for eUpgrades or just a regular Aeroplan search?
Your expression in the video thumbnail explains everything there is to know and understand about how eUpgrades work. 10/10
It’s so much more complicated than it needs to be. Oh well, nice to have an excuses to make funny faces for the camera.