Air Canada is in big trouble because of its Southern neighbour (or more precisely, because of its President).

All the more difficult to understand why Air Canada is announcing what is likely the biggest Aeroplan program devaluation in its history right now and implementing it on January 01, 2026.
The program will be switched to a revenue-based system, both for earning redeemable miles and for achieving status.

While the major US programs have established an accrual value of 5 miles per USD for base members, Air Canada will only offer 1 mile per CAD for base members on their flights (which corresponds approximately to 1.37 miles per USD).

Achieving the elite status will remain comparable to today, as long as it is achieved exclusively with Air Canada. Miles collected with Star Alliance partners (as well as, as a new feature, activities with non-air partners of the program) will only count for one-fifth. So if you still lack 5,000 status miles before the end of the year, it will no longer be sufficient to quickly fly with Lufthansa from Europe to Dubai at a mid-range economy class fare; instead, you will have to embark on a complete round-the-world tour.

Can you blame an Aeroplan member for looking for alternatives? Hardly.

Little is known about how the accident in June affected Air India, but apparently, at least short-term bookings have significantly declined.

This also explains the current, quite worthwhile promotion in their Maharaja Club: All reward bookings on Air India flights in August are discounted by 25% for trips completed by September 30.

At least if you are satisfied with Economy Class, you can make a real bargain, with a round trip from Europe to India starting at 45,000 miles. The same flight with Star Alliance partners would cost 120,000 miles in the program.

In Business Class, the price for a Europe flight with this promotion starts at 135,000 miles, which is somewhat less attractive considering that other programs offer a lower standard rate here.

Starting next month, LATAM Pass will introduce miles-based upgrades on an auction basis.

This can be interesting, as you can potentially get a bargain for few miles, especially on poorly booked flights. At the same time, however, LATAM has announced that such upgrades will take priority over complimentary upgrades offered free of charge to elite members – which, for many elite members, is clearly the most important benefit of participating in the program.

We will have to wait and see how this plays out in practice, but it is certainly to be feared that at LATAM, a passenger who uses a few miles (and thus reduces the company’s financial liabilities) will be considered more valuable than a loyal frequent flyer.

Oman Air had barely joined the oneworld alliance, and while details about the partnerships with the new partners are still not public in the Sindbad program even six weeks later, Oman Air surprised with a new (mutual) Frequent Flyer partnership: Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines.

This is all the more surprising, since Turkish Airlines is not only a competitor for Oman Air itself, but certainly also for other oneworld partners such as Qatar Airways or Royal Jordanian.

This partnership also represents a first for Turkish Airlines’ Miles&Smiles program, as it is the first partnership with an airline that belongs to another alliance – something that is generally not found within the Star Alliance.

The Discovery program of the Global Hotel Alliance makes perfect sense, especially because you can achieve top elite status by staying at just three different brands (out of nearly 50). In addition to other benefits, you also earn 7% of your spending as Discovery Dollars. Until the end of September, there is also a promotion for double points.

When redeeming, there is also full transparency, as one point/Discovery Dollar simply has a redemption value of 1 USD.

It is therefore all the more surprising that the program regularly offers discounts on the purchase of points – as is currently the case until September 01. So now you get points with a 15% discount, which is equivalent to a direct reduction on the costs of your hotel stay.

If you are certain that you can redeem these points within two years before they expire at any Global Hotel Alliance hotels, you should definitely take advantage of this. You can acquire up to 5,000 points under this promotion.