Hyatt's claim of an opportunity for Aeroplan status was made when World of Hyatt and Air Canada Aeroplan announced their partnership in July. As of October 14, 2026, that path is open. Explorist and Globalist members are now eligible to take up a 90 day challenge which will make it much easier to reach Aeroplan elite status than the standard route will.

Who Can Join

Participants must have an Aeroplan and a World of Hyatt account before participating. Both accounts need to be in good standing, and you need to have World of Hyatt Explorist or Globalist status for registration. Discoverist and base members aren’t eligible.

The challenge you receive is determined by your registered status at Hyatt. Explorists can get 25K aeroplan and the Globalists can get up to 75K aeroplan.

The Status Tiers:

• These are all status Qualifying Credits (SQCs) from a 90-day timeframe.
• Satisfactory: 2,500 SQCs for Aeroplan 25K
• Globalist: 8,000 SQCs for Aeroplan 25K
• Globalist: 12000 SQCs for Aeroplan 35K.Globalist: 35K: 12000 SQCs.
• Globalist: (50K) 17,000 SQCs
• Globalist: 25,000 SQC's for Aeroplan 75K.Globalist: 25,000 SQC's for Aeroplan 75K

May be up to 48 hours processing. Your 90 day period will start on the day Aeroplan records your registration, not the day you click the button. If an email was sent as confirmation, it will include your start and end dates and you can also view them on your Aeroplan dashboard.

What counts towards the challenge?

Flight activity must be related to Air Canada only:

• Flights on Air Canada (including Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge) Economy Standard or above.
• Air Canada (all flights with ticket number beginning with 014) tickets for economy standard and up on Star Alliance and select partner flights.
• Air Canada Vacations packages which qualify for SQCs when purchased in any cabin including taxes and fees.

Fares vary: 4 SQC on EconomyFlexfare or higher, and 2 SQC on Economy Standard fares. An Air Canada Vacations package is worth 1 SQC for every CA$1. SQCs are not based on taxes and fees, but on the base fare and carrier surcharges for flights.

In practice 8,000 SQCs are approximately CA2,000inspendonFlexfaresorCA4,000 on Standard fares. An average Globalist would be looking for about CA$6,250 in Flex fares over 90 days.

What Doesn’t Count

Aeroplan award tickets (Points + Cash bookings) do not count and nor do Economy Basic tickets. Not all specialty fares, like published and group bookings, may be eligible.

Also here, spending and promotions on credit cards don't count for SQCs. Only qualifying card spend for flying is accepted, and the same applies for status which is not gained by flying.

The Fine Print

• There are a few terms to be aware of that could confuse anyone so check them before signing up.
• Your challenge level will be set at Registration and remain as an Explorist for another month if you later switch to Globalist.
• Registration is available once a year and must be done after the completion of a challenge.
• Flights must leave within 90 days, however flights that post later will still count.
• When you hit your highest possible level in any other way, the challenge is over, and you retain the level, but are no longer eligible to enter the year again.
• If during the challenge a Globalist makes 50K on another path, they will remain in the challenge, and continue working for 75K.

Aeroplan status holders who have already reached the highest level of their challenge by the end of this year (25K - 2027) cannot sign up.Aeroplan status holders who have already achieved the maximum level of their challenge by the end of this year (25K - 2027) will not be able to sign up.

You can take up to 14 days to receive SQCs and Aeroplan will update your account within 72 hours of hitting your targets.

How it differs from the standard qualification

The typical SQCs collection time for Aeroplan members is from January 1 to December 31. Once a threshold is reached, benefits will be received for the remainder of the year and the following year.

• The challenge is: Aeroplan 25K: 25,000 SQCs standard, 8,000 during the challenge
• Aeroplan 35K: 35,000 SQCs standard, 12,000 in the challenge (Globalists only)
• Aeroplan 50K: Challenge: 17,000 SQCs standard: 50,000 (Globalists only)
• Aeroplan 75K: 75,000 SQCs standard, 25,000 in the challenge (Globalists only)
• Aeroplan Super Elite: 125,000 SQCs standard, not available in the challenge

Challenge targets are about 1/3 of the normal requirements. There is a problem, though: only flying will count. Note, however, that Standard qualification is also accepted for the SQCs earned with Aeroplan partners (1 SQC per 5 base points up to 25,000 SQCs per year), Canadian Aeroplan credit cards, the Chase Air Canada Aeroplan Credit Card, and Everyday Status Qualification, in which 100,000 eligible partner points will earn 25K SQCs per year. But that doesn't assist with this problem.

The shortcut is large for those who fly with Air Canada regularly. Normally, it takes 25K in Flex fares to reach 25K on Flex spending alone, which is then reduced to the challenge of CA2,000.

Timely Registration is Important

Your status is based on your registration date, not when you finish! Your status will expire once you finish the challenge in December 2026 until January 31, 2028. Registration will be valid from January 1st, 2027 through January 31st, 2029, meaning that people who register a few months after that date will be able to enjoy the benefits for an additional year.

The only catch is that if you have Air Canada flights booked, registering now means that those flights count. It is all about whether you prefer to use the flights that you already have or the longer status.

Why Aeroplan Status Is Worth It

Even a 25K member will receive some of the benefits:

• Priority Check-in/boarding
• A checked bag for free on Air Canada flights
• Selection of preferred seats when booking on eligible fares
• This is what you will get for moving up to a better cabin: 5 eUpgrade credits
• Star Alliance Silver status

The higher up the better the privileges are. Members of the club, who have up to 50K and 75K miles, become Star Alliance Gold members and get access to Star Alliance lounges, priority check-in and additional luggage allowance on the eligible airlines.

The Bullet Line

There are a lot of hotel/airline deals that seem like a good idea at first but are of little value. This one really deserves to be looked at. For those Globalists who are about to fly on Air Canada, there is a short cut to several levels of Aeroplan status, and for Explorists, they can get to 25K with about a third of the normal number of flights. Please review flight plans and timing prior to registration.