Air Canada reached out to us this morning to let us know they have now put in place an end date for being able to convert Buddy Passes earned from there co-brand cards to Aeroplan points. Instituted earlier, this conversion was an unpublished benefit that Air Canada put in place due to the uncertainty in travel. The benefit allowed members who felt they could not utilize their buddy pass to call up Aeroplan and ask to have it converted to 30,000 Aeroplan points. With Aeroplan members starting to travel more and the previously announced extension of Buddy Pass expiry to the end of 2022 Air Canada felt it is right time to bring the conversion option to a close.
To that light, Air Canada will honour the conversion of Buddy Passes to Aeroplan points until November 30th. This means any Air Canada credit cardholders who have Buddy Passes will have to contact the Aeroplan on or before November 30 to initiate the conversion process. This means if you don’t have an Aeroplan co-brand card but have been considering one you could still theoretically get in on the conversion option if you are after the points. American Express and CIBC are your best bets as they tend to post the Buddy Passes quickly after reaching the spend requirement to earn the while. UPDATE: I wouldn’t risk it with TD since they seem to take 8 weeks after the 90 day spend period even if you complete your spend sooner. TD on the other hand is doable but there are no guarantees with them as data points have shown they take their time in posting the Buddy Pass – up to 8 weeks or more after reaching the minimum spend. Technically you have just over 12 weeks from today so it is possible with TD but do know you’d be cutting it close!
Recommended reading: The Air Canada Buddy Pass explained & evaluated
Air Canada also let us know that Annual Worldwide Companion passes earned from the high end Aeroplan co-brand cards will be extended:
Annual Worldwide Companion Passes issued on or before August 31, 2021 will have their validity extended through December 31, 2022. The validity will be updated automatically by the end of October 2021 — no action will be required by the cardholder.
As with many cases in our lives all good things must come to an end and such is the case with the Buddy Pass conversion. It has been a good run for many of our readers who are solo travelers to gain those extra points from converting the passes and even those who aren’t solo travelers that find better value out of the points over utilizing the pass.