Air Canada Million Mile: The Lifetime Elite Status Program

For Air Canada’s most frequent travellers who attain elite status year after year, how does the airline recognize long-term loyalty?

If you’ve travelled a lot with Air Canada over the years, you may be close to crossing the threshold of over a million miles flown. At this stage, you’ll be recognized as a “Million Miler” with Air Canada, which comes with a number of perks and benefits.

In this article, we’ll take a peek at the Air Canada Million Mile program, which effectively functions as the airline’s lifetime elite status program.

How to Qualify for Air Canada Million Mile Recognition

To qualify as a “Million Miler” with Air Canada, you must have earned at least 1,000,000 Lifetime Qualifying Miles (LQM) with Air Canada. 

Lifetime Qualifying Miles are earned by flying with Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, and Air Canada Express any time after 1988 with an eligible fare, and they all count towards Million Mile status.

The amount of LQM you accumulate on your flight depends on the actual distance flown (in miles) with Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, and Air Canada Express, as well as the originally purchased cabin class of service for your flight, structured as follows:

• Economy (Standard, Flex, Comfort, and Latitude) fares get 100% LQM of the distance flown
• Premium Economy (Lowest and Flexible) fares get 125% LQM of the distance flown
• Business Class (Lowest and Flexible) fares get 150% of the distance flown

For example, if you were to travel on an Air Canada flight that measured exactly 1,000 miles, you’d receive the following amounts of LQM depending on your cabin of service:

• Economy (assuming you didn’t book an Economy (Basic) fare: 1,000 LQM
• Premium economy: 1,250 LQM
• Business class: 1,500 LQM

In other words, the runway to get to 1 million miles is shortened if you book Premium Economy or Business Class fares, since you’re credited with more miles than what you actually flew.

Note that Economy (Comfort and Latitude) fares were previously subject to bonus LQM; however, that is no longer the case as of January 1, 2026.

You can also accumulate LQM on the monthly instalment payments for an Unlimited Flight Pass. The exact amount of LQM you’ll receive depends on the type of Flight Pass you purchase, and it should be identified clearly in the terms and conditions.

To check your progress towards 1 million miles (or more), log in to your Aeroplan account and click through to “My Aeroplan.”

Under the “Status” tab, scroll down to the bottom of page to see how many Lifetime Qualifying Miles you’ve earned.

Under the Air Canada Million Mile Program, there are five published Million Mile status thresholds: 1,000,000, 2,000,000, 3,000,000, 4,000,000, and 5,000,000 miles. Note that the 5-million-mile threshold is new for 2026.

We’ll explore the benefits of reaching each level in detail throughout the rest of this guide.

What Are the Benefits of Air Canada Million Mile?

Upon reaching 1,000,000 Lifetime Qualifying Miles, you’ll receive a welcome package in the mail with a membership card and special luggage tags. 

While special bag tags are indeed a nice gesture, the main benefit of reaching this mark is that you’ll enjoy at least Aeroplan 50K Status for the rest of your life. In other words, you’re spared from the hustle of collecting SQC to reach this status ever again.

Having ongoing 50K status affords you a number of perks, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Complimentary Maple Leaf Lounge access for yourself, your immediate family, and a guest
• Star Alliance Gold recognition, which comes with lounge access to Star Alliance airline lounges worldwide
• Priority airport services
• 15 eUpgrades each year via Core Benefits
• Three checked bags at 32kg each on Air Canada and Star Alliance flights
• Much more

At the very least, you can be assured that your airport experience will be more seamless, with priority check-in, priority security, priority boarding, and priority baggage services. 

Having access to lounges of your choosing is another great benefit of 50K status. Not only can you and a guest access any Maple Leaf Lounge, you can also choose to lounge hop at your leisure to any Star Alliance lounge worldwide.

Why not enjoy a Singapore Sling at a Singapore Airlines lounge, then pop into a Lufthansa lounge to enjoy a warm pretzel, before stopping by a Turkish Airlines lounge for some pide, and then finally to a Maple Leaf Lounge for some Canadian comforts?

At the beginning of each year, you’ll also be awarded with 2,500 SQC, which help you progress towards status and/or with unlocking Milestone Benefits.

Two Million Miles

Upon reaching 2,000,000 Lifetime Qualifying Miles, your status will always be at least Aeroplan 75K, and a person of your choice will enjoy Aeroplan 50K status for the rest of their life, too.

Plus, each year, you’ll also be able to nominate another person for Aeroplan 35K status (valid through to the end of the benefit year), and you’ll get an allotment of 5,000 SQC deposited in your account.

For doubling up from 1,000,000 miles, you get a bump in lifetime status from 50K to 75K, someone else gets to reap the benefits from all of your air travel with Aeroplan 50K status for life, and another lucky person gets to enjoy Aeroplan 35K status each year.

In my opinion, the differences between 75K and 50K aren’t that stark, but could be meaningful depending on your flying activity.

As a 75K, you get a complimentary preferred seat on Economy (Standard) or Economy (Flex) fares in all markets (compared to at booking for Canada/US flights or at check-in for all other destinations on Economy (Standard or Flex fares for 50K members), 20 eUpgrades as a Core Benefit (versus 15 for 50K members), 5x Aeroplan points on paid flights (versus 4x for 50K members), and a few other perks.

If you earn Priority Rewards through paid flights (and choose them as a Milestone Benefit), as a 75K member, they’re valid for economy and premium economy bookings worldwide, whereas for a 50K member, they’re only good for the same classes to North America and Sun destinations. 

When choosing to whom you’ll gift lifetime Aeroplan 50K status as a 2 Million Miler, be sure to give it a good think, since it can’t be changed once the person is nominated.

Three Million Miles

At the threshold of 3,000,000 Lifetime Qualifying Miles, you’ll forever be an Aeroplan Super Elite.

You’ll also receive 10,000 SQC each year (which is enough to unlock the first tier of Milestone Benefits), and you can also gift Aeroplan 50K status (valid through to the end of the benefit year).

As we’ve detailed, Super Elites are members of the highest tier in Air Canada’s Aeroplan Elite Status. They’re afforded privileges and perks that aren’t accessible to anyone else. 

After having spent 3,000,000 miles in the sky with Air Canada, having Super Elite status for the rest of your life is well deserved, and you’ll enjoy the following benefits:

• 30 eUpgrades as a Core Benefit
• Access to the Air Canada Concierge
• Complimentary preferred seats at the time of booking on any fare to any destination
• Access to the London Heathrow Arrivals Lounge
• 6x Aeroplan points on paid flights with Air Canada
• Complimentary changes and cancellations to Aeroplan reward bookings  

Super Elites also have access to the most powerful Priority Rewards anyone can earn, as they halve the amount of points required for Aeroplan business class reward bookings on Air Canada or any partner airline.

Four Million Miles

The fourth tier in Air Canada’s Million Miler program is reached after accumulating 4,000,000 Lifetime Qualifying Miles.

Upon crossing this threshold, you’ll still remain a Super Elite (since there aren’t any higher published status levels) and the person whom you nominated for lifetime 50K status will now be bumped up to 75K status for life.

Each year, you’ll also get 20,000 SQC deposited in your account, and you can nominate anyone of your choosing to enjoy Aeroplan 75K status through to the end of the benefit year.

20,000 SQC is enough to unlock the first two Milestone Benefits, which would give you 10 eUpgrades as an automatic perk, as well as a choice of perks at 20,000 SQC.

5 Million Miles

The fifth and final tier in Air Canada’s Million Miler program is reached after accumulating 5,000,000 Lifetime Qualifying Miles.

I’d love to know how many people have reached this threshold!

Upon crossing this threshold, everything stays the same for lifetime status as the 4,000,000-mile threshold.

However, at the beginning of each year, you’ll receive a boost of 30,000 SQC and you can choose to nominate anyone of your choosing for Aeroplan Super Elite status (valid through to the end of the benefit year).

30,000 SQC is enough to unlock the first three Milestone Benefits, which would give you a total of 20 eUpgrades as an automatic perk, as well as a choice of perks at 20,000 SQC.

Conclusion

Air Canada’s Million Mile program recognizes those who have flown a significant amount with the airline over the years by rewarding them with lifetime Aeroplan Elite Status and some other valuable perks.

Depending on how often you travel, having lifetime status could be immensely valuable, or it could just be a nice perk to use every now and then when you decide to travel.

In addition to lifetime status, you can also choose to nominate a lucky person for status each year (starting at 2 Million Milers), and you’ll also get some additional SQC to help unlock Milestone Benefits.