I am not a lot of an airport shopper. I will stroll straight previous the magazines and the neck pillows, and the one factor that reliably pulls me right into a retailer is a bottle of wine or whisky at duty-free on the best way dwelling.
Aeroplan and Membership Avolta have launched a brand new partnership that lastly places factors behind that occasional bottle. Aeroplan members can now earn at airport outlets and, later this yr, eating places throughout North America. Avolta is the corporate behind Hudson and Dufry shops, the duty-free counters and comfort outlets you stroll previous in nearly each main terminal.
As soon as it is absolutely rolled out, the partnership will cowl practically 1,900 retail and meals and beverage shops throughout the continent. It is stay as of June 30, 2026.
How the Incomes Works
I downloaded the Membership Avolta app to stroll by way of the setup myself. You hyperlink your Aeroplan and Membership Avolta accounts, then set Aeroplan as your most well-liked accomplice so the factors movement to the best place.
As soon as linked, you earn one Aeroplan level for each $2 (CAD) spent on eligible purchases. That applies in-store at collaborating Hudson and Dufry areas, if you pre-order by way of Avolta’s Reserve & Accumulate service, and thru the Membership Avolta app.
There’s one catch price remembering in-store. You have to scan your Membership Avolta QR code at checkout each time, or the factors will not monitor. Membership Avolta is Avolta’s personal loyalty program, with greater than 16 million members worldwide.
At launch, the incomes covers greater than 900 Avolta airport and journey retail areas. Linking your accounts additionally opens up entry to provides, rewards, and cross-promotions tied to Air Canada’s community.
Airport Eating Joins Later This 12 months
The larger growth comes later in 2026, when Avolta’s HMSHost eating areas come on board. That covers informal eating places, quick-service spots, bars, and Seize & Go shops.
The app already enables you to browse collaborating eating places by terminal and concourse, which is helpful if you’re quick on time earlier than a flight. At Toronto Pearson, that features spots like Tim Hortons and Twist by Roger Mooking.
As soon as eating is added, the partnership reaches that full rely of roughly 1,900 shops. For many travellers, food and drinks is the place the on a regular basis airport spending really occurs, so that is the half price ready for.
The place You Can Earn
The Canadian airports in this system embody among the busiest within the nation. Toronto Pearson, Vancouver Worldwide, Calgary Worldwide, and Billy Bishop Toronto Metropolis Airport are all on the listing.
South of the border, collaborating shops embody main U.S. hubs like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago O’Hare. When you join by way of any of those frequently, the outlets are onerous to overlook.
What the Factors Are Really Price
Let’s be trustworthy concerning the price. One level per $2 works out to half some extent per greenback spent.
At Prince of Journey’s valuation of two cents per Aeroplan level, that is roughly a 1% return in your airport spending. A $40 bottle of wine at duty-free nets you 20 factors, or about 40 cents in worth. Stack sufficient journeys collectively and people factors nonetheless go towards the far-flung locations you’ll be able to attain with Aeroplan factors.
That will not change anybody’s life. But it surely’s factors on spending you had been going to do anyway, and it stacks on high of no matter your bank card already earns. Pay with one of many finest Aeroplan bank cards and also you’re gathering card factors and Avolta factors on the identical transaction.
Will These Rely Towards Elite Standing?
That is the place I would pump the brakes. Aeroplan’s announcement solely talks about incomes factors, with no point out of Elite Standing, so something past that’s unconfirmed for now.
There are two separate standing currencies in play. The primary is On a regular basis Standing Qualification, the no-fly path the place 100,000 On a regular basis Qualifying Factors earns you Aeroplan 25K Standing. Earnings from bank cards and the Aeroplan eStore already feed it, so my guess is that Membership Avolta purchases will rely right here too. We stroll by way of that path in our information to Aeroplan’s On a regular basis Standing Qualification.
The second is Standing Qualifying Credit, the forex behind the 2026 revenue-based Elite Standing, and that is the larger query mark. The companions Aeroplan has named for SQC are journey companions like Avis and Marriott, plus Star Alliance flights. On a regular basis incomes companions like Uber, Starbucks, and the LCBO aren’t confirmed to earn SQC both. Membership Avolta would seemingly sit in that very same unsure group.
For now I would deal with these as common Aeroplan factors with a good shot at counting towards On a regular basis Standing. We break down the brand new standing forex in our evaluation of Aeroplan’s revenue-based standing.
Is It Price Linking Your Accounts?
For the jiffy it takes to hyperlink the accounts within the app, I would say sure. There is not any payment, and you are not altering how or the place you store. You are simply capturing factors you’d in any other case depart on the desk.
One element caught my eye whereas linking. Membership Avolta additionally counts British Airways Membership and Iberia Membership amongst its airline companions, so that is a part of a broader retail loyalty play, not an Air Canada unique.
The true query is whether or not you spend sufficient at airport outlets for it to matter. For me, that realistically means the odd bottle of wine on the best way dwelling, so I am not anticipating a windfall. When you repeatedly seize duty-free or a espresso earlier than a flight, the factors will add up quicker.
It is also price remembering that the Avolta factors are a small bonus, not a cause to spend. Airport retail is not low cost, and incomes half some extent per greenback would not make an overpriced reward any much less overpriced.
Conclusion
This can be a quietly wise addition to the Aeroplan ecosystem. It will not exchange bank card spending or the Aeroplan eStore as your foremost incomes engines, but it surely fills a niche that different airline applications largely ignore.
I am extra within the eating growth than the retail launch. As soon as HMSHost eating places are incomes, the factors will add up quicker for the common traveller, since most of us spend extra on a pre-flight meal than on duty-free. Whether or not any of this counts towards standing is the open query, however linking the accounts prices nothing, so I will do it and see how the factors put up.
