Aeroplan Just Got More Expensive. It’s a Devaluation, But Not a Massacre.

Air Canada refreshed the Aeroplan award chart this summer, and if you’ve been sitting on a pile of points waiting for the “right moment,” I have some mildly annoying news: the right moment was probably a few months ago.

Let’s not be dramatic about it, though.

This is a devaluation, but it’s a targeted one, and it mostly hits exactly where these things always hit — long-haul premium cabins, the stuff you actually wanted to book.

Here’s the shape of it. Business class on flights between 4,001 and 6,000 miles — which covers a huge chunk of the U.S.-to-Europe map — goes from 70,000 to 75,000 points one-way. First class on that same band jumps from 100,000 to 120,000. Ultra-long-haul business between the U.S. and Asia climbs from 87,500 to 102,500. And partner first class awards across the board move from 140,000 to 150,000 each way.

So, roughly a 5,000-to-20,000-point haircut depending on how aspirational your taste is.

The part that softens the blow: short-haul North America pricing didn’t move, sun destinations didn’t move, and anything touching South America is untouched. If your Aeroplan strategy revolves around domestic hops or getting to a beach, you can stop reading and go about your day.

If your Aeroplan strategy revolves around flying Lufthansa First or ANA business for a “deal,” it’s still a deal. It’s just a slightly worse one.

The bigger picture is the one worth paying attention to. Aeroplan is still one of the better transferable-points sweet spots out there, largely because it still has a chart. In a world where Delta refuses to publish one and Lufthansa’s own Miles & More has drifted toward dynamic pricing, a published, mostly-predictable award chart is a genuine asset — even after a bump.

A more expensive good program is still a good program.

It’s worth putting a number on it. At a conservative 1.5 cents per point, that extra 20,000 points on a partner first-class award is real money — call it $300 in transferable-points value, each way, for the same seat you’d have booked for less last spring. Not catastrophic. But enough that if you were planning to burn points on Lufthansa First this year, “this year” should probably mean the next few months.

And there’s a behavioral trap worth naming. Devaluations like this one tend to make people rush transfers into Aeroplan to “lock in” the old rate — except the old rate is already gone, and points sitting in Aeroplan are worth less and less flexible than the Amex, Chase, or Capital One points you transferred from. Don’t move points until you have a specific award held or in sight. A devaluation is a reason to book, not a reason to hoard.

Book the aspirational stuff sooner rather than later, though. These charts only move in one direction, and it isn’t down.