TravelingForMiles.com may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on TravelingForMiles.com are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. TravelingForMiles.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
Other links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission that helps contribute to the running of the site. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card welcome offers, earning rates and benefits and some credit card benefits will require enrollment. For more details please see the disclosures found at the bottom of every page.
Marriott already has reasonably close ties to the Star Alliance courtesy of its partnership with United Airlines, but those ties just got a little tighter following the announcement earlier today that Marriott Bonvoy and Aeroplan (Air Canada’s loyalty program) will now offer select members reciprocal elite status.
Who gets what status?
50K, 75K, and Super Elite members of the Aeroplan program can now enjoy complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status.
Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite members of the Marriott Bonvoy program can now enjoy Aeroplan 25K elite status.
How to match elite status
Marriott Bonvoy members should head over to this dedicated page and after logging in to their Bonvoy account through the link provided, they’ll be give an opportunity to link their Bonvoy account to their Aeroplan account using just their Aeroplan membership number.
Assuming a valid Aeroplan number is entered, a message will appear to confirm that the Bonvoy and Aeroplan accounts are linked and that it can take up to two business days for the accounts to reflect this update.
In my experience, however, the update is almost instantaneous as my Aeroplan account had already been upgraded to 25K status when I checked shortly after having linked my accounts.
Aeroplan members have their own dedicated page where they can link their Bonvoy and Aeroplan accounts, but as I’m not linking in that direction, I can’t tell you what the steps are … but the’re almost certainly going to be exceptionally simple.
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status
Marriott Bonvoy Gold elite status comes quite low down the order of Bonvoy elite statuses and so, unsurprisingly, isn’t hugely valuable. It does, however, offer one or two benefits that could be useful.
- A 25% points bonus on all eligible stays.
- Access to room upgrades on a space available basis.
- A 2pm late checkout (subject to availability).
- A welcome gift of 250 or 500 Bonvoy points on each eligible stay (varies by brand).
- Access to enhanced (faster) internet on all eligible stays.
As there’s no mention of an expiration date for this status match on the press release sent out today, it should be safe to assume that this Bonvoy Gold status will remain live for eligible Aeroplan members for as long as they hold 50K elites status or higher.
Link to all Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status benefits
Aeroplan 25K elite status
Aeroplan 25K elite status is the program’s entry-level elite status, and because Marriott Bonvoy Titanium and Ambassador elites already enjoy entry-level MileagePlus elite status (courtesy of the Marriott/United Airlines partnership), 25K Aeroplan status doesn’t offer these elite members any Star Alliance benefits that they didn’t already have access too.
It does, however, offer them a few potentially useful core benefits when traveling with Air Canada, Air Canada Express or Air Canada Rouge.
- Access to Air Canada Priority check-in counters.
- 2x complimentary checked bags regardless of fare purchased.
- Waived handling fees for specialist sports equipment (bikes, surfboards, etc…).
- Priority boarding.
- Complimentary preferred seats (with exceptions).
- 4x eUpgrade credits
The press release didn’t mention if Bonvoy members who are given Aeroplan 25K status as part of this reciprocal elite status promotion will also enjoy the two annual Maple Leaf lounge passes that are part of the ‘select benefits’ that come with 25K status, but it seems unlikely.
Bottom line
Air Canada and Marriott have moved their relationship up a level by confirming that they will now offer reciprocal elite status to select members of each other’s loyalty program.
Neither of the elite statuses on offer are going to generate much excitement as they both mostly only offer very basic benefits that a lot of people can already enjoy through one or more credit cards, but for someone who almost never has a reason to fly with Air Canada or stay with Marriott but may at some point, the free status may come in useful one day.
