Today, Destination Canada, the national organization responsible for sustaining a vibrant and profitable Canadian tourism industry, has partnered with Air Canada and StatusMatch to launch a new status match program to encourage frequent American travelers to visit Canada. This limited-time offer marks the first time a tourism organization has used status-matching to entice visitors to travel to their destination.

How It Works

Starting September 27, 2021, frequent travellers who reside in the US and hold status on eligible major US airlines can apply to have their status matched by Air Canada for free, courtesy of Destination Canada. Approved customers will receive the matched status until December 31, 2021. To retain elite status for the entirety of 2022, customers must book and fly one round trip with Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge or Air Canada Express that would be eligible to accrue Aeroplan points before midnight Pacific Time on January 15, 2022.

Participants will enjoy all the eligible status benefits of flying with Air Canada, in addition to experiencing the remarkable people, nature, culture and communities of Canada—where mother nature and human nature come together, and offer travellers space to grow, unwind and connect with their true north.

For more information on the program, as well as frequently asked questions, please visit the Air Canada Status Match website here.

Quotes:

• “We know that Americans are travelling in their own country at 2019 levels—we will reach these frequent flyers who have adapted to the realities of travel today. We believe the benefits of this program provide a great incentive to choose Canada for their next trip. We can’t wait to welcome our American friends back and will lean in on our iconic landscapes and equally diverse communities in doing so.” Gloria Loree, Senior Vice President, Marketing Strategy & Chief Marketing Officer, Destination Canada.
• “We’re pleased to work with Destination Canada to provide a unique incentive to American travellers looking to visit and explore Canada's spectacular sights and hospitality. We’re proud to introduce even more travellers to our fully redesigned Aeroplan program, with the world’s largest roster of 40+ airline partners.” - Derek Whitworth, Managing Director, Marketing & Loyalty Optimization, Air Canada
• “Utilizing our innovative platform to execute the campaign, we plan to bring thousands of high-value US frequent flyers to experience everything Canada has to offer as a destination and become dedicated Air Canada status travellers” - Mark Ross-Smith, Co-founder & CEO, StatusMatch.com

Supporting Facts:

• The US is Canada’s largest inbound market with nearly 15M arrivals and $11B in spend to Canada in 2019. 
• In 2019, the US accounted for 68% of international overnight visitors to Canada and 49% of total overnight tourism receipts.
• Visits from Americans fell from 15M in 2019 to 1.9M in 2020—an 87% decline. 
• US households saved over $1.6 trillion more than they would have done otherwise during the pandemic and travel ranks highest (37%) on the list of planned purchases. 
• Between August 9-September 12, 2021—the period in which the Canadian border reopened to qualifying fully vaccinated US residents on August 9 and other foreign nationals on September 7—we have seen an estimated 600,000 people arrive on discretionary trips to Canada. To put this into perspective, we saw 348,000 arrivals in the same period in 2020 when the border was only open to essential travel.

Posted: 2021-09-27