Air Canada’s loyalty program, Aeroplan, is a favourite amongst award vacationers, and for good motive. It is easy to earn Aeroplan factors, and the redemption charges are nice, with loads of candy spots.
Not like some main U.S. loyalty packages, Aeroplan’s award chart hasn’t disappeared fully, and the lengthy checklist of airline redemption companions is spectacular (and has continued to develop). Plus, Aeroplan is a extremely precious awards program for the reason that airline is a part of Star Alliance. Due to this fact, we have rounded up one of the best methods to make use of Air Canada Aeroplan factors for optimum worth.
Methods to redeem Aeroplan factors
You possibly can redeem Aeroplan factors for flights to greater than 1,300 locations on greater than 50 airline companions worldwide. Companions embody Star Alliance carriers and a few non-alliance companions like Azul Brazilian Airways, Bamboo Airways and Etihad Airways. Plus, you’ll be able to combine and match companions as you see match, which might be helpful if award availability is tough to return by.
Aeroplan’s award chart is effective for short-haul financial system flights or worldwide premium-cabin seats, significantly on companion airways.
Air Canada’s flights have variable pricing to make each certainly one of its seats out there for award reserving. Companion awards have a set worth primarily based on a chart, and seats could also be restricted.
The Aeroplan program makes use of a hybrid award chart, factoring within the distance you fly and the departure and arrival areas.
Flights inside North America
The chart under reveals the one-way award prices for Aeroplan awards inside North America, with round-trip awards out there for double the associated fee.
One of the best candy spot right here is for the short-haul financial system flights lower than 500 miles on United Airways and Air Canada, which value as little as 6,000 factors. TPG values Aeroplan factors at 1.5 cents every, so 6,000 factors are value $90. Routes below 500 miles embody most flights throughout the Northeast of the USA and to and from Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ).
Brief-haul flights, akin to one-way flights from Montreal-Trudeau Worldwide Airport (YUL) to Washington’s Dulles Worldwide Airport (IAD), might be extremely costly. You possibly can ebook these awards for six,000 to 10,000 Aeroplan factors.
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Longer financial system flights inside North America usually worth out between 10,000 and 12,500 factors every approach, across the trade common. The exception is flights over 2,751 miles, akin to from the East Coast to Hawaii, which vary between 17,500 and 25,000 factors. The advantage of utilizing Aeroplan is the versatile switch choices you’ve for incomes factors within the first place.
Associated: 6 award chart candy spots that can prevent cash on home flights
Journey to Europe
Aeroplan shines with award charges for long-haul journey — much more so now that Aeroplan has eradicated gasoline surcharges. Previously, you might have paid near $1,000 every approach in charges for a premium-cabin award from the U.S. to Europe, consuming away on the worth of your “free” award, however that is not the case anymore.
Typically, when touring from the continental U.S. to Europe on certainly one of Air Canada’s companions, you will pay 35,000 to 40,000 factors for financial system, 60,000 to 70,000 factors for enterprise and 90,000 to 100,000 factors for top notch. To provide you a greater thought, a flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is roughly 3,900 miles, placing it within the first pricing band. In the meantime, a flight from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) to Frankfurt is about 5,800 miles, which falls within the second band.
This implies you’ll be able to ebook enterprise class from the East Coast of the USA to most of Western Europe for simply 60,000 factors (or simply 70,000 factors from the West Coast).
That is decrease than what you’ll now be charged for a similar flights utilizing United Airways MileagePlus miles following this system’s 2023 devaluation.
Associated: 5 of one of the best methods to redeem 75,000 Air Canada Aeroplan factors
Journey to Asia
You can too get nice offers heading west. Companion awards between North America and the Pacific value 35,000 to 75,000 factors in financial system, 55,000 to 105,000 in enterprise and 90,000 to 140,000 in top notch, relying on the gap.
Take, for example, a flight from Seattle-Tacoma Worldwide Airport (SEA) to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) operated by All Nippon Airways. This route is slightly below 5,000 miles in distance; subsequently, a business-class ticket would value 55,000 factors. Money fares are often upward of $3,000 every approach, yielding a worth of over 5 cents per level, which is phenomenal.
Associated: Is EVA Air enterprise class value it on the Boeing 787-10?
Use Aeroplan for household journey
Aeroplan is among the greatest loyalty packages for households. Apart from the household factors pooling function, Aeroplan expenses a few of the lowest charges for touring with a lap toddler. Toddler awards are free for journey wholly inside Canada and between Canada and the USA and value simply 25 Canadian {dollars} ($19) or 2,500 Aeroplan factors for all different itineraries.
You can too add stopovers for simply 5,000 factors every. You possibly can add one stopover for every one-way journey and two for every round-trip itinerary. Simply observe that flights inside North America aren’t eligible for stopovers.
One other beauty of Aeroplan is that it affords an extremely dependable search engine for Star Alliance award availability. Aeroplan additionally highlights mixed-cabin itineraries, so there is not any confusion about what class of service you are reserving. Moreover, Aeroplan’s reserving engine was designed to reduce phantom award availability — a reasonably frequent downside previously.
Methods to earn Aeroplan factors
The simplest solution to earn a variety of Air Canada Aeroplan factors is with the appropriate bank card.
New Aeroplan® Credit score Card candidates can at present earn 60,000 factors after spending $3,000 within the first three months from account opening.
TPG values Aeroplan factors at 1.5 cents every, making this sign-up bonus value $900.
Regardless of such a precious welcome bonus, the Chase Aeroplan card has an annual charge of simply $95.
With triple factors in a number of classes, month-to-month bonus factors, assertion credit, Aeroplan elite standing and discounted award pricing, that is an extremely precious card, particularly in case you ever fly Air Canada.
Aeroplan switch companions
You can too switch the next bank card rewards to Aeroplan at a 1:1 switch ratio:
Which means the next playing cards all at present supply sturdy welcome bonuses with rewards which you could switch to your Aeroplan account:
Learn extra: Why transferable factors are value greater than different rewards
Backside line
Air Canada’s Aeroplan loyalty program affords strong redemption charges, versatile stopovers and no gasoline surcharges. This implies you may get some glorious offers on award tickets. It additionally companions with lots of the largest transferable-points packages, so you might be sitting on numerous rewards that may in the end turn out to be Aeroplan factors.
Remember the precious Aeroplan bank card that provides loads of advantages, particularly in case you fly with Air Canada.
As main packages change to completely dynamic pricing with eye-watering redemption charges, Air Canada’s Aeroplan program stays an underrated and precious possibility on your subsequent factors redemption.
