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Air Canada Aeroplan is a program worth knowing, even if you don’t live in Canada. Since Air Canada is a Star Alliance airline, you can use these points to book flights on partners like United Airlines and Lufthansa, often at better rates than their own loyalty programs.
Even better, the airline maintains partnerships with airlines outside the alliance, like Etihad Airways and Emirates. And since you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, and Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Aeroplan, it’s the key to using your credit card points to fly on some of the best airlines in the world.
There are dozens of great ways to redeem your Aeroplan points for travel — but here, we’ll show you eight of our favorite redemptions to inspire your next trip. We’ve included everything from short-haul trips around the U.S. to long-haul business class tickets abroad.
Air Canada Aeroplan uses a distance-based award chart for award flights. Barring a couple of exceptions, this award chart means your award flight’s price is based solely on the distance of your entire itinerary. The only exceptions are flights operated by Air Canada, United, Emirates, and a small handful of other airlines, where the chart is used in conjunction with dynamic pricing.
Flights to Europe are priced based on the “North America to Atlantic Zone” award chart, where one-way business class flights start at just 60,000 points. This pricing applies to flights under 4,000 miles, which includes many flights from the U.S. East Coast to Europe.
For example, you can book this flight from Newark (EWR) to Lisbon (LIS) for 60,000 Aeroplan points and $57 in taxes and fees. The same pricing applies to other popular routes, like New York to Dublin (DUB) and London Heathrow (LHR).
You can even use this price band to sample Singapore Airlines’ award-winning business class product on its fifth-freedom route between New York-JFK and Frankfurt (FRA). In conjunction with this flight, you can connect to other cities in Germany if you’d like.
You can also find value if your sights are set on North Africa or the Middle East. These flights generally fall under the 4,001 to 6,000 miles in distance price band, which costs 70,000 Aeroplan points plus taxes and fees for a one-way flight. This pricing also applies to longer European flights.
For example, you can book this one-way EgyptAir business-class flight from New York (JFK) to Cairo (CAI) for 70,000 Aeroplan points plus $59 in taxes and fees.
Or you can connect onward to Amman (AMM) for the same amount of points.
Air Canada and United are Star Alliance members, meaning you can use your Aeroplan miles on United flights. Flights within the U.S. start at just 6,000 Aeroplan points if your itinerary is under 5000 miles, but in practice — thanks to Aeroplan’s dynamic pricing on United flights — they usually start at 10,000 miles.
It’s possible to find short-haul flights on popular routes like Newark (EWR) to Washington (DCA), Chicago (ORD) to Minneapolis (MSP), and San Francisco (SFO) to Los Angeles (LAX) for 10,000 miles or less, plus taxes and fees.
These flights can be expensive during peak travel times and during events, so redeeming Aeroplan points instead could save you hundreds of dollars. But if you’re transferring points from a transferable points program like Membership Rewards, compare Aeroplan’s price with other Star Alliance transfer partners to ensure you’re getting the best deal.
Aeroplan can also be a great way to book flights from the U.S. to Canada (or vice versa). While these fall under the same intra-North America award chart as domestic U.S. flights, we’ve found that pricing is often more reasonable on short-haul flights, sometimes starting under 6,000 points one-way.
For example, you can book ultra-short-haul routes like Vancouver (YVR) to Seattle (SEA) from just 5,100 Aeroplan points plus under $75 in taxes and fees. Be sure to compare the cash cost to the mileage cost before booking.
If you’re planning a multi-stop tour of Canada, you can often find excellent deals on domestic flights within Canada. Pricing is dynamic since Air Canada operates these flights, but dozens of routes are available for one-way flights under 10,000 miles.
If you’re headed to off-the-beaten-path cities in Canada, Aeroplan can help you find a great deal, thanks to its partnerships with Canadian North and Calm Air. For example, a one-way flight from Yellowknife (YZF) to Edmonton (YEG) can be booked for as few as 15,000 points plus taxes and fees on Canadian North.
With airlines like All Nippon Airways (ANA), EVA Air, and Singapore Airlines, Star Alliance is one of the best-connected airline alliances for flights between the U.S. and Asia. And if you’re flying from the U.S. West Coast, you can book flights to popular destinations in East Asia from just 75,000 miles.
Most flights from the West Coast to East Asia fall into the 5,001 to 7,500-mile price band, where flights cost 75,000 Aeroplan points plus taxes and fees. This includes popular routes like Los Angeles (LAX) to Taipei (TPE) or San Francisco (SFO) to Seoul (ICN)
You can book even cheaper Aeroplan award flights if you originate in Hawaii. Flights from Hawaii to Japan or South Korea clock in at under 5,000 miles, so a business-class flight costs just 55,000 miles plus taxes and fees.
If you’re in Europe and need to fly from one city to another, Aeroplan can be a good way to do so cheaply. Flights within Europe that are 1,000 miles or shorter — which covers most intra-Europe flights — cost just 7,500 miles in economy class or 15,000 points in business class.
While it’s true that these flights can often be booked cheaply on ultra-low-cost carriers like Ryanair, Wizzair, or EasyJet, prices can still be high on peak dates. Plus, booking a one-way business-class award ticket that includes checked bags and seat selection sometimes makes more sense than paying up for these perks on a paid flight with one of these airlines.
This price band covers some of the most frequently flown European routes, like Lisbon (LIS) to Madrid (MAD) and Düsseldorf (DUS) to Palma de Mallorca (PMI).
Aeroplan will let you add a stopover to almost any award ticket for 5,000 extra points. The entire itinerary will be based on the distance between your origin and final destination city, plus 5,000 points. The only major restriction is that you cannot add stopovers on awards within North America.
This means you can effectively book two trips for almost the price of one. Say you want to fly from Washington D.C. (IAD) to Taipei (TPE), but want to stop in Paris (CDG) on the way to visit friends. You can book this ticket for 65,000 Aeroplan points in economy, plus roughly $169 in taxes and fees. The price is calculated off the North America to Pacific award chart, plus 5,000 points for the stopover.
Likewise, you can book a stopover in Cairo (CAI) on your way from Washington D.C. (IAD) to Abu Dhabi (AUH). This one-way itinerary would cost 95,000 points plus $92 in taxes and fees in business class, or 60,000 points in economy.
Air Canada has a US credit card issued by Chase dubbed the Aeroplan® Card. While we don’t often recommend cobranded credit cards at Milesopedia US, this is a notable exception since it has various rewarding benefits.
The first major selling point is its welcome bonus. Right now, you can earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
The card is rewarding for everyday spending, too. It earns 3 points per dollar at grocery stores, restaurants and Air Canada. All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar. You’ll also earn 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent on the card per month, up to 1,500 points per month.
New cardmembers are eligible for complimentary Aeroplan 25K status for the remainder of the calendar year and the entirety of the following calendar year. You can keep this status past the first year by spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year and upgrade to Aeroplan 35K status by spending $50,000 on the card in a calendar year.
Other benefits include a free checked bag on Air Canada flights, no foreign transaction fees and access to Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature. Pay Yourself Back lets you redeem Aeroplan points at 1.25 cents apiece toward any travel purchase. So if you book a $1,000 hotel stay with your Aeroplan Card, you can redeem 80,000 Aeroplan points for a statement credit to cover the purchase.
Finally, American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One and Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio. These transfers generally process within minutes and make it easy to top-up your Aeroplan balance with points you might already have.It might be worth using a credit card that earns these rewards over the Aeroplan Card if it better aligns with your spending habits. For example, consider using a credit card that earns more bonus points on dining, like the American Express® Gold Card.Here are a few cards to consider to earn Aeroplan points:
Air Canada Aeroplan points are some of the most flexible airline miles. You can use them to fly with Air Canada or its dozens of partner airlines, which include United, Etihad Airways, and others. And since earning Aeroplan points in the U.S. is relatively easy, it’s a program worth considering when you book your next trip.
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