Air Canada’s Aeroplan program flies beneath the radar however is without doubt one of the most respected and rewarding Star Alliance airline packages.
Even should you by no means plan to go to Canada, this can be a program you need to learn about because of the convenience of incomes and redeeming Aeroplan factors, particularly on companion airways like United Airways.
Right here is every little thing you’ll want to know in regards to the Air Canada Aeroplan program.
Air Canada Aeroplan overview
The Aeroplan program is the loyalty program supplied by Air Canada, Canada’s largest airline. It permits vacationers to earn and redeem factors for numerous travel-related rewards.
Maybe most significantly, Aeroplan nonetheless makes use of revealed award charts for companion flights — a rarity in a loyalty world largely pushed by dynamic pricing.
Air Canada Aeroplan companions
Air Canada is a Star Alliance member, so you possibly can earn and redeem Aeroplan factors with any collaborating provider. The truth is, greater than two dozen airways around the globe are full members, providing you with large geographical protection.
Among the largest Star Alliance hubs embody Chicago’s O’Hare Worldwide Airport (ORD), Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Istanbul Airport (IST) and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND).
The next airways are part of Star Alliance:
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- Aegean Airways
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- Asiana Airways
- Austrian Airways
- Avianca
- Brussels Airways
- Copa Airways
- Croatia Airways
- Egyptair
- Ethiopian Airways
- EVA Airways
- LOT Polish Airways
- Lufthansa
- Scandinavian Airways
- Shenzhen Airways
- Singapore Airways
- South African Airways
- Swiss
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airways
- United Airways
Nonetheless, Aeroplan additionally has relationships with many carriers exterior of the Star Alliance. The truth is, Air Canada has leaned closely into these partnerships in recent times, even profitable a TPG Award for this funding in 2021.
Learn extra: Make your voice heard — vote now for the 2023 TPG Awards
The next airways are non-alliance Aeroplan companions:
- Air Creebec
- Air Dolomiti (Star Alliance affiliate)
- Air Mauritius
- Air Serbia
- Azul Brazilian Airways
- Bamboo Airways
- Calm Air
- Canadian North
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
- Eurowings (Star Alliance affiliate)
- Uncover Airways (Star Alliance affiliate)
- Gol Airways
- Gulf Air
- Juneyao Air (Star Alliance connecting companion)
- Olympic Air
- Oman Air
- PAL Airways
- SunExpress
- Virgin Australia
- Vistara
Associated: How one can credit score miles to a companion airline program
Aeroplan elite standing
Air Canada Aeroplan rewards frequent Air Canada and Star Alliance flyers with beneficial perks like seat upgrades, free checked baggage and different perks throughout 5 completely different standing tiers.
To qualify, you will have to earn a set variety of status-qualifying miles (SQMs) or segments (SQSs) along with a status-qualifying greenback (SQD) requirement. SQMs are calculated primarily based in your flight distance, SQSs are primarily based on what number of flights you credit score to Aeroplan and SQDs are primarily based on how a lot you spend on tickets. Observe that SQDs are primarily based on Canadian {dollars}.
Here is a take a look at the necessities for every standing tier:
- Aeroplan 25K: 25,000 SQMs or 25 SQSs and three,000 SQDs
- Aeroplan 35K: 35,000 SQMs or 35 SQSs and 4,000 SQDs
- Aeroplan 50K: 50,000 SQMs or 50 SQSs and 6,000 SQDs
- Aeroplan 75K: 75,000 SQMs or 75 SQSs and 9,000 SQDs
- Aeroplan Tremendous Elite: 100,000 SQMs or 100 SQSs and 20,000 SQDs
You may get extra advantages with greater standing tiers. You may additionally earn eUpgrade certificates as you progress by standing tiers. These allow you to improve flights operated by Air Canada, Air Canada Specific and Air Canada Rouge from financial system class to premium financial system or enterprise class.
Air Canada elite members can even decide Choose Profit Bundles that supply extra rewards. Picks embody bonus factors incomes, improve certificates and lounge passes. You may have completely different selections at every standing degree.
Associated: How one can earn Air Canada elite standing with out flying
How one can earn Aeroplan factors
It is surprisingly straightforward to earn Air Canada Aeroplan factors even should you’re not flying Air Canada.
Flying with Air Canada
Not like most U.S. carriers, Air Canada has continued to award factors primarily based on flight distance. You additionally have to issue your fare class into your calculations. Some fares earn as little as 10% of mileage flown, whereas business-class fares earn 150% of miles flown.
Here is a take a look at how a lot every fare earns:
These with Air Canada elite standing can select to earn bonus factors on Air Canada flights if chosen as a Choose Profit Bundle. Here is a breakdown of what number of bonus factors every tier earns:
- Aeroplan 25K: 25%
- Aeroplan 35K: 35%
- Aeroplan 50K: 50%
- Aeroplan 75K: 75%
- Aeroplan Tremendous Elite: 100%
Flying with Star Alliance and non-alliance companions
You may earn miles the identical means when flying with an Air Canada companion, however the variety of factors you will earn per mile flown varies by airline. Yow will discover your companion’s incomes chart on Air Canada’s airline companion web page. Simply discover your companion on the listing and click on on it.
Earn factors with the Air Canada Aeroplan bank card
New Air Canada Aeroplan bank card candidates can earn as much as 100,000 Aeroplan factors: 75,000 factors after spending $4,000 within the first three months from account opening, plus an extra 25,000 Aeroplan factors after spending $20,000 complete within the first 12 months from account opening.
TPG values Aeroplan factors at 1.5 cents every, making this sign-up bonus value as much as $1,500.
Regardless of such a beneficial welcome bonus, the Chase Aeroplan card has an annual payment 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 beneficial card, particularly should you ever fly Air Canada.
These primarily based in Canada have a number of completely different choices for Aeroplan bank cards. Three banks problem Aeroplan playing cards in Canada and every card has completely different advantages, charges and point-earning charges. You may wish to assess every card and see which inserts your wants and finances greatest. On the excessive finish, you will get advantages like free checked baggage, lounge entry and a excessive welcome bonus.
Transferring bank card factors to Aeroplan
You’ll be able to switch the next bank card rewards to Aeroplan at a 1:1 switch ratio:
The next playing cards all at the moment supply sturdy welcome bonuses with factors and miles that you would be able to switch to your Aeroplan account:
Learn extra: Why transferable factors are value greater than different rewards
Incomes with retail companions
Air Canada has a procuring portal that permits you to earn Aeroplan factors with third-party distributors. These embody Apple, Uber Eats and different standard retailers. You’ll be able to click on by the product owner’s hyperlink on the Air Canada eStore earlier than you make a purchase order and you may earn a set variety of factors per greenback spent in your buy. This may be a good way to earn bonus factors on on a regular basis purchases.
Observe: Not all Air Canada retail companions are legitimate for points-earning purchases within the U.S. and Canada. Some are Canada-only, so double-check on the companion web page earlier than buying.
How one can redeem Aeroplan factors
You need to use your Aeroplan factors to fly worldwide. Air Canada provides an enormous route community by itself, however its lengthy listing of alliance and non-alliance companions expands this even additional.
Not like many U.S. carriers, Air Canada has stored a normal award chart. This implies you possibly can guide award flights at predictable costs. It additionally eliminated gas surcharges, so you will solely pay minimal taxes plus a $29 companion reserving payment (if relevant).
Aeroplan’s award chart
Aeroplan employs a hybrid distance- and region-based award chart. You may pay primarily based in your flight size, however pricing varies primarily based on the area you fly to and from. You may discover that every could be very broadly outlined.
To seek out the price of an award, decide the areas you are flying from and to. Then, calculate the gap between your origin and vacation spot utilizing a device like Nice Circle Mapper. Subsequent, discover the award chart in your area pair within the Air Canada award chart to find out the price in your flight.
Flights with customary saver award area will worth on the decrease finish of the spectrum, whereas flights with out this may worth greater.
Air Canada for Enterprise
Air Canada has a enterprise rewards program dubbed Air Canada for Enterprise.
Companies can use this program to earn rewards when workers guide journeys on Air Canada or choose Lufthansa Group airways like Lufthansa, Swiss and Brussels Airways. These rewards are earned along with regardless of the worker earns on their flights, so it is a win-win for the enterprise and the worker.
These rewards aren’t customary Aeroplan factors. As an alternative, they’re separate rewards forex that may be redeemed for issues like Maple Leaf lounge passes, eUpgrade certificates and most well-liked seating reductions, amongst different perks.
The very best methods to redeem Aeroplan factors
The Aeroplan award chart is stuffed with attention-grabbing candy spots and nice offers. Listed here are a few of the greatest methods to maximise the award chart and this system’s different attention-grabbing options, like stopovers on one-way award tickets:
E book a mini round-the-world journey with stopovers
You’ll be able to add one stopover to one-way tickets and two stopovers to round-trip tickets for five,000 miles apiece. These stopovers may be anyplace on the earth and Aeroplan helps you to get inventive along with your routing. The one main restriction to recollect is that your connecting flight can’t require greater than double the mileage price of a nonstop flight to your closing vacation spot. This opens up lots of attention-grabbing bookings. For instance, you possibly can guide a mini round-the-world journey that takes benefit of a stopover, two round-trip tickets and a number of 24-hour layovers. Even higher, now you can guide stopover tickets on-line, however you could have to name in to guide extra advanced itineraries with further layovers.
Fly domestically on United from 6,000 factors
You’ll be able to guide financial system flights on United Airways inside the continental U.S. and Canada from simply 6,000 Aeroplan factors for flights as much as 500 miles in size, resembling from Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (EWR) to many locations within the Northeast.
E book high-surcharge tickets with out surcharges
Enterprise class from the East Coast to Europe
Many flights from the U.S. East Coast to Europe fall into the 0-4,000 mile tier on the North America-to-Atlantic award chart. These flights price simply 60,000 factors in enterprise class and 90,000 in firstclass, so it is a good way to jump over the Atlantic. That is cheaper than what different Star Alliance packages, like Avianca LifeMiles and United MileagePlus, cost for a similar flights.
Fly enterprise class to India for 85,000 factors
You’ll be able to guide Star Alliance companions like United, Air India and Turkish Airways between america and India for simply 85,000 factors every means in enterprise class, or 55,000 factors in financial system class, with no gas surcharges.
Associated: 10 issues to learn about flying Turkish Airways
Backside line
Air Canada’s Aeroplan loyalty program is nice. Stable redemption charges, versatile stopovers and no gas surcharges imply you will get some wonderful offers on award tickets. It additionally companions with lots of the largest transferable factors packages, so you could be sitting on quite a lot of rewards that may in the end turn into Aeroplan factors.
Even should you aren’t planning to go to Canada, or fly on Air Canada, you need to take into account it in your subsequent factors switch or main redemption.
