Aeroplan is the loyalty program of Air Canada, Canada’s flagship air carrier. With over 50 airline partners, Aeroplan points are among the most versatile airline miles around.
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History
Air Canada dates back to September 1937, when Trans-Canada Air Lines flew its first commercial air service. While it was a short 50-minute hop, it’s notable that Trans-Canada Air Lines’ first-ever flight was an international flight carrying two passengers and mail from Vancouver to Seattle. The aircraft used: a 10-seat Lockheed 10A Electra.
Over the years, Air Canada helped introduce many aviation inventions—from the first onboard oxygen systems and de-icing procedures to the introduction of the “black box” flight recorder.
Air Canada established Aeroplan, its loyalty program for frequent flyers in 1984. In 2002, Aeroplan was spun off as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air Canada. Financial issues arising from its 2003 bankruptcy caused Air Canada to sell a 12.5% stake in Aeroplan in 2005 through an initial public offering. This made Aeroplan the world’s first publicly traded loyalty program. By 2008, Air Canada had disposed of the remainder of its Aeroplan holdings, giving up all control of its loyalty program.
For decades after that, the Aeroplan mileage program operated separately from the airline. But, after contract renewal negotiations broke down, Air Canada announced in 2017 that it would end its relationship with Aeroplan and launch a new in-house loyalty program. That announcement caused Aeroplan’s parent company stock to crash, leading Air Canada to launch a bid to buy the flailing Aeroplan program back at cents on the dollar. In the end, selling and repurchasing Aeroplan was a profitable venture for Air Canada.
The acquisition of Aeroplan was completed in 2019. On November 8, 2020, Air Canada launched its new Aeroplan program with a refreshed award chart, no carrier-imposed surcharges on award flights, more passenger-friendly award policies and improvements to their elite status program.
Currently, Air Canada operates flights across six continents. Flights center around Air Canada’s three principal hubs:
- Toronto
- Montreal
- Vancouver
Aeroplan® Credit Card
Up to 3x Reward Rate
Earn 3x points for each dollar spent on grocery stores, dining at restaurants including takeout and eligible delivery services, andRead More
Welcome Bonus
Earn up to 100,000 points
Annual Fee
$95
Regular APR
20.99% - 27.99% Variable
Credit Score
Good, Excellent (700 - 749)
The solid reward-earning potential of the Aeroplan® Credit Card makes the card an excellent option for those loyal Air Canada passengers who also regularly spend on food and travel.
- Excellent rewards earning
- No foreign transaction fees
- Travel benefits including perks for Air Canada flyers
- $95 annual fee
- Domestic flyers may find the redemption options limiting
- Earn up to 100,000 bonus points
- Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Plus, 25,000 bonus points after you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months.
- $95 Annual Fee
- Redeem points for both international and domestic flights with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
- Fly to another continent and travel the world with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
- Earn 3X points for each dollar spent at grocery stores, on dining at restaurants, and Air Canada directly. Earn 1X point for each dollar spent on all other purchases.
- 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month – up to 1,500 points per month.
- Member FDIC
How To Earn Aeroplan Points
Aeroplan members can earn points through various activities—including flying Air Canada and its partners, spending on U.S. and Canadian co-branded credit cards and transferring points from several bank and hotel transfer partners.
Flying Air Canada
Aeroplan members earn points based on the flight distance, booking class of the ticket and—in some cases—even the destination. Points are earned according to this chart:
Earn Bonus Points With Elite Status
As one of the optional perks of elite status, Air Canada elite members can elect to earn bonus points from flying. Even then, elite members are limited to earning bonus points on eligible flights operated by:
- Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge
- Austrian Airlines
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Swiss
- United Airlines
Air Canada elite members who choose this bonus-earning option will earn the following additional points on eligible flights:
- 25K—25% bonus points on base earnings
- 35K—35% bonus points on base earnings
- 50K—50% bonus points on base earnings
- 75K—75% bonus points on base earnings
- Super Elite—100% bonus points on base earnings
Earning Status With Air Canada Aeroplan
There are five elite levels in the Aeroplan program. To earn Aeroplan elite status, members must meet a spending requirement and either the mileage or segment requirement.
| Status Level | Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) | Status Qualifying Segments (SQS) | Status Qualifying Dollars (SQD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25K | 25,000 | 25 | CA$3,000 |
| 35K | 35,000 | 35 | CA$4,000 |
| 50K | 50,000 | 50 | CA$6,000 |
| 75K | 75,000 | 75 | CA$9,000 |
| Super Elite | 100,000 | 100 | CA$20,000 |
If you can’t fly enough to reach these thresholds, you can still earn elite status through Everyday Status Qualification. By earning at least 100,000 points through credit card spending on Canadian cards, flying partner airlines or earning points through other partners, members earn Aeroplan 25K elite status.
You can also use a Canadian-issued Aeroplan credit card to help you earn and maintain elite status. Certain cards offer the ability to earn Status Qualifying Miles and Status Qualifying Segments.
Meanwhile, new cardholders of the Aeroplan® Credit Card will automatically earn 25K elite status through the year following the year of application. That means you’ll get Aeroplan 25K elite status through December 31, 2026, if you are approved for the new card in January 2025.
Cardholders of the Aeroplan® Credit Card can maintain their status by meeting a $15,000 spending threshold on the card each year. You can get a Status Boost to at least 35K for the following year by spending $50,000 in a calendar year. If you have already earned Aeroplan status from flying, you will get a one-tier boost above what you have otherwise earned.
Flights on Partner Airlines
Air Canada is a founding member of the Star Alliance. That means Aeroplan members can earn and redeem miles on all 25 Star Alliance member airlines:
- Aegean Airlines
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways (ANA)
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- Avianca
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian
- EVA Air
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- Swiss
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
In addition, Aeroplan partners with an impressive selection of nonalliance partners. You can earn redeemable Aeroplan points when flying any of the following nonalliance partner airlines.
In some cases, you’ll only earn Aeroplan points on codeshare flights. Status Qualifying Miles can only be earned with some non-alliance partners, so if earning SQMs is important to you, be sure to check with that partner before booking:
- Aer Lingus (EI)
- Air Creebec (YN)
- Air Dolomiti (EN)
- Air Mauritius (MK)
- Air Serbia (JU)
- Azul Brazilian Airlines (AD)
- Bamboo Airways (QH)
- Calm Air (MO)
- Canadian North (5T)
- Cathay Pacific (CX)
- Central Mountain Air (9M)
- Discover Airlines (4Y)
- Edelweiss Air (WK)
- Emirates (EK)
- Etihad Airways (EY)
- Eurowings (EW)
- Flydubai (FZ)
- GOL Airlines (G3)
- Gulf Air (GF)
- Juneyao Airlines (HO)
- Lufthansa City Airlines (VL)
- Middle East Airlines (ME)
- Olympic Air (OA)
- Oman Air (WY)
- PAL Airlines (PR)
- SriLankan Airlines (UL)
- SunExpress (XQ)
- Virgin Australia (VA)
- Vistara (UK)
For all partner flights, Aeroplan members earn points based on the distance and the fare class. Aeroplan uses a different earning chart for each partner airline. You can find these earning charts on Aeroplan’s website. For example, here’s the current earning chart for United flights credited to Aeroplan:
If you’re booking a cheap United flight, it’s a good rule of thumb that you’ll earn 25% of the flight distance as Aeroplan points. For example, a round-trip nonstop flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Newark (EWR) covers 5,131 miles in distance. So, you’ll earn around 1,283 Aeroplan points if you book a basic economy or cheap economy ticket. That’s not a lot of points.
As with many distance-based partner-earning award charts, the sweet spot is premium economy. You’ll earn Aeroplan points based on 100% to 125% of flight miles for tickets booked in United premium economy. A round-trip nonstop flight from Newark (EWR) to Paris (CDG) is 7,298 miles in distance. So, you’d earn at least 7,298 points by crediting these flights to Aeroplan.
Credit Card Spending
Air Canada has Aeroplan-branded cards in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., Air Canada partners with Chase to issue the Aeroplan® Credit Card. This card earns 3 points per dollar spent on dining, takeout and eligible delivery services, grocery stores and each dollar spent directly with Air Canada and 1 point per dollar for all other eligible purchases
New cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening, plus 25,000 bonus points after spending $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months.
Transfer Partners
Aeroplan partners with four major U.S. transferrable point programs
That means there are plenty of ways to earn Aeroplan points through U.S.-based cards. For example, The Platinum Card® from American Express (Terms apply, see rates & fees) offers the following rewards rates: 5 Membership Rewards Points per dollar for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 per calendar year, 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel and 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases. Effectively, you can earn 5 Aeroplan points per dollar when you leverage the 5 points per dollar category.
Or, use the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which offers the following rewards: 5 points per dollar on flights and 10 points per dollar on hotels and car rentals when purchasing travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3 points per dollar on other travel and dining and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio.
Alternatively, you can earn at least 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on all purchases through the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. That’s because the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card earns 5 miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar spent on Capital One Entertainment purchases through 12/31/25 and an unlimited 2 miles per dollar spent on other purchases. Points transfer to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio.
Another option is to effectively earn 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent at Marriott hotels and 1 Aeroplan point per dollar spent on purchases at U.S. restaurants and on flights booked directly with airlines using the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (Terms apply. See rates & fees). The card offers the following rewards: 6 Marriott Bonvoy® points for each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program, 3 Marriott Bonvoy® points per dollar at restaurants worldwide and on flights booked directly with airlines and 2 Marriott Bonvoy® points per dollar on all other eligible purchases. You can also boost this rate by transferring Marriott Bonvoy points to Aeroplan in increments of 60,000 to earn 5,000 bonus points on your transfer.
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Additionally, Aeroplan members can convert points from several other hotel programs, and some at less favorable rates:
- Accor Live Limitless: 2 ALL points to 1 Aeroplan point
- Best Western Rewards: 5 Best Western Rewards points to 1 Aeroplan point
- Choice Privileges: 5 Choice Privileges points to 1 Aeroplan point
- Coast Rewards: 1 Coast Rewards point to 1 Aeroplan point
- Hilton Honors: 10 Hilton Honors points to 1 Aeroplan point
- IHG One Rewards: 5 IHG One Rewards points to 1 Aeroplan point
- Shangri-La Golden Circle: 1 Golden Circle Award point to 1 Aeroplan point
- Wyndham Rewards: 5 Wyndham Rewards points to 1 Aeroplan point
Shopping Portals
Aeroplan members can earn points on everyday purchases through the Aeroplan eStore. Click through any retailer’s link in the eStore before making a purchase and you’ll earn bonus Aeroplan points. Note that the linked merchants are the Canadian counterparts of the U.S. retailers and the eStore is intended for Canadian residents, so earning points regularly through it is only feasible for Canadians.
There are more than 250 merchants available through the Aeroplan eStore. And with rates as high as 10 Aeroplan points per dollar spent, the earnings from shopping online can quickly add up.
Buying Aeroplan Points
Air Canada typically sells Aeroplan points for 3.5 Canadian cents per point. At current exchange rates, that’s around 2.60 U.S. cents per point which doesn’t make financial sense for most Aeroplan award redemptions.
If you need to top off your account—and don’t have bank points to transfer in—watch for Aeroplan’s occasional buy points promotion. One Aeroplan promotion offered 80% in bonus points which dropped the purchase price to just 1.94 cents per point.
Aeroplan purchases are processed by Points.com, which doesn’t trigger any credit card travel bonus categories. Instead, you’ll want to use an everyday spending credit card such as a 2% cash-back everywhere card.
Other Ways To Earn Aeroplan Points
Aeroplan also partners through other partners:
- Starbucks: Earn 500 Aeroplan points when you join Starbucks Rewards, link your Starbucks and Aeroplan accounts and make your first transaction with Starbucks. After that, earn 25 points for every CA$50 to CA$74.99 or 100 points for every CA$75-plus loaded on your Starbucks Rewards card. Only Canadian Starbucks Rewards members are eligible.
- Uber: New Uber and Uber Eats members can earn 1,000 Aeroplan points on their first ride or order. Then, earn a minimum of 1 point per CA$1 spent on premium or airport rides and 1 point per CA$1 on food orders over CA$40. Additionally, you’ll earn a CA$20 Air Canada flight credit every 10 rides. Members must have an Uber Canada account and only rides within Canada and Uber Eats deliveries in Canada will be eligible to earn points.
- Car rental and parking partners
- Vacation packages through Air Canada Vacations
How To Redeem Aeroplan Points
With all the different avenues to earn Aeroplan points, it’s easy to accumulate enough of a stash to redeem for some amazing awards. Here’s an overview of Aeroplan redemption options—including sweet spots to look for.
On Air Canada Flights
Technically, Aeroplan publishes an award chart for award flights on Air Canada but practically, it isn’t very helpful. Although the award chart lists a wide range of award prices for Air Canada award flights, the fine print states that these are estimated ranges only.
The good news is that occasionally, you may spot awards lower than the estimated range would indicate. The bad news is that flights may be priced considerably higher, such as this business-class flight from Toronto (YYZ) to Bangkok (BKK), which costs 325,000 points. The award chart lists the estimated range for this flight as 85,000 to 200,000 points.
The end result is that you can’t reliably predict how much an Aeroplan award on Air Canada will cost.
On Flights With Partners
Although Aeroplan’s award chart lists a range of award rates for Air Canada-operated flights, the award rate is fixed for partners. Aeroplan uses a hybrid region- and distance-based award chart for partner award flights. Under this system, the pricing for award flights depends on two factors: the travel zones and the flight distance between the origin and destination—including any stops.
The Aeroplan award chart breaks the world into four “travel zones”:
- North America
- South America
- Atlantic—including Europe, Africa and as far east as India
- Pacific—including most of Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.
Luckily, Aeroplan provides a handy tool to easily determine award pricing. Simply enter your origin and destination into the Aeroplan Points Predictor and the tool will display the points required for both Air Canada and partner awards.
The Aeroplan program has some sweet spots, but it also has some seriously expensive awards. For example, a flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to New Delhi (DEL)—which is considered part of the Atlantic zone—starts at 70,000 points in economy, 85,000 in premium economy, 100,000 in business class and 130,000 in first class.
Other loyalty programs charge less than 50,000 miles in economy for this route. American Airlines AAdvantage charges 40,000 miles for economy and 70,000 miles in business class for partner awards between the U.S. and Indian Subcontinent. Unfortunately, the Aeroplan program just isn’t competitive on longer routes.
However, the upside is that with so many airline partners, award availability through Aeroplan may be better than other airline loyalty programs. So if you absolutely need a flight, Aeroplan might be your best bet, even at a higher price.
Aeroplan will display mixed cabin awards in its award search results. However, award pricing is based on the highest class of service on any one of the segments, so check the flight details carefully before booking. You’ll want to ensure that if you’re booking and paying for a premium class award, your long-haul segment is actually in a premium cabin.
The redemption rates are the same for all partners in the Aeroplan program, so you don’t need to refer to a different award chart for each.
Sweet Spots
With Aeroplan’s zone- and distance-based award chart, you’ll find the best sweet spots on shorter routes. That can be within a single region or shorter routes from one region to another.
For example, flights within North America that are under 500 miles cost just 6,000 points each way. That might not sound very far, but it covers a surprising number of routes.
The short hop between New York LaGuardia (LGA) and Toronto (YYZ)—one of the busiest international airline routes in the world—costs as few as 6,000 points in economy or 15,000 points in business class.
Flights within North America between 501 and 1,500 miles cost just 10,000 Aeroplan points in economy or 20,000 points in business class. That’s long enough to cover award flights from Chicago (ORD), Washington, D.C. (IAD) or Houston (IAH) to Cancun (CUN).
The next distance band covers award flights up to 2,750 miles in distance. That means you can fly between the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii on United for as few as 12,500 points each way in economy. Or upgrade to business class for 25,000 points each way.
If you want to head overseas, you can fly from the U.S. East Coast to Europe for as few as 60,000 points in business class. You’ll need to keep your flight distance under 4,000 miles to get this rate.
For flights across the Pacific, you can book economy for as few as 35,000 points or 55,000 points in business class if you keep the route under 5,000 miles in distance. That covers flights from Seattle (SEA) or Vancouver (YVR) to Tokyo (NRT) or Osaka (KIX).
Stopovers
One of the best ways to see more than one destination on a trip is by using a stopover. Aeroplan is one of the few award programs that allow a stopover on award flights.
Each stopover costs just 5,000 Aeroplan points. You can add a stopover to each direction of travel, which means that one stopover can be added to a one-way award and two stopovers can be included on a return flight award.
For an extra 10,000 miles plus taxes, you can spend a few days in Paris before continuing to Copenhagen and stopping in Zurich on your way home. Stopovers can be booked online by checking the “Multi-city/Stopover” box on the search page. Unfortunately, stopovers are not allowed within Canada or the United States.
Fees
Award Change and Cancellation Fees
Aeroplan charges CA$100 per direction of travel to change an award ticket and CA$150 to cancel an award ticket. If you use the call center to cancel your award ticket, you’ll be charged a further CA$25.
Aeroplan provides the option to purchase Flex or Latitude award redemptions at a higher points cost that either waive change or cancellation fees or have reduced fees. The incremental cost is high for economy awards but in the 16,000 to 20,000 point range for long-haul premium cabin redemptions, which makes it more appealing.
Infant Fees
Aeroplan charges CA$25 ($19) or 2,500 Aeroplan points for a lap infant. Even better, there’s no additional infant cost for flights within Canada or between Canada and the U.S. That’s the case no matter which cabin of service you’re flying.
The cost of a lap infant varies wildly between mileage programs, so Aeroplan’s minimal fees are a welcome relief for families. Some programs charge as few as 1,000 miles for a lap infant while others charge up to 25% of an adult revenue ticket cost. If you’re flying in a premium cabin, a revenue-based lap infant fee can be extraordinarily expensive.
Carrier-Imposed Charges
Aeroplan doesn’t charge carrier-imposed fees on its awards.
Booking Fee
Aeroplan levies a CA$39 fee ($28) for awards that include flights operated on partner airlines. While that won’t make much of a difference for a long-haul premium award, the fee reduces the value members get on some partner award flights—particularly on short-haul and economy-class flights.
There’s also a CA$30 ($22) fee for booking through a call center. This shouldn’t affect most travelers since most awards can be booked online, except for the most complex itineraries.
Family Pooling
One of the frustrating aspects of loyalty programs is not being able to earn enough points or miles to make a redemption. If you travel infrequently, you may only have a few miles in your account. Aeroplan makes it easier for families and friends to accumulate enough points for an award with Family Sharing.
While the program is currently unavailable, up to eight family members can pool their points. Then, the Family Lead can redeem the pool’s combined Aeroplan points. Other members can be designated as either a contributor only or a contributor and redeemer by the Family Lead. Points will be proportionally deducted from each pool member’s points based on how many points they brought into the pool.
Aeroplan requires members to remain in a Family Sharing pool for at least three months to prevent pool-hopping. You won’t be able to join another pool within six months of leaving a pool.
Other Ways To Redeem Aeroplan Points
In addition to using points for reward flights, Aeroplan members can redeem points for travel extras. Members can redeem points for in-flight Wi-Fi and to bid for upgrades on Air Canada flights.
Aeroplan members also have the opportunity to redeem points for hotels, car rentals and Air Canada Vacations packages.
Members can also donate their Aeroplan points to charity or transfer points to another Aeroplan member (for a fee).
Gift Cards
Aeroplan members can also redeem points for gift cards for many brands. The redemption rate is generally rather poor at CA$0.71 per point. That means you’ll need to redeem:
- 7,000 points for a $50 gift card.
- 14,000 points for a $100 gift card.
- 35,000 points for a $250 gift card.
The major exception to this is Air Canada gift cards. You can redeem Aeroplan points for Air Canada gift cards at a flat redemption of CA$0.1 per point.
Merchandise
Aeroplan also sells thousands of items through its Aeroplan eStore that you can purchase with points or a mixture of points and cash. You can purchase everything from TVs and refrigerators to watches and grills.
However, the redemption rate on these purchases is poor. We would only recommend redeeming points for merchandise if you’re tired of traveling and looking for some way to use your Aeroplan points.
Quirks
Expiration Policy
Aeroplan miles expire after 18 months of inactivity. To keep your points active, you can earn, redeem, donate or transfer points. Flexible points transferred from programs such as Membership Rewards or Ultimate Rewards also count as activity.
However, you don’t have to worry about points expiration if you have Aeroplan elite status or a U.S.- or Canadian-issued Aeroplan credit card since either exempts your points from expiring.
If, by chance, your points do expire, Aeroplan will reinstate your points if you fly with Air Canada within six months of expiration.
No Premium Economy Partner Awards
One noteworthy aspect that’s missing from the Aeroplan program: Aeroplan members still can’t book premium economy awards on partners. Aeroplan premium economy awards are only available on flights operated by Air Canada.
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Bottom Line
Overall, the Aeroplan program is appealing due to its wide range of airline partners, which give you award options you might not find anywhere else, and competitively priced awards for certain routings. If you have a stash of points in another program, you can easily combine them as Aeroplan points to redeem for awards.
However, the program has its downsides. For example, the CA$39 ($30) partner award booking fee cuts into the value of many low-priced rewards. And most long-haul flights will be pricey in all cabins.
Whether you’re looking to fly within North America or overseas, it’s worth comparing the miles and cash cost of awards booked through Aeroplan against other programs.
Forbes Advisor Credit Cards Writer JT Genter contributed to this article.
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