Air Canada Aeroplan Guide
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Before you read this guide, review "Points and Miles 101" to learn the basics of how it all works!
Want to earn more points to redeem through Aeroplan? Checkout our Recommended Cards!
Air Canada Aeroplan is one of our favorite airline programs to book international business class. They have a huge network of partners, a pretty good website for searching, and some excellent rates based on zones/distance. Plus, the taxes and fees are minimal! Aeroplan also has a couple of unique features that can really maximize your points.
What business class deals have we booked through Aeroplan?​
United Cape Town-Newark - 85k* + $45 each
Egyptair Luxor-Cairo-JFK - 70k + $112 each
Copa Airlines IAD-Panama City - 25k + $48 each
SWISS Geneva-JFK - 60k + $77 each
Turkish/United Kuala Lumpur-IST-Zurich [4 day stopover]-IAD-Louisville - 92.5k + $160 each
United Louisville-IAH-Sydney - 87.5k + $72 each
EVA Brisbane-Taipei-SFO - 87.5k + $94 each
*the rate is now 90k points for this route
The Basics
Book flights operated by:​
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Star Alliance member airlines
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Etihad
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Emirates
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Bamboo Airways
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Vistara
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Gulf Air
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Oman Air
Best uses:
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Star Alliance flights worldwide (including United)
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United within North America
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Multi-day Stopovers
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Singapore Airlines business class
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United/Copa/Avianca to Central/South America
Pricing structure:
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Dynamic/variable pricing for itineraries that include Air Canada or Emirates flights (these itineraries generally have very high rates)
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Zone + distance pricing based on the Aeroplan award chart for itineraries operated entirely by partner airlines (these are the best itineraries to book)
Fees/surcharges:
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No fuel surcharges passed on from partner airlines
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39 CAD partner booking fee per ticket
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Up to 100 CAD for changes, up to 150 CAD for cancellations/points redeposit
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25 CAD or 2,500 point lap infant fee + taxes (guide)
This step isn't 100% necessary (the website will automatically calculate the rates for available flights in the search results), but it can be helpful to understand how the pricing works and to plan out the best-value route (especially when booking stopovers - see the end of this guide for more on that).
When using the award chart, to determine the length of the flight(s) , we recommend gcmap.com (left). Input the route with the airport codes, click "Map", and the total flight distance will be displayed. For the example above, a 4,343 mile journey from Louisville to Brussels will fall into the 40k economy / 70k business range of the award chart based on the "Between North America and Atlantic zones" page (below).
Sample One Way Rates from US (for partner airlines only):
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Europe: 35-40k economy, 60-90k business
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Asia: 30-50k economy, 75-110k business
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Middle East, Africa, India: 40-70k economy, 70-110k business
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Australia, New Zealand: 50-60k economy, 75-87.5k business
​​​​​​​Customer service:
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Phone support when calling from Canada, US, and Caribbean: 1-800-361-5373
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Limited support available on social media sites
How to search and book:
Step 1: Create an Aeroplan account
This isn't required to search, but it makes the process a little easier. You will also need to have an Aeroplan account setup to transfer points, and there have been reports that the transfer will be delayed or the booking will fail if the account is less than 24 hours old.
Step 2: Enter search details on Air Canada home page
The site is pretty straightforward to use! Simply check the "Book with points" option on the search form. Since partner flights will have the best rates, and they'll be set based on distance, searching one way at a time is best!
Note: the first time you search with points, you may be prompted to be taken to the "Canadian edition" of the website. Accept that prompt to continue.
Step 3: Review Results
The partner flight operated by TAP Portugal has the best rates - only 60k + 76 CAD in business class! The itinerary via Toronto (YYZ) includes Air Canada flights, so the pricing is dynamic/variable based on demand - 164k points! You almost always want to book partner flights through Aeroplan.
Note: the site now shows a 5 day calendar at the top of the results page. This can sometimes be helpful to see availability on various dates, but we've found it to be unreliable and recommend checking each date.
Be aware of Mixed Cabin results. A red "Mixed cabin" message (below) means that more than 50% of the flight time is in a lower class of service. Hovering over the fare will show the exact percent that's in business/first class.
Clicking on the fare will expand to show the specific flight(s) that are in lower class of service (below). In this case, the long Chicago-Paris flight is in economy and only the short Paris-Vienna flight is in business class - you definitely don't want to use 70,000 points for that!
Note: the Air Canada app will not show a red "mixed cabin" message for greater than 50% in economy. It will show the same black "mixed cabin" whether it's 5% in business class or 95% in business class. This makes it difficult to differentiate between ideal options without having to click on every single flight. For this reason, we recommend using the desktop or mobile website if you're searching for business class redemptions.
Step 4: Select flight
After clicking inside the box that shows 60K for the TAP flight on the previous step, you'll see options like this. Generally, the "Lowest Reward" is the best option. An extra 14k points to save the 150 CAD / 111 USD cancellation fee probably isn't worth it!
Step 5: Select pricing option
This page sometimes trips people up! The "popular" option definitely isn't the best option! You want to select the rate that matches the results on the previous page. The 48K + $310 CAD option is essentially buying 12K points and the 67,530 points option is using points to pay for the taxes at a very poor rate!
Step 6: Transfer Points and Finalize Booking
At this point, you have confirmed the flight availability and are ready to transfer your points to book. Transfers to Aeroplan are instant in most cases, but you usually have to sign out and back in to see the updated points balance in your account. Once the points post, search for the flight again and go through the booking process - it's pretty straightforward!
Caution: there may be a delay in the points posting after the transfer if you setup the account within the past 48 hours. Create an Aeroplan account as soon as possible to avoid this delay when you're ready to book!
Selecting seats:
For several partner airlines, you'll be able to select seats through the Air Canada website during the booking process. For other partners, you will need to select seats through the site of the airline operating the flight. To do this, a record locator for the partner airline will be provided on the "Manage Booking" page (below). If it doesn't appear there, contact Air Canada Aeroplan (1-800-361-5373) to request the partner record locator.
Copy that booking reference and go to the partner airline site (Turkish Airlines in the example above) and use it to retrieve the booking (usually on a "Manage Booking" page). From there, you will be able to select seats. This is also helpful for the day of travel - you'll be checking-in and getting notifications from the operating airline, so you'll want to have the reservation added to their app!
Tip: Aerolopa.com has the most detailed seat maps for all major airlines around the world. It's a great reference to use when selecting seats!
BONUS: Adding a stopover
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Aeroplan allows you to add a stopover for up to 45 days along your route for just 5k extra points per passenger. This is a huge savings vs booking two separate flights, and you can come up with a lot of creative itineraries!
We recently used this feature to book Kuala Lumpur-Istanbul-Zurich [3 day stopover]-DC-Louisville and will soon be flying Houston-Manchester-Singapore [4 day stopover]-Phuket. Both of these itineraries are only 92.5k per person in business class!
On the search form, select the "Multi-city/Stopover" option, and then choose your final destination, stopover city, and length of stopover.
TIP: it's usually easiest to search separately for one way flights on either side of the stopover to find the availability first, and then search with the stopover option. The website sometimes doesn't show all of the results that it should when searching with stopovers, so you will need to call Aeroplan (1-800-361-5373) to book in a situation like that.
With this feature, you can fly Boston-Lisbon, stop for 3 days, and then continue on to Madrid - all for only 65K points in business class! Booked separately, these flights would be 80k points!