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Air Canada’s Aeroplan program has an unusually large number of useful airline partnerships.
Not only can Aeroplan members earn and redeem points across the Star Alliance network, but also with around 20 other partner airlines that are not part of Star Alliance. These include many airlines that aren’t affiliated with any of the alliances, such as Virgin Australia, Etihad, Air Mauritius, Oman Air and even Aeromar, a little-known regional airline in Mexico.
As anyone who has recently tried to redeem Qantas Frequent Flyer points for an international flight would know, finding award availability can be one of the biggest hurdles to getting value out of frequent flyer points. But with so many airline partners, Aeroplan points are uniquely valuable as there are opportunities to redeem points for many flights that simply aren’t available through other frequent flyer programs.
Aeroplan’s award routing rules are also reasonably generous, adding a stopover is possible for just 5,000 points, and you can easily book most award flights on Air Canada’s website.
Over the past week, Aeroplan has even added two new partner airlines. Air Canada Aeroplan members can now earn and redeem points with Bamboo Airways and SunExpress!
Neither of those new airlines currently partner with any Australian loyalty programs, nor are they members of any global alliance. So this is great news.
Bamboo Airways
Bamboo Airways, one of the new Aeroplan partners, is a relatively new airline based in Vietnam.
As well as short-haul flights within Asia, Bamboo Airways (IATA code: QH) operates Boeing 787 flights from Vietnam to Australia, Germany and the UK.
Bamboo Airways offers Business, Premium Economy and Economy Class on its long-haul flights.
At this stage, Premium Economy award seats are not available to book with Aeroplan points. However, you can book Economy and Business Class award seats using Aeroplan points – and there are up to 4 award seats available in each cabin per flight!
From Australia, Bamboo Airways flies from Sydney and Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City, as well as from Melbourne to Hanoi.
It would cost 45,000 Aeroplan points (plus taxes and a CAD39 partner airline award booking fee) to fly from Australia to Vietnam in Bamboo Airways Business Class. There are no fuel surcharges payable.
If you wanted to fly all the way from Australia to Europe, or vice-versa, Bamboo Airways also has award availability in Business Class for up to 4 passengers! The price would be 110,000 Aeroplan points each way (plus taxes and Aeroplan’s partner airline booking fee).
You could even add a stopover in Vietnam along the way for an additional 5,000 Aeroplan points, by booking your trip as a multi-city award on the Air Canada website.
SunExpress
Air Canada also recently added a partnership with SunExpress, a low-cost airline that specialises in flying holidaymakers between Europe and sunny holiday destinations in Türkiye. SunExpress (IATA code: XQ) is a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines.
You can now redeem Aeroplan points for SunExpress flights, although award tickets are only available in Economy Class because SunExpress does not offer Business Class.
How to earn Aeroplan points in Australia
As Air Canada is part of Star Alliance, you can earn Aeroplan points when flying with any Star Alliance airline. You could also earn Aeroplan points for Virgin Australia flights, in lieu of earning Velocity points and status credits.
But the easiest way to earn Aeroplan points in Australia is simply by buying them. Air Canada sells its points with regular discounts and bonuses available.
It will also soon be possible to earn Aeroplan points with the new HSBC Star Alliance credit card launching in Australia.
Want to learn more about Aeroplan?
Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is one of the most underrated, promising frequent flyer programs out there. Plus, with more new Aeroplan partners being added all the time, the program is continuously getting better!
If you’d like to learn more about the program’s many useful features and how to maximise your Aeroplan points in Australia, don’t miss our upcoming webinar. The topic is “Air Canada Aeroplan: A Hidden Gem” and I’ll be hosting this webinar at 8pm (AEDT) on Wednesday, 23 November 2022.
You can leave a comment or discuss this topic on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.
