Aeroplan (Air Canada) is now selling points

[MEL_Traveller]

A short haul flight up to 1000 miles in length would set you back 8,000 Aeroplan points one-way in coach or 20,000 points in business. The only partners in Oceania are Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand. At the same time, Aeroplan regularly has quite lucrative bonus sales on their points, meaning based on your calculus crediting to Virgin may make sense. Where Aeroplan really shines would be stretching out the award redemptions to create round the world itineraries. For instance, last year I bought and burned through 220,000 Aeroplan miles to fly in business class from Sydney to Zurich then Zurich to Toronto followed by LA to Seoul and Seoul to Sydney. This is possible because their award chart is based on distance flown and the originating and final destination region with a stopover being added for just 5,000 more points. The other thing that Aeroplan has in spades are partners, all the Star Alliance partners plus Emirates and Etihad, Virgin Australia, Azul, Gol, Oman Air, Gulf Air, etc.

-RooFlyer88

Which doesn’t really solve the question on the benefits of crediting to Aeroplan vs VA

I’m a regular user of Aeroplan, but as far as I can tell my one way SYD-MEL in J is going to earn 125% of miles, which is around 548 points on AC, compared to 3500 on VA.

Those 548 points on Aeroplan would cost me around AUD11 on a 100% bonus promo.

I hadn’t done the math until now, but I’m not sure if I’m missing something!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Which doesn’t really solve the question on the benefits of crediting to Aeroplan vs VA

I think you would be better off crediting to Virgin since you would accumulate more points crediting to them over Aeroplan. At the same time, by crediting to Virgin, you'll also accumulate status credits which can get you Velocity frequent flyer status which in turn will get you reciprocal benefits on United, Air Canada and other partner airlines. Crediting the flights to Aeroplan won't get you anything for status since they have a minimum $ spend on Air Canada flights in addition to miles flown with partners to earn AC frequent flyer status.

I’m a regular user of Aeroplan, but as far as I can tell my one way SYD-MEL in J is going to earn 125% of miles, which is around 548 points on AC, compared to 3500 on VA.

I think 3500 Virgin points is more valuable than 548 Aeroplan points. If we value each point at a cent each you are earning effectively $35 in Virgin points versus $5.48 in Air Canada points.

Those 548 points on Aeroplan would cost me around AUD11 on a 100% bonus promo.

Even if we give it that lofty of a valuation, that's still far below the 35 dollarydoos in value you get from Virgin.

 

[Gold Member]

Where is this documented, please? I'm not seeing it at AirCanada.com. (Now that I've requalified Velocity Platinum I plan to credit upcoming VA flights for my wife and kids to Aeroplan anyway, which should keep them all current beyond that date.)

More flexibility for our members

More flexibility for our members

www.aircanada.com

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks kangarooflyer!

While OT to this thread, I’ll have a ‘spare’ 2000 VA status credits that maybe should be put to ‘use’ somewhere else?

 

[twiningb]

More flexibility for our members

More flexibility for our members

www.aircanada.com

Thank you.

 

[twiningb]

I hadn’t thought of crediting VA to Aeroplan.

For SYD-MELs and v.v. is it worth it? 400 or so miles x 125% bonus, compared to 3000 points plus on VA.

Currently I get around 1 free VA J class return for every 4 paid flights, which seems quite good.

My bookings are in Choice domestic economy, so the maths are different, but there will still be substantially more Velocity points than Aeroplan points for the same flights.

That said:

• An Aeroplan point is materially more valuable than a Velocity one.
• My family all have small numbers of Aeroplan points, so crediting flights to those accounts at least occasionally in order to keep those existing points current, is worthwhile.

But if Aeroplan points are now all extended to Sep 2024 anyway, then crediting flights a couple of weeks from now gives minimal extra benefit.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

My bookings are in Choice domestic economy, so the maths are different, but there will still be substantially more Velocity points than Aeroplan points for the same flights.

That said:

• An Aeroplan point is materially more valuable than a Velocity one.
• My family all have small numbers of Aeroplan points, so crediting flights to those accounts at least occasionally in order to keep those existing points current, is worthwhile.

But if Aeroplan points are now all extended to Sep 2024 anyway, then crediting flights a couple of weeks from now gives minimal extra benefit.

Thanks.

I’m really wondering what to do with all my ‘excess’ VA SCs and points… wanting to maximise their value!

 

[Chalkie]

Just got a notification of an up to 85% bonus when you buy minimum 30,000 points until 29 April 2023.

Spoiler: Bonus Points Terms and Conditions

BUY AND/OR GIFT POINTS MASS APRIL 2023 OFFER – TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The following Terms and Conditions apply to the Buy and/or Gift Points April 2023 Offer open to Aeroplan® Members (the “Offer”) and will take place from April 17, 2023, at 9:01:01 AM ET to April 30, 2023 at 2:59:59 AM ET (the “Offer Period”):

1. This Offer to buy and/or gift Aeroplan points today and earn bonus Aeroplan points is open to Aeroplan Members in good standing that log into their Aeroplan account on after April 17, 2023 at 9:01:01 AM ET (the “Eligible Participants”). An Aeroplan Member who is logged in to their Aeroplan account prior to April 17, 2023 at 9:01:01 AM ET will not be considered as an Eligible Participant under this Offer – to be considered an Eligible Participant under this Offer, please make sure to click or push the “refresh page” button of your web/mobile browser after this time. Not an Aeroplan Member yet? Sign up here.

2. “Eligible Aeroplan points” means Aeroplan points bought and/or gifted by an Eligi-ble Participant during the Offer Period pursuant to the Buy/Gift Points Program, part of the Aeroplan Program. Please visit the following link for information and terms and conditions applicable to the Buy/Gift Points Program.

All Aeroplan points purchased and/or gifted prior to the start of the Offer Period or purchased and/or gifted with a login time before April 17, 2023 at 9:01:01 AM ET or after April 30, 2023 at 2:59:59 AM ET, are not considered as Eligible Aeroplan points pursuant to this Offer.

3. Eligible Aeroplan points purchased and/or gifted pursuant to this Offer are non-refundable.

4. Through this Offer and during the Offer Period, Eligible Participants will be able to bonus Aeroplan points which are calculated based on the Eligible Aeroplan points bought by an Eligible Participant during the Offer Period as per the following conditions:

(a) Earn 85% bonus Aeroplan points when a minimum of 30,000 Eligible Aeroplan points are bought and/or gifted (no bonus Aeroplan points will be issued if less than 30,000 Aeroplan points are bought and/or gifted).

In the case of gifting Eligible Aeroplan points by an Aeroplan Member (the gifter) to another Aeroplan Member (the recipient), it is the recipient that will earn the bonus Aeroplan points, which will be deposited into the recipient’s Aeroplan account (subject to Section 6 below).

5. Specific Conditions to buying and/or gifting Eligible Aeroplan points pursuant to this Offer:

(a) Buying Eligible Aeroplan points: During the Offer Period and only for the purpose of this Offer, Eligible Participants can buy a minimum of 30,000 Aeroplan points and up to 500,000 Aeroplan points per transaction; up to a maximum total of 1,000,000 Eligible Aeroplan points per calendar year:

• Bonus Aeroplan points awarded through this Offer do not count towards the transactional limit of Aeroplan points that can be bought per Aeroplan account;
• Eligible Aeroplan points do count towards the transactional limit of Aeroplan points that can be bought per Aeroplan account, which is increased from 250,000 Aeroplan points to 500,000 Aeroplan points solely for the purpose of this Offer;
• Bonus Aeroplan points awarded through this Offer do not count towards the calendar year annual limit of Aeroplan points that can be bought per Aeroplan account;
• Eligible Aeroplan points do count towards the calendar year annual limit of Aeroplan points that can be bought per Aeroplan account, which is 1,000,000 Aeroplan points.

(b) Gifting Eligible Aeroplan points: During the Offer Period and only for the purpose of this Offer, Eligible Participants can gift a minimum of 30,000 Aeroplan points and up to 500,000 Aeroplan points per transaction; up to a maximum total of 500,000 Eligible Aeroplan points pear calendar year:

• Bonus Aeroplan points awarded through this Offer do not count toward the transactional limit of Aeroplan points that can be gifted per Aeroplan account;
• Eligible Aeroplan points do count towards the transactional limit of Aeroplan points that can be gifted per Aeroplan account, which is increased from 250,000 Aeroplan points to 500,000 Aeroplan points solely for the purpose of this Offer;
• Bonus Aeroplan points awarded through this Offer do not count towards the calendar year annual limit of Aeroplan points that can be gifted per Aeroplan account;
• Eligible Aeroplan points do count towards the calendar year annual limit of Aeroplan points that can be gifted per Aeroplan account, which is 500,000 Aeroplan points.

6. Purchased and gifted Eligible Aeroplan points and bonus Aeroplan points will generally be posted within 72 hours in a member’s Aeroplan account.

7. This Offer is subject to change at Aeroplan’s sole discretion without notice. This Offer cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion.

8. Aeroplan reserve the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual from this Offer and to ban the individual from any future offers that it finds or believes to be tampering with the process or the operation of this Offer, to be acting in violation of these Terms and Conditions, the Aeroplan General Terms and Conditions or in a disruptive manner, or with bad faith. Any attempt by a member or any other person to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of this Offer is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Aeroplan reserve the right to seek damages from any such person.

9. By entering this Offer, each Eligible Participant acknowledges and agrees that Aeroplan: (i) shall have no liability of any kind whatsoever with respect to this Offer; (ii) make no warranty, guaranty or representation of any kind concerning the award; (iii) disclaim any implied warranty; and (iv) are not liable for injury, loss or damage of any kind resulting from an Eligible Participant’s acceptance or use of the award or otherwise from such Eligible Participant’s participation in this Offer. Aeroplan is not responsible for typographical or other errors in this Offer or administration of this Offer, including, but not limited to, errors in advertising and in the official Terms and Conditions. Aeroplan is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems or servers, computer software problems or traffic congestion on the internet.

10. If this Offer is not capable of running as planned for any reason, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, pandemic or any other causes beyond the reasonable control of Aeroplan which corrupt or affect the administration, security or proper conduct of this Offer, Aeroplan reserves the right at its sole discretion to, without advance notice, terminate or suspend the Offer, in whole or in part, or modify it in any way.

11. This Offer is governed by all applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws and regulations applicable in the province of Quebec.

12. In the event of any discrepancies between the English language Terms and Conditions and the French language Terms and Conditions for this Offer, the English version shall prevail.

13. The following applies to this Offer, but in the event of conflict, these Terms and Conditions shall govern:
•Aeroplan Buy & Gift Points Program General Information and Terms and Conditions
•Aeroplan’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy :

 

[Gold Member]

Thanks.

I’m really wondering what to do with all my ‘excess’ VA SCs and points… wanting to maximise their value!

QR And Avios.

QR Long haul redemptions are worthwhile, whereas BA are good for short haul. Relatively easy to accumulate with annual Economist subscriptions (which you can leverage across household 8x members) and also redeem very small amounts with P+C options.

 

[jase05]

Thanks kangarooflyer!

While OT to this thread, I’ll have a ‘spare’ 2000 VA status credits that maybe should be put to ‘use’ somewhere else?

I’m going to start sending mine over to VS
Very easy to reach Gold and you get all the VS partner benefits plus SkyTeam benefits.
Some great availability for award flights too

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I’m going to start sending mine over to VS
Very easy to reach Gold and you get all the VS partner benefits plus SkyTeam benefits.
Some great availability for award flights too

So am I right that we don't need to fly on VS metal to get status?

 

[jase05]

So am I right that we don't need to fly on VS metal to get status?

Correct. No VS metal required at all.
VA flights earn 25 TP’s in J per sector so 40 sectors and you are VS Gold if you were to just fly with VA. As well as SkyTeam they have some other decent partners such as SQ, NH, NZ amongst others. I’m going to give them a go and see how it pans out

 

[ThePointyEnd]

Well, I wish I was clever like you, Brian. I've joined Aeroplan, bought $10k worth of points and added another 11k points from a Thai flight. Now I go to look at what I can book. First I looked at SYD-BKK, out on a Monday back on a Friday. No business seats for the next 12 months. Correction, nothing on Thai or Sing Air, but a 35h flight via Delhi on Air India was bookable, although who would? Looked at SYD-LHR, same story in Business or First on a regular airline. What am I doing wrong?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Well, I wish I was clever like you, Brian. I've joined Aeroplan, bought $10k worth of points and added another 11k points from a Thai flight. Now I go to look at what I can book. First I looked at SYD-BKK, out on a Monday back on a Friday. No business seats for the next 12 months. Correction, nothing on Thai or Sing Air, but a 35h flight via Delhi on Air India was bookable, although who would? Looked at SYD-LHR, same story in Business or First on a regular airline. What am I doing wrong?

Dunno… this weekend just past I booked two pax MEL-LHR on SQ J for travel in Feb. 777 connecting to a380.

Lots of other combinations to europe, although some with stops in both singapore and middle East.

Coming home via AUH.

Some cities have much better availability than others. (Sydney was not great!!!)

Emirates is also wide open, but with a surcharge over other airlines.

 

[luxury-lizard]

I'm surprised @ThePointyEnd - SYD-SIN-xx_ in Aisia seems to have pretty good availability - I recently booked SYD-SIN-DPS for mid-Sept in J for 45K pp. I also picked a 'random' mid-week date in Sept and SYD-SIN-BKK had at least 3 options in J.

I've noticed that SQ flights to/from Europe, if available in J, only offer ones with long connections in SIN.

Awards on EY are a bit sparse but still there. As @MEL_Traveller stated EK is pretty available but the additional points required make it a non-starter for me - cheaper to book paid fares.

Finally - using AC awards to travel to North America is pretty hopeless with the overall lack of saver awards on AC and other *A airlines.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm surprised @ThePointyEnd - SYD-SIN-xx_ in Aisia seems to have pretty good availability - I recently booked SYD-SIN-DPS for mid-Sept in J for 45K pp. I also picked a 'random' mid-week date in Sept and SYD-SIN-BKK had at least 3 options in J.

I've noticed that SQ flights to/from Europe, if available in J, only offer ones with long connections in SIN.

Awards on EY are a bit sparse but still there. As @MEL_Traveller stated EK is pretty available but the additional points required make it a non-starter for me - cheaper to book paid fares.

Finally - using AC awards to travel to North America is pretty hopeless with the overall lack of saver awards on AC and other *A airlines.

I was pretty lucky, managed to get a two hour connection in SIN, but noticed as you did that there are plenty more options with 6, 8 or 12 hour options. Not the end of the world for Singapore shopping and eating!

 

[levelnine]

First I looked at SYD-BKK, out on a Monday back on a Friday.

A decent amount of close-in availability on MEL-BKK at the moment:
Even more on the return leg:

 

[ThePointyEnd]

Dunno… this weekend just past I booked two pax MEL-LHR on SQ J for travel in Feb. 777 connecting to a380.

Lots of other combinations to europe, although some with stops in both singapore and middle East.

Coming home via AUH.

Some cities have much better availability than others. (Sydney was not great!!!)

Emirates is also wide open, but with a surcharge over other airlines.

That's very interesting; so did LHR-AUH-MEL come up as an option in an Aeroplan search? Or did you have to somehow prompt the system to look at that option?

 

[ThePointyEnd]

A decent amount of close-in availability on MEL-BKK at the moment:View attachment 324502
Even more on the return leg:
View attachment 324505

But that's unbelievable! As I said, I got nothing in Business for the whole next 12 months for SYD-BKK. I will try again......

 

[MEL_Traveller]

That's very interesting; so did LHR-AUH-MEL come up as an option in an Aeroplan search? Or did you have to somehow prompt the system to look at that option?

I happen to be flying via the middle east for a stopover, so I searched Europe to the stopover point (heaps of options on Egyptair, LOT, Turkish, TAP, Lufthansa), then from stopover to MEL.. and the flight via AUH came up, albeit with an overnight stopover in AUH. It seems fairly common that EY wants you to break the journey in AUH, but i’ve had connections straight through right out of London (which I did late last year).