Aeroplan Devaluation - June 2026

[WilsonM]

I'm looking at using up my points pre-devaluation. To get to my destination (Europe), it looks like the majority of options are either through the Middle East. Would AFF readers deem this as ill-advisable due to the current situation? I was really keen on trying airlines like WY or GF as I've not been on them before but I am a bit concerned about cancellations and insurance not covering due to knowledge of the current situation.

Also, a lot of the transit times seem to be as short as 90 minutes - this seems too short for my liking. Has anyone had any experience with transiting through MCT or BAH?

It would've been great to flown with MK but they want many more points for that route (Which is unfortunate).

Admin, if there's a more appropriate thread for this post, feel free to shift it.

If the country you're transiting through is marked as "Do Not Travel" by Smarttraveller, it means your travel insurance won't cover those flights or anything that happens in those locations (the rest of the trip should still be covered though).

Personally, I would be okay taking the (what I consider small) risk, but obviously my circumstances are different to yours/everyone elses - I guess if you were to be delayed, how much would that impact everything?

You may want to check out this article on Point Hacks for inspiration with Aeroplan to Europe while avoiding the Middle East: One last hurrah: my Aeroplan Europe and Asia redemptions before the changes (full disclosure, I helped with this article, I work for them etc etc). Also, there was an option we found for PER-BKK-IST two days prior to the one Brandon eventually booked on TG, all in J (it just didn't work with timing) - maybe look for BKK-IST as well. The pricing, as @MEL_Traveller said, should be 110/115k still though.

Just watch out for the WY service ex SIN on a 737 (KUL, CGK and BKK all served by the 789).

Note that WY to KUL has a 737 operating some services, and BKK has a few 737 services till the end of this month before being upgauged.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

We were apparently quite lucky with our MK flights as they were both on time. Unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be the case for many other travellers Lots of instances of delays and cancellations, and it looks like very little help from MK during IRROPS. Overall MK is fairly average and I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly them. The crew are lovely, but that’s about it. Food, seats, IFE… all fairly basic. (BTW… best option for the lond day transit in Mauritius would be to hire a car (fairly cheap), do a bit of touring, then go to one of the 5-star hotels offering a day pass to have lunch and sit by the beach for the afternoon.)

Surprised the TK flights came up in those searches! I didn’t think TK was actually releasing seats ATM.

 

[flyguy77]

We were apparently quite lucky with our MK flights as they were both on time. Unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be the case for many other travellers Lots of instances of delays and cancellations, and it looks like very little help from MK during IRROPS. Overall MK is fairly average and I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly them. The crew are lovely, but that’s about it. Food, seats, IFE… all fairly basic. (BTW… best option for the lond day transit in Mauritius would be to hire a car (fairly cheap), do a bit of touring, then go to one of the 5-star hotels offering a day pass to have lunch and sit by the beach for the afternoon.)

Surprised the TK flights came up in those searches! I didn’t think TK was actually releasing seats ATM.

Agreed. They are readily available like Air India because they are sub-par.

It would be Thai from BKK to IST not TK.

 

[WilsonM]

We were apparently quite lucky with our MK flights as they were both on time. Unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be the case for many other travellers Lots of instances of delays and cancellations, and it looks like very little help from MK during IRROPS. Overall MK is fairly average and I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly them. The crew are lovely, but that’s about it. Food, seats, IFE… all fairly basic. (BTW… best option for the lond day transit in Mauritius would be to hire a car (fairly cheap), do a bit of touring, then go to one of the 5-star hotels offering a day pass to have lunch and sit by the beach for the afternoon.)

Surprised the TK flights came up in those searches! I didn’t think TK was actually releasing seats ATM.

Yeah, have heard mixed things about MK reliability, but will pass on your recs for a Mauritius transit!

Also apologies, I didn't clarify - @flyguy77 is right, its TG from BKK-IST, not TK. TK is hard to find at the moment, and some of the options that do appear are phantom, which is even more fun...

 

[RooFlyer]

With this week's webinar, based on this topic, is it at the usual time of 20:00 AEST or at 19:00 AEST (which is listed in bold in the article)?

8 pm AEST on my email invite

 

[auriga]

Bought 15 minutes ago. The base points showed up, but not the bonus.

Seems different to previously, where the whole lot showed up pretty much straight away

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Agreed. They are readily available like Air India because they are sub-par.

It would be Thai from BKK to IST not TK.

Surprisingly… Air India availability had dried up. I guess not flying via the ME is seen as the least worse option!

 

[AL10]

Booking a flight now and changing the date post devaluation will result in a new ticket being issued right? (i.e. new points amount)

 

[MG1]

For Australia to Europe MK charges the same as anyone else… 110k straight through or 115k with a stopover. That includes the connecting VA domestic flight to PER.

I would have no hesitation flying through the gulf. MCT and BAH are small(ish) airports. No issues with those sorts of connecting times.

Very easy to cobble together VA (operated by QR) to DOH followed by WY or GF to plenty destinations in Europe… or MS for destinations not served by those two.

Just watch out for the WY service ex SIN on a 737 (KUL, CGK and BKK all served by the 789).

Thank you for your response, @MEL_Traveller. I'll definitely keep an eye out for the 737 so as not to choose that one.

It's good to know that MCT and BAH should be suitable for a short transit.

 

[MG1]

If the country you're transiting through is marked as "Do Not Travel" by Smarttraveller, it means your travel insurance won't cover those flights or anything that happens in those locations (the rest of the trip should still be covered though).

Personally, I would be okay taking the (what I consider small) risk, but obviously my circumstances are different to yours/everyone elses - I guess if you were to be delayed, how much would that impact everything?

You may want to check out this article on Point Hacks for inspiration with Aeroplan to Europe while avoiding the Middle East: One last hurrah: my Aeroplan Europe and Asia redemptions before the changes (full disclosure, I helped with this article, I work for them etc etc). Also, there was an option we found for PER-BKK-IST two days prior to the one Brandon eventually booked on TG, all in J (it just didn't work with timing) - maybe look for BKK-IST as well. The pricing, as @MEL_Traveller said, should be 110/115k still though.


Note that WY to KUL has a 737 operating some services, and BKK has a few 737 services till the end of this month before being upgauged.

@WilsonM: thank you for your reply. I had a look at the Smart Traveller website a few hours ago and basically the whole of the Middle East is marked as do not travel (DNT) (apart from Saudia Arabia, Oman, and Jordan (which were one rung below)).

If something were to go wrong in a DNT region - I'm guessing that means that I'm on my own and I can't ask for compensation from an insurance company? Could I be blacklisted for travelling to a DNT country in the sense of this affecting future travel and potentially entry into other countries?

Thank you also for the link and the expanded list of 737 services to look out for (to avoid).

We were apparently quite lucky with our MK flights as they were both on time. Unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be the case for many other travellers Lots of instances of delays and cancellations, and it looks like very little help from MK during IRROPS. Overall MK is fairly average and I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly them. The crew are lovely, but that’s about it. Food, seats, IFE… all fairly basic. (BTW… best option for the lond day transit in Mauritius would be to hire a car (fairly cheap), do a bit of touring, then go to one of the 5-star hotels offering a day pass to have lunch and sit by the beach for the afternoon.)

Surprised the TK flights came up in those searches! I didn’t think TK was actually releasing seats ATM.

Good to know about MK. Thanks @MEL_Traveller.

 

[MG1]

8 pm AEST on my email invite

Thank you for the confirmation, @RooFlyer.