Can Australians join Air Canada's Aeroplan FFP?

[Jimbo B]

Hey everyone,

I'm flying in and around Canada over a 6 week period from mid-December until the end of January 2017. One of these flights will be a Air Canada flight from LAs Begas to Toronto and I was hoping to make the most of it by accruing some mileage points. I am currently not affiliated with any Star Alliance FFP and did attempt to join Aeroplan recently with no luck.
The website kept stopping me due my country of origin (Australia) not having any state/province/territory options available. Are we Aussies able to join this program? Or is it a lost cause?

If so, what other options do I have in making sure I maximise the benefits of flying all of these miles?

Cheers, Jimbo B

 

[waldo61]

Have you thought about joining Singapore Airlines and crediting Air Canada flights to KrisFlyer? Apart from having the option of using the points on Star Alliance airlines, you can transfer KrisFlyer points to Velocity.

 

[Mattg]

I am a member of Aeroplan (but don't have any miles with them). I don't recall having any problems signing up, but I do notice that the "state/province" section on my profile has been left blank.

As waldo61 has advised, I do suggest you credit them to another Star Alliance program instead (such as Singapore KrisFlyer, or perhaps United). Aeroplan miles are not that valuable at the best of times, and I doubt you'd get much benefit by crediting just one or a few flights on Air Canada to Aeroplan.

 

[RooFlyer]

As a long time Aeroplan member (Australian resident ... don't recall any issues but it was a long time ago), I agree with the others - join a different Star Alliance FF program!

Aeroplan is essentially a general points scheme: hotels, cars, shopping. It got so bad that Air Canada introduced 'Altitude' a few years ago to re-inforce some of the flying benefits.

If you are going to fly on AC a lot (say, 50,000 km pa or more, as I used to) then yes, join Aeroplan. Status on AC does have benefits when you fly >50K km, or better, >75K km pa. But otherwise, its a waste of space.

I'd suggest SQ's Krisflyer, as its points are interchangeable with Virgin's Velocity.

 

[baggyred]

I recently joined and hit the same hurdle

The issue comes when you try and put in your location and postcode and search - the postcode disappears and all of a sudden you get an error

Try using your exact suburb instead of a city along with associated postcode and do the search - you may find it sticks

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Aeroplan is a great example of a really poor frequent flyer program due to being completely spun from the parent airline.

 

[j30max]

Agree with MattG, fly AC and credit to another *A partner, I used to credit to Aegean before they placed the segment restrictions.

 

[RooFlyer]

... unless you fly AC a lot within/to/from Canada. Their high status levels are worth having under those circumstances. But otherwise it is a PITA scheme.

 

[j30max]

agree, but *A gold passengers get mostly the same benefits as Altitude status:

https://altitude.aircanada.com/status/program-privileges

 

[RooFlyer]

Not sure I'd agree with that. Many, such as lounge access, priority boarding etc are shared with *A elites, but many are AC scheme (Aeroplan+Altitude) only.

'e-upgrade certificates' were the best benefit for me - you were almost guaranteed an upgrade on any route at the time of booking if you had 75K or 100K status (the upgrade window opened earlier than for anyone else and AC elites got plenty of 'em)

Concierge service for 100K members was a great benefit and I don't think available to *A elites.

The 'select privileges' were also good - allowed you to tailor your perks to your own preferences.

But I'll only defend the scheme to a point!!

 

[clazman]

Another downside is they charge to transfer points between members.... i dont have enough to do anything, but combined with the wife, we can do something

 

[get me outta here]

How do you actually credit Air Canada's points to SQ - what is the actual thing I need to do - something at check in?

 

[kyanar]

How do you actually credit Air Canada's points to SQ - what is the actual thing I need to do - something at check in?

Just insert your KrisFlyer number into your booking. You may have to call their contact centre, or a check-in agent if you haven't already done it. If it's business, just ask a lounge agent.

 

[NZflygirl]

How do you actually credit Air Canada's points to SQ - what is the actual thing I need to do - something at check in?

Sign up with SQ to get a FF # then at check-in show that number to AC and tell them to credit to SQ. MAKE SURE THE SQ NUMBER IS IN THE FQTV FIELD on the BP or the flights won't accrue there. And don't fall for the "oh it's in the system" line if you see an AC number next to FQTV.

If for some reason the flights don't post then you can't really send a boarding pass to SQ with an AC# on it asking for credit. So you need the SQ # in. Some airline websites let you enter a partner FF# in the system which is handy so look for that then just check the BP when you receive it at check-in.

 

[burmans]

Just insert your KrisFlyer number into your booking. You may have to call their contact centre, or a check-in agent if you haven't already done it. If it's business, just ask a lounge agent.

Pretty sure I managed to do this online with an AC flight.

 

[get me outta here]

Great tips thanks very much. Will insert my Krisflyer number into the bkg. A cruise line is making the bkgs on my behalf so I'll see what I can see.

Just insert your KrisFlyer number into your booking. You may have to call their contact centre, or a check-in agent if you haven't already done it. If it's business, just ask a lounge agent.

Pretty sure I managed to do this online with an AC flight.

Sign up with SQ to get a FF # then at check-in show that number to AC and tell them to credit to SQ. MAKE SURE THE SQ NUMBER IS IN THE FQTV FIELD on the BP or the flights won't accrue there. And don't fall for the "oh it's in the system" line if you see an AC number next to FQTV.

If for some reason the flights don't post then you can't really send a boarding pass to SQ with an AC# on it asking for credit. So you need the SQ # in. Some airline websites let you enter a partner FF# in the system which is handy so look for that then just check the BP when you receive it at check-in.

 

[j30max]

now with the news that AC is parting with Aeroplan and forming its own FF programme, any thoughts on what can be improved compared to aeroplan?

 

[RooFlyer]

Customer service was one of the main complaints. With Aeroplan you took your chances and a loooong time on the phone behind everyone else complaining about their rental car points, redeeming toasters from their shopping points etc etc. Agents were pretty ignorant if you asked them about details of Air Canada redemptions - we know that even dedicated Airline agents often don't get it right.

Integrating airline miles earned with the upgrade and status aspects of the program is another thing that should be improved with Air Canada running the whole show.