Aeroplan (Air Canada) is now selling points

[jase05]

Hi all, I'm checking if it is viable to buy Aeroplan points for redeeming trips to India? I'm planning HBA-BOM Dec 23 - Jan 24 in J (for 2 pax) - preferrably not in Air India. I'm aware it may be difficult due to busy time of the year but seeing if anyone has done it previously.

Some good availability in SQ J around that time of year to/from BOM out of SIN

 

[Ecco]

Does anyone know why sometimes the points purchases get posted immediately and sometimes they say it's going to take 48-72 hours to post the points purchases? I know that sometimes the credit card companies block the transaction initially but I found that one time it went through immediately for a small transaction and then other transactions have been held up?

 

[whdunlop]

Hi all.

Very new to Aeroplan but searches on BNE - YUL in August have minimum 330K per person one way in business. The same article appeared last year and searches returned the same.

Am I searching incorrectly or is the story pre-Covid and now inaccurate?

Thanks

 

[levelnine]

Am I searching incorrectly or is the story pre-Covid and now inaccurate?

You need to find saver award availability, which Air Canada typically only releases at the last minute and only sporadically on high-demand routes such as Australia-Canada.

 

[luxury-lizard]

@whdunlop - you are seeing AC's dynamic pricing on their own planes. You are also a bit late to be searching for August - best to look for more indirect routes and search to YYZ in the first instance as many more carriers have flights to YYZ then add on the flight to YUL after you find availability - also start teaching from SYD then add BNE .... consider flying via Europe, the ME or various Asian ports

 

[whdunlop]

@whdunlop - you are seeing AC's dynamic pricing on their own planes. You are also a bit late to be searching for August - best to look for more indirect routes and search to YYZ in the first instance as many more carriers have flights to YYZ then add on the flight to YUL after you find availability - also start teaching from SYD then add BNE .... consider flying via Europe, the ME or various Asian ports

Many thanks. Got stuffed around with a travel agent (which I generally don't do) and was hoping to do RTW and as we are away for four months, this only became available in the last month or so.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Hi all.

Very new to Aeroplan but searches on BNE - YUL in August have minimum 330K per person one way in business. The same article appeared last year and searches returned the same.

Would you be offended in having to visit Europe for a couple of days before heading to Montreal? The reason I ask is that I find it is sometimes easier to actually fly via Europe (with a short stopover) than it is to fly direct from Australia to North America since there are only two carriers that provide direct service between Australia and North America: Air Canada and United. United very rarely opens up business awards on the lucrative transpacific market whilst Air Canada uses dynamic award pricing which is why you are seeing those eye watering prices.

Here's one example I found where you fly Brisbane to London Heathrow with a 2 day layover before continuing on to Montréal on United/Air Canada, all in business class:


I will point out that yes there is a segment where you must enter the US, but on the other hand, Newark has a Polaris lounge which you will have access to flying United Polaris business class to United (despite you connecting to an Air Canada flight up to Montreal).

Am I searching incorrectly or is the story pre-Covid and now inaccurate?

The best availability was arguably during COVID! I booked Sydney to Saint John for 80,000 points in business class on Air Canada, then booked Toronto to Sydney for 80,000 points in business class, again on Air Canada. Pre-COVID Air Canada didn't use a dynamic award chart for their awards but they severely limited how many seats they made available, consequently it was near impossible to find Australia to Canada on Air Canada. Your best bet with Aeroplan is always with partners, since they provide a better service (i.e. SQ, NH and UA come to mind) and most importantly have that fixed award chart.

-RooFlyer88

 

[whdunlop]

Definietly not offended. As long as I am in BC, I'm happy to fly anywhere. Do you have a "best route" that would suggest? To me the first option would be the best as there is no jumping airports?

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Definietly not offended. As long as I am in BC, I'm happy to fly anywhere. Do you have a "best route" that would suggest? To me the first option would be the best as there is no jumping airports?

So the one thing that Aeroplan offers that few other frequent flyer programs have is a stopover feature, where you can add a stopover en-route for just 5,000 points more. You can't add stopovers in North America, so your best options for adding stopovers would be Europe or Asia. To give you an example of how I solved this "riddle" of getting from Australia to Toronto (and back) with Aeroplan I booked the following:

• Sydney to Toronto with a 2 week stopover in Zurich (I needed to be in Europe for 2 weeks anyway)
• Los Angeles to Sydney with a 3 day stopover in Seoul all in Asiana business class

Your best approach is to try searching piece by piece. First look at flights from Brisbane to major Star Alliance ports of Asia-Pacific like Singapore (for Singapore Air), Tokyo (for ANA), Taipei (for EVA Air), Bangkok (for Thai Airways), Seoul (for Asiana), Auckland (for Air New Zealand) as well as major ports of Europe in general like London Heathrow, Paris, Zurich, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Lisbon. It will take some time to find something that works for you but the good news is the world is your oyster! Use this stopover as an opportunity to explore the world for next to nothing!

-RooFlyer88

 

[whdunlop]

Thanks very much. I think I need to dedicate a weekend and step it all out to find the best and least number of points. Also experiencing a pretty flaky AC site ATM.... I appreciate all the assistance. Thanks again.

 

[GCflyer]

Tried to buy points yesterday using my Citibank C.C and 18 hours later received an email saying purchase could not be completed - unsure why?

Trying to buy points today using my Amex instead and can't even get the 'buy points' page to load on multiple browsers.

Not exactly a great initial experience so far.....

Anyone else having similar issues?

 

[bernardblack]

Thanks very much. I think I need to dedicate a weekend and step it all out to find the best and least number of points. Also experiencing a pretty flaky AC site ATM.... I appreciate all the assistance. Thanks again.

The above recommending things like [Aust > Europe] and [Europe > North America] separately (or as a long-way-round itinerary with a stopover in Europe) are all good ideas. One possible additional recommendation I would make is:

Unless you particularly want to depart transAtlantic from London, you'll save hundreds of dollars per person in taxes by starting anywhere else but the UK. DUB/AMS/ZRH have really cheap departure taxes, and even CDG/FRA are still hundreds cheaper than LHR. You can even arrive into LHR, then fly/train to somewhere else in Europe during your stopover, then fly to North America. It's the departure taxes that are the killer.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Unless you particularly want to depart transAtlantic from London, you'll save hundreds of dollars per person in taxes by starting anywhere else but the UK. DUB/AMS/ZRH have really cheap departure taxes, and even CDG/FRA are still hundreds cheaper than LHR. You can even arrive into LHR, then fly/train to somewhere else in Europe during your stopover, then fly to North America. It's the departure taxes that are the killer.

In the case of Aeroplan you can't do an open jaw (i.e. arrive in Heathrow then depart out of Paris) without those legs pricing out separately as a multi-city. That being said, you are right in saying that if you were to elect the stopover to be anywhere outside of the UK such as Zurich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, Frankfurt, etc. you'll save hundreds in APD since it appears Aeroplan doesn't eat those costs like other airlines do. All of that said, it could also very well be the case that the only fare business award into Europe is the UK, in which case spending those couple of hundred dollars to potentially save many tens of thousands of points can be worthwhile. The other thing to consider is also the itinerary: if you get to fly Singapore all the way over to London with a short stop in Singapore, for some that could be worthwhile, particularly if there are no comparable options to Europe available on the days you want to travel. I should also point out too that Heathrow is a really nice airport - in Terminal 2 (Queen's terminal where Star Alliance partners depart) there are 4 lounges you have access to flying business: Lufthansa, Air Canada, Singapore and United lounges. In addition, as an arrival into Heathrow you can also access the excellent arrivals lounge.

-RooFlyer88

 

[luxury-lizard]

Just another hint when trying for a stopover in Europe - FRA is a good stopover for several *A airlines (SQ, LH, TP, TG, EY, EK, etc) so there are quite a few options. Personally I don't like the airport (often overcrowded with long lines for security) but since I am usually spending time in Germany it's sort of my 'go to' airport.

 

[Easy Tiger]

@kangarooflyer88 @MEL_Traveller @Mattg @luxury-lizard @everyone else on this thread.... ive been stalking this page since the 100% bonus deal dropped and just wanted to say a massive thanks!

Thanks for all of the great information, insight, questions, answers (and above all patience) that is provided here....out of sheer frustration with Q (1M-ish points that are kinda just paperweights right now, hoping for better times ahead)....I have now become a member of both United and AeroPlan, bought points at great value and booked flights from Europe to Melbourne (thanks so much for the 'forced' layover tip - worked a treat and we would never have gone to HCMC but now very keen to do that for 2 days!!) with a minimum amount of fuss...who would have thought it could be so easy....??? Take note Aussie providers! Granted had to spend a few bucks but hey....still ~40% cheaper ++ and more than paying outright cash for the times and flights that you want on dates that you need for 4pax. So good. Thanks again.

 

[Mattg]

FWIW, I'm told that Aeroplan points more or less credit to your account instantly after purchasing, assuming all goes well with the transaction.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Thanks for all of the great information, insight, questions, answers (and above all patience) that is provided here....out of sheer frustration with Q (1M-ish points that are kinda just paperweights right now, hoping for better times ahead)....I have now become a member of both United and AeroPlan, bought points at great value and booked flights from Europe to Melbourne (thanks so much for the 'forced' layover tip - worked a treat and we would never have gone to HCMC but now very keen to do that for 2 days!!) with a minimum amount of fuss...who would have thought it could be so easy....??? Take note Aussie providers! Granted had to spend a few bucks but hey....still ~40% cheaper ++ and more than paying outright cash for the times and flights that you want on dates that you need for 4pax. So good. Thanks again.

Great to hear we provided some value here, although I will point out that contrary to popular opinion, QF points aren't worthless. The key thing about them though is you need to get even more creative to make availability "appear". Whereas with Aeroplan sometimes you need take circuitous routings (i.e. stopping over in Europe) with QF you need to go even further, booking multi-city awards involving one or more of QF's mistresses (i.e. CI) to make something "appear". All of that said, yes, buying points can be an exceptional value particularly if you have an itinerary in mind with business saver availability!

Just another hint when trying for a stopover in Europe - FRA is a good stopover for several *A airlines (SQ, LH, TP, TG, EY, EK, etc) so there are quite a few options. Personally I don't like the airport (often overcrowded with long lines for security) but since I am usually spending time in Germany it's sort of my 'go to' airport.

With Frankfurt, there is a Gold track line if you're in business class that lets you skip the queues. That being said, yes the airport is annoying, it's a cavernous maze that requires it's own map. I can't tell you the number of times I've been questioned by German Federal police for going down random hallways that are supposed to connect me to other non-Schengen terminals. For a capital city airport and for the largest airport in Germany, yes it is a disgrace. This is why I prefer flying into a city like Zurich where the airport is compact, the lounges are nice (including a terrace) and the airport is clean. Zurich also has the benefit of being the hub for Swiss with fellow Star Alliance partners like TAP, SAS and SQ flying into there, to say nothing of EK or EY. Even Heathrow with its stupid APD has redeeming qualities like the lounges and relatively straight forward connection process.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Easy Tiger]

Great to hear we provided some value here, although I will point out that contrary to popular opinion, QF points aren't worthless. The key thing about them though is you need to get even more creative to make availability "appear". Whereas with Aeroplan sometimes you need take circuitous routings (i.e. stopping over in Europe) with QF you need to go even further, booking multi-city awards involving one or more of QF's mistresses (i.e. CI) to make something "appear". All of that said, yes, buying points can be an exceptional value particularly if you have an itinerary in mind with business saver availability!


With Frankfurt, there is a Gold track line if you're in business class that lets you skip the queues. That being said, yes the airport is annoying, it's a cavernous maze that requires it's own map. I can't tell you the number of times I've been questioned by German Federal police for going down random hallways that are supposed to connect me to other non-Schengen terminals. For a capital city airport and for the largest airport in Germany, yes it is a disgrace. This is why I prefer flying into a city like Zurich where the airport is compact, the lounges are nice (including a terrace) and the airport is clean. Zurich also has the benefit of being the hub for Swiss with fellow Star Alliance partners like TAP, SAS and SQ flying into there, to say nothing of EK or EY. Even Heathrow with its stupid APD has redeeming qualities like the lounges and relatively straight forward connection process.

-RooFlyer88

Yep I do agree, Q are not value-less, just need things to re-right themselves over the next 12-24months, so we can get a crack at using them. Interested to know more about the mistress CI and any others? That is, who is CI?

 

[Easy Tiger]

FWIW, I'm told that Aeroplan points more or less credit to your account instantly after purchasing, assuming all goes well with the transaction.

Agreed, I think it took about 2 hours for us.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Yep I do agree, Q are not value-less, just need things to re-right themselves over the next 12-24months, so we can get a crack at using them.

The big issue QF has is they don't have the same strong route network that Star Alliance has and when combined with the many mistresses Aeroplan has like Emirates and Etihad, makes the value proposition quite good!

Interested to know more about the mistress CI and any others? That is, who is CI?

China Airlines. There are a number of classic reward partners QF has which aren't the usual suspects (i.e. aren't part of OneWorld) such as KLM, Air France, China Airlines and El Al to name but a few (more discussion on that here).