How to Book Amazing Trips on Aeroplan - A Guide
“The Point - Aeroplan has a bad reputation for high taxes, but if you understand the Aeroplan rules, you’re able to get an outstanding value on flights using your Aeroplan points.”
Update - As of November 2020, this article is no longer accurate as Aeroplan has migrated over to a new system. To see more about the devaluation, read this article, and to get an understanding of Aeroplan, read this article.
Updated October 25, 2020 - I’ve updated this article just before the transition to the new Aeroplan. I will be publishing articles on the new Aeroplan this week, for now, books some gems while you can!
Everyone keeps asking me how I managed to book the trip around the world for my parents. People complain that Aeroplan is expensive and it’s awful value, that’s true if you’re looking to book a trip to the Dominican Republic for March Break (Which is why I used United Mileage Plus), but if you get a bit creative you can find a lot of value with Aeroplan redemptions. For instance, the trip that I booked for my parents earned me about 16 cents per point used!
The Rules for Fixed Point Redemptions
These are the rules for fixed point redemptions, the ones that allow you to fly from Canada to Europe in economy for 60K points and anywhere in North America for 25K points. The full chart is on their website, but for those of you who are based in North America this is the chart you should be looking at.
North American Aeroplan Redemption Chart (Aeroplan.com)
Using this chart you can book a flight incorporating the following rules.
26. Stopovers are not permitted on one-way flight rewards.
27. Stopovers and/or open jaws are not permitted on flight rewards with Calm Air.
28. On roundtrip rewards, stopovers are permitted as follows:
28.1. Travel within Canada or between Canada and the Continental USA (not including Hawaii/Puerto Rico): One stopover permitted in addition to the point of turnaround. One open jaw is permitted in lieu of the one stopover.
28.2. Between Canada/Cont. USA and Hawaii/Puerto Rico/Mexico/Central America/Caribbean:
28.2.1. Rule for rewards containing only Air Canada flight: Two stopovers are permitted in addition to the point of turnaround. One open jaw is permitted in lieu of one stopover.
28.2.2. Rule for rewards containing a minimum of one flight on a Star Alliance partner other than Air Canada: One stopover is permitted in addition to the point of turnaround. One open jaw is permitted in addition to the one stopover.
28.3. Intercontinental travel (travel between two continents): Two stopovers permitted in addition to the point of turnaround. One open jaw is permitted in lieu of one of the two stopovers.
28.4. Intracontinental travel (travel within the same continent) except for travel within Canada/Continental USA, or between Canada/Cont. USA and Hawaii/Puerto Rico/Mexico/Central America/Caribbean: Stopovers are not permitted. One open jaw is permitted.”
But, what do these Aeroplan rules actually mean? I’m here to help!
Aeroplan Glossary
Destination - This is the farthest point from your origin (where you started) that you spend more than 24 hours on the ground.
Stopover - A point between your origin and destination that you spend more than 24 hours.
Open Jaw - When you fly to a destination, travel via another method other than flight, and you fly from another airport. For example, if you fly from Montreal to Los Angeles, rent a car and drive to San Francisco, then fly home from San Francisco, this is an open jaw.
Layover - A connection of less than 24 hours between your origin and destination.
MPM - Maximum Permitted Mileage - This is the maximum distance you are allowed to fly to go from Point A to Point B via Aeroplan, Ricky, over at the Prince of Travel, did a fantastic article on how to find the MPM. If you’re stuck I’m happy to help you in the comments.
So what do they mean?
When booking a one way flight, you’re only allowed to fly to the destination, without a stopover. Straight forward and simple.
When travelling within North America you are allowed one stopover in addition to your destination or one open jaw in addition to your destination. For example, you could fly from Toronto to Vancouver, stop there, then fly to Calgary, stop there, then continue how to Montreal.
Toronto to Vancouver to Calgary for 25K Aeroplan
This two stop flight is only 25K points and ~$190 and it’s easy to book online using the Multi-City tool.
25K Aeroplan Miles and ~$190
You could also fly to Vancouver, rent a car and travel through Banff and Jasper then catch a flight back to Toronto from Edmonton.
3. If you are flying from North America to Central America, Mexico or Hawaii there are similar rules - you are allowed one stopover in addition to your destination or one open jaw in addition to your destination.
For example, you can fly from Vancouver to LA, stop in LA and then fly to Cancun as your destination, then fly back to Vancouver.
Vancouver to Los Angeles and Cancun for 40K Aeroplan
Or you could fly from Montreal to Houston, stop for a few days, maybe catch an NFL game, then continue on to Liberia, Costa Rica (Stay at the JW Marriott!) for a few days, then head home.
Montreal to Houston to Costa Rica
This would cost 40K points and about $300. This is also easy to book on the Aeroplan website using the Multi-City tool.
4. If you are flying from North America on a flight heading outside of North America, you are allowed two stopovers in addition to your destination. Note - anything over one stopover you will have to book over the phone (Aeroplan Booking Number - 1-800-361-5373).
For example, you can fly from Montreal to Zurich (stopover) , Zurich to Dubrovnik as your destination, and then fly from Dubrovnik to Lisbon (stopover) and then Lisbon to Montreal.
A lovely 3 city European Vacation for 60K points in Economy.
You could also fly Vancouver to Taipei, stopover, fly to Bali (your destination) via Singapore, and then fly back through Hong Kong (stopover) via Bangkok and then fly back to Vancouver.
This is still legal! It only costs 150K Aeroplan and $400 in Business Class (Or 100K Aeroplan in Economy)
Wait, how does this follow the rules?
Well, I’m allowed two stopovers in addition to my destination (As of late 2019, you’re only allowed one stopover in addition to your destination). I booked the flights round trip to Perth with stopovers in Colombo and Johannesburg. My flights to Perth needed to be less than then the MPM of 18,057 miles. On the way to Perth, my flights (YYZ-YUL-ZRH-PEK-DEL-CMB-SIN-PER) amounted to 17,002 miles.
The long way to Perth
And the trip home (PER-JNB-GRU-GIG-PTY-YYZ) was 15,681.
The long way home across the South of the Globe.
Furthermore, when searching for flights you must remember that layovers must be less than 24 hours. As you can see, in this case I have optimized long layovers in Beijing, Delhi, Singapore, Rio De Janeiro and Panama.
Perfectly timed layovers are key!
Finally, the computer system only lets you book 16 flights in total, so even if you fall under the Maximum Permitted Mileage, I was limited to 16 flights.
