There are a lot of things to love about Aeroplan, Air Canada’s frequent flyer program, which I think is the best program in North America. I love, for example, that Aeroplan has the most partners of any frequent flyer program. In addition to Star Alliance partners, Aeroplan has numerous non-alliance partners, giving you access to airlines with stellar premium cabins such as Emirates and Etihad, and the ability the reach remote corners of the world from Iqaluit to Mauritius on award tickets. I also love the fact that you can add stopovers to award itineraries for only 5,000 points. Using this benefit and differential pricing for different regions, you can take advantage of quirks such as saving 17,500 points if you are going to India but end your trip in Southeast Asia. The Points Guy shows you how.
Aeroplan Delivers a Happy Surprise
A few days ago, the blogger world was abuzz with the news that Aeroplan now has access to Singapore Airlines long-haul business class inventory, a surprising development given that Singapore Airlines historically reserves such inventory for its own KrisFlyer members. One Mile at a Time first broke this news. You can generally access an abundance of business class awards on Singapore’s regional flights on Aeroplan, but its superb long-haul product is generally not released to partner airlines.
How did Aeroplan make this happen? I don’t know, but it is said that Aeroplan is run by true avgeeks who want to create a great program for fellow avgeeks. Kudos to the Aeroplan team for this coup.
Cheaper Singapore Air Redemptions are now Possible!
If you are using a transferrable mileage currency in the U.S. such as American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, or Capital One Miles – all of which transfer to both KrisFlyer and Aeroplan – you should transfer your points to Aeroplan to book long-haul business class awards on Singapore Air once you have confirmed award availability. Doing so can save you a healthy amount of points, representing a great arbitrage opportunity with your flexible mileage currency. Let’s break down the potential savings.
Based on KrisFlyer’s award chart, flying from North America to Southeast Asia would depend on whether you are departing from the west coast or east coast/Houston. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver to Singapore would set you back 107K KrisFlyer miles at the saver rate; it costs the same number of miles to connect to other Southeast Asian destinations. Flying from Houston, JFK and Newark to Singapore/Southeast Asia would cost you slightly more at 111.5K miles.
Based on Aeroplan’s partner airline pricing for the region (Pacific) and distance band that Singapore is in, it would cost only 87.5K Aeroplan points to get to Singapore from any departure point in North America. A further point beyond Singapore that still falls within the same distance band of 11,000 miles from your origin costs the same amount of Aeroplan points. So if I were departing from my hometown of Vancouver, for instance, given that Singapore is 7,960 miles from Vancouver, connecting beyond to say Manila, Bali, or even Perth would still cost me 87.5K points on Aeroplan, since adding the incremental distance to these points does not exceed 11,000 miles. I could add a stopover in Singapore to see my mom for only an additional 5,000 points.
How to Earn Aeroplan Points
Aeroplan points are now among the easiest currencies in North America to come by. If you want to earn them through credit card bonuses and spending, the opportunities are more abundant in the U.S. than Canada, as Aeroplan is a transfer partner of the Chase, Capital One, and American Express reward programs, as well as having its own co-branded card in the U.S. issued by Chase Bank. In Canada, Aeroplan is a transfer partner of American Express and has co-branded cards with Amex, TD Canada Trust and CIBC, but the bonuses and category multipliers are generally smaller for the lower-end consumer and business cards. Of course, if you are dual citizen or a Canadian with a U.S. social security number, your earning opportunities are maximized given your access to both Canadian and American credit card products.
Conclusion
I consider Aeroplan to be the best frequent flyer program in North America because of its tremendous value, great connectivity, and relative ease of acquiring Aeroplan points. Recently, Aeroplan has increased its value by allowing its members to access long-haul Singapore Airlines business class awards at very reasonable redemption rates, where such awards were previously limited only to members of Singapore’s KrisFlyer program. Assuming you are transferring from a flexible mileage currency, once you have confirmed award availability, transfer your points to Aeroplan to redeem long-haul travel in Singapore’s exceptional business class cabin at a significant discount over Krisflyer.
