how aeroplan works

I’ve been bitten by the wanderlust bug. In the past few months, I have travelled more than I ever have in my entire life! Once you begin to travel frequently, you’ll never want to stop.

When I’m not travelling, I’m dreaming of the next destination. Where to go next? There are too many places to discover, cultures to experience and foods to savour.

Now that my kids are older and they’re remembering experiences, I want to travel as much as I can with them. Before they eventually fly away from the nest, making memories with my family is more important now than ever.

That’s why Aeroplan is a fantastic way to collect Aeroplan miles for travel. Aeroplan is free to join and enables you to collect Aeroplan miles. How can you earn Aeroplan miles? If you’re unfamiliar with how Aeroplan works, here’s a quick and easy guide to Aeroplan.

What is Aeroplan?

Aeroplan is the most popular airline rewards loyalty program in Canada. With 5 million members, its growing network has over 75 world-class partners, representing more than 150 brands in the financial, retail, and travel sectors.

Owned by Aimia Inc., a global leader in loyalty management, 2.7 million rewards were issued to members last year including 1.9 million flights on Air Canada and Star Alliance carriers.

How do you earn Aeroplan Miles?

You can earn Aeroplan miles on eligible Air Canada, Air Canada Express, Air Canada rouge or other Star Alliance member airline flights; as well as accommodations and car rentals through their partners including Avis, Starwood, Fairmont and Best Western. So the more you travel, the more Aeroplan miles you can earn to use on your next trip – win win.

Yet another way to earn more miles is with one of Aeroplan’s credit card partners – TD, CIBC and American Express allows members to earn miles twice if they pay with one of their Aeroplan affiliated financial cards. So you can earn miles even faster… and be even closer to your next family vacation.

But you can also earn Aeroplan miles with its portfolio of retail and service providers including Direct Energy, Esso, Home Hardware, Costco, SHOP.CA, and more. Think how many times you fill up your gas tank, or how much you spend at Costco online… knowing that you’re receiving an extra benefit by earning miles for your next family vacation, is a wonderful incentive.

How do you use Aeroplan Miles?

You can redeem your Aeroplan Miles with Air Canada, Air Canada Express, Air Canada rouge or other Star Alliance airline partners. The points required to redeem an air ticket depends on the category, and class of fare. A round trip economy class ticket on Classic Flight within North America cost 15,000 for short haul flights and 25,000 for long-haul.

If your main purpose of collecting and redeeming Aeroplan miles is for travel, you’ll be able to redeem for flights, hotel awards such as accommodation, car rentals, and a wide range of merchandise and activities.

In addition to flights and vacation packages, members also have access to over 1,000 exciting specialty, merchandise, hotel, car rental and experiential rewards. As you’re already spending on the inevitable expenses, it’s nice to know that you’re also gaining something back that you can use later – great bonus for the entire family.

But Aeroplan is not just for travel – you can also redeem your Aeroplan miles on a bunch of family-friendly products and activities including parks and attractions, such as City Passes and Disney Park admissions, and thrills and adventures such as indoor skydiving and rock climbing. Rather than an adventure, you’ll also find electronics such as iPads and cell phones (not until my kids are 13!), toys, gift cards, and more.

For more information on Aeroplan, visit Aeroplan.com or here for a quick reference sheet. Stay tuned on more Aeroplan updates in the coming months!