This post is part of our new series about the Aeroplan program: the new Aeroplan sweet spots.
Find in the summary of the series how you can find Aeroplan sweet spots by yourself.
Let’s try to find the new Aeroplan sweet spots from Montreal-Trudeau Airport (YUL) .
The “North America” travel zone extends from Alaska to Panama (included).
This includes Canada and the United States, but also all of Central America, the Caribbean, or Hawaii.
Here is Aeroplan’s chart for travel within North America Zone:
If you are travelling from another airport, you will have to add the distance travelled between your airport and Montreal-Trudeau. This could make you bust some thresholds in some situations:
Flights covering this distance were historically in the short-haul category.
See for example the main non-stop destinations from/to Montreal with a distance between 0-500 miles:
These flights are usually costly in cash because they connect large cities like Toronto, New York, Boston, Washington. Here, you’ll be able to book flights between 6,000 and 10,000 Aeroplan points from Montreal for non-stop flights.
In the past, it was 7,500 Aeroplan Miles (with a Carrier surcharge added on top). And now, every Air Canada seats will be available: it means that redeeming your Aeroplan points for short-haul flights could get you a great value. It is therefore a sweet spot .
See for example the main non stop destinations from/to Montreal with a distance between 501-1,500 miles:
For this area, the real sweet spot will be the Bahamas with non-stop flights to Nassau and San Salvador. You can get flight rewards between 10,000 and 15,000 Aeroplan points from Montreal for non-stop flights.
For the rest, we are more or less at the level of the old chart (with, however, the loss of the short-haul flight pricing for destinations like Halifax or the Magdalen Islands).
This new Aeroplan pricing opens the door to many opportunities. For example, flights to the Caribbean or Central America (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Bahamas, Cuba, Costa Rica, etc.) cost between 12,500 and 17,500 Aeroplan points one-way.
See for example the main non-stop destinations from/to Montreal with a distance between 1,501-2,750 miles:
Most of these destinations offer fewer opportunities for all-inclusive stays, unlike Cuba, the Dominican Republic or Jamaica. Flights are therefore often more expensive, which suggests good deals to be made against flights paid in cash.
In the past, you had to redeem at least 20,000 Aeroplan Miles and were subject to availability. Now, it will cost only between 12,500 and 17,500 Aeroplan points from Montreal for non-stop flights.
I’ve to say something here: there are few or no sweet spots between North America and the Atlantic zones .
The only sweet spot – and which will depend much on the prices charged by Air Canada – would be to Casablanca. You can get a non-stop economy flight from 35,000 points, or 60,000 points in Business class from Montreal.
For other destinations, the prices are similar or even higher than what we knew before. The only advantage is to have access to more Star Alliance and airline partners (Austrian, Lufthansa, etc.) without paying Carrier surcharges.
There, a sweet spot I see is for the non-stop flight between Montreal and Tel Aviv.
Previously, Israel was classified in the Middle East zone: 40,000 Aeroplan Miles for an economy flight, and 82,500 Aeroplan Miles for business-class.
From now on, you can get a non-stop economy flight from Montreal to Tel Aviv from 40,000 Aeroplan points to 70,000 Aeroplan points in business-class. The difference: you won’t pay any carrier surcharge with Air Canada.
It, therefore, becomes a sweet spot when we can get this flight at the floor price of the new program.
For other destinations departing from Montreal, there may be some good deals, especially for business or first-class flights. However, we cannot categorize this as sweet spots.
Savings are here:
