My Dream Trip with Aeroplan Contest: Discover the Finalists and Winners!

Here are the contest winners:

• Justine Bouvier – 100,000 Aeroplan points for the best Discover the World itinerary
• Julien Baril – 75,000 Aeroplan points for best Discover North America itinerary
• Joshua Lee Ingram – 25,000 Aeroplan points from the draw among all participants
• Samantha Ferreira – $100 gift card from the draw among all voters

Here’s our travel plan for our dream 12-month honeymoon. Certain flights in Asia and Europe will be taken with partner airlines in order to maximize our Aeroplan points. We earn points through our Aeroplan credit cards, through Membership Rewards transfers to Aeroplan and through our Aeroplan eStore purchases.

• Points required: 268,000 Aeroplan points per person
• Estimated value: $6,900 (2.57 cents per Aeroplan point)
• Travel period: September to August
• Duration: 12 months
• Countries visited: Canada, South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Greece, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Cape Verde, Canary Islands and France.

We want to use Aeroplan points to explore inspiring sanctuaries in North America. Departing from Montreal, our adventure begins in Banff National Park. We then continue on to Yosemite National Park. Then we’ll discover the Apostle Islands National Park. We’ll continue our journey at Valley of Fire State Park and finish at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

• Points required: 58,900 points per person
• Estimated value: $2,800 (4.75 cents per Aeroplan point)
• Month of travel: September
• Duration: 3 weeks
• Countries visited: Canada and United States

Congratulations to Alexandre Paquin for taking second place with his off-the-beaten-track African itinerary.

A long-time enthusiast of Africa, this trip will enable me to visit the many often forgotten countries and islands of the planet’s most underestimated continent. Having already had the opportunity to visit more than a dozen countries in the 4 corners of continental Africa, mainly on my own, discovering these islands has been a dream of mine for some time now.

• Points required: 207,200 points per person
• Estimated value: $6,750 (3.26 cents per Aeroplan point)
• Month of travel: October
• Duration: 5 weeks
• Countries visited: Canada, Portugal, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, Madagascar, Mauritius

Congratulations to Matheo Villiers for taking second place with his itinerary through the vast northern territory of Nunavut.

This trip is the reason I joined Aeroplan: to visit Canada’s Far North and fly in Air Canada’s smaller partner planes to the northernmost airport accessible by commercial plane with Canadian North (an Aeroplan partner).

• Points required: 25,000 points per person
• Estimated value: $7,000 (28 cents per Aeroplan point!)
• Month of travel: August
• Duration: 1 week
• Countries visited: Canada

Congratulations to Khaled Hussein for taking third place with his round-the-world itinerary that maximizes the use of Aeroplan points with long stopovers.

I want to use my points to travel as much as possible, so I’ve chosen to do so in economy class. This itinerary will allow me to visit various destinations in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, while discovering Western Canada. I have judiciously positioned stopovers of 20 to 23 hours in certain destinations that lend themselves to this (Los Angeles, Seoul, Amman and Miami).

• Points required: 180,000 points per person
• Estimated value: $7,900 (4.39 cents per Aeroplan point)
• Month of travel: November
• Duration: 6 weeks
• Countries visited: Canada, United States, Japan, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Germany and Portugal

Congratulations to Jean-François Caty on his third-place finish with his itinerary visiting several First Nations territories in North America.

Native peoples once called North America Turtle Island, a gigantic territory where different nations with very different cultures cohabited, adapting to a variety of climatic and geographic realities. Despite their differences, native nations have often shared a common spirituality, including an emphasis on the four directions – North, East, South and West – and the importance of finally finding balance at the center of Turtle Island. Today, Air Canada and its Aeroplan partners are enabling me to discover the four corners of Turtle Island and the First Nations territories.

• Points required: 143,000 points per person
• Estimated value: $15,000 (10.49 cents per Aeroplan point)
• Month of travel: July
• Duration: 3 weeks
• Countries visited: Canada and United States