A one-way ticket between Geneva (GVA) and Mauritius (MRU) costs 35,000 Aeroplan points in economy and 60,000 Aeroplan points in business class (Atlantic Zone pricing):
60,000 points in business class on Air Mauritius for an almost 11-hour flight is one of Aeroplan’s sweet-spots from Europe.
As you can see in the screenshot above, Air Mauritius is very generous in releasing seats for airline partners like Aeroplan.
On this flight, booking more than six seats in economy or business class was possible. That’s what we did, travelling as a family (us, our children and their two grandmothers).
Check out our tutorial at the end of this article on how to earn Aeroplan points, whether you’re reading this from Canada, the U.S. or anywhere else in the world.
After a short flight with Easyjet from Nice (NCE), we arrived at Geneva Airport (GVA) to catch our flight to Mauritius (MRU) with Air Mauritius.
When you travel business class with Air Mauritius, you have access to a reserved check-in area and a priority lane for security control and customs clearance.
You also have access to the Aspire Crystal Lounge, operated by Swissport.
If you don’t travel business class with Air Mauritius, you can access this lounge with the right credit card (offering DragonPass or LoungeKey) or Priority Pass access.
Here are a few photos:
For our Canadian readers, this one is accessible to Priority Pass members (via the Platinum Card® or the Scotiabank Platinum American Express® Card) or DragonPass (available with many Visa and Mastercard such as the CIBC Aventura® Visa Infinite* Card, Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card or BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard).
For our French readers, you can use the Priority Pass subscription coming with your American Express Platinum Card.
Our flight to Mauritius boarded on time at gate C55.
This aircraft is made up of two cabins:
Air Mauritius’ A330neo Business Class comprises a single cabin with 28 Stelia Solsysts III seats.
This cabin has 7 rows of 4 seats positioned 1-2-1 (28 seats in total). See Aerolopa for a detailed layout.
With this type of 1-2-1 configuration, all seats can access the aisle.
Here’s a general view of the honeymoon seats (sticked together):
These are the seats Audrey and I will be choosing (5E and 5F):
If you’re travelling as a couple, we recommend these seats, which are close together. Across the cabin, there are 4 pairs of seats like these. These are seats E and F in rows 1, 3, 5 and 7.
Here’s a general view of the other central seats (separated from each other):
In my opinion, these are the worst seats in the cabin. They don’t have window access and you’re really exposed to the aisle as you can see in this photo:
And finally, several views of the window seats:
The best window seats are A and J in rows 2, 4 and 6. These are close to the windows and, therefore, isolated from the aisle.
Alexandra and Arthur will be comfortably installed in these seats (4A and 4J).
The Stelia Solsyts III seat is comfortable to sit on thanks to its standard size (19.5″ wide).
The 15.4-inch screen is touch-sensitive and High Definition (HD).
The entertainment system is of good quality, with a good catalogue of recent films (including many French ones). There’s plenty of choice for children, too.
You can control the entertainment system with a touch-sensitive remote control. This remote control is located below the electric seat controls.
It can be adjusted in all directions and reclines to 180 degrees in the bed position, measuring 76 inches (1.93 m).
Being 5’10”, I had no problem with the available leg length.
If you wish to be separated from your neighbor, you can raise the separating shelf as shown in this photo:
For an 11-hour flight to Mauritius, this is an excellent product. I didn’t see the time passing, comfortably installed in this seat.
The shelf folds down against the seat in front of you to give you access to the aisle.
A further surface is also available at each seat, with an excellent storage space for headphones. You also have your own reading light.
Underneath, you’ll find a small storage area (where amenity kits are placed); further down, you’ll find an electrical outlet for plugging in your accessories.
Wi-Fi service is available (see details on this Air Mauritius page).
All business class passengers receive an 8-digit code by e-mail 24 hours before departure (remember to save it for in-flight access). However, the usage quota is far too low.
Here are the rates for Air Mauritius Wi-Fi services:
After using up my available business class quota in just a few minutes, I opted to pay for the Premium version. It wasn’t fast, and I used up the 300 MB in 2 hours of office use.
When boarding, the Air Mauritius flight attendant offers cold drinks, including Champagne Duval-Leroy and tropical punch (made from sugarcane alcohol and natural ingredients).
Headphones are available at your seat, but unfortunately without the noise-cancellation option.
The turquoise-blue amenity kit is supplied by Porsche Design.
This one is complete and of good enough quality to keep!
Children are well catered for, with a welcome kit including a water bottle, games and a beach bag:
We take off on time from Geneva airport. Shortly after takeoff, the dining service began. Here’s the menu:
We start with an aperitif of nuts and raisins:
The starter is a salad of quinoa and vegetables, smoked salmon, green asparagus, tomato and arugula.
We chose grilled chicken supreme with mushroom sauce, potato terrine, roasted parsnips and carrots for the main course.
And a black forest for dessert.
One hour before landing, for breakfast: smoothie, maple syrup waffle, and dried fruit.
Landing at MRU will be on time.
Overall, we had an excellent 11-hour overnight flight on board this Air Mauritius A330neo.
This configuration is ideal whether you’re travelling solo or as a couple and is on a par with what is offered by Air France, Emirates, Swiss or Lufthansa.
Overall, in terms of both soft and hard products, we recommend that you travel with Air Mauritius without difficulty.
The easiest way to earn Aeroplan Points is to apply for one of these Aeroplan credit cards. Not only will you earn Aeroplan Points as a welcome bonus, but you will also earn Aeroplan Points on all purchases charged to your Aeroplan credit card.
Aeroplan’s most popular credit card is the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, whose current welcome offer is as follows:
You can also earn Aeroplan Points through the American Express Membership Rewards program. You can transfer your American Express Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan Points at a 1:1 ratio. So 10,000 Membership Rewards points = 10,000 Aeroplan points. Many Membership Rewards credit cards are available in Canada.
In my opinion, one of the best American Express Membership Rewards credit cards is the American Express Cobalt® Card. With this credit card, you get 5 points per dollar for grocery purchases, convenience stores and spending at restaurants and bars. Also, consider the gift card trick where you can get 5 Points per dollar for many stores like Amazon, SAQ, Ikea, Netflix, etc.
Here is the welcome offer currently available for this card:
If you live in the U.S., you can also earn Aeroplan Points via credit cards.
First, there’s the Chase Aeroplan® World Elite Mastercard®. This credit card allows you to earn Aeroplan Points directly through your purchases.
You can then transfer points from various programs to Aeroplan:
If you are not fortunate enough to be able to earn Aeroplan Points via a credit card or partner points program, there are two other ways to earn Aeroplan Points:
Buying Aeroplan points can make sense. In many cases, the cost of this purchase will be equivalent to what you would have paid for an economy flight. Except that you can travel in business or first class!
For example, this flight with Air Mauritius costs:
By purchasing Aeroplan Points during a promotional period (usually with an 85% Bonus), you can buy Aeroplan Points for 1.9 cents per point:
Savings are here:
