10 tips for using your Aeroplan Miles

To the point What are the best tips on Air Canada's Aeroplan program? Here are our professional tips for using your Aeroplan points.

1/ Be flexible with your dates 2/ Know the list of Aeroplan partner companies 3/ Avoid surcharges via these countries 4/ Take advantage of the 5,000 point stop rule 5/ Control stops and stopovers on an Aeroplan award ticket 6/ Learn how to search for your rewards on United 7/ Travel from the United States on United 8/ Use eUpgrades to travel in business class 9/ Don't use your miles to pay taxes! 10/ Have an Aeroplan credit card Conclusion: articles to go further

We see it every day in the milesopedia facebook group: many Aeroplan members don’t really know how to use their points, or at least feel that their Aeroplan points don’t provide real savings.

Yet Aeroplan points are still a great value for travelers who know how to use them!

1/ Be flexible with your dates

We can’t say it enough: to use your Aeroplan points, be flexible with your dates. It is certain that EVERYONE is looking to get away during school vacations, spring breaks, long weekends, etc.

For these very busy periods, you will need to book your tickets almost a year in advance(355 days to be exact). But it is also possible to find availability 1 or 2 weeks before these dates (example: Labor Day for which availability can be displayed in the 3rd or 4th week of August).

2/ Know the list of Aeroplan partner companies

Aeroplan isn’t just for Air Canada. You have access to award tickets offered by all Star Alliance airlines such as United or Lufthansa as well as several other partners such as Etihad or Oman Air.

3/ Avoid surcharges via these countries

Some countries apply significant surcharges on business class tickets for outbound flights (such as the UK). Preferably from neighboring countries that do not have this type of surcharge.

There are also destinations that prohibit them (or greatly reduce them for flights leaving the country):

Japan
Taiwan
South Korea
From Brazil
From Australia
From New Zealand

Thus, for these destinations, it will be possible to travel by paying only the airport taxes and no surcharge!

4/ Take advantage of the 5,000 point stop rule

When traveling internationally, Aeroplan offers you the opportunity to make a stopover for a flat fee of 5,000 points.

This is an opportunity to visit two destinations in one on a single award ticket such as :

Montreal – Casablanca (stop)
Casablanca – Lisbon (stop)

At this time, you must call Aeroplan to book an award ticket with a stopover for 5,000 points.

5/ Control stops and stopovers on an Aeroplan award ticket

There are a number of different terms you need to know about Aeroplan:

TERM	DEFINITION
Origin	The city from which the route of your journey begins
Destination	The city furthest from the point of origin in which a stop of more than 24 hours will be made
Stopover Stopover	A stop in a city other than your destination in which you will stay more than 24 hours
Escale Layover	A stop in a city other than your destination in which you will stay – from 24 hours
Open-jaw Open-jaw	A break in your itinerary during which you will travel by your own means
Maximum Permitted Mileage Maximum Permitted Mileage	Each origin and destination city has an authorized distance by Aeroplan not to exceed

6/ Learn how to search for your rewards on United

Aeroplan’s search tool can be improved. It is not yet practical to have a global view of the situation.

It is always possible to use other software such as Expertflyer, but there is an easier way! By searching for available award tickets on United.

United allows you to make flexible searches by displaying 2 months of availability at a time. To use it, you will need to know the direct flights between two cities. Use Flightconnections for this.

Here’s how to do it. First, go to United.com and fill out the various fields: