aeroplan programme passeport

Is Aeroplan hiding award tickets?

Since the beginning of August, Aeroplan has been experiencing technical difficulties in displaying award tickets from certain carriers. Here we are in September, and these do not seem to be resolved.

Companies absent from Aeroplan… intermittently

Several airlines are currently missing from Aeroplan searches:

  • All Nippon Airways (ANA)
  • Egyptair
  • Eva Air
  • Lot
  • Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
  • South African Airways
  • Swiss
  • Thai

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On August 14, 2018, Aeroplan had actually issued a statement – since disappeared from the site – warning of technical problems:

aeroplan prob techniques
Aeroplan Press Release August 14, 2018

How do you spot missing companies?

As you know, we usually refer you to airlines that do not charge carrier surcharges on Aeroplan such as Swiss.

Right now, if you are looking to fly to Europe from Montreal on Swiss (Direct flight Montreal-Zurich), here are the availabilities posted by the United website.

united swiss sept 2018

However, if we do a search for 01/12/2018, the direct Swiss flight does not appear.

aeroplan swiss sept 2018

The benefit of the doubt

We give Aeroplan the benefit of the doubt as to whether these technical problems are real. Indeed, between August 14 and September 5, we were able to book 2 award tickets on different itineraries and in different travel classes with affected companies (Swiss, Thai).

Contact with the call center

If you find an award ticket through other intermediaries (United, ANA, Expertflyer) that is not posted by Aeroplan, it is tempting to call Aeroplan to ask for actual availability on that flight.

We have tried several times: without success. Our interlocutors explained to us that there is a known technical problem, but no date was advanced to solve it. However, on Flyertalk, several feedbacks mention that they ended up being able to book flights that were not on the Aeroplan platform.

Bottom Line

What is strange is to see that it is notably companies that do not charge a carrier surcharge that are impacted. All flights offered by Air Canada or Lufthansa are well displayed. So: is Aeroplan hiding airline awards from its search engine?

We have not received an official response from Aeroplan at this time.

Aeroplan has informed us that they are aware of this problem and are working with Air Canada to resolve it quickly.

We are aware of this issue, which is technical in nature. We want to apologize for any inconvenience this system issue is causing our members. We are working closely with Air Canada and our partners to resolve as quickly as possible. As soon as I have an update I can let you know.

Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
Jean-Maximilien
Jean-Maximilien is an expert in Canada and France about Loyalty programs, Credit cards and Travel. He is the Founding President of Milesopedia.

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