Redeem Aeroplan or Hold On It To As Aeroplan & Porter Form Partnership

Aeroplan, Air Canada, Oneworld, & Porter Airlines

Loyalty Program Aeroplan had a few runs in the news again for some recent developments. We heard about the failed unsolicited $250 million hostile bid where Air Canada partnered with 3 other financial institutions—TD Bank, CIBC Bank, and Visa —and attempted to purchase Aeroplan.

Also, more news broke out that Aeroplan and Toronto-based airline Porter formed a partnership that will make Porter Airlines a preferred Canadian partner for the Aeroplan loyalty points program and let Aeroplan members earn and redeem miles on Porter flights starting July 2020.

July 2020 is also the deadline when Air Canada splits from Aeroplan.

And then there was the news that Aeroplan is in talks with another alliance, Oneworld, to form a partnership. Oneworld is an alliance of 13 of the world's leading airlines (+ other affiliate partners) and has partners such as American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Canadian Airlines, etc.

Currently, Aeroplan is a part of Star Alliance through Air Canada, which will end in 2020.

After absorbing all these developments, readers may naturally ask whether they should redeem Aeroplan now or hold on to it to redeem later? I will answer these questions in a video I just published.

Aeroplan Partners with Porter Airlines | Redeem Aeroplan Now or Wait?

Aeroplan Points for Amazon Shopping

Amazon and Aeroplan Team Up

If you shop on Amazon and feel frustrated for not getting any rewards, there is good news on the horizon. Amazon customers will soon be able to collect Aeroplan miles for spending money on Amazon. However, there are a few conditions that apply and I will go through those in this post.

Here is what you need to know to collect Aeroplan shopping on Amazon:

-          Starting April 24, 2018, Aeroplan members will be able to earn miles for shopping with Amazon Canada. This is only applicable to those shopping from Canada on Amazon Canada.

-          Aeroplan members will be able to earn at least one mile per dollar. Elite members will earn more; Black and Silver members earn at least 2 miles per dollar and Diamond members earn at least 3 miles per dollar spent on Amazon.

-          You must visit the Aeroplan website first to earn miles. Shopping directly from Amazon or their app will not earn you any Aeroplan miles.

Once you go to the Aeroplan eStore at aeroplan.com/estore, look or search for Amazon.ca. Then click and enter your Aeroplan number and last name, and hit shop now. This will take you to Amazon’s website and then continue shopping on Amazon as you would normally do to receive Aeroplan miles.

This is a good opportunity to earn lots of miles for those who shop on Amazon a lot. It’s even possible to earn miles 3 separate times on the same transaction. I am not talking about earning 3 miles but earning on 3 separate instances. I will do another post on how to do that after April 24.

Keep an eye on my YouTube Channel and on this website for more to come. I will see you shortly.

Air Canada Departs Aeroplan – 3 Things You Must Know

Aeroplan and Air Canada

The Date – The first thing you need to know is June 30, 2020 is that date when Air Canada terminates its contract from Aimia, which is the parent company of Aeroplan. After this date you will not be able to use Aeroplan to earn or redeem Air Canada or any other Star Alliance members’ points.

Aeroplan Points – The second thing you need to know is that your Aeroplan points after June 30, 2020 remain intact. Aeroplan points or miles will remain the same and they are not going anywhere. However, what you are losing is access to Air Canada or Star Alliance flights. Why this is so important? That’s in #3.

Flight Redemptions – The third and most important thing is that after June 30, 2020 you will not be able to redeem Aeroplan for flight resumptions for Air Canada or any Star Alliance members. Star Alliance is the world’s largest alliance and it has partners such as Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss Air and many others—28 total. Because Air Canada is a part of this alliance, Aeroplan has access to any alliance members for flight redemptions, especially for business class flights. Once Air Canada departs Aeroplan, you will lose that privilege and will not be able to redeem points for flights. You will still be able to redeem Aeroplan for gifts and merchandise but you will not get value out of your points.

Let me give you an example. My business class flight for my upcoming trip from Toronto to Dhaka gave me 7 cents per point return. You will never get this type of return redeeming for non-flight categories. So the best use for Aeroplan would be to redeem them for business class flights before the termination.

But be careful redeeming for business class flights, as some of the Star Alliance members charge hefty fuel surcharges. I have a video discussing the details of everything I mentioned here:

| Aeroplan & Air Canada Departure | 3 Things You Must Know Now |

What Will Happen to Aeroplan Without Air Canada?

Air Canada Will Start Its Own Loyalty Program

Air Canada is leaving Aeroplan to launch its own frequent flyer program. Things will be business as usual until June 2020. After that, Air Canada and Aeroplan will travel their own paths. Today, I will talk about the future of Aeroplan and what to expect in light of this breakup.

Aeroplan has a network of 5 million members, 75 worldwide partners, and 150 brands. However, most of these members are in Aeroplan for Air Canada, not for Aeroplan itself. A lot of these members not even aware of that Aeroplan is not owned by Air Canada and is actually a separate program. It is questionable how many of these members will stick to Aeroplan once it is is no longer with Air Canada.

Aeroplan will lose access to Star Alliance partners and fantastic redemption opportunities through its partners. Star Alliance is the largest alliance of 27 airlines and some of its partners are airlines like Thai, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Air Canada. For example, my business-class flight from Toronto to Asia cost me only $61 instead of $4000/$5000 (watch the YouTube video for proof) and a fantastic redemption opportunity like this on Aeroplan is possible only because of being a member of Star Alliance through Air Canada. On its own without being part of an alliance, Aeroplan will lose lots of its members, as it will not have access to any alliance.

Aeroplan will be able to provide flight redemptions on its own like other proprietary programs such as Scotia Rewards program, BMO Rewards program, or Air Miles. However, it will no longer be able to provide significant value like before to redeem for business class flights.

Air Canada is leaving Frequent Flyer loyalty program Aeroplan. What it means for travel rewards credit cards & programs? How about frequent flyer partners? Financial author Ahmed Dawn's insights.

Banks and retailers will be reluctant to renew Aeroplan contracts once existing contracts expire. Aeroplan will have to work on new credit card partners and retailers to offer its programs once Air Canada leaves.

The end result will actually be good for consumers due to more competition. There will be new credit card offers with hefty sign-up bonuses from both Air Canada and Aeroplan as both of them will fiercely try to grab market share. Also there will be an extensive fight to secure retailers to offer Air Canada or Aeroplan points, thus more opportunities for consumers with more promotions and bonuses. I can’t wait to see all these after 2020.

Mileage Plan 101– Tips, Tricks, and the Basics

Alaska Mileage Plan - What You Need to Know

Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan is one of my favourite frequent flyer programs and I use this program to fly Business class across the globe paying very little. It’s no wonder Alaska Airlines and its loyalty program rank at the very top on customer satisfaction year after year.

This Mileage Plan is dynamic in the sense that it’s not part of any 3 alliances; rather it has a pool of partners from all 3 alliances and some non-allied airlines. Here are Alaska Mileage Plan partners:

- Aeromexico

- Air France

- American Airlines

- British Airways

- Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)

- Delta Air Lines

- Emirates (Dubai)

- Fiji Airways (formerly Air Pacific)

- KLM (Netherlands)

- Korean Air

- LAN (South America)

- PenAir (Alaska)

- Ravn Alaska (formerly Era)

- Qantas (Australia)

Now, let’s look at some basics of Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan frequent flyer program.

Stopover Allowed on One-Way Trip - This is one of the most sought-after features in Mileage Plan rewards. It allows stopover on one leg of the journey or 2 stopovers on a round trip. So you can visit 2 countries instead of one on a one-way trip or 4 countries on a round trip if you use this feature wisely. However, some partners do not allow stopover. Visit alaskaair.com for more info.

No Mix and Match – The Mileage Plan does not allow more than one partner on a one-way flight or on one leg of the trip in a round trip. However, it is allowed to combine with one partner + Alaska Airlines.

Generous Mileage Chart – Unlike other programs, the Alaska Mileage Plan has different redemption charts for different partners and different regions. Usually required miles are a lot less to travel business class compared to other loyalty programs. I will provide some examples below.

Avoiding Fuel Surcharges – Avoid British Airways, as their Mileage Plan collects fuel charges on BA flights, which can be hefty (in the area of $500, for example) on even short flights.

Cancel, Change, and Phone Booking - Alaska allows you to cancel or change within 60 days of departure for a $125 fee and no fee if before 60 days. The phone booking charge is $15 per ticket.

How to Search/Book Flights – You can search and book all partners’ award space on the Alaska website except for Cathay Pacific or LAN. For these, you need to search on partners’ websites such as British Airways, Qantas Airways and then call Alaska to book over the phone. You can learn more on how to search for Alaska award flights by searching more online.

Collecting Alaska Miles – Bank of America and MBNA Canada offer Alaska credit cards with other perks and features. From time to time they will also offer Alaska sales miles on discounts.

Some Alaska Rewards Flights Examples

- Cathay Pacific (CP) to Asia on business class for 50,000 miles with a stopover in Hong Kong

- You can fly to Africa for 50,000 as well with a stopover in Hong Kong on CP. This is real, not a dream.

- CP to Australia or New Zealand with a stopover in Hong Kong for 60,000.

- Qantas business class to Australia or New Zealand for 55,000 miles. Or you can fly to Auckland and have a stopover on Sydney.

- Japan Airlines luxury first class to Asia with a stopover in Tokyo for 70,000 miles.

- Fiji Airways business class to Australia or New Zealand with a stopover in Fiji for 55,000 miles.

- Fly Air France business class for 60,000 miles to Tahiti from LA.

There are so many other possibilities the Alaska mileage plan offers that I find it hard to believe. With proper planning and research, you can see the world in style with Alaska miles.