Aeroplan: Whats a good redemption?

[BBQPorkBun]

Hello

Just trying to gather information as to what kind of rewards people have redeemed for that got them best bang for their buck (or in this case miles). I notice for example, a Futureshop giftcard of $100 would be like 13,000 points but then an MP3 player from futureshop worth $60 is like 18,000 points. Obviously thats not a very good redemption.

Thanks.

[HighFlyer]

Flights and only flights. In particular, international first/business class tickets.

Everything else, merchandise in particular, is a huge ripoff.

BIG EDIT: Flights are only worth it if you redeem under the Classic category chart. With the new recently announced ClassicMinus scheme, award tickets are also a ripoff, but still better than merchandise. Best to stick with Classic or Star Alliance tickets.

[nogoro]

Flights and only flights. In particular, international first/business class tickets.
Everything else, merchandise in particular, is a huge ripoff.


I'm one of those folk who would never get a non-economy seat because I don't value the extra comfort. Are economy flights still better than gift cards? And are peak season better deal than non-peak? Thanks.

[commie]

Flights and only flights. In particular, international first/business class tickets.

Everything else, merchandise in particular, is a huge ripoff.

BIG EDIT: Flights are only worth it if you redeem under the Classic category chart. With the new recently announced ClassicMinus scheme, award tickets are also a ripoff, but still better than merchandise. Best to stick with Classic or Star Alliance tickets.

QFT....Business class reward tickets are the best use of Aeroplan miles...

Especially to Austrailia, Asia, or Europe...where first/business class fares can go for $6000 and upwards..
Once you have been on a 15+hour flight to Hong Kong, or even a 6+ hours to London on a business class fare....YOu will never want to fly economy on a long haul trip...
There is that much of a difference..

Never never redeem for merchandise...biggest ripoff in terms of value for the miles...

Another good use of Aeroplan miles is the short-haul trips, for 15,000 points you can fly to NYC, Chicago, montreal and others in that zone...
thats not too bad if you have to go for a weekend trip..
however, sometimes the high taxes will ruin the 'value' of the redeemption...

[HighFlyer]

Are economy flights still better than gift cards?
yes they are, except those that are redeemed under the ClassicMinus any seat program.
And are peak season better deal than non-peak? Thanks.
it depends. you are more likely to get a peak season seat under the Classic category if you book way in advance. you would have to log in to aeroplan.com to see how many miles they want for the flight. then compare that to the gift card ratio to see if it's worth it.

LOL.... there's an ad right above this thread touting the ClassicMinus program.

[hoob]

Best bang for the buck is flights... That's why they push the gift-card rewards so much.

If you're lucky like me, you have a regular route you can use for reward flights that's always available. E.g. Toronto <-> Kansas City to visit family is 15,000 and there's *always* flights available (not a high demand route.) So I do this route about twice a year. Ticket costs is usually around $450 with $100 taxes, so $350 of benefit for 15K is pretty good.

[newbie7]

Simple answer without confusing you with generic answers:

(Award Retail Value - Amount You Need To Pay To Redeem*) / # of Points

If > 2%, good enough deal.
If < 2%, bad deal.

*For merchandise, it's zero. For flights, for example, you need to pay some taxes.

[BBQPorkBun]

Simple answer without confusing you with generic answers:

(Award Retail Value - Amount You Need To Pay To Redeem*) / # of Points

If > 2%, good enough deal.
If < 2%, bad deal.

*For merchandise, it's zero. For flights, for example, you need to pay some taxes.

But this formula wouldn't apply if you needed to take those flights anyways right (need to pay tax anyways)?

Thanks everyone for their input.

Whats Classic vs Classicminus?

[runningdog]

Okay, so now we know that flights are the best thing.

But I won't be taking any flights for a long time and I want to use some points every year (and don't live in Canada to get some account activity), so...

I want to redeems some points this year and not on flights. What is my best deal? :)

[HighFlyer]

Whats Classic vs Classicminus?
LOL. ClassicMinus is just my term for the huge ripoff that the new ClassicPlus program really is. For example, under the old Classic program, a YYZ-SYD ticket in biz cost 115,000 miles. With ClassicMinus, the same flight goes for 500,000.

[BBQPorkBun]

LOL. ClassicMinus is just my term for the huge ripoff that the new ClassicPlus program really is. For example, under the old Classic program, a YYZ-SYD ticket in biz cost 115,000 miles. With ClassicMinus, the same flight goes for 500,000.

Is this a program we choose or what? or has it switched from classic to classic plus for everyone?

[charliebrown]

Is this a program we choose or what? or has it switched from classic to classic plus for everyone?

It's a way for AEROPLAN to say that every seat is available for redemption

and as others have mentioned, instead of costing X miles, it'll now cost 2X or more (example)

[HighFlyer]

Is this a program we choose or what? or has it switched from classic to classic plus for everyone?
Nothing that you have to choose. When you try to book a reward seat, it'll try to look for available flights under the Classic program. If there are none available, then it looks to the ClassicPlus any seat inventory, which as mentioned, is much more expensive.

[BBQPorkBun]

It's a way for AEROPLAN to say that every seat is available for redemption

and as others have mentioned, instead of costing X miles, it'll now cost 2X or more (example)

so theres just two diff schedules or redemption with one having more seats available but cost more miles?

[ShadowVlican]

i have about 30K points, would i be able to use that to decrease the cost of my flight (say from Toronto to Hong Kong)...... or must i save 75K points to redeem the ticket wholly

what's the best way to spend my 30K points? i don't travel to other parts of the world

[Ryan26]

i have about 30K points, would i be able to use that to decrease the cost of my flight (say from Toronto to Hong Kong)...... or must i save 75K points to redeem the ticket wholly

what's the best way to spend my 30K points? i don't travel to other parts of the world

you aren't able to use points to subsidize the price of a ticket. The best you can do is use you points to get a free flight to the USA and then buy a cheaper flight to Hong Kong. Alternatively you can keep collecting points until you have enough to get a flight to Hong Kong.