What to do with my Aeroplan Miles?

[j3tang]

I wasn't sure where else to put this topic and I thought that the personal finance since it pertains to my credit cards. Mods, please move this elsewhere if there's a more suitable section.

I've been accumulating aeroplan miles for 2 years and I am contemplating stopping. I might just go for the PC card (free, and groceries are always needed for the family, so I can't go wrong there). I've been with Amex Aeroplan Gold for 1 yr, and I'm just about finishing another 1 yr with CIBC Visa Aeroplan Gold. For each year, I've received sign-up bonuses and also had to pay annual fees of $120. I've racked up ~47,000 points and would like to redeem them for something.

I've been looking at redeeming them for gift cards (Chapters $50 = 6K, TRU $50 = 6.5K, Cadillac Fairview $100 = 13K, FS $250 = 32.5K, etc.)

With ~47K, I can redeem about $350 worth of GC (with $240 of it from annual fees). So the money I spent using those cards have earned me $110 over the 2 years, I don't think that's terribly bad, but at the very least I've broken even and have a bit extra. Does that sound reasonable?

I've not looked at using them for travel, and I don't think I'm in the position to travel at this time. Does anybody have any other suggestions as to what I can/should do with the points?

[fl4wless]

gift cards are possibly the worst use of aeroplan points.

You have enough for one short haul flight, and a flight to the US, that would be the best use. Another 3k and you have 2 flights to US, another 13k of points and fly to europe, or get to 75k total for a flight to asia, etc.

[j3tang]

yeah, I figured GC were not the smartest things to use it for .. and the original plan when I decided to accumulate aeroplan points was to go to asia. At this point, I don't plan on renewing my membership with Amex or Visa ...

[Octavius]

Let's see:

Assuming for the sake of simplicity you spent a total of 47k over the past 2 years. Let's assume 1 Aeroplan Mile = 1 Dollar Spent on the credit cards.

47,000 Aeroplan Miles (After Annual Fees, Redeeming for Gift Cards) - Will get you back $110.00. That works out to $55.00 in "cash back" for using these cards per year. (works out to about 0.25% return, which is horrible)

If you would have spent the same money on a straight 1% cash back card (Citi Enrich Platinum), or if you got the PCF Mastercard, you would have gotten $470.00 worth of cash back over the last 2 years. Since neither of these cards have an annual fee, you're never out of pocket to pay for the "privilege" of using these cards up front.

So you would have gotten $360.00 more by just using the plain ol' 1% Cash Back no annual fee cards out there.

I would suggest you NOT redeem for gift cards. The whole point of Aeroplan miles is to use them to travel. Although you may not be in any position NOW to use them, why not use them in 2-3 years from now?

So long as you keep your account active (pay a Bell bill once a year, fill up at Esso once a year, have car insurance with ING/BelAir Direct, etc) then you won't lose your miles. I believe they expire within 7 years of your accumulating them - so if you've been collecting for 2 years, I'd say you've got another 3-4 years worth of free time to choose when/where you'll want to go.

[j3tang]

Let's see:

Assuming for the sake of simplicity you spent a total of 47k over the past 2 years. Let's assume 1 Aeroplan Mile = 1 Dollar Spent on the credit cards.

47,000 Aeroplan Miles (After Annual Fees, Redeeming for Gift Cards) - Will get you back $110.00. That works out to $55.00 in "cash back" for using these cards per year. (works out to about 0.25% return, which is horrible)

If you would have spent the same money on a straight 1% cash back card (Citi Enrich Platinum), or if you got the PCF Mastercard, you would have gotten $470.00 worth of cash back over the last 2 years. Since neither of these cards have an annual fee, you're never out of pocket to pay for the "privilege" of using these cards up front.

So you would have gotten $360.00 more by just using the plain ol' 1% Cash Back no annual fee cards out there.

I would suggest you NOT redeem for gift cards. The whole point of Aeroplan miles is to use them to travel. Although you may not be in any position NOW to use them, why not use them in 2-3 years from now?

So long as you keep your account active (pay a Bell bill once a year, fill up at Esso once a year, have car insurance with ING/BelAir Direct, etc) then you won't lose your miles. I believe they expire within 7 years of your accumulating them - so if you've been collecting for 2 years, I'd say you've got another 3-4 years worth of free time to choose when/where you'll want to go.

well said and point taken. I guess I'll just keep the points until i can travel with them. I'd only still be using it towards a ticket to asia. I guess what I'll do is in the next year or the year after, I'll join back again for a year of aeroplan gold with any of the credit cards to try to get the remainder needed for a ticket to asia.

I think I've spent about $17K the past 2 years (most of the points came from the sign-up bonuses), but still not 1% cashback. So I'm settled on the PCF Mastercard for now :)

[brunes]

So long as you keep your account active (pay a Bell bill once a year, fill up at Esso once a year, have car insurance with ING/BelAir Direct, etc) then you won't lose your miles. I believe they expire within 7 years of your accumulating them - so if you've been collecting for 2 years, I'd say you've got another 3-4 years worth of free time to choose when/where you'll want to go.

This is true, but you don't want to wait TOO long, cause every once in awhile they will bump up the mileage needed for everything by 5,000 miles.

It would suck to hold on to them too long then have them decrease in value.

OP - you never travel anywhere in NA? Why not just take a vacation to somewhere?

[LarryLat]

where do you have your points? are they in your Aeroplan account, or are they tied to your credit cards?

If they are tied to your credit cards, then look into ways of transferring them into your Aeroplan account. Then stop using cards with fees. There are a number of other credit cards that can be used to collect points, which can be eventually transferred into your Aeroplan account. I think Starwoods MasterCard allows you to transfer points into Aeroplan under some certain restricting conditions, but it is possible nonetheless. I'm sure there are other options as well.

It might even be more beneficial to transfer Aeroplan miles into some other point program with a less restrictive and more rewarding options.

[Drew_W]

Shorthaul Air Canada flights are only 15k miles, so you've got enough for 3 of those, or one long haul (25k) and one short.

Go on a trip somewhere. Have a little fun. :)

[trenton1776]

Keep in mind, Aeroplan travel is far from free. Expect to spend $100-$200 in taxes, fees and fuel surcharges when redeeming your free flight.

Free flights are not what they used to be.

[halflife150]

I believe they expire within 7 years of your accumulating them - so if you've been collecting for 2 years, I'd say you've got another 3-4 years worth of free time to choose when/where you'll want to go.

Do the individual points only have a life time of 7 years before they expire or is it 7 years of account inactivity will expire all points?

[Octavius]

Do the individual points only have a life time of 7 years before they expire or is it 7 years of account inactivity will expire all points?

Lifetime of 7 years AND they expire within 1 year of no account activity.

[RiCHC3]

If I'm not mistaken there's a site where you can transfer your points to another type of points (probably not too appealing in this case), but I think you could also trade it for cash. I'll have to look it up and get back to you.

[j3tang]

i just went to paris in August .. so another vacation anytime soon is not the best time. But I like the suggestion of keeping the points around for another year or two and maybe go back to accumulating them to see if i can get a free one to asia. I'd still have activity since my Esso speedpass puts points into my aeroplan account when I get gas.

[enigma54]

Keep in mind, Aeroplan travel is far from free. Expect to spend $100-$200 in taxes, fees and fuel surcharges when redeeming your free flight.

Free flights are not what they used to be.

Most people forget this point. I redeemed 60k points for two tickets to Paris last fall. I had to dish out $550 in taxes and fees. To put that in context, had I purchased the two tickets, it would've cost me about $1500 all in.

[pitz]

The best 'deal' seems to be using the points for business class travel.

For example, AC.com is quoting Canada-Sydney for approximately $12,000 right now in Business class. If you shop around, you should be able to get that down to $7000-$8000.

Or you can redeem 110,000 points if you can find a seat.

At $7000 / 110,000, that's 6 cents a mile.

And at 21 hours each way from Toronto-Sydney, those lie-flat beds they have on the new 777's sure beat the h*ll out of sitting in the back trying to make yourself comfortable for an entire day.

[Muncher]

Don't know if you can, but I bought some cool stuff from Future Shop using my Aeroplan miles!

[jayk]

OP

Best way to use them is to fly.

Best flights are the ones that AC has a monopoly over and thus charges twice the price for them in dollars but same amount with points ie. cities like Quebec City.

[BMNB3tches]

Best to visit the aeroplan forum at flyertalk:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=375

many many experts on it and also do a search, there are threads on the best credit card.

The best value is if you could redeem your aeroplan miles on a business class (J) class or First class (F) on a Star Alliance member, and get a ticket that could normally cost $5000-10000 but by using points.

YOu are not limited to redeeming on aircanada, can use on any Star Alliance airline. For a list of these see www.staralliance.com

of course you redeem using aeroplan.com web site or call them.
happy travels!!

[porphyra]

Best to visit the aeroplan forum at flyertalk:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=375

many many experts on it and also do a search, there are threads on the best credit card.

The best value is if you could redeem your aeroplan miles on a business class (J) class or First class (F) on a Star Alliance member, and get a ticket that could normally cost $5000-10000 but by using points.

YOu are not limited to redeeming on aircanada, can use on any Star Alliance airline. For a list of these see www.staralliance.com

of course you redeem using aeroplan.com web site or call them.
happy travels!!

However, keep in mind though that if you star redeeming on Star Alliance, suddenly your required mileage will jump.

For instance before AC dropped India from their desination, I could fly from Canada - India for 75,000 miles. Now since AC doesn't fly there, I have to use their Star Alliance partners which starts at 130,000 miles (which blows big time as earlier I could fly business class for these many miles if AC had flown there directly).

[BMNB3tches]

I did not know that!!

I find it pretty easy to find domestic flights for only 25,000 miles with only 1-2 months of notice. You could in theory fly all the way from from St Johns NL to Victoria BC for only 25,000 miles!

:idea:

[pitz]

I did not know that!!

I find it pretty easy to find domestic flights for only 25,000 miles with only 1-2 months of notice. You could in theory fly all the way from from St Johns NL to Victoria BC for only 25,000 miles!

:idea:

*and* you could include a stopover in, for instance, Miami or Orlando, inbetween.

The Victoria-St. Johns trip will set you back probably $700-$800 if you paid cash. a Florida roundtrip would have set you back $500-$600.

This is what I do with my miles. They're far too valuable to just waste on a simple Western Canada to Toronto nonstop flight.

[brunes]

Lifetime of 7 years AND they expire within 1 year of no account activity.

Do the individual points only have a life time of 7 years before they expire or is it 7 years of account inactivity will expire all points?

If you earned your Aeroplan points via your CIBC Aerogold, like the OP, they never expire.

[Octavius]

If you earned your Aeroplan points via your CIBC Aerogold, like the OP, they never expire.

Really? I didn't know that.

I thought they were treated the same as regular Aeroplan miles earned from other participating partners.

Well, thanks for bringing that to my attention Brunes. Learn something new every day.

[bonzo]

I am thinking about getting this card since the esso near me takes aeroplan.

Where is the best place to sign up for this card? Is there any links to bonus points when you sign up? At stores or online.

[e909]

If you earned your Aeroplan points via your CIBC Aerogold, like the OP, they never expire.
Not true.

Two ways your Aeroplan points will expire.
1) Not earning any for 12 months
2) After 7 years.

CIBC Aerogold only protects you from 1, but not 2. If you don't use your points within seven years, you lose them.

[brunes]

Not true.

Two ways your Aeroplan points will expire.
1) Not earning any for 12 months
2) After 7 years.

CIBC Aerogold only protects you from 1, but not 2. If you don't use your points within seven years, you lose them.

Ah, double checked and you are correct. I stand corrected.

Aeroplan rules require at least one accumulation or redemption transaction each year in an Aeroplan account or the Aeroplan Miles will expire. CIBC has ensured that this doesn't happen to Aerogold cardholders in good standing. Please note, however, that Aeroplan Miles will expire if they are not redeemed within 7 years from when they were earned (or by Dec. 31, 2013, for Miles earned before 2007). See www.aeroplan.com for details.

After 7 years point inflation would have made them next to useless anyways though.

[halflife150]

Wow that sucks, I don't really collect them and only have a couple thousand.

I stick with Airmiles and as far as I know they don't expire.

[sjweyman]

where do you have your points? are they in your Aeroplan account, or are they tied to your credit cards?

If they are tied to your credit cards, then look into ways of transferring them into your Aeroplan account. Then stop using cards with fees. There are a number of other credit cards that can be used to collect points, which can be eventually transferred into your Aeroplan account. I think Starwoods MasterCard allows you to transfer points into Aeroplan under some certain restricting conditions, but it is possible nonetheless. I'm sure there are other options as well.

It might even be more beneficial to transfer Aeroplan miles into some other point program with a less restrictive and more rewarding options.

The Starwood Preferred Guest Mastercard is a good suggestion ... but probably more hassle than the OP is looking for. The suggestion of "transferring" the miles is definitely a bad one. Transferring miles to other places is something that is VERY difficult to do and often comes with HUGE penalties ... in some cases it isn't even possible. With Aeroplan there are very limited possibilities indeed.

[sjweyman]

If I'm not mistaken there's a site where you can transfer your points to another type of points (probably not too appealing in this case), but I think you could also trade it for cash. I'll have to look it up and get back to you.

WARNING WARNING ... NEVER USE POINTS.COM ... THEY WILL ROB YOU BLIND.

[sjweyman]

The best 'deal' seems to be using the points for business class travel.

For example, AC.com is quoting Canada-Sydney for approximately $12,000 right now in Business class. If you shop around, you should be able to get that down to $7000-$8000.

Or you can redeem 110,000 points if you can find a seat.

At $7000 / 110,000, that's 6 cents a mile.

And at 21 hours each way from Toronto-Sydney, those lie-flat beds they have on the new 777's sure beat the h*ll out of sitting in the back trying to make yourself comfortable for an entire day.

Even though this is "incredible value" ... for me it isn't worth it. No matter how you look at it ... if you redeem for something like this you get less overall KMs of travel. Better service but less trips is not worth it IMO. Although I'm sure first class to Australia is an experience :)

[sjweyman]

*and* you could include a stopover in, for instance, Miami or Orlando, inbetween.

The Victoria-St. Johns trip will set you back probably $700-$800 if you paid cash. a Florida roundtrip would have set you back $500-$600.

This is what I do with my miles. They're far too valuable to just waste on a simple Western Canada to Toronto nonstop flight.

Really good suggestion Pitz. You have to call AC to make these types of arrangements do you not? Also, isn't there a rule of only one stopover per one-way of the trip?

This probably works great for you in Toronto ... but for me who is in Moncton ... you pretty much have to make a stop before you could even get a flight to Florida ... so that already eliminates that option I think. Does someone know differently?

[pitz]

You can book the stopovers online at the aeroplan website now. Of course, its all subject to availability.

Still, not a bad way to toss on a little side-trip, a couple days at Disneyworld, or a visit to NYC or DC onto an otherwise boring trip to the Maritimes. :)



This probably works great for you in Toronto ... but for me who is in Moncton ... you pretty much have to make a stop before you could even get a flight to Florida ... so that already eliminates that option I think. Does someone know differently?

Moncton-Miami-Vancouver-Moncton comes up as a valid itinerary for 25k miles. On a domestic/transborder itinerary, a connecting flight is not a 'stop' unless you are on the ground for more than 4 hours *or* you arrive on the last flight of the day.

Out of Moncton, you could pretty much tag on any North American destination as a stopover. Moncton-Los Angeles-Calgary-Moncton would work.

Availability is the issue though. With the basic 25k mile North America reward, seats can be few and far between, especially if you don't book a *long* time in advance.

[sjweyman]

You can book the stopovers online at the aeroplan website now. Of course, its all subject to availability.

Still, not a bad way to toss on a little side-trip, a couple days at Disneyworld, or a visit to NYC or DC onto an otherwise boring trip to the Maritimes. :)

So how many legs do you end up with on your trip total? Isn't the maximum 4 legs?

[pitz]

So how many legs do you end up with on your trip total? Isn't the maximum 4 legs?

I did YXE-YWG-YYZ-YUL-MCO-stop-YYZ-stop-YWG-YQR-YXE a few years back on a 25k mile ticket.

AFAIK, there is no limit on segments, but you are allowed 3 legs, a leg being a one-way flight, with connection(s), within North America.

Just throw your destinations into the Aeroplan booking engine, selecting the 'multi-city' tab, and it will tell you if the routing is permissible.

[pitz]

Even though this is "incredible value" ... for me it isn't worth it. No matter how you look at it ... if you redeem for something like this you get less overall KMs of travel.


Well Toronto-Sydney is what, 16,000km each way, so 32k for a roundtrip. I think you'd be hard pressed to beat that tootin around North America on even a couple 40k rewards. ;).

Its a 21 hour flight going westbound out of Toronto to Sydney. If you can survive that in Economy without needing to spend a day or two resting in a hotel upon arrival -- more power to you :).


Better service but less trips is not worth it IMO. Although I'm sure first class to Australia is an experience :)

For me, its the difference between being able to go to Australia and enjoy myself for most of the 2 weeks vacation I have available, and going to Australia, and losing an extra day on each end because I can't sleep worth sh*t in Economy class. :)

[brunes]

I did YXE-YWG-YYZ-YUL-MCO-stop-YYZ-stop-YWG-YQR-YXE a few years back on a 25k mile ticket.

AFAIK, there is no limit on segments, but you are allowed 3 legs, a leg being a one-way flight, with connection(s), within North America.

Just throw your destinations into the Aeroplan booking engine, selecting the 'multi-city' tab, and it will tell you if the routing is permissible.

Yeah but how long are you allowed for each stopover?

[pitz]

Yeah but how long are you allowed for each stopover?

Up to 4 hours, and an overnight on the way back. I spent a few days in Toronto (YYZ) and a few in Orlando (MCO); the rest was in-transit.

[frogger]

Cool I didn't know you could do multi-city trips for the same amount of miles if they're within the same points region. Toronto->Vancouver for 3 days->Calgary for 5->Back to Toronto for 25,000 miles.

[brunes]

Up to 4 hours, and an overnight on the way back. I spent a few days in Toronto (YYZ) and a few in Orlando (MCO); the rest was in-transit.

I don't mean how long of a flight I mean how long can the stopover last...

[pitz]

I don't mean how long of a flight I mean how long can the stopover last...

4 hours is the maximum permitted connection time between domestic flights *unless* you arrive on the last flight of the day, and leave on the first flight out in the morning.

A stopover that is not a connection, in theory, could last up to 365 days (366 on a leap year), corresponding to the validity of a ticket (1 year).

On an international itinerary (non-Canada/USA), the definition of a connection is extended to 24 hours from 4 hours.

[alanbrenton]

Can't you actually sell your points? I saw somewhere on the website about sharing your points with friends and relatives.

[houska]

For those seeking to maximize use of their Aeroplan points by flying, I recommend checking the Air Canada Aeroplan board athttp://www.flyertalk.com. There's a lot of very knowledgeable people there about these topics. A lot of it is people (like me, under another name) optimizing their experience when they fly 100,000+ miles per year and therefore get preferential access to reward tickets, upgrades, etc., but anything you wanted to know about award rules can be found somewhere there.

Bottom line is that while frequent flyer miles have in the past been valued at about 2c each, increases in fees, decreases in availability have made that reduce. That number is based on economy class awards. If you convert your points to business class awards, you can lead yourself to believe that your points are worth substantially more, but that is predicated on the assumption that you would actually personally pay business class fares for your travel, which most people would not.

[houska]

Can't you actually sell your point? I saw somewhere on the website about sharing your points with friends and relatives.

In general you cannot sell/share your points willy-nilly as points, and airlines have been cracking down on sold/bartered points. You can - with some probably deliberate hassle - get a ticket on points issue for your friend or family. I'm sure some people actually "sell" this in some way, but I doubt it is worth the risk.

At various points various airlines (I forget if Air Canada / Aeroplan is among them) have offered to transfer points to family or reinstate expired points for approx 1c/mile. Given that general mileage point devaluation has decreased the typical value of miles below the "traditionally accepted" value of 2c/mile, I think this is only worth it in exceptional circumstances.

[loksau]

I think the best way to use your miles should be flight ticket to Hawaii.. It's about 40k points, but the flight tickets is worth $1,000+ Thus, each points worth a lot more than gc

[sjweyman]

4 hours is the maximum permitted connection time between domestic flights *unless* you arrive on the last flight of the day, and leave on the first flight out in the morning.

A stopover that is not a connection, in theory, could last up to 365 days (366 on a leap year), corresponding to the validity of a ticket (1 year).

On an international itinerary (non-Canada/USA), the definition of a connection is extended to 24 hours from 4 hours.

gah ... you lost me at 4 hours pitz =) I think you need to spell it out for me. With these definitions you've just provided ... how do you effectively break your trip up into several cities (say 4 including departure city) and staying for several days (say 5) in each city?

[pitz]

gah ... you lost me at 4 hours pitz =) I think you need to spell it out for me. With these definitions you've just provided ... how do you effectively break your


Basically, with a North American Aeroplan ticket -- you can stay in up to a maximum 2 cities for more than 4 hours.



trip up into several cities (say 4 including departure city) and staying for several days (say 5) in each city?

Simply use the booking engine and a 'multi-city' booking.

[halflife150]

If you convert your points to business class awards, you can lead yourself to believe that your points are worth substantially more, but that is predicated on the assumption that you would actually personally pay business class fares for your travel, which most people would not.

So true, I know a lot of people who fall into that false reasoning. Market value does not reflect personal value.

[sjweyman]

Basically, with a North American Aeroplan ticket -- you can stay in up to a maximum 2 cities for more than 4 hours.

Simply use the booking engine and a 'multi-city' booking.

Ok thanks, I may try that sometime.

[RAINMAN0]

See these reviews on Aeroplan and aeroplan cards:

http://www.sbytes.info/wp/?cat=6

[cannon_fodder]

Well Toronto-Sydney is what, 16,000km each way, so 32k for a roundtrip. I think you'd be hard pressed to beat that tootin around North America on even a couple 40k rewards. ;).

Its a 21 hour flight going westbound out of Toronto to Sydney. If you can survive that in Economy without needing to spend a day or two resting in a hotel upon arrival -- more power to you :).



For me, its the difference between being able to go to Australia and enjoy myself for most of the 2 weeks vacation I have available, and going to Australia, and losing an extra day on each end because I can't sleep worth sh*t in Economy class. :)

I just came back from Sydney on the 777 in Executive class and I couldn't imagine how difficult this would have been in Economy. Even something as simple as getting up and walking around or standing in the galleys are so much easier up front. You can get snacks and drinks whenever you want. I've also done the Toronto-HKG in the same plane/class and the time passes very smoothly which is remarkable for sitting in a plane for 15+ hours at a time.

So for me, the power of Aeroplan points is highlighted with the ability to access Business Class seats. In addition, Airmiles to be used on Westjet typically gives you fewer flights from which to choose vs. AC.

[knapper]

I just came back from Sydney on the 777 in Executive class and I couldn't imagine how difficult this would have been in Economy. Even something as simple as getting up and walking around or standing in the galleys are so much easier up front. You can get snacks and drinks whenever you want. I've also done the Toronto-HKG in the same plane/class and the time passes very smoothly which is remarkable for sitting in a plane for 15+ hours at a time.

So for me, the power of Aeroplan points is highlighted with the ability to access Business Class seats. In addition, Airmiles to be used on Westjet typically gives you fewer flights from which to choose vs. AC.

I've done the trip 3 times now in business and have to agree with you. I go back at the end of March and am definitely fearing that I don't get upgraded (work won't pay for business). I am guessing from the last paragraph that you were upgraded, can I ask whether you are Elite or Super Elite and what class of ticket you had? I am worried that the beginning of the year is a bit harder since everyone has new shiney upgrade certificates...

[cannon_fodder]

I've done the trip 3 times now in business and have to agree with you. I go back at the end of March and am definitely fearing that I don't get upgraded (work won't pay for business). I am guessing from the last paragraph that you were upgraded, can I ask whether you are Elite or Super Elite and what class of ticket you had? I am worried that the beginning of the year is a bit harder since everyone has new shiney upgrade certificates...

I'm fortunate that my employer pays for business class for flights >= 8 hours and I get to keep the points and upgrade certificates for my personal use. I just used a 2008 upgrade certificate on the Sydney flight but I had a challenging time finding appropriate days/times (because only the 777 would do for me) that would allow me to use it considering I am only Prestige. I don't think I'll get to Super Elite this year but Elite will be no problem.

[knapper]

I'm fortunate that my employer pays for business class for flights >= 8 hours and I get to keep the points and upgrade certificates for my personal use. I just used a 2008 upgrade certificate on the Sydney flight but I had a challenging time finding appropriate days/times (because only the 777 would do for me) that would allow me to use it considering I am only Prestige. I don't think I'll get to Super Elite this year but Elite will be no problem.

I am confused, was your flight booked as business (first sentence) or did you use a 2008 upgrade (second sentence)? If it is the later I am surprised that you were able to do it as Prestige as I thought there would be enough elite/super elite trying also.

The comment about finding appropriate days/times leads me to believe you are taking about booking a reward flight, not using an upgrade, is this correct?

[cannon_fodder]

I am confused, was your flight booked as business (first sentence) or did you use a 2008 upgrade (second sentence)? If it is the later I am surprised that you were able to do it as Prestige as I thought there would be enough elite/super elite trying also.

The comment about finding appropriate days/times leads me to believe you are taking about booking a reward flight, not using an upgrade, is this correct?

I booked it using an upgrade certificate the day I received them. I'm sure that is why it was difficult to find appropriate days that worked because most of the seats were probably already chosen. The fact that I used 2008 upgrade certificates the day I received them also was a factor - I might have received mine before the majority of people had a chance to receive theirs or figure out what they wanted to do with them.

[Salinger]

See these reviews on Aeroplan and aeroplan cards:

http://www.sbytes.info/wp/?cat=6

Interesting blog, but I don't really follow his logic on the break-even point of the CIBC Aerogold. He says you basically have to spend almost $15,000 just to break even with the $120 annual fee????

I just booked a $458 flight to Washington DC for only $100 in taxes/fees for 15,000 AP miles. So, the card in one transaction, saved me $358 on considerably less than $15,000 in spending (when taking the 1.5 miles on gas, grocery and drug store purchases). So, for less than the $15,000 he says it takes to break even, I actually got a ticket net valued at 3 x the annual fee. Am I calculating something wrong?

[sjweyman]

Interesting blog, but I don't really follow his logic on the break-even point of the CIBC Aerogold. He says you basically have to spend almost $15,000 just to break even with the $120 annual fee????

I just booked a $458 flight to Washington DC for only $100 in taxes/fees for 15,000 AP miles. So, the card in one transaction, saved me $358 on considerably less than $15,000 in spending (when taking the 1.5 miles on gas, grocery and drug store purchases). So, for less than the $15,000 he says it takes to break even, I actually got a ticket net valued at 3 x the annual fee. Am I calculating something wrong?

Everyone values miles differently. Those who are hardcore tend to value them even lower than you might. Personally, I think the return is greater than they like to admit. Often they also factor in the fact that you do not accumulate any aeroplan miles on the flight that you redeem them for and that makes them less valuable. I don't buy into that theory myself ... but some people do.

Overall looks like you made out ok :)

[sjweyman]

Multi-city question for Pitz or someone else who knows

I want to book a multi-city trip originating from the east coast and going to the west coast and then back to the east coast with a week long stop in a USA destination inbetween.

Essentially I want to go from YQM (Moncton) to ORD (Chicago) to YVR (Vancouver) to YQM. Because Moncton is so remote it always take at least one stopver in Toronto or Montreal to get anywhere (resulting in 6 segments for the entire trip ... 2 segments for each leg).

Is this possible to do with only 25,000 miles on a classic rewards flight? I tried very hard on the website making sure to use unpopular flights dates (wednesdays and everything else) almost a year out and the best I could get was around 67,000 miles on ClassicPlus.

Is the reason I'm having problems because I have a total of 3 stopovers and therefore 6 segments to the total trip? Is that too many segments for a multi-city trip? Or is it because Air Canada doesn't operate its own flights to some of these cities? Some other reason?

I tried a similar scenario but substituted both YYZ (Toronto) and YYC (Calgary) in place of ORD. Using the same unpopular dates was able to get a flight for 25,000 easily. However, in both of these case there were only 5 segments to the trip instead of 6 because one of the legs, in both cases, was a direct flight.

Thoughts and helpful suggestions please!

[pitz]

Essentially I want to go from YQM (Moncton) to ORD (Chicago) to YVR (Vancouver) to YQM. Because Moncton is so remote it always take at least one stopver in Toronto or Montreal to get anywhere (resulting in 6 segments for the entire trip ... 2 segments for each leg).


YQM-YYZ/YUL-ORD-YYZ/YUL-YVR-YYZ/YUL-YQM shouldn't be a problem.


Is this possible to do with only 25,000 miles on a classic rewards flight? I tried very hard on the website making sure to use unpopular flights dates (wednesdays and everything else) almost a year out and the best I could get was around 67,000 miles on ClassicPlus.


Its possible with 25k miles, but the issue is availability. "ClassicPlus" for 67k just means that there aren't any standard Aeroplan seats available. It doesn't mean your routing is invalid -- in fact, the fact that it brought up a ClasssicPlus itinerary means your routing is, in fact, valid.


Is the reason I'm having problems because I have a total of 3 stopovers and therefore 6 segments to the total trip? Is that too many segments for a multi-city trip? Or is it because Air Canada


No, you're hitting availability limits, not segment limits. Its easier to hit 1 for 1, than it is, for instance, to hit 2 for 2, or 3 for 3. In your case, you're trying to bat 6 for 6. :(


doesn't operate its own flights to some of these cities? Some other reason?


No, Air Canada operates flights to all of the cities named. However, they don't operate ORD to Western Canada (United does, and AC just codeshares), so you have to route back through Toronto/Montreal, which really makes it difficult.


I tried a similar scenario but substituted both YYZ (Toronto) and YYC (Calgary) in place of ORD. Using the same unpopular dates was able to get a flight for 25,000 easily. However, in both of these case there were only 5 segments to the trip instead of 6 because one of the legs, in both cases, was a direct flight.


IMHO, you're running into availability limits. YYZ-YYC has what, 20xA320 a day or something like that now, and the same with YVR -- so its much less of a challenge to find something.