Aeroplan is one of my favourite frequent flyer programs when it comes to buying miles (when they are on sale). You can track our Aeroplan deals article to see when points sales are held and how much discount is offered.
In this post, we’re going to highlight 10 redemptions you can make using your Aeroplan points! Aeroplan uses a zone/distance-based award chart which you can find here. To figure out the distance of a destination, simply plug your departure and destination point into the Great Circle Mapper Tool. Aeroplan is a Star Alliance frequent flyer program but also has a bunch of non-Star Alliance partners which offer some interesting value propositions. Some partners to consider are Emirates, Virgin Australia, Etihad, Oman Air, and Air Mauritius, to name a few.
The list below is in no particular order but should serve as inspiration as to what you can book using Aeroplan points!
In this post:
- 10: Virgin Australia Perth – Melbourne
- 9: Singapore Airlines Australia to Europe
- 8: Thai Airways Australia to Bangkok
- 7: ANA Australia to Japan
- 6: Intra-European Flights
- 5: United Airlines Australia to US East Coast
- 4: Lufthansa Singapore to Europe
- 3: Air New Zealand Perth to Fiji
- 2: Air China Australia to China
- 1: EVA Air Brisbane to Taipei
- Bonus: Perth to Mauritius In Business Class
- Summing up
10: Virgin Australia Perth – Melbourne
Within the Pacific zone, any flight under 2,000 air miles will fall into the 30,000 points bracket for business and 12,500 points bracket for economy. Depending on cash flight costs, this can deliver a substantial saving! When you’re buying miles during a 125% bonus promo, you could get one-way flights in business for just $507 and economy for $211.
9: Singapore Airlines Australia to Europe
Ironically, using Aeroplan is cheaper than a KrisFlyer redemption on this route. You can even add a stopover in Singapore for an extra 5,000 points! Without a stopover, you’d be looking at a total cost of 110,000 Aeroplan Points for a one-way redemption. For economy, you’d be looking at 65,000 Aeroplan points + taxes & fees.
8: Thai Airways Australia to Bangkok
Thai Airways has excellent award availability from Australia to Asia in business class and the redemption offers significant value at just 45,000 Aeroplan Points + taxes & fees since all Australian cities fall under the 5,000 air miles.
7: ANA Australia to Japan
Another excellent redemption is ANA from Australia to Japan. Once again, all the departure points such as Perth and Sydney fall within the 5,000-mile distance, which means a business class seat only costs 45,000 Aeroplan Points – outstanding value!
6: Intra-European Flights
Found yourself in Europe with sky-high flight prices? No problem! With a lot of intra-Euro flights falling below 1,000 air miles, you can snap up economy award seats for 7,500 points or 15,000 points in business (although that’s usually not worth it).
5: United Airlines Australia to US East Coast
Another sweet spot is from Australia to the US East Coast. For example, a flight with United Airlines from Melbourne to San Francisco would cost you just 87,500 Aeroplan Points + taxes and fees. Buying these points during a sale could mean you’re snapping up one-way business class flights for AU$1478 + taxes & fees. That’s not all that bad considering these flights go for around 10k return!
4: Lufthansa Singapore to Europe
Lufthansa first class is one of those grail redemptions and while the seat might be a bit dated, I’d still jump on the opportunity just to snap up one of the limited edition Lufthansa ducks in Frankfurt. For 100,000 Aeroplan Points, you can find yourself at the pointy end of a B747 flying from Singapore to Frankfurt. Tagging on an extra domestic flight within Europe should also be possible since Singapore to Frankfurt clocks in at 6,389 mi which is below the 7,000 air miles range of the award chart in the 100,000 point price category.
3: Air New Zealand Perth to Fiji
While this redemption would be very hard to find, it’s still a fun idea since the routing stays below 5,000 mi in range meaning the cost is 45,000 points in business. Technically, you can fly from Perth to Auckland direct, then continue onto Fiji with Air New Zealand in business. Adding a stop in Auckland would be possible for just 5,000 points extra.
2: Air China Australia to China
This won’t be the most luxurious business class experience but still outstanding value! Air China is a Star Alliance member and flights from Melbourne to Beijing are just over 5,000 miles which pushes the redemption cost to 60,000 Aeroplan. Considering this is a 12h flight, it’s a pretty good deal!
1: EVA Air Brisbane to Taipei
Once again, we can hit the sub 5,000 mi pricing by booking EVA Air in business class from Brisbane to Taipei for just 45,000 Aeroplan points in business class. This 9h flight is served by their Boeing 787-10 and should feature the newer business class configuration. Top that off with EVA’s all-round great hospitality and service, booking a flight like this using Aeroplan is an absolute bargain!
Bonus: Perth to Mauritius In Business Class
Unfortunately Mauritius falls into the Atlantic zone which means that we cross from Pacific to Atlantic under 5,000 miles and that attracts a cost of 60,000 Aeroplan in business class. That said, 8h40min in business class is still exceptional value in my book!
Summing up
Of course, there are many more sweet spots and redemption ideas out there, but these should serve as a good starting point if you’re new to the Aeroplan program. If you want to share your own redemption, do leave a comment on this article!
