You can now buy Aeroplan points with a 30% discount (the same offer they ran in August 2024)! Aeroplan Points are some of our favourite airline points to buy when on sale, as they typically allow for easy redemptions in Business and First Class, at a fraction of the retail cost.
- Tip: check out our guide on how to best use your Aeroplan points for cheap business & first class flights!
Aeroplan is of course the king of airline partnerships, and also a Star Alliance member, making for a tonne of airline partners we can utilise here in Australia. That includes Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Thai, United, Virgin Australia, Emirates, Oman Air, and yes… even Air Canada.
Buying Aeroplan Points at a discount can be a smart way to enjoy the pointy end of the plane in Business and First Class, but as always, it’s important to first research availability before jumping on a deal like this. When left sitting in your account, airline points essentially have zero value. Earn and burn should always be front of mind!
Currently, Aeroplan is offering up to 30% bonus on points purchased until November 18th, 2024 at 11:59 PM ET (1:59pm 19th September in Sydney). To purchase points with a bonus, visit Aeroplan’s Buy Points page.
In this post:
How Much Do Aeroplan Points Cost?
Aeroplan Points are sold in Canadian Dollars. Without any discounts, Air Canada charges 3.5 Canadian cents per point, which works out to around 3.8 Aussie Cents per point.
It’s worth keeping in mind that by purchasing Aeroplan Points in CAD, you might attract a foreign exchange fee of around 3%, depending on the card you use. There are of course fee-free travel debit cards, which we have covered in a full guide here. Unless the card you’ll use will earn a high number of points to offset the cost, we recommend using a debit card with no FX fee such as Up, Ubank or Revolut.
Aeroplan Points are sold in different discount tiers, with the largest discount offered to those who purchase 100,000 points or more;
- 15% discount when you buy 10,000 to 19,000 points
- 20% discount when you buy 20,000 to 75,000 points
- 25% discount when you buy 80,000 to 95,000 points
- 30% discount when you buy 100,000 to 250,000 points
At the highest discount level of 30%, you would be paying 2.45 (CAD) cents per point, or approximately 2.64 (AUD) cents per point.
Previous Aeroplan Bonus Point Offers
Before you take advantage of the current offer, it’s worth knowing what Air Canada has previously offered. Here’s a list of Aeroplan Point purchase offers over the last few years;
Highest Bonus | Start Date | End Sate |
---|---|---|
30% (discount) | 11 October, 2024 | November 18, 2024 |
30% (discount) | August 6, 2024 | September 3, 2024 |
125% | July 8, 2024 | July 11, 2024 |
100% | June 7, 2024 | June 22, 2024 |
100% | January 23, 2024 | January 30, 2024 |
125% | November 13, 2023 | November 29, 2023 |
80% | October 16, 2023 | October 25, 2023 |
80% | September 12, 2023 | October 2, 2023 |
75% | July 6, 2023 | July 12, 2023 |
50% (discount) | June 7, 2023 | June 17, 2023 |
95% | May 23, 2023 | May 29, 2023 |
110% | May 18, 2023 | May 22, 2023 |
85% | April 17, 2023 | April 30, 2023 |
80% | March 13, 2023 | March 30, 2023 |
100% | January 19, 2023 | January 25, 2023 |
Why Should I Be Excited About Buying Aeroplan Points?
One huge benefit of Aeroplan is its enormous list of airline partners, in addition to Star Alliance member airlines. Put simply, Aeroplan Points can get you pretty much anywhere in the world. You’ll also avoid fuel surcharges when redeeming with Aeroplan (something Emirates is well known for). So while it might cost you fewer Skywards Miles to redeem an Emirates flight, Aeroplan won’t pass on those obscene surcharges. Another cool benefit is that Aeroplan allows you to add a stopover on a one-way redemption for just 5,000 points.
The downside to Aeroplan being so good is that they do regularly block airline partners from showing award space, and then blame this on IT issues. So be sure to check the flights you want are available before purchasing Aeroplan Points!
How many Aeroplan Points Can I Buy?
Each year, members are allowed to buy up to 1,000,000 points, and each transaction is limited to 250,000.
When Do Aeroplan Points Expire?
Air Canada Aeroplan points expire if there’s no account activity for 18 months. You can easily reset the expiration date by buying, redeeming, or earning points from flying.
Hi Tom,
Can you please expand on the following as it sounds different to ghost flights?
‘The downside to Aeroplan being so good is that they do regularly block airline partners from showing award space, and then blame this on IT issues. So be sure to check the flights you want are available before purchasing Aeroplan Points!’
Have you an example of what you mean? And a work around hack? Cheers. John.
Great article. So as a rough guide how many points would I need for SYD-YVR BC return?
Thanks
I’m probably missing something very obvious, but would you say that when purchasing the points on a Qantas Titanium CC, the benefits can make up for the 3% surcharge?
E.g. this card offers 2 points per $1 AUD spent internationally (uncapped) – so you’re effectively being surcharged 3 cents per dollar (3%) but receiving Qantas points at 1.5c per point in surcharge fees which is pretty good.
Correct, you’re essentially “buying” QF points at 1.5c a point which is on the expensive side but of course, the value you’re willing to pay for each points + added convenience of using your card is down to you personally.