FlyerTalker70

This is arguably the next best kept secret in Aeroplan - you get to add destinations that are on the way to your destination for no additional milage. Any Aeroplan redemption which involves flights solely on *A partners like AC, UA and LH entitle you to at least 1 free destination or open-jaw en-route. This doesn't appear to apply to non-*A airlines like Canadian North or First Air.

Let me give you several examples to illustrate the types of bookings you can do:

• Air Canada (short haul redemption) : 15,000 miles + $244 in taxes & fees:
  • Depart Toronto September 4 at 07:00 arrives in Montreal at 08:14
  • Departs Montreal September 11 at 14:40 PM arrives in Boston at 15:58
  • Departs Boston September 17 at 18:10 arrives in Montreal at 19:24
  • Departs Montreal September 17 at 21:30 arrives in Toronto at 22:52
• Air Canada/EgyptAir/Swiss/United (international redemption) : 80,000 miles + $530 in taxes & booking fees
  • Departs Toronto Tues Jan 2 at 21:05 arrives in Dubai at 18:55 on Wed Jan 3
  • Departs Dubai Sat Jan 6 at 16:20 arrives in Cairo at 18:30
  • Departs Cairo Thurs Jan 11 at 09:35 arrives in Geneva at 13:00
  • Departs Geneva at 14:45 arrives in Zurich at 15:35
  • Departs Zurich Sun Jan 14 at 10:20 arrives in Newark at 13:45
  • Departs Newark at 17:40 arrives in 19:20

As you can see you can stretch a heck of a lot of value out of these Aeroplan tickets beyond a simple roundtrip redemption. The second itinerary I actually booked late last year with Aeroplan.

Domestic & USA itineraries automatically entitle you to 1 free stopover along the way. International itineraries entitle you to 2 (hence the reason why I could stop over in Cairo and Zurich on the way back from Dubai). To take advantage of the 1 stop-over benefit simply book your flight as a multi-city on the Aeroplan website. To take advantage of the 2 stopover benefit you'll need to call Aeroplan (and pay a $35 phone booking fee).

Note : You might notice that some reward flights have insane taxes & fees on Aeroplan. The way around this is selecting a *A airline that doesn't charge those insane booking fees (i.e. United or Swiss). It should be noted that short-haul redemptions require that AC, Canadian North, or First Air be the airline (i.e. you can't book United from YYZ to ORD).

Finally, I'd recommend you take a cold hard look at what constitutes a short haul (15,000 mile) and transcontinental (25,000 mile) award booking as there are a ton of sweet spots that most people miss when using Aeroplan like Iqaluit or Anchorage.

Hope that provides some insight.

Safe Travels,

James