Originally Posted by
canadiancow
The only way I've consistently done it easily lately is to sign into Aeroplan over my cell connection, then turn off cell data, connect to wifi, and reuse the cookie. Signing in directly over wifi has been extremely painful.
And this workaround is only suitable for cellular-equipped devices that have access to a data plan in the country you find yourself in before takeoff.
You're being overly generous with "extremely painful"...