moretimeoffguy

When my wife and I travel RDU to Europe, it's nearly always using United saver economy awards, with the transatlantic portions typically being on AC (non-stop to YYZ, then onward to > CDG, FCO, etc). We've loved the service on AC. With Chase's 5/24 rule, United miles will be tough for us to earn (limited to non-signup bonused spend through our CSP cards). So, we're thinking of joining Aeroplan. The strategy would be:

* Each spouse transfers 50K Amex MR points to Aeroplan as a base. However, IIRC, there's a cost-per-point to transfer from MR to Aeroplan. Is that the case? Hate paying to transfer points...

* Each spouse apply for one or more Aeroplan credit cards. As U.S. residents / citizens, I thought the only cards available to us were the TD Aeroplan cards, with 25K being the sign-up bonus. However, going to the Aeroplan site, I see some Amex options. While I wouldn't pay the $499 annual fee, there was one Amex Aeroplan offering a 15K sign-up bonus (edit: seems like a $120 annual fee for the 15K, with no waiver of first year's fee).

So, which Aeroplan CCs are available to U.S. residents / citizens, what have the high-water marks been for sign-up bonuses on these cards, and should we expect to pay around 60K Aeroplan miles per person RT from RDU to Europe? 60K United miles has been the standard saver economy award redemption we've used for Europe with AC as the transatlantic segment partner.

* Are there any other options to consider for transferring points or miles from other programs into Aeroplan? Or other deals to generate points. We'd be happy to have enough Aeroplan miles for another RT to Europe.

* Rather than investing in Aeroplan, are there other Star Alliance member loyalty programs we should consider investing in, starting from nothing, so we can fly AC to Europe as a partner redemption?

Academic

One possibility is to get an SPG card. You can transfer into virtually any airline program and in some cases, including Aeroplane, get a 25% bonus for transfers >20,000. Aeroplan also has occasional promos that give an additional 25%, so you get 30,000 for a 20,000 point transfer.

Low Roller

I believe the excise tax fee only applies when transferring to US based programs, so Aeroplan would be exempt. Can someone with a US Amex card confirm this?

jerryhung

I don't believe there's any "fee" for AMEX MR (USA or Canada) -> Aeroplan

There's $0 for AMEX MR Canada -> Aeroplan and it's INSTANT

Be aware of the high tax/fees/YQ on some carriers (see my signature thread)

I don't believe any Canadian AMEX is openly available to USA residents, unless you call AMEX for a "global transfer" option, with some Canadian ties (address/etc)

My big Canadian CC thread
This is how we rack up AP QUICKLY in Canada, churning and referring basically....not by spending

Jerry's List of Credit Cards with $200+ Welcome bonus/Aeroplan & AMEX Churning FAQ -
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/jerry...g-faq-1685293/

alc

OP - since you mention "Aeroplan" "Europe" and "non-stop to YYZ" I thought I should let you know that Aeroplan/Air Canada is known to charge very high YQ on reward tickets on some carriers, specially Air Canada flights. We are talking hundreds to over a thousand per PAX. So, not sure if it is really a program you really want to join for what you are looking for.

moretimeoffguy

Thanks to all. Wife and I have already had SPG cards--so with one amex bonus per card product per person per lifetime that's not an option.

By YQ do you means taxes or carrier specific fees like fuel charges? Using United miles to fly AC from RDU to Europe with a plane change at YYZ, we've only ever paid taxes. Don't recall precisely but probably in the neighborhood of $250 total for both of us.

Glad I'm finding out about this here before making any transfers or other plays. So, using Aeroplan miles carries punitive fees similar to transatlantic British Airways flights using avios?

Low Roller

The US Amex cards do charge "an excise tax offset fee" of $0.0006 per point when you transfer MR points to a U.S. based frequent flyer program such as Delta. But I don't believe they charge this to transfer to non-US based programs such as Aeroplan.

24left

No charge to transfer from Amex Canada cards to Aeroplan

LizGross144

The fuel surcharges that Aeroplan charges vary based on carrier. There's a good breakdown of how to avoid the surcharges here.

I've transferred MR to Aeroplan with no problems. It's an almost instant transfer.

Low Roller

True, but the OP is American, so the question is whether US Amex cards (not Canadian) charge to transfer to Aeroplan (since they charge to transfer to US frequent flyer programs).

alc

Here is a comparison of a YYZ-FRA round trip on AC metals for the exact same dates between:

UA Saver


Non-SE with YQ


and SE with no YQ


What you see is that even a no body UA member pay less tax then SE (i.e. 1K for UA) than has the YQ waived. But if you are willing to select those metals that do not charge YQ for anyone (ex, UA metal) then you do pay less:



jerryhung thread in his signature discuss what non-SE can do to avoid the high YQ. In your case, it seems you are based in US and hence you should just fly directly from States, rather than fly up to Canada and then connect via the States again.

Hope these info help you make your final decision.

whatchamackallit03

Well done. ^

CrownRoyalForever

I think you've answered your own question. You want to collect MR points, as they are the easiest to generate via both spending and signup bonus. Just this year I've gotten:

75K: Amex Mercedes Plat
75K: Amex PRG Biz

Along with spending on the Everyday Preferred card, I am swimming in MR.

As for your second question, look into KrisFlyer. You can transfer points from Amex, Chase and Citi so long-term it may be the better solution.


Cheers

Cheers