shawbridge

I'm curious as to whether there are non-Canadians who participate in Aeroplan. If so, why? If not, what do you use?

I live in the US but have a Canadian wife and was on some boards in Canada and used Aeroplan for a number of years for my *A miles. However, I was primarily concerned with status (*G) rather than miles (I have millions still yet to be used on various airlines and cards -- methinks I travel too much). When AC made it harder to use achieve status, I shifted to Aegean and then Turkish.

What would make Aeroplan attractive to non-Canadians?

HerpaYvr

Boy that is a loaded question

lets see what people say

Sopwith

I can't figure out why even Canadians participate. AE is completely and utterly useless. The aggravation factor far outweighs any conceivable benefit.

Jasper2009

Aeroplan used to be much better than many other FFPs, but after several devaluations if its reward chart and the introduction of fuel surcharges on most carriers, it's pretty average.

Why I (and many of my clients, both inside and outside Canada) use Aeroplan:

1) redemption rates for most awards are in line with what other FFPs charge
2) fairly generous routing rules
3) generous stopover rules (incl. stopovers being permitted on awards wholly within North America)
4) no YQ on a ~ a dozen airlines (which is still better than most non-NA FFPs)
5) ability to earn miles / top up your account via credit cards, hotel points transfers, promotions etc.
6) and for SEs: even though IKK isn't what it used to be, it's still much better than what many airlines offer their top status customers

Other programs may work better due to:
a) no YQ
b) lower redemption rates on select routes
c) lower change/cancellation fees (especially for elites)
d) lower number of miles required to earn status
e) additional reward space on their own airlines (e.g. SQ, LH Group)

But there are a few things to consider:

- are you planning to earn status or are we just talking about earning award miles?
- what would be "typical" / desired redemption?
- how many miles (incl. via CCs, promos, flying etc.) do you earn per year?

Marlin240

Ahh, time to settle back and watch the fun begin. AC FT has been relatively tame of late. This should bring out the flame throwers on both sides of the divide.

As to why I use/accumulate AP? Because it's easy to do with credit card crunching in Canada and hard for me to get cards from south of the border. But I'm actively looking to shut down those AP activities and move my "loyalty" elsewhere.

canadiancow

Because YVR and YYZ are my primary destinations, and AC is one of the two non-stops on the former, and the only on the latter.

And I like to earn status on the airline I fly, so I can take advantage of things like IKK.

FlyerGoldII

Getting J class fixed mileage/classic awards is difficult - unless one has SuperElite status. I guess if one has millions of Aeroplan miles in one's account, and no status - one can use the higher redemption rates of market Aeroplan awards in booking J class seats.

The one advantage to flying in the international configuration J class with AC is the "open pods" with flat bed seats. To my knowledge, no other North American airline at least in business class (I do not know about first class) offers such a benefit in J class.

Stranger

Taking about Aeroplan on its own, absolutely.

However for some of us with SE status still has some value; lower status, not so sure. And yes, they are making it harder for us to survive as bottom feeders.

Jasper2009

However, leaving aside IKK and added award space on their own airlines offered by SQ and M&M, award availability is the same across all *A FFPs.

So in terms of finding availability, it (generally) doesn't matter what type of miles you're using. Therefore other factors, such as redemption levels, YQ, change/cancellation/booking fees etc. and routing/stopver/transfer rules along with the ability to earn miles are the deciding factors.

canadiancow

There is more AC availability through Aeroplan to people without status than is made available to other airline programs.

I think OMAAT had a bit of a writeup on it recently.

So there can still be benefits to using Aeroplan miles if you want to take an AC flight, even with no status.

MSPeconomist

Many FF programs give their own elites benefits beyond what the alliance mandates must be given to all alliance elites, such as upgrades. Therefore, there's somewhat of a presumption that elites may be better off earning status with the program of the airline they actually fly.

rankourabu

I disagree, getting J class awards with Aeroplan is extremely easy. And no different than with other Star programs, after all inventory is the same.

It's even easier if u don't mind being a bit scammed and boom your awards on YQable airlines, or don't mind flying AC (gross but if all else fails an option)


Aeroplan has its good and bad points, but as long as acquisition cost of the points is near zero, it is a great credit card loyalty program.

As a frequent flyer program, it's a joke however

eigenvector

Yes, I noticed this recently while searching YYZ-PEK/PVG/ICN J on AC. Wide open for redemption on AE (with YQ of course) but nothing on MileagePlus.

Wpgjetse

Yes, if you fly AC often. If not, No.

Transpacificflyer

There is availability because the AC load factors onb\ the routes are not high. Some comparable airlines have significantly lower fares; e.g. Korean on the YYZ-ICN route and Hainan or China Southern on the China routes. If I want to fly to HKG, SIN or BKK through PEK it aint going to happen in J with AC. Just too difficult to get a connection. It is rather annoying to use 150K to fly to PEK and then have to pay $1,500-$3,000 for a separate connection flight that is an absolute hassle to execute in PEK and to a lesser extent in ICN. This is why I spend the full fare and just don't bother with the redemption. On my trip coming up, I would have gladly routed through PEK with AC, but the schedule to connect to BKK or SIN is awful and the connecting ticket would have been $2650. Redemption on AP is 80,000 pts for a 5 hour flight on the craptacular Air China with its regional config, or the awful schedule of TG and its filthy worn out planes. I prefer paying $5400 to CX and having a wonderful flight experience via HKG.