What is the best way to use Aeroplan miles these days?
 

I have quite a few Aeroplan Miles but looking to trying to redeem them from Canada to Europe it makes no sense since the taxes and fees are almost as much as purchasing a regular ticket in Economy Class.

Where do most of you use your Aeroplan miles for?

I have used them for Intra European flights which seem to still have some good value, for example Swiss, and TAP Air Portugal when I needed a one way to reposition and mileage was only 12,500 plus some minimal taxes and fees.

Within Asia it seems much higher than other airlines (I also have a FF account with SQ which I usually use for Business Class redemption within Asia).

Just wondering if there is are regions or airlines where Aeroplan miles offer the best value without being hit with the high fees and taxes.

Anything but economy tends to provide much better value.

Agree with the cow that not using them for economy is the main thing to do.

If you can get status with AC, you can at least avoid the YQ within North America. Still not going to be great value for economy most of the time, but helps save some cash.

To reduce the YQ going to Europe, you can fly a carrier that doesn't charge it, like United or Turkish. Lots of information in this thread.

One question you need to answer is whether your miles are just a form of currency to pay for whatever you were already planning to do, or are they a way to get access to things you might not be able to do if paying cash, e.g. flying LH F.

Thank you both for the information and the link Adam, that is really helpful.

I usually have quite a bit of flexibility and most of the time use my miles for business class travel or one ways within Europe if I need to position myself somewhere else or simply need to be in a certain city at a certain date, which has sometimes worked out well.

This time I was looking for flights for my son who is going to Paris for a week in January and there was good availability which got me excited only to find out that the taxes and fees were over $ 650 and a regular Y ticket about $ 800 including a checked bag. :)

Learnt something new and will search more for using my miles for Business Class flights with other airlines than AC.

Thanks again for both of your responses.

Certain economy routes even on AC can also be good value due to low taxes+fees or generally high fares. Tokyo is a good example. I recently helped someone book a RT on AC1 and AC2 in May which got them over 2cpp in economy.

aeroplan points work great when you want a one way ticket yet a cash fare for international 1 way is outrageously expensive compared to a round trip

also useful if you want a fairly short route that AC prices out extremely high to discourage shorthaul nonstop flights to their hubs (they want to encourage feeder flights to more profitable international connections.)

even with status, I've found some trips like carribbean/mexico are poor redemptions compared to cash/sale pricing since the cash pricing shown includes all taxes & fees.

// on the other hand, i'm told that aeroplan points work great for toasters and gift cards. (sarcasm intended)

We had a death in the family a couple of weeks ago. While it’s not the way we dream of using Aeroplan points, it was a very cost-effective way to get five people from Toronto to Atlanta on a last-minute basis.

Aside from infra-Europe, where I think there is good value, I just use them for repos flights, book NA for family and friends, or last second short haul.

I just used 60K and $210 in fees for YYZ- ORD round trip direct for 3 pax (market fare with 20% off). Not the best, but given the last minute nature of the trip and we want to fly AC (free checked luggage and lounge access etc), not too shabby either.

Still got about 200K miles to burn...

I used 450k and $810 to fly the family of 5 to Vietnam. Had not enough for PY or J unfortunately.

In my case it's a family trip I could not afford otherwise as flying a family of 5 to just about anywhere aside from Orlando is $4-5k just in plane tickets.

The best value is probably long haul J tickets but between Y tickets and no travel I'll choose Y tickets :)

The best way to use 'em? If you believe what you read, the answer is simple.

Quickly.

This might be against the grain as I have done some good flight rewards in the past (90k for a transatlantic J with a stopover and an open jaw was among the best - not sure if they still let you do that) but their discounts on AC gift cards have got me recently. They were offering $1,000 for 85k back in September which I took advantage of. Right now they’re on sale for 88k, which is also pretty decent.

I do get that there are some good deals when you can find them for Aeroplan flight redemptions, but getting better than $0.01/mile valuation for me is a win. Also with the gift card I can still earn more miles on the flight I book with it, and can book like usual rather than fussing with Aeroplan’s site.

I use the miles for intra USA flights.

I did DTW-SFO 12 HRS see the city, SFO-LAS, 5 nights, LAS- DC few nights, DC- NYC 12 hrs see the city quick back to DTW

25000 points $14 per person. there was 2 of us.

Got to see 4 cities for over $0.04/mile.
I did 3 stop trip J class for my parents, $0.06/mile
I booked a small city Canada to small city asia 4 segments, $0.03/ mile

there are lots of guids on the internet that will show you good value.

I'm saving my miles for the mini-RTW

Yeah my problem tends to be that my non-work flights are typically Kazakhstan, which requires 80k for a round trip Y. I can book that flight for as little as $1,200 round trip taxes in. So, yes, using 85k to get $1,000 means I’m a little behind the 8-ball, but once you factor in taxes and fees and the fact I can actually earn miles on the reward trip it kind of cancels out.