ChrisA330

Aeroplan has added Gulf Air as a new partner for both earning and redeeming.

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/.../gulf-air.html

24left

From Aeroplan's website partner page https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...html#/airlines

About Gulf Air

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, commenced operations in 1950, becoming one of the first commercial airlines established in the Middle East. Today, Gulf Air is a major international carrier serving 58 cities in 30 countries.

Earning Aeroplan points with Gulf Air

• Earn points when you purchase an eligible booking class and travel on flights operated by Gulf Air. Some exceptions may apply.
• Miles flown on Gulf Air flights do not count as Status Qualifying Miles for Aeroplan Elite Status.
• Always keep your ticket and boarding pass until the points have been credited to your account. If the points for a recent flight have not been credited, you can request the missing points up to 6 months from the flight date.
• Points are earned based on actual miles flown multiplied by the associated booking class accumulation percentage or the minimum points rule.
• For additional information, please refer to the Terms and Conditions.

Minimum points earned

• For distances flown up to 249 miles, Aeroplan Elite Status Members earn a minimum of 250 Aeroplan points and SQM multiplied by the % of miles flown as indicated for eligible booking classes.
• For example, a booking class which earns 100% of miles flown will earn 250 points, whereas a booking class which earns 50% of miles flown will earn 125 points.
• Aeroplan Members who do not hold Elite Status will earn points based on the actual distance flown and the booking class purchased.

Adam Smith

I'm sure that Aeroplan members who already fly Gulf Air will be pleased to earn a few extra points, but I'm not sure how much this partnership really adds. AC doesn't fly to BAH and GF doesn't fly to Canada. When I search AC for a ticket to BAH, it offers me a bunch of options on LH, and even one on BA, but nothing on GF. So it seems like if one is going to earn miles on a GF flight, it's likely one purchased from GF or another airline with which it has a closer partnership.

Clearly they think it's worth their while to put these things in place since they're doing it, but I wonder whether it's truly worth the time and effort they must put in to negotiating all these little agreements.

YOWgary

Pretty much. Somebody must be seeing solid enough value on this to be worth putting in the time.

Gulf Air's route map seems to fit the trend we've been seeing that suggests AC is looking for every opportunity to open up new pathways into India and the Middle East.

Given that there appear to be zero direct TATL routes to Bahrain on any airline, the main value I see here at first glance for North American Aeroplan customers is in filling in multi-stop award routings between Europe and South Asia; if I'm trying to get a client from Athens to Mal�, they're going to have to connect somewhere, and Bahrain's a reasonable option if I can't get space on Etihad.

Not a huge win, necessarily, but more options are rarely a bad thing.

EDIT: Gulf Air are now seeking approval to start BAH-IAH and potentially BAH-NYC, routes they used to fly years ago but were defunct pre-COVID.

NB_Falcon

Hi,

Have tried multiple dates that show availability for 2 in J (MLE-BAH-LHR) only to get error when going to book (called in and same issue) anyone know if this is a temp issue or just phantom inventory showing.

Thanks

stevendorechester

I can see a benefit to some travellers. Flights within the Gulf can be extremely expensive, ridiculously so in Business Class. I' m off to Dubai and Bahrain this December. I have to purchase my Ban-Dxb flight. Cash fares start at over 300 OW in Y and and 1000 in J. I can redeem as little as 7500 miles for an award ticket or 1200 miles for J class. To me I find the shorter the route the better the value when it comes to FF miles.

loganre17

I like this partner - sweet spot is easily their J in the Dreamliner from LHR - BAH - 45K OW is unbeatable, plus their product is great as well

Vessel18

Hoping this won�t be an issue, I�m planning on purchasing some Aeroplan points today to book LHR-BAH-LHR, Falcon Gold. Fantastic value compared with booking with GF direct.

if it turns out to be a problem, does anyone know if I�d get a refund for the points purchased? I have no other use for them than this booking.

YOWgary

Purchasing points, or transferring in from another points currency like MR or UR, is a one-way trip, you would have zero chance of a refund if the exact flight you want isn't available.

That said, maybe call them and confirm the flights you want are actually bookable before you commit, or check that there's another option you would accept, like LHR-AUH-BAH on Etihad.

NB_Falcon

I would be careful before transferring, I have not been able to get a ticket to go through despite multiple flights showing availablity.

YOWgary

...which is why I'm suggesting they call to confirm first?

Vessel18

I found an actually available GF flight following a call to a really helpful agent this morning and have purchased the points.

I forgot to ask him, but does anyone know how seat selection would work on a booking made via Aeroplan? Would I just provide the booking reference on gulfair.com and manage my booking from there?

Thanks for your help.

ChrisA330

There will be a separate reservation code for Gulf Air which you can use to access your booking on their website. AC/AE usually provide those as part of the confirmation, but given GF is a new partner it may not be provided. If possible, I also update my contact information on the other airlines booking so I can get notified of any schedule changes...which is usually faster than the notification that would come from AC. If the code is not provided, you'll need to call GF to have them look it up for you.

atcanobbio

so, I'd like to book an award on GF but ac.com does not show the flights. will the call center be able to see the space? EF shows award space.

ChrisA330

You could try calling in. Given how new this partner is, it remains to be seen if AC has access to all of the available award space. The result could be that even though EF is showing award space, it may not be available to AC.