Air Canada Aeroplan Transfer Guide

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Program Type

Airline

Alliance

Star Alliance

Transfer Partners

American Express Bilt Capital One Chase

Best Uses

Star Alliance international economy and business class

Transfer Points from Banks to Aeroplan

Below are the banks that are eligible to transfer your credit card points into Air Canada points, along with the standard transfer ratios.

Bank Program	Transfer Ratio
American Express	1,0001,000
Bilt	1,0001,000
Capital One	1,0001,000
Chase	1,0001,000
Citi	–
Wells Fargo	–

Cards Earning Air Canada Aeroplan Points

Below are credit cards that help you earn points that can be used to book flights with Aeroplan after those points are transferred to Air Canada.

*Earns loyalty program points directly
**Earns bank points that can be combined with a travel card and then transferred to travel partners

Cards Earning Air Canada Aeroplan Points

Below are credit cards that help you earn points that can be used to book flights with Aeroplan after those points are transferred to Air Canada.

Redemption Sweet Spots

Most of Air Canada’s most valuable award tickets will be with partner airlines in the Star Alliance. Occasionally, there will be good value when booking Air Canada’s own planes with Aeroplan points, but it’s harder to find gems because these flights use dynamic pricing, leading to inconsistent points costs.

So instead, we’ll focus on consistent and reliable value with Star Alliance partners.

Air Canada prices many of their partner award tickets with their award chart. In fact, there’s 10 different award charts to figure out how many points you’ll need to book a flight. This depends on which region of the world you are departing and arriving.

Here’s a few examples of routes around the world that will help you maximize your Aeroplan points.

As low as 60,000 points for Business Class from USA to Europe

New York (JFK) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) on Lufthansa

According to Air Canada’s award chart, any business class flight under 4,000 miles from North America to Europe can be priced as low as 60,000 Aeroplan points.

New York (JFK) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) is 3,856 miles according to greatcirclemap.com so this is one of a handful of 60k routes. Boston (BOS) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) on Swiss Air would also qualify at 3,745 miles.

Boston (BOS) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) on Swiss Air

Additionally, longer flights up to 6,000 miles will cost as low as 75,000 Aeroplan points. Los Angeles (LAX) to Warsaw, Poland (WAW) measures curiously at just barely over the distance threshold at 6,016 miles, but costs just 75,000 points in business class.

Los Angeles (LAX) to Warsaw, Poland (WAW) on Lot Polish Airlines

As low as 55,000 points for Business Class from West Coast to Asia

ANA has a route from Vancouver, Canada (YVR) to Tokyo, Japan (NRT) that flies 4,674 miles. The award chart from North America to Asia is different than the award chart to fly to Europe. In this case, the cheapest fares are for flights under 5,000 miles and they cost 55,000 Aeroplan points. These routes don’t pop up very often, but could be a great deal if you’re willing to position yourself to Canada first.

Vancouver (YVR) to Tokyo, Japan (NRT) on ANA

Seattle (SEA) to Tokyo (NRT) would also meet the distance requirement for 55,000 points, but that route may be even harder to find award availability for than the Vancouver flight.

United Airlines domestic economy as low as 6,000 points?

Technically, Air Canada’s award chart shows that you should be able to book flights within North America for as low as 6,000 points. In theory, if the flight is less than 500 miles, like this route from Kansas City (MCI) to Chicago (ORD), you could find a flight for only 6,000 Aeroplan points.

Kansas City (MCI) to Chicago (ORD) on United Airlines

However, in practice, I searched a handful of United Airlines routes under 500 miles and found all of the ones I looked at to be 10,000 Aeroplan points. This happens because United is a select partner, which means Air Canada can price the flight however they want. This is also known as dynamic pricing.

It’s worth noting that 10,000 points may not be the cheapest way to book these United Airlines flights. Other partners, including United themselves might have a lower cost depending on your route and date.

Also keep in mind, there are many more economy sweet spots around the world I didn’t get a chance to mention in this post.

Refer to Air Canada’s complicated, but helpful award chart to calculate your preferred route

Air Canada Aeroplan Redemption Partners

If you want to dream even bigger beyond those examples I gave you above, here’s a full list of Air Canada partners. There’s a total of 58 airlines, so you can get creative with the trips you want to take.

Aeroplan Partner Airlines

Every airline you can earn or redeem Aeroplan points with — Star Alliance members and Air Canada’s other partner carriers.

Star Alliance

These airlines share earning, redemption, and elite benefits with Aeroplan.

Other Aeroplan Partners

Non-alliance airlines with a direct Aeroplan partnership. Terms vary.

⇅ Select Partner (dynamic pricing)✈ Codeshare only◐ Select routes only+ Earn only (no redemption)

Refer to the Air Canada website for the most up-to-date list of partners

Final Tips

When booking flights with Air Canada, you will be charged in Canadian Dollars. Make sure to use a card with no foreign transaction fees
Cancelling an award ticket will come with a cancelation fee (no free changes or cancellations)
Recently, the only transfer bonuses from banks to Aeroplan have been from Chase
Multi-city awards cost only an additional 5,000 Aeroplan points to add a stopover
Remember to check out the cards at the top of this page to start earning points and miles to transfer to Air Canada

Conclusion

Air Canada Aeroplan is one of the best airline transfer partners. With most major banks having the ability to transfer points into Aeroplan and the wide variety of great award redemptions, travelers will love using this transfer partner.