Today I'm going to write a post on an airline miles currency I don't get to use that often, which is the Air Canada Aeroplan programme. I've never been based somewhere where I could particularly easily earn Aeroplan miles, and I don't fly Star Alliance that often. So some could say that I have a crush on Air Canada Aeroplan miles – I think they're super cool, and have dabbled with them once or twice, and know enough about them to write a post about them (if the last point applies to your experience with your crush, you should go seek help).

Aeroplan miles are great because they have a huge variety of airline partners, and really generous routing rules. They're part of Star Alliance (the biggest alliance of the three), though above this, they also have lots of non-alliance partnerships. Moreover, I like that Aeroplan seems to be run by genuine aviation enthusiasts, and that they're using the appeal of the programme to the leisure traveller to help boost their bottom line.

I'm also writing here because Air Canada Aeroplan is a HeyMax transfer option, so you can transfer your Max Miles to Aeroplan miles at a 1:1 ratio.

How To Earn Air Canada Aeroplan Miles

Air Canada belongs to the Star Alliance, which is the largest airline alliance out there. You can earn Aeroplan miles by flying a cash ticket on any Star Alliance flight, or you can fly any of the airline's non-Star Alliance partners, from Canadian regional players Air Inuit and Bearskin Airlines, to larger airlines such as Gulf Air and Emirates, to airlines in other alliances such as Cathay Pacific and Oman Air.

Air Canada currently allows for points accrual by distance on all flights, though they are switching to a revenue-based earning system (1 point per CA$1 spent) on all Air Canada flights. The airline has a different accrual chart for each partner, which you can find here.

Outside of flying, Air Canada Aeroplan miles are quite hard to come by outside of the U.S. and Canada. The best way to earn them typically is to transfer your transferrable points currencies into Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, and there are bonus miles to earn once you transfer certain "thresholds" of points (e.g. if you transfer 60,000 points, you get a 5,000 bonus). Since you can transfer AmEx Membership Rewards points in the UK to Marriott Bonvoy points at a 2:3 ratio, this means that you can get one Aeroplan mile per two Membership Rewards points.

Thankfully, there's another way to get them at even better value – HeyMax has Air Canada Aeroplan as a transfer option, so you can transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio (at the moment transfers aren't instant, though much like with AAdvantage miles, I feel like they're so worth the wait).

Best Ways To Redeem Air Canada Aeroplan Points

I'm going to separate the rest of this post into two sections: in the first section I'll talk about ways that Aeroplan lets you use points, and in the second section I'll get more specific about the partners that you can fly.

Air Canada's Aeroplan has really generous routing rules, and you can redeem up to six segments per one-way flight – that's two more than on AAdvantage! If you're flying first and business class, it might be fun to maximise the flying you get to do. Now, there are two notes:

• Air Canada doesn't explicitly publish routing rules like American Airlines does, so you might find that some routings aren't "legal" – however, Air Canada generally lets you stretch routings quite far (you just can't backtrack, e.g. flying from the U.S. to Europe via Australia)
• Air Canada does charge based on distance flown, as opposed to distance between origin and destination, unlike American Airlines; however, you'll still see better value booking a multi-segment itinerary rather than booking two separate itineraries

Now, I'm going to preface that Aeroplan is a lot less handy than it was in past – just this year, we saw Emirates, Etihad, United, and FlyDubai switch to dynamic award pricing, meaning that you'll get inflated pricing for reward seats in most cases.

Do note that you also can't redeem tickets in premium economy with Aeroplan miles, so this post will mostly talk about award redemptions in business class.

So, here are some of my favourite uses of Aeroplan miles:

1. Hop between Star Alliance/partner hubs on a multi-segment longhaul premium cabin itinerary

When trying to redeem miles on a multi-segment itinerary, I agree with what most people are going to say – award space feels quite limited. None of the Star Alliance partners release a copious amount of premium cabin award space, and it's worth recognising that.

Generally, if I'm going to redeem for a multi-cabin segment in first and business class, I'd start by finding flights between two Star Alliance hubs, in order to see which longhaul flights have award space. For example, I searched flights between Frankfurt (Lufthansa's hub) and Bangkok (Thai Airways' hub), and in this case was able to find a flight with business class award space between Vienna and Bangkok. I'd have been much more likely to stumble across this itinerary than if I were to find a flight from London to Hong Kong, as it'd be contingent on award space being available on more sectors.

I find Thai Airways, EVA Air, Air India and Singapore Airlines all to have decent award space in premium cabins, especially when you're not booking flagship routes.

If my dates are flexible, I see some premium cabin award space on Oman Air and Gulf Air as well, though this is harder to find. If you're targeting a flight on Oman Air or Gulf Air, I'd suggest trying to look segment by segment (e.g. starting with finding a flight to Muscat).

2. Plan a stopover for 5,000 miles one-way

I generally love planning stopovers on itineraries, especially if I'm doing a longer trip. So I wouldn't say no to adding a stopover (from 24 hours to as much as 45 days!), and it might even allow me to take advantage of award space, especially if I was just booking a holiday.

With Aeroplan, you can add a stopover on any one-way itinerary outside of the U.S. and Canada, meaning that you can treat the journey as one single award ticket despite having a gap of over 24 hours in one of the destinations. There are certain restrictions – for example, you can't fly to a city just for a stopover, then fly back to the city you came from to continue the journey. However, if you're looking for a few days to unwind away from home, adding a new city to your journey might be a great way to do so.

If you're a frequent traveller, you could even stop over at home, only to start your second segment on another journey.

3. Pick up shorthaul tickets using Aeroplan miles

While this might not the best option, you'll be able to fly shorthaul flights within Europe for around 7,500 miles in economy class, or 15,000 miles in business class. This can come in handy as Star Alliance has a great network within Europe, especially in the mainland – you can fly any of the Lufthansa Group carriers, Aegean, TAP Portugal, etc.

Similarly, intra-Asia, you'll be able to fly short hops from 8,000 miles. This also comes in handy because of the partners Aeroplan has – not just major Star Alliance players Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, EVA Air and Asiana, but you can fly Cathay Pacific as well, as well as Chinese carriers Air China and Shenzhen Airlines.

As a point of comparison, Singapore Airlines to Hong Kong costs 12,500 Aeroplan miles in economy class one-way, and 30,000 miles in business class – that's substantially more than what Qatar Airways Avios charges for Cathay Pacific flights. However, with Aeroplan you can mix and match Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and Cathay Pacific (without bringing up the fare), or even United via Ho Chi Minh City – that specific flight doesn't use dynamic award pricing, for some reason. If that's of appeal to you, you might enjoy using Aeroplan miles (I know I'd certainly enjoy this).

The best airlines to redeem Air Canada Aeroplan Points on

Aeroplan has such a diverse range of airline partners, as well as a flat award chart across all of them, except for Air Canada, United, Etihad, and With that in mind, here are some of the airlines that I'd seek out when redeeming my Aeroplan points:

EVA Air business class

Not only is EVA Air known to be one of the best Star Alliance business class products out there, but award availability is generally quite good on EVA Air as well. EVA Air operates flights in and out of Taipei, and I'd seek the airline out in business class.

Singapore Airlines business class

While Singapore Airlines isn't exactly "underrated", there's no denying that the airline is a great use of any mileage redemption, including Aeroplan miles. Singapore Airlines' flights to and from London Gatwick have quite a bit of award space, as well as to other destinations in mainland Europe.

Thai Airways business class

Here's one some might consider a bit of a wildcard. Thai Airways has massively upgraded their business class experience post-COVID, and they're a contender for one of the top business class products flying between Asia and Europe. You can find good award availability between Bangkok and mainland Europe for 80,000 Aeroplan miles.

Oman Air business class

Confession – I haven't flown Oman Air business class before. However, it's one of the business class products I most want to try, given the number of good things I've heard about the product. Oman Air features some award space if you're flexible, especially from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to cities such as Zurich and Frankfurt (more so than to Paris and London). I've heard great things about the airline's catering, as well as their new hub airport in Muscat.

Gulf Air business class

Another airline I'm plugging without having flown before – I've heard amazing things about Gulf Air as well, based in Bahrain. They feature less award space than Oman Air does, though you'll still be able to find some flights to Bangkok.

Here are some other Air Canada airline partners to keep on your radar:

• ANA and Cathay Pacific are major players on the list, though I don't remember the last time I've seen an award seat on them
• It's worth looking out for Juneyao Airlines and Air China, as they've massively upgraded their business class products post-COVID
• I've not flown Shenzhen Airlines' business class, though I've heard some good things, and there's good award availability between London and Shenzhen
• While I love Emirates and Etihad business class, neither are good enough for me to justify the much higher award pricing on them
• If you're flying transatlantically you've got much fewer appealing options (since United and Air Canada feature higher dynamic award pricing), though seek out Singapore Airlines' fifth-freedom route from Frankfurt to New York, Austrian Airlines, SAS, or Swiss

Conclusion

Air Canada's Aeroplan miles don't feature too many "sweet spots" anymore, though they're a trusty award programme with a ton of airline partners. While they're not the easiest to come by and I personally don't earn them much, it's always a treat to use them, due to the variety of airline partners you get. They're a great way to use your HeyMax miles, especially if you're trying to fly longhaul in business class.