Air Miles and Aeroplan

I have both an Air miles and an Aeroplan account. I never use the cards enough to build up too many points and DH forgets ALL the time. We have booked flights from Toronto to Boston return, from Myrtle Beach/ Miami return and also booked a Paris/Prague flight one way a few years ago. We do not fly enough to earn FF points and use different airlines anyway. I have been a frequent visitor to these threads and have learned a wealth of info from many of you frequent travellers. Like all people, we do like to save money on our flights and have due to many of your tips. I realize that money is not the only criteria for picking a flight and have taken advice many times to be more comfortable while flying longer distances.

 

One thing I want to learn is if it is possible to book a flight say from Toronto to Hanoi for a month long land trip using the airline site ( any airline)and then use my Airmiles to upgrade to premium economy. We know we cannot afford Business class as we want to take another trip next spring to see some eastern European cities, ( Budapest, Warsaw and maybe Krakow), before cruising along the Norwegian fiords. Flying to Europe or to Viet Nam is more important to be able to stretch out a little and maybe grab some sleep, than it is while flying back to Toronto.

 

Do any of you frequent air travellers have any creative ideas, or am I just dreaming?

Edited July 7, 2015 by gubby

First, let's start with the nuts and bolts: how many miles do you have available? And secondly, and more importantly: have you maxed out your credit card sign-up bonuses? To be honest, while the miles from CC spend is nice, the real value comes from the sign-up bonuses - and in the case of AMEX cards, their Refer-a-Friend program is another points-cow :D

 

The problem with upgrading using miles is that usually the cheapest fares aren't upgradeable, so you need to buy more expensive fares.

You probably have a lot more points than I do

We live pretty frugally so not too much spending on the CC

 

I buy the Air Canada gift cards then use them to pay some of airfare in Bus to Florida or where ever or just help with the cost in Econ

It is probably not a good use of points but we do not usually have many anyway

 

TD VISA sometimes have promos where you get a chuck of Aeroplan points for signing up & no fees for 1 yr

Sounds like you're probably not interested in going this route, but my husband and I accumulated enough miles through CC sign-up bonuses, normal spend, and charging some reimbursable business expenses that within 7 months we had enough miles to book roundtrip Chicago - Vietnam in business class, with miles to spare.

Since you mentioned Air Miles by name and capitalized, I'll assume you are talking about the Air Miles loyalty program as well as the Aeroplan program. No, you cannot use Air Miles to upgrade (you can't use them to get business or first class to begin with either). And you won't be able to use Air Miles to buy the ticket, and then use Aeroplan to upgrade it since Air Miles will buy in the cheapest category.

OP , I feel your pain. Always find ourselves in exactly the same situation. Drive myself crazy joining a different airlines loyalty program it seems every flight I take. Miles usually expire before I can use them, but I did manage to get flights YVR-LAX a couple of years ago after round trip flights the year before on British Airways.

Thanks for your replies. I have enough Air Miles to purchase one ticket to Europe and enough in my Aeroplan account to do a one way to or from Florida. I guess with paying the taxes, neither one will save enough money if I am able to buy a cheaper flight when they are on sale. I shall simply use my accumulated miles in both programs to treat ourselves to some other bonus.

 

Oh well, we have never purchased something on these plans that wasn't need at the time so it has not been a waste of money.

If we are flying Econ on A/C I will buy a lounge pass (ahead of time)

Then if we have to stay in Toronto overnight we just go to the lounge early & relax & eat...not great but works for us

 

just another option

 

We only have 200 AirMiles so not getting much there :D

If we are flying Econ on A/C I will buy a lounge pass (ahead of time)

Then if we have to stay in Toronto overnight we just go to the lounge early & relax & eat...not great but works for us

 

just another option

 

We only have 200 AirMiles so not getting much there :D

 

If you fly in the day before (generally a good idea) you may find it effective to use the miles to book the hotel. This is especially the case of staying I an expensive place like Miami.

 

The best deal with Aeroplan is overseas business class tickets books in advance. That said you not quite a few points to do that. If you have a higher end credit card you can collect a large number of points if you put all your spending on the card. You may want to also look at what type of deal Aeroplan has on the actual cruise.

If we are flying Econ on A/C I will buy a lounge pass (ahead of time)

Then if we have to stay in Toronto overnight we just go to the lounge early & relax & eat...not great but works for us

 

just another option

 

We only have 200 AirMiles so not getting much there :D

 

You can also buy Premium Plaza lounge access. Depending on the airport they can be nicer than the Maple Leaf lounges.

OP , I feel your pain. Always find ourselves in exactly the same situation. Drive myself crazy joining a different airlines loyalty program it seems every flight I take. Miles usually expire before I can use them,

Let me see if I can guess....you hop around flying airline after airline because you can save a few bucks by switching?? That kind of behavior will cause you to have a bunch of "orphan" miles in many programs.

 

The other thing....you can earn in one program by flying on alliance partners. For example, flying United will allow you to earn in Aeroplan. Flying American will let you earn in British. And vice versa. So do you really need accounts in multiple programs within the same alliance.

 

And yes, for very frequent flyers, having more than one "primary" can be a strategic move. But for the casual flyer, think before just grabbing the lowest price. You're giving up the implied rebate through the FF miles.

Edited July 10, 2015 by FlyerTalker

Let me see if I can guess....you hop around flying airline after airline because you can save a few bucks by switching?? That kind of behavior will cause you to have a bunch of "orphan" miles in many programs..

 

Problem is, being an infrequent flyer, haven't really been able to wrap my head around all the ins and outs of the various mileage programs/alliances.

 

My DH and I each have about 18,000 in Alaska Air's mileage program that will expire in November. We currently have Easyair flights booked this October on Air France YVR-BCN and on American Airlines FLL-YVR. Could I get credit on Alaska for those flights?

 

Appreciate any advice you can give me.

My DH and I each have about 18,000 in Alaska Air's mileage program that will expire in November. We currently have Easyair flights booked this October on Air France YVR-BCN and on American Airlines FLL-YVR. Could I get credit on Alaska for those flights?

 

Appreciate any advice you can give me.

And therein lies the rub. Purchasing cruiseline air means that your tickets could be just about anything. And unless one knows the underlying fare basis for your tickets, it is a crapshoot as to whether or not they will earn miles.

 

Now your upcoming flights may or may not. Both AF and AA are partners with AS - be sure that your AS FF number is in your reservation for both flights.

 

As for expiring miles....you can easily keep your AS account alive by simple non-flying methods. Rent a car, stay in a hotel, buy flowers or other products. Lots of details HERE.

Problem is, being an infrequent flyer, haven't really been able to wrap my head around all the ins and outs of the various mileage programs/alliances.

Even an infrequent flyer can eventually collect enough miles or points in a scheme to make them useful. But you have to make sure that you make purchasing decisions that allow you to keep collecting in the same scheme, rather than starting a different one every time you fly. Of course, if you restrict your membership to one scheme, you can learn more about that one scheme and then base your purchasing decisions on what allows you to earn in it.

 

That may mean paying more money, if you're prepared to do that rather than just picking the cheapest ticket each time and ending up with lots of orphan miles in lots of different accounts. If you just want the cheapest ticket every time with no thought to loyalty to a particular set of partners, then it may be that loyalty schemes are simply not for you.

You can also buy Premium Plaza lounge access. Depending on the airport they can be nicer than the Maple Leaf lounges.

 

Not sure it is worth the $72 USD for 2 hrs of use :eek:

 

Maybe will check it out someday

Not sure it is worth the $72 USD for 2 hrs of use :eek:

 

Maybe will check it out someday

 

Usually I find it is closer to $25. IF you are flying WestJet it is also sold on the WestJet site as the WestJet Lounge, again for around $20-30.

Usually I find it is closer to $25. IF you are flying WestJet it is also sold on the WestJet site as the WestJet Lounge, again for around $20-30.

 

I did check for the date we are flying from YYZ for 2hrs usage

it was $72 USD for the 2 of us ...we are flying A/C

We just booked Aeroplan tickets for our BA-Valparaiso cruise. We also wanted a stop off.

 

If we booked using AC flights through Toronto to Buenos Aires and back from Santiago (don't want to do this in Jan) the cost, over and above the Aeroplan points, would have been $1037 per person. We changed the flights to United through Houston. The Aeroplan fee went down to $230. per person.

 

We want to stop in Panama on the way home. So we booked an Aeroplan open jaw. Calgary-Santiago-Panama-Calgary. All on United except the last leg LA-YYC. Aeroplan fee was $237. The cost of a flight from Santiago to BA was only $115 each. Actually we fly to Montevideo as we are going to Uruguay first for a few days. Otherwise, we would have had to buy a one way ticket from Panama-Calgary-about $500-600.

 

So, by avoiding AC and Lufthansa flights on Aeroplan, sticking to UA, we saved a considerable amount of money. This is the Aeroplan/AC ripoff. We saved even more by making it an open jaw to Santiago and getting a quick, inexpensive two hour flight to BA.

 

The Aeroplan redemptions are poor. Very difficult to get business class. We are just about at the end of our account and will then cancel that points card.

Edited October 8, 2016 by iancal

We just booked Aeroplan tickets for our BA-Valparaiso cruise. We also wanted a stop off.

 

If we booked using AC flights through Toronto to Buenos Aires and back from Santiago (don't want to do this in Jan) the cost, over and above the Aeroplan points, would have been $1037 per person. We changed the flights to United through Houston. The Aeroplan fee went down to $230. per person.

 

We want to stop in Panama on the way home. So we booked an Aeroplan open jaw. Calgary-Santiago-Panama-Calgary. All on United except the last leg LA-YYC. Aeroplan fee was $237. The cost of a flight from Santiago to BA was only $115 each. Actually we fly to Montevideo as we are going to Uruguay first for a few days. Otherwise, we would have had to buy a one way ticket from Panama-Calgary-about $500-600.

 

So, by avoiding AC and Lufthansa flights on Aeroplan, sticking to UA, we saved a considerable amount of money. This is the Aeroplan/AC ripoff. We saved even more by making it an open jaw to Santiago and getting a quick, inexpensive two hour flight to BA.

 

The Aeroplan redemptions are poor. Very difficult to get business class. We are just about at the end of our account and will then cancel that points card.

 

We've had positive experiences with Aeroplan, mostly for the reasons you state -- we don't use the miles to fly on Air Canada! Last year we used Aeroplan (in business class) SFO-LIS on UA. More recently we flew NH (also in business) NRT-SJC. On both trips we paid very little taxes/fees -- under $100 USD in either case.

We have also found that Aeroplan charges us considerably more admin fees when booking an AC reward business class seat instead of economy..same days, same flight both ways.

Edited October 17, 2016 by iancal

We had one other issue with an Aeroplan reward ticket that could have turned out to be bad news. Fortunately it turned out OK.

 

We had reward tickets to travel Calgary-Charlotte-Toronto-Charlotte. The Charlotte-Toronto leg was on UA I think.

 

We went to check in for our flight in Charlotte and discovered that although we had a reservation Aeroplan had NOT ticketed us on the flight. Don't really understand this but the bottom line was that we could not board. Fortunately we were checking in early. We had to phone Aeroplan. They realized the error and issued the ticket immediately. We then went back and checked in. Had the flight been full, had we been our usual last minute selves, or if we could not have reached a live person at Aeroplan we would have be stuck. From then on we check and double check.

Not just Aeroplan. Especially if you are on a partner airline, you need to be sure that you have a TICKET, not just a reservation. That ticket is the 13 digit number that is for your specific ticket, not a reservation. Look in the part of your reservation where it talks about receipts - look there for that ticket number on your receipt for payment (be it miles or cash or both).

 

Remember, the locator (six characters) is NOT the ticket nor ticket number, but merely a reference lookup to get to the underlying ticket. You need the ticket number (13 digits) before you can fly.

 

It can never hurt to a) check for the ticket number's existence and b) make a note of it. In fact, for some Asian carriers, you can only access your reservation online through the ticket number. The locator gets you nowhere.