Loyalty programs, be it airlines, hotels or otherwise, will periodically offer a bonus when you buy points. Air Canada has just announced their latest one, and it could be a good deal, with the right use in mind. Let’s go over the details, and whether it’s worth it or not.

Buy Air Canada Aeroplan points with up to 110% bonus

Air Canada announced their latest sale on Aeroplan points. Between July 16 and July 20 (last day of sale is July 19), you can get up to 110% bonus. After July 19th, the maximum bonus will drop from 110% to 100%.

As you can see, you have to buy a certain number of points in order to qualify for the maximum bonus:

• If you buy less than 5000 points, you get no bonus.
• If you buy between 5000 and 25000 points, you’ll get 55% bonus (1.72 ct/pt USD)
• If you buy between 30000 and 80000 points, you’ll get 75% bonus (1.52 ct/pt USD)
• If you buy more than 90000 points, you’ll get 110% bonus (1.27 ct/pt USD)

Note that Aeroplan quotes their prices in Canadian Dollars, so you’ll need to convert any prices to USD first before you calculate ct/pt (above valuations are already in USD). Despite the fact that it says that applicable taxes and fees will be calculated at checkout, clicking ‘Buy Aeroplan points’ and filling in payment details didn’t change the price quoted here, which leads me to believe there are no taxes and fees. For clarity, 3375 CAD converts to 2404 USD, and so $2404/189000 suggests this is a rate of 1.27 ct/pt.

Is buying Air Canada Aeroplan points worth it at this rate?

I generally advice against buying points, because more frequently than not, the points are sold at an unfavorable rate. However, I think that at 1.27 ct/pt, this could be a very good deal, in line with some of the lowest points cost from Aeroplan (and other programs) and I have bought points at a similar rate previously.

There are two things to consider when evaluating the points cost. The first is that you generally earn at least 1 point per dollar spent on your credit cards, so you should expect your points to be worth at least 1 ct/pt. Secondly, the goal is to redeem your points for at least 2 ct/pt, which is why I always recommend to redeem for flights in premium cabins. As such, it’s easy to see that if you pay over 1 ct/pt for the points, you’re reducing the gain you get from your redemption.

I tend to think that buying points is worth it under the following circumstances:

• You are close to the number of points needed for a specific redemption, so you buy some to enable that.
• You buy a batch of points because it’s a program you use regularly, so you’re highly likely to use them in the near to medium term, or you have a specific redemption already in mind.
• In some cases, buying points because the rate is good, even if you don’t have a clear idea for their use could be a good idea, though I generally don’t recommend that.

Given the uses of Aeroplan points, I think buying points at 1.27 ct/pt will likely get you a good deal, so if you have a use in mind for the near term, I’d recommend making use of this opportunity.

What can you use Aeroplan points for?

Air Canada is a member of Star Alliance, but even beyond that it has additional partners outside of the alliance. Air Canada Aeroplan can therefor be used to book a large variety of airlines, though in reality availability can sometimes be hard to come by. Even though Aeroplan did have a devaluation recently, it still has some plenty attractive uses. Some of my favorite uses and sweet spots, in no particular order, are the following:

• Transatlantic business class award flights can cost as little as 60.000 points and 90-100 CAD.
  • This is how we booked Singapore Airlines business class FRA-JFK (which I reviewed last year), and we also used this to book Singapore Airlines JFK-FRA, for November. However, availability cna be hard to come by.
  • Also expect decent availability for transatlantic business class availability on Swiss or Lufthansa to e.g. Frankfurt, Munich and Geneva, for 60000-75000 points.
• Flights from North America to Asia will cost 102.500 points, which is a lot more than the previous 87.500 points, but this still represents a decent value.
  • These itineraries can be entirely on European carriers, such as Swiss, Brussels or Lufthansa, or in combination with an Asian carrier, such as Thai Airways.
• Short intra-European flights in business class can cost as little as 12500 points for distances up to 1000 miles.

Air Canada also allows adding in stopovers at a cost of 5000 points. I’ve also heard good experiences people’ve had with Aeroplan’s customer service team, which enable booking itineraries that may not be immediately available online. For example, if you search a flight from North America to Europe, and then Europe to Asia, an Air Canada Aeroplan representative can generally link these flights into one itinerary.

How do you buy these points?

To buy points, you’ll have to login to your Aeroplan account, and navigate to ‘My Aeroplan’, and on your account page, click ‘Buy Aeroplan points’ using the link right where you balance is.

Once you click that link, note that you’re leaving Air Canada Aeroplan and are being referred to Points.com, which handles these sorts of transactions for the majority of loyalty programs. On this page, select how many points you want to buy, click ‘Buy Aeroplan Points’, fill out your payment details, and hit ‘Pay’.

Note: because the transaction is handled by Points.com and not Air Canada, you should use a credit card with the best every day points earning rate, and not a credit card with bonus categories for travel or airlines. My recommendation is to use the Capital One Venture or Venture X cards or the Bilt Palladium card, which will earn 2 points per dollar. Otherwise, the Citibank Strata Elite and severla other cards will earn you 1.5 points per dollar.

Summary

Air Canada has announced its latest points bonus, with a great 110% bonus, but only from July 16-19. This is in line with some of Aeroplan’s best bonuses, and will have you pay 1.27 ct/pt (in USD). If you have a specific use in mind in the near future and you’re short on Aeroplan points, it’s worth making use of this opportunity. If you don’t have a specific use in mind but you do tend to redeem with Aeroplan periodically, this could also make for a good opportunity. If not, it’s probably better to wait.