# What are Aeroplan miles worth



## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

This article has a general suggestion that one Aeroplan mile is worth approx 3 cents

I just completed a booking ... as usual, struggling with their horribly broken web site (which dies any time I try to make a booking). Anyway, my result for a US/Canada flight worked out to *2 cents* per mile which is similar to my past experiences in Canadian domestic flights. I've never seen results as good as that article suggests. Mind you, I always redeem smaller amounts like just tens of thousands of miles, not hundreds of thousands of miles.

I'm curious what other's thoughts are? I find Aeroplan flight availability so poor, and so many web site issues (e.g. down for maintenance, availability calendar doesn't load, or gives vague failure warnings when I'm ready to book) that I doubt it's worth using Aeroplan at all. When I take into account how many hours of my time has gone to that horrible web site, and how poor their availability is, I'm not sure I'm coming out ahead. In contrast I feel that something like Westjet Dollars has a much simpler, more direct translation of value.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

This other article mentions recent Aeroplan devaluations, and their figures (1.6 cents) is closer to my 2 cents observation.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Those points (Aeroplan here) are worth poo-poo when they take eons to accumulate (for an average spender) and that there is an expiry date on them. I think it's one of the worst rewards for spending program out there (for the average consumer).


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## houska (Feb 6, 2010)

I personally value Aeroplan points at 2c/mile. As a very frequent flyer on paid tickets with them (so-called 100K status), I get preferential access to seats and so generally can get the tickets I want, as long as I have some flexibility. Haven't had many website issues, though the site is rather limited in the choices it presents and you generally get better results calling in (paying the extra $30 booking fee). I earn and redeem around 400k points per year.

The value of Aeroplan points actually depends a lot on what you redeem for, and how much you would be willing to pay in cold, hard cash for it.

Economy tickets to Europe, long-haul in Canada, and to sun/vacation destinations from hub airports often work out to less than 1c/mile, since you can often get quite cheap cash fares for those routes, with much better availability. If that's what you would use them for, don't bother! (By which I mean by all means get the points if the airline gives them to you for free for a paid ticket, but seek out better credit card options...)

On the other hand, short Canada-US hops, or flights in/out of small airports can be good value, since that's where cash fares are disproportionately high (given the distance, businesspeople's willingness to pay, and near-monopoly power). For instance, a few years ago we needed to make a series of personal short but important last minute visits to Washington DC. Cash fares were over $1000 (return), while on Aeroplan it cost 15,000 points plus about $100 in fees - a realized value of 6c/mile.

Business class international flights can be very good value as well. While availability is limited, if you jump through the hoops, you get them at about a 50% points premium to economy, while they would cost much more cash. You do have to keep an eye out on surcharges (vary by Star Alliance airline), but can benefit from more liberal stopover/openjaw rules than most paid tickets. It's hard to accurately quantify the value, since often one would just not be willing to personally pay the cash price. For instance, we recently redeemed 2 business class tickets to Sydney, Australia next January for 165,000 points each (plus some fees). Even a restricted business class fare for the same days would have been $8000/ticket, which seems like a value of nearly 5c/mile. But we would never have actually paid $8000 (my employer pays for business class for long trips, but on vacation stuff I'm a cheapskate...) - we would probably have bought a $3500 economy ticket and tried upgrading. So the actual realized value was somewhere between 2 and 5 cents/mile.


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

I would not recommend someone without credit card promotions / first year free / business expenses to use Aeroplan... because it would take forever to get enough points.

I value them at around 2 cents per mile, but prefer a 2% cashback (or travel-expense) card if I don't profit from time-limited credit card promotions.

Aeroplan miles I get value from credit card promotions / Amex referrals, but I don't spend much money on the credit cards, so I don't have a cent / mile comparison in that case. 

Trips I did thanks to Aeroplan, for 2 people since 2011, with not much spending on the cards :
- California - economic
- Hawaii - economic 
- Indonesia - business class


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## FinancialFreedom (Aug 18, 2015)

I just recently got the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite for the 25,000 point bonus. I'm not sure if I'll keep it yet or trade it in for a cashback card. I was disappointed at first to find they didn't have any available flights for my cruise this coming January. I ended up paying the $700+ dollars for the flights in cash. I checked again later just to see what dates around then they DID have available, and if I was able to be flexible and go there a few days early and come back a couple days late, I would have been able to get the tickets with points. Unfortunately I didn't have the flexibility this time around, but I have to go to a wedding next year in Mexico, and I should have more flexibility there. 
Just to be sure.. if you have the TD Aeroplan Infinite card, your miles don't expire correct?


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## jerryhung (Mar 28, 2011)

2 cents for me

but at times I have paid others $50 to use my AMEX Referrals ($50 for 15K referral = I get it at 0.3 cents, yah!)


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

I'm more interested in what they cost, rather than what they're worth.

If it costs 1,000,000 miles for a short haul flight, they're not worth a lot per mile. But if you got 1,000,000 miles as a sign up bonus on a free credit card, then it costs you almost nothing. Perhaps whatever the minimum spend is in the first 3/6mo, you lose the cash back you would have got with your normal card, but that's usually pretty low.

I will book the airline with the best value (price, connections, elapsed time). If that's AC or star alliance, great, i collect points on something I was using anyways. My wife and I both signed up for an aeroplan CC with a very high sign up bonus and no annual fee in the first year. We have our bonus, did the minimum spend, and will cancel them before the first year.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

houska said:


> On the other hand, short Canada-US hops, or flights in/out of small airports can be good value, since that's where cash fares are disproportionately high (given the distance, businesspeople's willingness to pay, and near-monopoly power). For instance, a few years ago we needed to make a series of personal short but important last minute visits to Washington DC. Cash fares were over $1000 (return), while on Aeroplan it cost 15,000 points plus about $100 in fees - a realized value of 6c/mile.


I'm just surprised you were able to find those last minute flights. I never can. That was a few years ago... do you find you're still able to find _any_ last minute trips on Aeroplan? Through their web site, I never can.


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

FinancialFreedom said:


> Just to be sure.. if you have the TD Aeroplan Infinite card, your miles don't expire correct?


Yes, but you only need to buy $3 of gasoline at Esso per year and use your Aeroplan membership card to get at least 1 Aeroplan per year.

Don't keep the TD Aeroplan so that miles don't expire.

Be greedy and use their first year free / bonus points offers every year.


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## GreenAvenue (Dec 28, 2011)

I don't even bother with Aeroplan anymore, I think I threw the card away.


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## houska (Feb 6, 2010)

james4beach said:


> I'm just surprised you were able to find those last minute flights. I never can. That was a few years ago... do you find you're still able to find _any_ last minute trips on Aeroplan? Through their web site, I never can.


First, as a top-tier status member, I can get an economy points ticket on (nearly) any Air Canada flight which is not oversold. So *generally* but *not always* I can get it when I need it.
Second, in the past 2-3 years, I've found availability is pretty good on United flights and some Air Canada short-haul flights even without that benefit.

But worth saying: it's a much better program if you are a top-tier flyer. It's a pretty poor program if you fly 3 times a year, get a few credit card points, and want to accumulate to take a family of 4 to Disneyworld....


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

houska said:


> On the other hand, short Canada-US hops, or flights in/out of small airports can be good value, since that's where cash fares are disproportionately high (given the distance, businesspeople's willingness to pay, and near-monopoly power). For instance, a few years ago we needed to make a series of personal short but important last minute visits to Washington DC. Cash fares were over $1000 (return), while on Aeroplan it cost 15,000 points plus about $100 in fees - a realized value of 6c/mile.


This is the only thing I use Aeroplan and Airmiles for. I haven't found anything else worth spending them on. I have considered using Aeroplan pts for Lounge Pass before a longhaul flights for work, but they say it takes 4-6 weeks to deliver the pass via snail mail :numbness:


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## houska (Feb 6, 2010)

Folks - returning to add that there's an element of "no arbitrage" theory from economics going on here.

Think about Aeroplan credit cards - they generally pay you about 1 mile per $ spent. They compete with premium cash-back credit cards, which these days pay about 2c/$ spent. Since these credit cards pursue the same market niche, and charge merchants the same (elevated) interchange fees, the value of 1 mile *on average* must be about equal to 2 cents. If it were more, the cc companies would lose a bundle (assuming the FF point networks also compete on price with each other, that is). If it were less, it would be worth the while of one of them to offer more miles per dollar spent.

That's on average. Since some people, sometimes redeem Aeroplan points for value significantly higher than average (premium class longhaul flights, etc, etc), there must be corresponding people who can't redeem at 2c/mile when they want to and/or redeem at values much less, just to balance it out from the point of view of credit card economics. So rather than be pulled in by the marketing hype, you have to ask yourself, "Why exactly am I in a privileged position to benefit more from Aeroplan than the average person?".

That's before sign-up bonuses. Of course, the cc companies try to entice you with sweet bonus point offers to get you on the band wagon, only to charge you annual fees later. So one possible answer to my question is "Since they're offering me free points and I can resist their blandishments later". Another is "Since my financial discipline (and credit rating) is strong enough that I can beat them at their game by signing up, cancelling, rinse and repeat."


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

You are also giving permission to having your personal info sold to mass marketers and will receive all manner of junk mail for years after you sign up for a credit card.


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## lightcycle (Mar 24, 2012)

The last time I booked a "reward" flight with Aeroplan miles, the additional taxes, airport fees and fuel surcharges totaled to about 50% of a comparable flight I could book on-line. Aeroplan wasn't a free flight, it was a 50% discounted fare. Useless. I cancelled my Aeroplan Visa not long after and I'm now using a cash-back card. Probably going to use the rest of the Aeroplan reward miles on electronics or something. And they'll probably charge me sales tax and shipping on top of that.

Useless.


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## ykphil (Dec 13, 2009)

The only good value I get from my Aeroplan points is for domestic flights within Canada or the USA, either short (15,000 pts) or long haul (25,000 pts). I have been using exclusively my Aeroplan points -I pay for my airfare, between my work (Yellowknife) and home (Calgary) every few weeks for the past several years. As a short-haul Aeroplan reward, the ticket with taxes and fees usually costs me around $80. Same ticket would be between $400 and $700 depending on my travel dates so I am easily saving a minimum of $320 per trip, which is significant. As others pointed out, rewards for overseas travel come with a fairly steep price and it is rarely a great value to use your Aeroplan points vs. buying a discount ticket outright.


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

I find it to more like 1.3-1.5c/point, after you look at the taxes and fees you end up paying out of pocket, and the comparable sale price of the same or similar flight you were going to take.

I collect them as points when I fly AC, and from a few retailers, but I use and prefer a cashback credit card.


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## ykphil (Dec 13, 2009)

lightcycle said:


> And they'll probably charge me sales tax and shipping on top of that.


No tax or shipping on merchandise. But then again, what you can get might not be worth it. For example, Apple iPad mini 2 WiFi 16GB Retina will cost you 49,500 Aeroplan points, but you can get it for $330+ tax at the Source right now, which gives you a value of 1.4 cent per point.


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## ykphil (Dec 13, 2009)

ykphil said:


> No tax or shipping on merchandise. But then again, what you can get might not be worth it. For example, Apple iPad mini 2 WiFi 16GB Retina will cost you 49,500 Aeroplan points, but you can get it for $330+ tax at the Source right now, which gives you a value of 1.4 cent per point.


My bad, 0.7 cent per point.


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

It depends how you use them. If you use them for a flight in Canada or say a AC flight from Canada to Europe they have very low value because of the add on Aeroplan fees. It used to be that we would fly Lufthansa to Europe on Aeroplan points. This saved us about $450. each in Aeroplan surcharges. This loophole has now been closed. But it still exists on United. So last year we flew to Vienna on United using Aeroplan points. Doing this saved us about $450. each. We have also used them on very expensive short haul flights from Calgary-Ft. Mac. Last fall we flew Toronto-Athens, Paris-Calgary. Cost us $850. each. Aeroplan wanted 67,500 points each and admin fees of just under $600. each. A real bargain? Not only that, the Aeroplan flights both had connections. Our Transat flights were direct, not stop. 

We are going to close out our Aeroplan Visa cards on renewal. We will use my 120K balance to fly United/Continental to South America on an open jaw ticket with one extra stopover. This will be great value-but only if we fly United through Houston instead of AC through Toronto.


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

fraser said:


> <snip>This loophole has now been closed. But it still exists on United. So last year we flew to Vienna on United using Aeroplan points. Doing this saved us about $450. each. <snip>


How did you manage to book on United? Did you need to call in to do so, or were you able to do it on your own somehow, thus saving the $30(?) call-in fee? I ask because last year when I booked my flight to FL from Vancouver, I paid an excessive amount of fees, IMO. I noted that the same AC flight, listed on United's website using United points would have been significantly less in fees. (I don't have a United card w/ enough points, but it sure ticked me off that the same AC flights were available for much less elsewhere.)


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Through the Aeroplan site I recently booked a United flight for PDX-YWG. In the aeroplan search it simply showed as a United carrier flight and I paid $37 in fees... that seemed like a good deal.

Like cedebe, I'm curious if there are other ways to book United flights like fraser is talking about! Let us know


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

A friend of mine lives in White Rock, BC. They always fly out of Seattle on aeroplan points tickets. Why. What they pay $500. for on an Aeroplan ticket costs $75USD if they depart from Seattle. Times 2 people is a fair savings.

I was told my an Aeroplan agent last year when we booked a Vienna flight that Aeroplan is looking to close the United loophole, just as the closed the Lufthansa loophole.

Here is how I check the United routings. I go in the United site, mark rewards, and see what is available. When I get what I need I call Aeroplan, pay the fee for custom help, and have the agent bring up the flights. Did this a last year for South America. Had to cancel but will be booking again next April/May for a winter points trip to South America. 

We live in Calgary. So if we are going to Europe we look for a United flight to Chicago and then connect. If we are going to Florida we look for a United flight to Houston or DFW to connect to FLL, MIA instead of an AC Toronto or Montreal connection. For South America, we will look for a Houston connection instead of an AC Toronto connection.


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

What exactly is this loophole?


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

none, I think fraser described it above.

Very interesting. So you browse United rewards tickets and then call into Aeroplan for manual help.


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

james4beach said:


> Through the Aeroplan site I recently booked a United flight for PDX-YWG. In the aeroplan search it simply showed as a United carrier flight and I paid $37 in fees... that seemed like a good deal.
> 
> Like cedebe, I'm curious if there are other ways to book United flights like fraser is talking about! Let us know


Just to clarify... they were AC flights being advertised on United's site: YVR-YYZ-MIA, then return. Similar to your $37, I think United was letting their members have these AC flights for <$50 USD. I reckon I paid around $200 CAD for the exact same flights because I couldn't find a way to book them other than via Aeroplan's website. I have no qualms with AC at all, but Aeroplan's another story. :/


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

We booked Aeroplan Calgary to Buenos Aires two years ago. Aeroplan on line gave us a connection through Toronto on AC tin. We looked at the United site. Called Aeroplan and requested a Calgary-Houston-Buenos Aires routing on United tin. The Aeroplan fees were HUNDREDS of dollars less.

We had a good experience with AC last March. We were in Sydney, Australia and were on our way home via Hawaii. AC had a great one way fare from Honolulu to Calgary (we had a low cost airline ticket to HNL) on their web site. Tried to book on line but could not. So we called the AC service line. The CSR was unhelpful and suggested we book the same flight for $180. more per person. We declined. Called back the next day. This time the CSR took the trouble to check the web site, agreed with our number, and immediately did a ticket for us at the web price . His comment was if that is the price on the web, that is what we will ask you to pay. It was Easter. 

Aeroplan is the same, it makes a big difference who you get. Years ago, after the CP merger, we could actually when we called whether we had an AC or a former CP employee at the other end. THe ex CP air employee was so much more helpful. Alas, those days are long gone. Aeroplan has since been sold by AC to a third party operation.


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

Just cancelled both of or TD Infinite Aeroplan cards today.


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