AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
This promotion has ended; please review current/active promotions.
Right on the heels of the last award sale, Aeroplan is back with yet another lucrative promotion for its members. The ‘Big Summer Miles Offers‘ offers excellent benefits for redeeming and earning Aeroplan miles through the end of September 2020.
On the redeeming side, you can get up to 40% miles back on flight rewards. On the earning side, you can earn up 150% bonus miles on cash tickets. Unlike the last sale, this one applies to all Air Canada operated flights — including long-haul international routes!
Key Terms
- Aeroplan members must first register here.
- Applies to all new bookings made before August 4, 2020 for travel through September 30, 2020
- All flights must be operated by Air Canada or its subsidiaries
- Get 30% miles back on economy flight rewards, 35% back on premium economy flight rewards, and 40% back on business class flight rewards
- Miles will be credited back to your account within three to four weeks after the last qualifying flight
- Applies to both fixed mileage and market fare rewards on one-way, return, and multi-city itineraries
- Book a cash fare and get 100% bonus miles for an itinerary in economy and 150% bonus miles for an itinerary in premium economy or business class
- Bonus miles do not qualify for Air Canada Altitude Status
- Your Aeroplan account will reflect the bonus miles up to three to four weeks after completing the eligible itinerary
- Full terms and conditions
Redemption Opportunities
By far the most intriguing part of this promotion is getting up to 40% off award redemptions. While Aeroplan limits the scope of the deal to flights operated by Air Canada, that still leaves a lot of potential destinations.
Here is a table of possible flight rewards and the effective award price under the Big Summer Miles Offers:
| Route | Class of Service | Regular Price (One-way) | Promotional Price (After Mileage Rebate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York (LGA) – Toronto (YYZ) | Economy | 7,500 | 5,250 |
| Premium Economy | 10,000 | 6,500 | |
| Business Class | 15,000 | 9,000 | |
| Vancouver (YVR) — Montreal (YUL) | Economy | 12,500 | 8,750 |
| Premium Economy | 20,000 | 13,000 | |
| Business Class | 25,000 | 15,000 | |
| Toronto (YYZ) – Paris (CDG) | Economy | 30,000 | 21,000 |
| Premium Economy | 37,500 | 24,375 | |
| Business Class | 55,000 | 33,000 | |
| Vancouver (YVR) – Honk Kong (HKG) | Economy | 37,500 | 26,250 |
| Premium Economy | 62,500 | 40,625 | |
| Business Class | 75,000 | 45,000 |
Before you get too excited, there are a few issues worth addressing:
- Under this promotion, you must travel by the end of September 2020. With the majority of the world still battling COVID-19, international travel in that timeframe seems pretty optimistic.
- Aeroplan charges notoriously high fuel surcharges on international flight rewards, especially in business class. While there are still great redemption opportunities out there (especially after the mileage rebate), high surcharges are a real buzzkill.
- Market Fare Rewards—with variable pricing depending on the travel date—are eligible for the mileage rebate. In some instances, Market Fare Rewards can be even cheaper than the corresponding Fixed Mileage Reward. If that's the case, you'll see it labeled “Great Deal” in the Aeroplan search results.
Thankfully, one redeeming factor is that Aeroplan offers free award cancellations through August 31, 2020. With that in mind, it could make sense to roll the dice on an award booking and simply cancel if the situation doesn't improve.
Earning Bonus Miles
The earning side of this promotion is equally generous, if slightly less exciting.
Aeroplan calculates the number of miles you earn per segment based on a chart, taking into account the distance you fly and the fare option you purchase. The bonus miles for this promotion are calculated based on this number.
For example, if you flew in premium economy from Vancouver (YVR) direct to Montreal (YUL), you'd normally earn 2,869 Aeroplan miles (125% of the 2,295 miles flown). Under this promotion, you'd earn an additional 150% bonus miles on top of that, or 7,173 miles total.
While this promotion isn't earth-shattering, it's a nice bonus if you plan to buy a flight soon. Just keep in mind that Air Canada's cancellation policy for cash fares isn't quite as flexible as its policy for flight rewards.
Bottom Line
I continue to be impressed by Aeroplan's efforts to incentivize people to book travel. Getting up to 40% off Aeroplan's already lucrative award chart is a fantastic deal, and earning up to 150% bonus miles is a nice bonus. Who knows, maybe the next promotion will include partner awards?
Do you plan to take advantage of Aeroplan's Big Summer Miles Offers?
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
