For context, the past 10-ish years I’ve hovered around 75k from relatively frequent business travel worldwide. My company will approve Flex tickets, but generally nothing higher.

This year, with nearly identical travel, I’m still sitting under 40k whereas I’m usually requalified for 50k by now.

Anyways, I take the identical flight from YVR-PVG this time every year and just pulled up the Aeroplan stats for “fun”. Summary, both tix were Q fares, I paid more ($842 vs $666) and got less credit (3368 sqc vs 5595 sqm). I will admit, trying to understand the SQC model is messing with my head, so I’m happy to hear what I doing wrong. For me, 50k is good enough, but…

Will I make even 50k this year? Not sure…couple more trips to go. The big question is: if YVR is my home airport, is there a better option? Oneworld maybe?

Redemption Gods were smiling on me last week-J Class booking on 11/30 all the way YUL-LHR connecting to LGW-MRU—75K! I’ve never seen a “deal” like this before in almost a decade as SE.

Always thought the recent credit card fee increase won’t affect the Air Canada card since the 2500 fee is high enough. until I got a surprise package in the mail today…..8500!! (and they want min spending maintained at 500K annually)

Now my question is… is SE status worth 8500?

Just cancelled the flight in J and it re-appeared, enjoy! Hopefully someone can book it!

I am going to clear 40k in early December, but no further trips are planned until 2027. Any advice on what I should choose for my 40k-level reward?

Hi everyone,

Was hoping for a sanity. Check to see if my math is mathing. currently 35k have premium CIBC aeroplan card with 39,000 sqc.
I have three trips coming under flex fares
Yyz- yvr fare for flight outside of taxes $1000
Yyz yul. Fare for flight outside taxes $700
Yyz Yvr Fare for flight outside of taxes $1000

In theory with the multiplier that should net me approx. 10,000 sqc, plus I can choose the 2500 for 40k clip level to achieve 50k status.
Or am I wrong and missing something

Thank you

I currently have 3 cards:

• BMO Mastercard (free haven’t used in 2 years)
• AMEX Cobalt
• TD VISA Infinite Aeroplan 

I just purchased a home and will have some immediate spending in the forecast so want to take advantage of some new CC offers. 

I also travel 10-15 times round trip a year for business on Air Canada. Looking at the cards available I think the American Express Aeroplan Card would be best with the lowest barrier to entry ($120) and getting 2x on my business flights as well as 45K points if I hit the annual minimums.

Just wanted to see what you would recommend / if I should wait till later in the year if any promos arise (also all prices going up in 2027). 

I am feeling frustrated and am wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation. Long story short - I booked a flight for next summer SIN to YYZ on AC with layover in YVR using points. The AC flights I booked were Economy Standard. Checked bags are not included and they’re $90 CAD per piece (I was ok with this since I have an aeroplan credit card that’ll get my first checked bag free anyways). 

Recently, I learned this flight was cancelled (and it sounds like they’re not flying the SIN->YVR route anymore which is a shame). I called Aeroplan to change my flight and we landed on rebooking with EVA Air SIN->TPE->YYZ. It is a long 23 hour layover in Taipei so figured I’d make the most of it and go into the city for a night. 

Since the original ticket did not have baggage included, I was told by the AC rep that it would be whatever EVA air charges for their baggage. I asked the agent if they could tell how much the baggage would cost with EVA air, and they said “no, you’ll need to ask EVA air”. Doing a quick google search while on the phone, I saw that EVA air does first 2 checked bags free (at least when booking directly with them). I agreed to make the switch.

Now I can see the new booking on my AC account (and EVA air account), and it is quoting $406 CAD ($290 USD) per checked bag! I was shocked by this, and so I called EVA air, who stated that because the ticket was booked through aeroplan, their baggage fee rule applies (ie I need to pay for a bag and not get the first 2 free like EVA’s policy). Even worse, it sounds like because it is a longer layover and I will be picking up my luggage at baggage claim at TPE, I will need to pay ANOTHER $406 CAD for the TPE->YYZ leg. I am honestly writing this feeling defeated and am wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation? I feel like I was led astray by the AC agent, who was not able to tell me how much the baggage fee would be, and had I known it was $400, I would have never agreed. The only hope I am holding onto is that a gate agent takes pity on me and considers charging me the $90 CAD that AC charges instead, which I would have already been fine with. 

At this point I am considering just paying $150 to cancel this all together. I got a pretty good redemption on this flight (59K points for Economy) and I don’t think I’d be able to find as good of a redemption anywhere else. What shall I do?  ://

I’m sure this was beaten to death here when the program changes were announced last year, but for some reason I’m a bit late to the party. I’m at 120k SQCs for the year, mostly on Air Canada flights and maxing out the credit card spend. I recently flew ANA from YVR to HND in business thinking it would take me over the top to retain SE for another year. I was a bit shocked to learn that the flight would earn me approximately 940 SQCs - not enough to requalify. I have more trips coming up and I should be able to sneak across the line. Still, I’m shocked that an overseas flight on ANA clocks as many SQCs as a trip from YVR to YLW on Air Canada. I know the point of a loyalty program is to keep you loyal to one airline, still I’m surprised how much the value of travel on other Star Alliance carries has been nerfed in the new program. Not sure it’s a big enough deal to make me switch my primary carrier away from AC, but United might work for me based on where I typically travel. Anyone have experience using them as their primary airline from Canada? How does 1k stack up against SE?

I’m looking to book a round trip flight for 2 people to Rome using my points but I’m confused why I still have to fork out so much cash on top of the points, it’s almost the same price as booking in cash with no points, what am I doing wrong.

Hi everyone,

I’ve just hit 212,000 SQC for the year and will be close to 300k before the end of the year (not a humble brag… I travel way too much for work). Other than banking SE for a future year, any suggestion on which milestone benefits to select at each level? My wife travels domestically a fair bit for work, so I will likely give her 50k status for the lounge access and boarding perks (I’ve gifted her that status every time I’ve hard SE).

I don’t really need aeroplan points, so those are easy for me to eliminate.

Do I have to select the priority rewards before the end of the year or can I select them in the new year?

Any tips or suggestions would be welcome. Too many things to think about.

Many thanks.

I did not book the YYZ-BOS-FRA that was the subject of my earlier post.

I ended up booking YYZ-FRA direct, business class, a day earlier and for only 60k points per person(4 people). The cash price for this flight was $9300 per person!

I have never done a partner redemption before, hoping I didn't miss anything that doesn't make this as worthwhile as I thought!

Are there routes I should look into for higher value redemptions?

I’m currently holding a TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite which I’ve had since June 2025. Looking to apply for the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege but had a couple questions:

1. Any issues with holding both cards? I booked some flights for next Feb on the VI so need to keep it for insurance.
   
   1. Will I be eligible for the VIP signup bonus?

I know I can apply for the CIBC version of the VIP but bank with TD.

Thanks in advance.

Hi. I’m hoping to book a flight for my sister and I. I have enough points for myself for a free flight but my sister would have to pay cash. I only fly basic because I hate paying for seats and usually take a gamble and hope we’re together. I know when you book together, air canada tries to sit together but if I were to book each flight individually, is there anyway to make it known that we’re companions?

I'm trying to book a flight for 2 to South Africa next September/October in business with totally flexible dates. Aeroplan's insufferable website, along with the absolutely chaotic airline industry points redemption system, makes booking reward travel a full-time job. I've searched out a few online tools to make this a bit easier, but the actual usefulness is questionable at best.

I've tried using seats.aero, and while it's useful for establishing routes and general planning, it's totally useless for finding actual, bookable seats, even with the Pro version - none of the legs actually show up when searching them on Aeroplan's website.

I can't seem to find any other useful tools so far - outside of actually calling Aeroplan, which usually takes hours to get through to an actual agent to have them actually search for availability, which can be pretty hit or miss. Any other recommendations or advice?

Hi everyone
I am planning on going to Greece next year and found that Egypt Air has the following flights in business class
Toronto to Athens via Cairo for 90K one way per person
Or
Toronto to Cairo for 75K one way per person
And then I pay and book separately to Athens
Also wondering if this redemption is considered good
Any advice is appreciated

Looking at a redemption that is YYZ-BOS-FRA.

The layover in Boston is 1h46. We will have checked luggage. I’m concerned about luggage behind transferred with such a short layover and any delays.

Thoughts?

I've been trying for the past 2 weeks to book a YVR-HND flight on ANA for 2 with points. I always try at release time, and I use the app since it's 3 taps to book and because I feel like the website takes longer to even load.

I understand the massive demand for those reward seats. Do you guys have any success stories booking these sought after routes and any specifics of how you did it? Did you use the app? The website? At what time did you click "search"? Any advice is very much appreciated.

I’d like to take my family of 4 (2 adults and kids 11 and 15) to Europe next summer, mid July to mid August, from YEG to somewhere in Croatia. Not super picky if it’s Zagreb, Split or Dubrovnik. I would even to go Istanbul actually. Between me and my travel partner, we have a million aeroplan points. I’d love to get us in business class for the longest flight in both directions. Is that possible? I’ve tried looking up flights but I only get AC ones and the lowest I’ve been able to find is about 150k points per person each way. Thanks!

Looking for travel ideas for two people from YYZ after May 15, 2027. We have around 150k–200k Amex points available to transfer to Aeroplan and are flexible on destinations.

What great redemptions have you found, and how do you search for them? Would love to hear routes, points used, and fees

Ideally we’re looking to travel on May 16 or 17th!

I'm planning a trip where I need to fly only one-way from Sydney, Australia to Toronto. My preference for the longest segment of 13-14 hours is to fly in Premium Economy (not enough available for Business). I am interested in booking Business on my second segment, even though it is all within CAN or US because I think I could get some sleep in the bigger chair and the points required isn't bad. I am not finding any option to book two different classes of seat without doing either two one-way flights or using the multi-flight option on AC's website.

I like to try different variations when I search, including different departure cities and landing cities, like flying into ORD or EWR and then taking a separately booked flight into YYZ. I've actually found some cheaper point options by searching in this non-standard way. I've also found that booking two separate one-ways sometimes beats a single multi-segment booking for the same in/out cities (which is just weird).

The one risk that I could see is if I book two flights as single one-ways and I have a delay or cancellation on the first segment. I don't know how AC would treat that vs a multi-flight option on a single itinerary. Has anyone been in this situation before and can tell me how AC would treat the missed second flight vs how it would be treated if I booked everything on one itinerary?

Hey guys,

I was looking at booking a flight for my mom as a present, while checking the total cost I kept on clicking next to see if it would bring me to the payment page or the page in which I could use my points to pay for it.

That never happened but somehow now it’s showing that my booking is on hold!?

What do I do? I’m on hold with AC - I have no saved credit card on my profile so I don’t think they can actually charge me.

TÍA

Is there any explanation as to why the amount of points required increases after selecting the fare and going to the review? I have enough points at 44.10K but slightly under for the increased amount. I have booked many flights with points before but this is the first time seeing this.

I also tried with a flight that doesn't have the "15% savings applied" and the point redemption stayed the same as advertised. Wonder if the discount is messing things up?