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Air Canada Aeroplan is one of the most underrated loyalty programs. It has a lot of airline partners, a public award chart, fair award pricing, and of course, STOPOVER AWARDS!
Most airline programs only offer non-stop award flights these days but Aeroplan is one of the few programs that still allow members to redeem Aeroplan stopovers awards for only 5,000 points.
And redemption has never been easier because you don’t need to call Aeroplan customer service anymore. You can plan your trips and complete your booking entirely online!
Read More: American Airlines AAdvantage- The Best Options For Point Redemptions
What Is The New Aeroplan Stopovers Awards Policy?
Aeroplan members can now book stopovers directly on aircanada.com. Previously, you’d have to call Aeroplan, let them know the itinerary you’ve chosen, and then have those stopovers manually added to your booking.
No disrespect to Aeroplan customer service agents because they’re awesome, however, the lines can get super busy when multiple calls start to come in. Not to mention, Aeroplan’s call center doesn’t operate 24/7.
Booking Aeroplan awards online is great news for all points enthusiasts as it greatly reduces the amount of time to book your flights.
How Do Aeroplan Stopovers Work?
According to Aeroplan’s definition, a stopover is a connecting point between your origin and your destination where you stay a minimum of 24 hours up to a maximum of 45 days in that place.
Stops that are less than 24 hours are called layovers while stops that are more than 45 days are called new bounds.
A one-way stopover is worth 5,000 points. For example, if you’re flying from New York to London, you can have a 2-day stopover in Paris for 5,000 points before arriving in London
However, stopovers aren’t allowed in the U.S. or Canada so flying from New York to Singapore with a stopover in Los Angeles isn’t possible.
How To Book Aeroplan Stopovers Awards
Booking Aeroplan stopovers is very easy! All you need to do is to go to aircanada.com, select “Multi-city/Stopover” on the flight selection bar, and select “Book with points.”
You can then enter the destination, stopover city, and destination that you want. You can also choose how many days you want to stay in that stopover city.
After choosing your itinerary, you’ll see a list of award prices. New York to London award prices normally cost 70,000 points in business class but it now shows 75,000 points with the stopover price added.
Just remember that Air Canada’s website doesn’t show a complete list of available awards per destination so it’s better to search award availability on sites like expertflyer.com before booking.
The best way to earn Aeroplan points is through the Chase Aeroplan World Elite Mastercard which lets you earn 3x points on Air Canada flights and other rewards categories.
But you don’t have to be an Air Canada loyalist to earn Aeroplan points because Aeroplan is a transfer partner of American Express, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
For example, if you have an American Express Platinum Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer the points you’ve earned from these cards to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio.
Read More: Effective Ways To Book Lufthansa With Points And Miles
Bottomline
Complex itineraries would still require you to call Aeroplan customer service but this new option of allowing members to book simple stopover flights online is a great move in the right direction.
Have you used this new feature? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
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