#5 Among Airlines
Point Value
1.4 ¢
Program Score
7.8
Air Canada Aeroplan offers access to one of the largest airline partner networks in the world and accepts transfers from multiple major credit card programs.
Air Canada Aeroplan associated alliance is Star Alliance
Visit Star Alliance
As with most airline loyalty programs, the quickest way to earn Aeroplan points is to fly on Air Canada (or one of its many partner airlines) or to open a co-branded credit card.
Aeroplan moved to a revenue-based earning system in 2026. You will earn points based on how much you spend on paid flights, and your earnings will scale with your status level.
Air Canada offers one co-branded credit card to U.S. customers, the Chase Aeroplan card. It comes with a strong signup bonus, automatic Aeroplan 25K Status, and several Air Canada-specific perks. The card is best suited to travelers who fly Air Canada enough to justify its $195 annual fee.
Air Canada partners with four transferable points programs: American Express, Chase, Bilt, and Capital One. This makes it easy to top up your balance or book flights with Air Canada or one of its many partners.
Air Canada belongs to Star Alliance and also has a variety of non–Star Alliance partners. You can earn Aeroplan points when flying these partners, but how much you earn differs by airline and fare class. Check out all their partners here to see how many points you’ll earn with each one.
Use Family Sharing
Aeroplan Family Sharing lets you create a group with up to eight verified members. Members do not need to live at the same address, making it one of the most flexible family pooling programs. Existing and newly earned points are combined into a shared balance for redemptions.
The Verified Family Lead must be at least 18 years old and have been an Aeroplan member for at least six months. The lead decides which members receive redemption privileges. When points are redeemed, Aeroplan deducts them proportionally from each member’s individual balance.
Family Sharing is especially valuable when members earn transferable currencies that do not allow direct point sharing, such as Amex Membership Rewards or Bilt Rewards. Two members can each transfer points to their own Aeroplan accounts and then access the combined balance through Family Sharing.
Transfer points between members
Aeroplan also lets you transfer points directly between accounts for a fee. Because Family Sharing is free and more flexible, paid transfers generally only make sense when Family Sharing isn't an option.
The card now provides 5,000 Status Qualifying Credits (SQC) each year automatically, with additional SQC and elite status available through higher annual spending.
Special Offers Related to Air Canada Aeroplan. Click the arrow to see more.
The Chase Aeroplan Card is offering up to 115,000 points: 75,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months, plus 40,000 more after spending $20,000 total in the first 12 months. The card also received a major refresh, with the annual fee increasing from $95 to $195. New benefits include automatic Aeroplan 25K Status with no spending requirement, 15% off eligible Air Canada award flights, up to $100 per year in Air Canada credits, and 5,000 Status Qualifying Credits each year. The card now earns 3X on travel and 2X on groceries, dining, and gas, but loses the 10% bonus on Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to Aeroplan and the 500-point bonus for every $2,000 spent each month.
Delta and Hyatt have announced a new long-term loyalty partnership that will launch in the coming months, just as Hyatt and American Airlines announced the end of their partnership. When it launches, elite members of both programs will get a new Dual Earn benefit. Delta Medallion members will earn SkyMiles on qualifying Hyatt stays in addition to their usual World of Hyatt earnings, while World of Hyatt elite members will earn Hyatt points on qualifying Delta flights in addition to their usual SkyMiles earnings. Delta and Hyatt say additional benefits and opportunities will be added over time, but they haven't released many other details yet, including when everything will begin. Hyatt also launched a partnership with Air Canada Aeroplan over the summer, so World of Hyatt members will have reciprocal benefits with two major airline loyalty programs.
Update: Just hours after Hyatt and American announced the end of their partnership, Hyatt and Delta announced a new long-term partnership that will launch in the coming months. The new partnership will initially include reciprocal earning opportunities for elite members of both programs, with additional benefits expected to be announced. See our Delta/Hyatt Breaking Point for more information.
Hyatt and American Airlines are ending their loyalty partnership after more than seven years. If you link your World of Hyatt and AAdvantage accounts by November 15, 2026, you can continue using the current reciprocal Milestone and Loyalty Point Rewards through the end of each program's current earning year. AAdvantage members can continue earning Hyatt awards through Loyalty Point Rewards through February 28, 2027, while Hyatt members can continue earning AAdvantage awards through Milestone Rewards through December 31, 2026. One benefit will remain after the partnership ends: AAdvantage members can continue choosing to earn 500 AAdvantage miles instead of World of Hyatt points on eligible Hyatt stays (we do not recommend this). Hyatt recently launched a separate partnership with Air Canada Aeroplan, offering reciprocal status challenges, new earning and redemption options, and a handful of other benefits. The most interesting is that Aeroplan elite members can fast-track to Hyatt Globalist after earning 20 elite nights in 90 days, compared to the usual requirement of 60 elite nights in a calendar year.
If you're a parent who wants travels with a lap infant, Atmos Rewards has introduced a very generous policy on award tickets. When booking an award flight through Atmos, you'll only have to pay the applicable government taxes and fees to add a lap infant under two years old. No additional points will be required. This applies to all award redemptions, whether you're flying Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, or one of Atmos' partner airlines. Many airline programs charge 10% of the adult cash fare for a lap infant, which can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars on premium-cabin tickets. Atmos' new policy is among the most generous available, joining programs like Air Canada Aeroplan, which charges just 2,500 points or $25 CAD, while Virgin Atlantic generally charges 1,000 to 7,000 points depending on the cabin. You'll need to call Atmos to add a lap infant to an award booking.
Air Canada has more than 45 airline partners, so redeeming your points for flights is generally your best option. Searching is simple on Air Canada’s website or app. Click “Book with Aeroplan points” when searching to see what’s available. You can view results by the week and easily sort by airline. Nearly all partners are included in the award search, which makes the process straightforward.
Air Canada publishes a distance-based award chart, but pricing on Air Canada-booked awards is often higher than the chart minimums due to dynamic pricing and routing. The prices listed in our sweet spots reflect what is consistently bookable in real searches, not theoretical chart floors that rarely appear in practice. If you notice a discrepancy between the award chart and our sweet spot prices, that’s why. You can view the award charts here.
One of the best ways to maximize Aeroplan points is to use their stopover program. A stopover is a layover of more than 24 hours, and with Aeroplan you can stay between 24 hours and up to 45 days.
You can book stopovers online by selecting the “Multi-city/Stopover” option when searching for flights:
Stopover example
In many cases you’d have a layover in one of these cities anyway, so extending the stay can break up long flights and add extra destinations for a low cost.
Chase Aeroplan cardholders can use Pay Yourself Back to redeem Aeroplan points for statement credits toward eligible purchases made with the card within the previous 90 days.
The redemption value is shown before you redeem and can change over time, as can eligible purchase categories and redemption limits. Only points earned through Aeroplan, the Chase Aeroplan Card, or Chase Ultimate Rewards can be used with Pay Yourself Back. Points transferred to Aeroplan from other programs are not eligible.
You can redeem Aeroplan points for hotel stays, car rentals, vacation packages, and other purchases, but these options generally offer less value than redeeming for flights. Chase Aeroplan cardholders can get a fourth night free when redeeming points for three consecutive hotel nights in the same booking. Starting in January 2027, cardholders can also get a fourth day free on eligible car rentals booked with Aeroplan points.
Discover your points' highest-value redemption options. Use the filters to find the optimal sweet spot for your next trip.
Aeroplan uses a distance-based award chart, so pricing is more predictable than fully dynamic programs. Check the chart before booking, especially when comparing partner awards across different regions and distance bands.
Aeroplan lets you add a stopover on a one-way award for 5,000 additional points. This can be useful on longer international trips where you want to visit two destinations on one award or break up a long flight.
Aeroplan allows mixed-cabin awards, which can lower the price when a short segment is in economy and the long segment is in a premium cabin. Check the cabin breakdown before booking so you know which flights are actually in a premium cabin.
Aeroplan is best for travelers who are comfortable comparing award options and looking for value across a large partner network. It’s a strong program with plenty of sweet spots, especially with more than 45 airline partners spanning both Star Alliance and non-alliance carriers. But the mix of dynamic and distance-based pricing can make it more complicated for beginners.
Aeroplan can be especially valuable for premium cabin redemptions and more complex international itineraries, particularly on partners. Adding stopovers for only 5,000 Aeroplan miles can significantly increase the value of a trip, but doing so requires some flexibility and extra planning. For travelers who enjoy building creative itineraries and maximizing their points, Aeroplan offers tremendous potential.
Aeroplan overhauled its elite status program in 2026, introducing a spend-based system instead of miles or segments flown. Aeroplan members now must earn SQCs, or Status Qualifying Credits, to earn elite status with the airline.
Here is how you earn SQCs:
Aeroplan offers five elite status levels, and status is based on the calendar year. If you meet the requirements in 2026, you’ll keep that status for the rest of 2026 and through 2027.
Here are the current requirements and benefits of each level (as of 2025):
Aeroplan introduced Milestone Rewards in 2026, starting at 10,000 SQCs and every 10k SQCs up to 200k. Then every 20k SQCs after that up to 1 million. Below are the benefits for each milestone.
Aeroplan miles expire after 18 months of inactivity. If you cancel your Chase Aeroplan credit card, your miles remain safe for at least that long. But remember this is the only Aeroplan co-branded card available in the United States, and it follows Chase’s 24 From Bonus rule. If you cancel, you won’t be eligible for another signup bonus until 24 months have passed since you received the first one.
No, Aeroplan membership alone does not include a free checked bag. All five elite tiers receive at least two free bags, and the Chase Aeroplan credit card adds one free checked bag for you and up to eight companions booked on the same reservation.
United is not part of the Aeroplan program, but it is an Air Canada partner. You can redeem Aeroplan points to fly United, and their flights appear in your search results whenever United flies the route and award space is available for that itinerary.
Aeroplan has many strong redemptions. Short flights under 500 miles within the U.S. or Canada can cost as few as 7,000 points. You can also reach Europe for as little as 35,00 points each way if the total distance is under 4,000 miles, which is good value.
Business class flights to Europe can be booked for as little as 60,000 Aeroplan points one-way. This aligns with many major airline programs, though some carriers offer lower rates, such as American around 50,000 and Iberia from roughly 40,500 miles.
You cannot transfer Aeroplan miles to United or any other airline. However, United is a Star Alliance partner, so you can redeem Aeroplan points to fly United. Their flights will appear in your search results whenever award space is available for that route.
Tracking Points & Transfer Options
