Amex Aeroplan Credit Cards: Up to 25% Points Back on Redemptions!

American Express and Air Canada have teamed up to offer an exciting promotion for co-branded cardholders, mirroring the TD 20% points back promotion we saw late last year. 

From now through 3am Eastern Time on July 5, 2022, American Express Aeroplan cardholders can earn up to 25% Aeroplan points back on Air Canada flight rewards, Air Canada Vacations packages, hotels, and car rentals, as long as travel takes place before December 31, 2022.

Register for the Offer

All three American Express Aeroplan co-branded cards are eligible for this promotion:

• The premium American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card and American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card will earn 25% points back
• The core-level American Express Aeroplan Card will earn 20% points back

Registration is required at this link, and cardholders should receive emails letting them know to register.

Although you need to be an American Express Aeroplan cardholder to participate, there is no requirement to pay for any portion of the flight redemptions or other rewards using your Amex Aeroplan credit card. 

20–25% Points Back on Flight Redemptions

Upon registration, cardholders will be able to earn 20–25% Aeroplan points back on all flight rewards, depending on which Amex Aeroplan credit card they hold. Points will be redeposited back into the Aeroplan account after travel takes place.

The key deadlines to be aware of are as follows:

• Book by 3am Eastern Time on July 5, 2022.
• Travel must be completed by 3am Eastern Time on December 31, 2022.

Effectively, it’s a discount of up to 25% on all the prices you see on the Flight Reward Chart, resulting in awesome deals across the board:

• ~3,600 points for a one-way transcontinental flight on Air Canada economy class
• ~17,500–30,000 points for a one-way transcontinental flight on Air Canada business class (at the low end of dynamic pricing)
• 41,250 points for a one-way flight on Air Canada or ANA business class from Vancouver or Calgary to Tokyo
• 45,000–52,500 points for a one-way flight from North America to Europe in business class
• 56,250 points for a one-way flight from North America to Asia in business class
• 63,750 points for a one-way flight from North America to “Asia 3” in business class of up to 11,000 miles in distance flown 
• 67,500 points for a one-way flight on Lufthansa First Class from the US East Coast to Germany
• 82,500 points for a one-way flight on ANA First Class from North America to Tokyo
• 90,000 points for a one-way flight on Etihad Airways 787 First Class from Washington to Abu Dhabi

Needless to say, this is an incredible opportunity to lock in some trips for the second half of 2022.

The promotion is combinable with all of the usual Aeroplan redemption strategies that we’re already familiar with:

• Aeroplan Elite Status members or co-branded credit card holders already enjoy lower redemption levels on Air Canada flights as part of the preferred pricing benefit; this promotion offers further savings on top of that.
• Adding a stopover on a one-way bound typically costs 5,000 Aeroplan points, which would be reduced to 3,750 Aeroplan points with this promotion.
• Applying a Priority Reward to an eligible redemption results in a 50% discount on the Aeroplan points needed to book; the remaining 50% of points would then be subject to a further 25% rebate, resulting in a satisfying 62.5% discount overall.

Interestingly, the terms of the offer do state:

The Offer only applies to new redemptions; previous redemptions that are cancelled and then rebooked during the Offer Period are not eligible for this Offer.

However, I do find it unlikely that this would be enforced, as a previous redemption that gets cancelled and rebooked is virtually indistinguishable from a brand-new booking.

(Indeed, data points from the previous TD 20% points back promotion indicate that there was little to no enforcement of these terms.)

If you’ve already booked trips that take place during the promotion period, I would recommend taking advantage of Aeroplan’s flexible change & cancellation policy and rebooking them before July 5 anyway.

Furthermore, the terms also state:

If the travel dates of the original Eligible Redemption are changed, the Offer will still be awarded to the Participating Cardmember’s Account so long as travel is still completed by December 31, 2022 at 03:00 a.m. EST, respecting the Travel Period of the Offer, and will be awarded based on the updated number of points redeemed.

Since flight bookings made before June 30, 2022 (as things currently stand) enjoy a one-time free change, this means that you could lock in a few new bookings on a somewhat speculative basis before June 30, and then change them to firm up your travel plans anytime through December 31 – and still earn those 25% Aeroplan points back! 

20–25% Points Back on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Vacations

The most exciting part of this promotion is certainly the possibility of getting 25% Aeroplan points back when booking flights. 

However, the same rebate also applies to hotels, car rentals, and Air Canada Vacations packages if you wish to redeem your Aeroplan points here. 

Since the value is almost certainly going to be lower than redeeming points for flights, I certainly wouldn’t recommend pursuing these other redemptions even if you get an effective 25% discount – save your Aeroplan points for flight redemptions at a sweet discount instead! 

Conclusion

American Express and Aeroplan are putting on a spectacular 25% points back promotion in advance of the summer travel season, which will no doubt whip the travel community into a frenzy as we plan out our remaining trips for 2022.

Depending on whether you have a core or premium card, you’ll receive 20–25% of all points redeposited into their account after travel takes place.

To be eligible, you must book through July 4, 2022 and travel through December 30, 2022 (these are the effective deadlines given the 3am Eastern Time cutoff on the following calendar day).

It’s time to start locking in your travel plans for the remainder of 2022, and make sure to secure some bookings before July 5!