Aeroplan’s Birthday Perks: Flight Discounts or Bonus Points

Aeroplan has been reaching out to members on their birthdays with a special Birthday Perk Promotion, allowing them to choose one of four bite-sized perks to make their birthday extra special. 

All Canadian Aeroplan members who have a birthday listed in their profile should be targeted for this promotion. Members will receive the email on their birthday, and will have one month’s time to make their choice.

Choose One of Four Birthday Perks

There are a total of four perks to choose from, which can help you save money on your next Air Canada flight booking or Air Canada Vacations package, or simply reward you with a bonus allotment of Aeroplan points to get you closer to your next award redemption.

Each birthday perk is listed with a button to select it in your email, and once you click any of the four buttons, you can’t change your mind anymore – so make sure to select wisely!

Aeroplan has confirmed that all members are currently receiving the same set of four birthday perks, although the program may always mix things up and change the set of available perks in the future. 

1. 25% off Base Fares + Preferred Seat

The first choice offers you a 25% discount on Air Canada base fares with preferred seating, and it’s definitely the most attractive choice if you’ve got an upcoming Air Canada flight booking planned.

The terms and conditions of this perk read as follows:

¹ Valid on new bookings made by May 16, 2022 at 23:59 EST with a departure city located in Canada. Valid on any flight operated by Air Canada^® (including Air Canada Express^® and operated by Air Canada Rouge^®) originating in Canada to destinations within Canada, to the United States (including Hawaii), to Mexico and to the Caribbean, and for travel completed by October 16, 2022. Codeshare and interline flights are excluded.

Voucher code for this Birthday Perk will provide a one-time discount of 25% off all Economy class undiscounted Air Canada published base fares only, which form part of the applicable air transportation charges, when booking on aircanada.com. Discounts will not be applied to: surcharges (which are included in the air transportation charges), taxes, fees and charges. On rare occasions, the additional discount may not be applicable on select markets as the fares are already heavily discounted on the Web. Surcharges, taxes, fees and charges apply in full to all bookings and must be paid by travellers, including children and infants occupying a seat. Maximum of five passengers per booking. One stopover en route to your final destination or one open jaw is permitted.

Voucher code will also provide a Preferred Seat to all passengers on the booking, up to 5 passengers. As inventory is limited, Preferred Seats may not be available at time of booking.

(Note that the terms listed in this article are valid for birthday perks that were offered on April 16, 2022. Thus, the references to “May 16” and “October 16” indicate that members have one month to make their selection, and the 25% discount code would be valid for a six-month period following their birthday.)

You’ll note that the perk is a one-time discount of 25% off one economy class Air Canada base fare, and will not be applied to the surcharges, taxes and fees of the flight.

Up to five passengers can be included on the booking, and a stopover or open-jaw is permitted in addition to the usual round-trip or one-way allowance. 

For those looking to leverage this discount into a business class flight, it’d very much be possible to apply the discount to an Economy (Latitude) fare and use eUpgrades to confirm an upgrade instantly into business class.

Lastly, the voucher will also provide preferred seating for the passengers listed on the booking, as long as there are Preferred Seats available for selection. 

2. 10% off Air Canada Vacations Packages

The next selection offers a 10% discount on Air Canada Vacations packages to a series of US and Sun destinations.

The terms read as follows:

² Valid on new bookings of select vacation packages made by May 16, 2022. Offer expires at 11:59 p.m. EST on the date indicated. Subject to availability at time of booking.

This Offer is valid on new vacation package bookings made through aircanadavacations.com to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, Hawaii, Orlando & Las Vegas. Not applicable to group bookings. Not applicable to open jaws (flying into one city and returning from another city) and to one-way flights.

Offer provides a 10% discount on the base fare before applicable taxes, fees and surcharges for travel until December 15^th, 2022 or a 5% discount on the base fare before applicable taxes, fees and surcharges for travel between December 16, 2022, and December 31, 2022. Promo code must be applied online at aircanadavacations.com during checkout for the discount to be applied. Cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion.

The 10% discount only applies to the base fare before applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges for booking travel until December 15, 2022. During peak season between December 16, 2022, and December 31, 2022, only a 5% discount on the base fare will be applied.

Furthermore, this 10% discount is not eligible for group bookings, one-way flights, or open-jaw flights associated with an Air Canada Vacations package – it must be a round-trip. 

3. 500 Aeroplan points with a $50 eStore purchase

If you aren’t looking to buy a flight or vacation package, you’ll also have the option to receive 500 Aeroplan points upon making a $50 eStore purchase over the upcoming one-month period.

The terms read as follows:

³ To receive the 500 bonus points associated with this Birthday Perk, Selected Aeroplan Member must spend a total of at least $50 (CAD) before applicable taxes in a single transaction at any partner retailer via the Aeroplan eStore by May 16, 2022. 

In order to receive the 500 bonus Aeroplan points associated with this perk, you only need to make a purchase of $50 before taxes, in a single transaction, with any retailer via the Aeroplan eStore. 

You’ll earn the 500 bonus points alongside any eStore multipliers and Aeroplan Elite Status bonus points linked with your purchase.

4. 100 Aeroplan Points

Lastly, if you aren’t planning to travel soon, nor will you make any purchases through the eStore in the upcoming month, you can simply opt to receive 100 Aeroplan points, which is, of course, better than nothing.

How Valuable Are the Aeroplan Birthday Perks?

The attractiveness of each Aeroplan birthday perk roughly fall in line with the order in which they are listed.

If you could see yourself paying cash for an Air Canada flight within North America over the coming six-month period (which may not be a bad idea during this period of status-qualifying promotions), then the 25% discount on Air Canada base fares could prove extremely valuable, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars.

The same logic applies to a 10% discount on Air Canada Vacations package. If either of these big purchases are on your radar in the coming months, then getting a meaningful monetary discount will be the better choice than picking up a small handful of Aeroplan points.

On the other hand, if you don’t see yourself travelling with either Air Canada or Air Canada Vacations under the prescribed terms of the first two selections, then 500 bonus Aeroplan points is a fine consolation gift.

Many day-to-day purchases can be made via the Aeroplan eStore, so as long as you can make a $50 purchase in the next month, you’ll walk away with an extra 500 points as your birthday perk.

Conclusion

Aeroplan’s birthday perk promotion allows members to choose one of four perks on their birthday. The invitation to select your perk will be sent directly by email, and members will have one month to make their choice.

The first two perks are best for those who are planning a flight or vacation package with Air Canada, and can save you a meaningful amount of money on your upcoming travel purchase.

Otherwise, pick the 500 bonus Aeroplan points with an eStore purchase to pad your points balance, or the 100 bonus Aeroplan points if you want to earn a truly no-effort reward. 

It’s nice to see Aeroplan following the lead of many other loyalty programs out there in rewarding members with something special on their birthday, and I’d love to see even more creative perks – perhaps customized for the member based on their elite status, flying activity, or overall level of Aeroplan engagement – being offered as birthday rewards in the future.