Air Canada Vacations is Air Canada’s dedicated tour operator, offering a variety of pre-packaged trips to destinations worldwide, from all-inclusive beach resorts to iconic city escapes and even cruises.
Not only do these packages provide convenience and value, but they also give you the unique opportunity to earn Aeroplan points on your bookings.
In this post, we’ll explore how earning Aeroplan points with Air Canada Vacations works, along with some best practices to help you maximize your points on every trip.
Earning Aeroplan Points on Air Canada Vacations
There are several ways to earn Aeroplan points when booking your travel on Air Canada Vacations.
You’ll earn points on the flight portion of your trip, as long as your booking is paid with cash.
Paying with an Aeroplan co-branded credit card will further boost your earnings on the entire purchase.
Additionally, Air Canada Vacations often runs promotions offering bonus Aeroplan points on select properties, provided you meet the minimum stay requirements.
To put it all together, let’s look at an example vacation package for two people that includes a round-trip flight from Toronto (YYZ) to Cancun (CUN) and a seven-night stay at a resort.
Earn from Air Canada Vacations Promotions
Searching for a seven-night package from Toronto to Cancun brings up plenty of options. The first property listed is the Planet Hollywood Cancun, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort, where Air Canada Vacations is currently running a promotion. This offer includes a bonus of 4,000 Aeroplan points when booking a minimum seven-night stay.
For simplicity, we’ll select this property to use as our example.
By selecting this property, each person will earn 4,000 Aeroplan points right off the bat. You can also use the filter on the left side of the page to display only properties with ongoing promotions.
There may be additional promotions available at the time of your booking, so be sure to check the Air Canada Vacations website regularly to take advantage of these deals and accumulate points even faster.
Earn from the flight portion of the package
With Air Canada Vacations, you’ll also earn Aeroplan points from the flight portion of the package. You’ll earn points based on the distance you fly, the regions you’re flying between, and the fare class you purchased, with further distances in higher fare classes earning more points.
You can find the full breakdown of how many Aeroplan points you’ll earn based on these factors on Air Canada’s website, but for a quick breakdown, let’s look at our chosen flight:
Economy flights selected within Air Canada Vacation packages get booked into Economy Standard fare (booking class F), and since the flights are between Canada and an international destination, we’ll earn Aeroplan points equivalent to 50% of the miles flown.
By using Great Circle Mapper, we know that the distance between Toronto and Cancun is 1,615 miles, making the round-trip 3,230 miles.
So, for this trip, each person can earn 1,615 Aeroplan points (3,230 miles x 50%). Just remember that you can only earn Aeroplan points on your personal flight, so each person needs to add their own Aeroplan membership number to the booking.
Earn from co-branded credit card
Selecting the right credit card for your Air Canada Vacations booking can significantly boost the number of Aeroplan points you earn while also offering valuable perks like airport lounge access, travel insurance, and savings on foreign transaction fees.
For Air Canada Vacation bookings, Aeroplan co-branded cards are the top choice. Not only do they help you maximize your points, but they also offer insurance coverage, even if you use Aeroplan points to cover part of your booking cost.
That said, depending on your needs, other credit cards may also be worth considering.
Here are three cards to consider when making Air Canada Vacations bookings.
American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
When it comes to maximizing earnings on Air Canada flights, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card stands out thanks to its exceptional earning rate of 3 Aeroplan points per dollar (all figures in CAD) spent on Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada flights, the highest of all Aeroplan co-branded cards.
By just using this card for our example booking (which came in at a total price of $4,778), you would earn an impressive 14,334 Aeroplan points!
When we combine all points earnings from the Air Canada Vacations promotion, the flight portion, and the credit card, the total for two people reaches an impressive 25,564 Aeroplan points, broken down as follows:
- Promotional Bonus: 4,000 Aeroplan points x 2 = 8,000 Aeroplan points
- Flight Portion: 1,615 Aeroplan points x 2 = 3,230 Aeroplan points
- Credit Card Earnings: 14,334 Aeroplan points
Total: 8,000 + 3,230 + 14,334 = 25,564 Aeroplan points
Again, keep in mind that the promotional bonus and flight portion require two unique Aeroplan membership numbers in order to get the full amount listed above. Additionally, it’s possible to split the payment between a maximum of two credit cards, so if you’re travelling with a friend, you can easily divide up the cost of the vacation in a way that allows you to both earn credit card rewards.
In addition to the ability to earn ample amount of points, this card also includes plenty of travel benefits, including:
- Priority check-in & priority Zone 2 boarding (for you and up to eight passengers on the same reservation)†
- Access to Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés (for you plus one guest)†
- Free first checked bag on Air Canada flights (for you and up to eight passengers on the same reservation)†
- An Annual Worldwide Companion Pass (earned after making $25,000 in net purchases within the membership year)†
- Comprehensive travel insurance, including trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, baggage delay, and out of province/country emergency medical insurance†
American Express Platinum Card
If you prefer earning flexible points, the American Express Platinum Card is a great choice. With an earning rate of 2 Membership Rewards (MR) points per dollar spent on travel purchases, you’d earn 9,556 MR points on our example booking.
Although this card doesn’t offer as high of an earning rate as the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, Membership Rewards points are transferable to a wide range of airline and hotel programs, giving you more flexibility for future travel.
Key benefits of this card include:
- Complimentary Priority Pass†
- Priority security lane access at Toronto Pearson Airport†
- $200 annual travel credit†
- Strong travel insurance coverage, including trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, baggage delay, and travel accident insurance†
Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card
If you’d like to manage all your travel expenses on a single card, including those incurred abroad, the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card is an excellent choice. Although the earning rate isn’t as great as the former two cards (you’ll earn 1 Scene+ point per dollar spent on travel), its strength is that it offers no foreign transaction fees on all your purchases made in foreign currencies. So if you plan to venture outside the resort to do some sightseeing and shopping, this card is a great option.
Key benefits of this card include:
- 6 complimentary airport lounge passes
- No foreign transaction fees
- Comprehensive travel insurance, including trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, baggage delay, and travel accident insurance
Achieve Elite Status Faster
In addition to earning Aeroplan points, you can also earn Status Qualifying Miles (SQM), Status Qualifying Segments (SQS), and Status Qualifying Dollars (SQD) from eligible Air Canada Vacations bookings, making it an excellent way to accelerate your progress toward Aeroplan Elite Status.
To be considered an “eligible” Air Canada Vacations booking, the Air Canada VacationsVacasions booking must consist of a flight-inclusive vacation package or a Flight & Cruise package with travel completed by the Aeroplan Member.
For SQM, the chart shown below is quite self explanatory, with economy class earning 50% of the distance flown, premium economy earning 125% of the miles flown, and business class earning 150% of the miles flown.
For SQS, each flight segment counts as a single Status Qualifying Segment.
For SQD, you’ll earn 25% of the total cost of the vacation package per member, including taxes and fees.
So for our example economy flight booked within the Air Canada Vacation package, the earnings are as follows:
- SQM: Each person would earn 50% of the distance flown, so 1,615 SQM.
- SQS: Each person would earn 2 SQS (1 SQS for each leg of the trip).
- SQD: Each person would earn 25% of the total cost of the vacation package, including taxes and fees. For a package costing $2,389 per person, this equals $597 SQD per person.
Conclusion
Booking with Air Canada Vacations is more than just a convenient way to plan your next getaway – it’s also a fantastic opportunity to earn valuable Aeroplan points. So, next time you’re planning a vacation, consider Air Canada Vacations.
Also, if you’re not already a cardholder, consider signing up for an Aeroplan co-branded credit card to fully enjoy the benefits of boosted points earning, lounge access, insurance coverage, and priority services.
An Aeroplan credit card is the perfect companion to ensure you’re getting the most out of every Air Canada Vacations booking, and taking full advantage of all the knowledge you’ve gained around earning Aeroplan points on these convenient adventures.