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Aeroplan has brought back its huge transfer bonuses that it last offered in April, August, and December 2015.Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 1.19.21 PM

Right now 40k Starpoints plus taxes will get you a roundtrip economy class trip to Europe, 145k Starpoints will get you two roundtrip Business Class ticket to Europe, and 110k will get you two roundtrip First Class tickets to Hawaii.

Starpoints always transfer to dozens of airlines at a 1:1 rate with a bonus of 5,000 miles for every 20,000 Starpoints transferred. On top of that standard bonus, until April 18, 2016, Aeroplan is giving a bonus of up to 55k miles on transfers of hotel points to Aeroplan miles.

Transfers in from any of these partners count, and the best deal is to transfer in SPG Starpoints.
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The normal transfer bonus on Starpoints-to-miles plus this special Aeroplan transfer bonus combine to mean you can get up to 59% more Aeroplan miles than you had Starpoints. If you transfer 160,000 Starpoints, you end up with 255,000 Aeroplan miles, a 59% transfer bonus. You can redeem the Aeroplan miles on a cheap award chart on Air Canada flights or any Star Alliance carrier.

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If you redeem to Western Europe on United, Swiss, Turkish, Brussels, Ethiopian, or Scandinavian flights, you’ll pay only 40k/80k/95k Starpoints roundtrip in economy/Business/First with no fuel surcharges.

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  • How can you take maximum advantage of this promotion?
  • How can you avoid the fuel surcharges?
  • Where do you search? How do you search?
  • Where do you book?
  • How good of a deal is 40k Starpoints to Europe?
  • What about the announced devaluation of Aeroplan’s award chart?
  • How does Aeroplan’s award chart compare to United’s and other Star Alliance charts?

The Deal

Starpoints always transfer to dozens of airlines at a 1:1 rate. For every 20k Starpoints transferred, you get 5k bonus miles. My favorite airlines transfer partners are American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Asiana.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t consider Air Canada’s program, Aeroplan, because Aeroplan collects fuel surcharges on most partners, though not on flights operated by:

  • United
  • Singapore
  • South African
  • Egyptair
  • Air China
  • Ethiopian
  • Avianca
  • TACA
  • Copa
  • Swiss
  • Turkish
  • Brussels
  • Scandinavian

However Aeroplan is running a compelling promotion through April 18, 2016. Transfer hotel points and get bonus Aeroplan miles. All transfers from the listed partners will be summed to determine one’s bonus threshold.

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The relevant transfers for Western Europe awards with Aeroplan miles are:

  • 40k Starpoints transfer to 50k Aeroplan miles + 10k bonus Aeroplan miles for 60,000 total Aeroplan miles (50% bonus). This is enough miles for a roundtrip economy award to Western Europe* from the continental US, Alaska, and Canada.
  • 80k Starpoints transfer to 100k Aeroplan miles + 25k bonus Aeroplan miles for 125,000 total Aeroplan miles (56% bonus). This is enough miles for a roundtrip Business Class award to anywhere in Europe from the continental US, Alaska, and Canada with 10k or 15k miles left over.
  • 95k Starpoints transfer to 115k Aeroplan miles + 25k bonus miles for 140,000 total Aeroplan miles (47% bonus). This is enough miles for a roundtrip First Class award to Western Europe* from the continental US, Alaska, and Canada.

*Western Europe includes the countries defined as Europe 1 on the chart, Europe 2 is more expensive.

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Similar deals are available to Southern South America. Check the award chart to see how many Aeroplan miles you need.

Three Caveats Before Transferring

Even with this transfer bonus, you may be able to book a flight for fewer Starpoints by transferring them to a Star Alliance carrier with a cheaper award chart than Aeroplan. Check out this comprehensive comparison of the Eight Best Star Alliance Award Charts for the award you have in mind before transferring.

It can take up to two weeks for transfers from Starwood to Aeroplan to arrive. The exact award space you want may be gone by the time your Aeroplan miles are in your account.

The maximum Starpoints you can transfer in a day is 79,999, and you want to transfer in 20,000 point incremenets, so the effective maximum is 60,000 points. To get the bigger bonuses, you may need to make a transfer per day for several days.

Maximizing Aeroplan Awards

Aeroplan awards allow for two stopovers in addition to your destination.

Aeroplan collects fuel surcharges on most partners. For instance, fuel surcharges of over $500 per person per roundtrip are instituted on Lufthansa economy awards. Only fly partners listed in this article to avoid fuel surcharges.

Searching for Surcharge-Free Space

We want to book our Aeroplan award on partners on which no fuel surcharges are collected. The best place to search for space on United flights is united.com. On an advanced search, tick the box to search only United flights.

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Search results–and the search calendar–will only display United flights.

To search for other surcharge-free options to Europe like Swiss, Brussels, Turkish, Scandinavian, or Ethiopian, find routes that they fly and check Nonstop Flights Only on the united.com advanced search.

Once you’ve found your surcharge-free flights, head to aeroplan.com to book them. Aeroplan will have access to all Saver United space, and all partner space that shows up on united.com. You can mix-and-match these partner flights and still have no fuel surcharges.

Booking on Aeroplan.com

Booking the award space on aeroplan.com is easy. Search the dates and cabins you found on united.com. On united.com, I found award space from Washington to Brussels and return in Business Class at the Saver price on United flights for two passengers.
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Then I searched for the space on aeroplan.com.

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Each flight I found was the top result for the day I searched. I pieced it together for 110,000 Aeroplan miles + $52. For two people, during the current bonus, you could book this roundtrip in flat beds for 145,000 Starpoints (transferred to 220,000 Aeroplan miles) + $105.

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Lufthansa First Class

Many people will want to use this deal to book Lufthansa First Class. I don’t recommend that.

Asiana miles can always book Lufthansa First Class for 50,000 Asiana miles one way between the United States and Europe. That’s 40,000 SPG points every day.

With this promotion you’d need 50,000 SPG points for a one way Lufthansa First Class booking with Aeroplan miles or 95,000 SPG points for a roundtrip. That’s worse than the everyday Asiana rate.

Asiana and Aeroplan collect the same fuel surcahrges on Lufthansa flights.

After finding award space in Lufthansa First Class from Washington DC to Frankfurt on united.com, I brought it up on aeroplan.com.

It costs 70,000 Aeroplan miles (50,000 SPG points) + $456 one way.

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Getting the Starpoints (Aeroplan Miles)

Right now the SPG personal and business cards are each offering their biggest bonus ever!

Bottom Line

  1. Search for award space on united.com for Aeroplan partners on which Aeroplan doesn’t collect fuel surcharges.
  2. Open an Aeroplan account.
  3. Transfer the correct number of Starpoints to your Aeroplan account to book your dream award, taking into account the standard Starpoints to Aeroplan miles bonus (20k points = 25k miles) and the special limited time bonus being offered by Aeroplan until April 18.
  4. When the points arrive, redo your search on aeroplan.com and book.
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