Is Air Canada Aeroplan worth using?
Collect it if
- You fly Star Alliance and want a published price to plan a trip against.
- You want a stopover on a one-way for a flat fee rather than a second ticket.
Look elsewhere if
- You need cheap US domestic awards; the table is not generous there.
- You object to carrier surcharges, which several partners still attract.
What is one Air Canada Aeroplan point worth?
Short answer
1.5¢ in the Award Rate Q3 2026 model, derived from a smaller sample than the currencies in our headline model. Half of those redemptions returned less than that figure. It ranks 2 of 12 among the airline currencies we value, where the category median is 1.4¢.
How the number is derived
Derived from a 900-itinerary sample of Star Alliance partner awards priced against the same-day, same-cabin cash fare, then discounted for the carrier surcharges Aeroplan passes through on Lufthansa, Austrian, TAP and Air Canada. The published distance-and-region table caps what a long-haul partner seat can cost, which is why the median sits above United and below Turkish; the surcharge drag is why it does not sit higher.
Air Canada Aeroplan’s pricing mechanism
How does Air Canada Aeroplan price an award?
What it means in practice
Distance-and-region table. Price rises with the distance flown rather than with demand. That makes long itineraries unusually good value and short ones unremarkable, and it makes a stopover cheap — adding a city costs a flat number of points rather than a second ticket.
Read the pricing mechanism before the valuation, not after it. The valuation is a consequence of the mechanism rather than an independent fact about the program: a currency priced off the cash fare cannot beat the cash fare by much, however well you redeem, and a currency governed by a published table holds its value until the table changes.
How to earn Air Canada Aeroplan points
Three routes into a Air Canada Aeroplan balance: flying Air Canada Aeroplan or its partners, a co-brand credit card, and — where the program is reachable — transferring from a bank currency. For most readers the third is the one that matters, because it converts spending on everything into a balance in a program you might only use once a year.
Cards that build a Air Canada Aeroplan balance
Air Canada Aeroplan has no co-brand card in our coverage, so these are the cards that earn the bank currencies which transfer into it. Full terms for each are linked at the foot of this page.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase · Visa
- Welcome bonus
- 75,000 / $5K in 3 mo
- Annual fee
- $95
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Terms Apply$95 annual fee · 19.24% – 27.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $95
- Purchase APR
- 19.24% – 27.49% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.24% – 27.49% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 29.99% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. Applies if you make a late payment.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Minimum interest charge
- $0.50
Cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Offers, rates and terms are subject to change without notice.
Rates and fees reconciled against Chase’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Chase rates & terms
Wells Fargo · Mastercard
- Welcome bonus
- None
- Annual fee
- $0
No apply link until we have reconciled this card’s rates and fees against Wells Fargo’s own pricing-and-terms disclosure. The analysis stands; the figures below are modeled, and we will not send you to an application on numbers we have not read off the issuer ourselves.
Terms ApplyNo annual fee · 21.24% – 29.49% variable APRmodeled — see issuer for current rates
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $0
- Purchase APR
- 21.24% – 29.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Late payment fee
- Up to $41
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $41
- Minimum interest charge
- $1.00
The Bilt Mastercard is issued by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. pursuant to a license from Mastercard International Incorporated. Rates, rewards and benefits are subject to change.
These figures model Wells Fargo’s published terms and have NOT been reconciled against Wells Fargo’s pricing-and-terms disclosure. Last edited (not verified) . Confirm current terms on the issuer’s page before you apply. Wells Fargo rates & terms
- Welcome bonus
- 100,000 / $8K in 6 mo
- Annual fee
- $325
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Terms Apply$325 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $325
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.74% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Penalty APR
- Up to 29.99%. May apply if you do not pay at least the minimum payment due by the payment due date, or a payment is returned. Once applied it lasts at least six months.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
- Returned payment fee
- Up to $40
- Authorized user fee
- $35 per card
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select benefits. Visit americanexpress.com to view rates and fees.
Rates and fees reconciled against American Express’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. American Express rates & terms · American Express card page
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One · Visa
- Welcome bonus
- 75,000 / $4K in 3 mo
- Annual fee
- $395
We are not compensated for this card. It is here because it earned its place.
Terms Apply$395 annual fee · 19.49% – 28.49% variable APR
See full rates & feesHide rates & fees
- Annual fee
- $395
- Purchase APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Balance transfer APR
- 19.49% – 28.49% variable
- Balance transfer fee
- 4% of the amount of each transferred balance that posts at a promotional APR Capital One may offer you. No fee for balances transferred at the standard Transfer APR. Transfers cannot be requested until 10 days after the account is opened, and balances cannot be moved from another Capital One card.
- Foreign transaction fee
- None
- Cash advance APR
- 28.49% variable
- Cash advance fee
- Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater.
- Late payment fee
- Up to $40
Credit cards are issued by Capital One, N.A. Offers, benefits, rates and terms are subject to change without notice and may vary by applicant.
Rates and fees reconciled against Capital One’s published pricing and terms on . Issuers may change offers, rates and terms at any time without notice; confirm current terms on the issuer’s own page before you apply. Capital One rates & terms · Capital One card page
How to move points into Air Canada Aeroplan
4 transferable bank currencies reach this program. The last column is what one bank point becomes once it lands here, at our Q3 2026 valuation of 1.5¢ per point.
| Source currency | Ratio | Transfer time | One point becomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | 1:1 | Instant to 24 hours | 1.5¢ |
| Bilt Rewards | 1:1 | Instant to 24 hours | 1.5¢ |
| American Express Membership Rewards | 1:1 | Instant to 24 hours | 1.5¢ |
| Capital One Miles | 1:1 | Instant to 24 hours | 1.5¢ |
The redemptions that make Air Canada Aeroplan worth collecting
A currency is worth collecting because of specific redemptions, not because of an average. These are the ones that justify Air Canada Aeroplan, ranked by what one transferred point is worth when it lands.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Air Canada Aeroplan
Star Alliance business class from North America to Europe, priced off Aeroplan’s published distance-and-region table, with a stopover added anywhere on a one-way for 5,000 points.
Bilt Rewards Air Canada Aeroplan
Star Alliance business class to Europe off the published distance table, with a 5,000-point stopover on the one-way.
American Express Membership Rewards Air Canada Aeroplan
Star Alliance business class to Europe off Aeroplan’s published distance table, with a 5,000-point stopover attached to a one-way.
Capital One Miles Air Canada Aeroplan
Star Alliance business class to Europe off Aeroplan’s published distance table, plus a stopover anywhere on a one-way for 5,000 points. For most Capital One holders this is the highest-value transfer on the list.
Marriott Bonvoy Air Canada Aeroplan
Aeroplan’s distance-based partner chart gives converted points a fixed ceiling, and the 5,000-point stopover means one converted balance can cover two cities.
What Air Canada Aeroplan does well, and what it does badly
The weaknesses below are the reason the strengths are worth believing. Every one of them is something we have watched cost a reader money or a booking.
What Air Canada Aeroplan does well
- Partner awards are priced from a published distance-and-region table, so a Star Alliance business seat from North America to Europe costs the same number of points in July as it does in February.
- A stopover of any length on a one-way partner award costs 5,000 points — the cheapest stopover benefit in any major program, and the reason a single award can cover two destinations.
- More than 45 airline partners, including non-Star carriers such as Etihad, Emirates, GOL, Vistara and Bamboo, which no other Star Alliance program can match.
- Four transferable bank currencies reach it — Chase, Amex, Capital One and Bilt — making it the easiest premium-cabin currency in the world to top up from a US points balance.
- Aeroplan does not pass through carrier surcharges on many partners, including United, Swiss and Brussels, so a Star Alliance business award can settle for under $100 in taxes.
What Air Canada Aeroplan does badly
- Aeroplan does levy surcharges on Lufthansa, Austrian, TAP and Air Canada’s own flights, and on a transatlantic business award those can exceed $600 per person — enough to make the redemption worse than a competing program.
- Air Canada-operated awards are priced dynamically and frequently cost several times the partner chart on the same route, so the program is a partner tool first and an Air Canada tool second.
- The online partner search misses live space on several partners, and Aeroplan’s "preferred pricing" logic means two visually identical itineraries can price differently for reasons the site never explains.
- Points expire after 18 months of inactivity — the shortest clock of any major program, and a genuine trap for someone who transfers in and then waits.
- Family sharing requires a paid Aeroplan Family Sharing setup and is restricted to a single household address.
Do Air Canada Aeroplan points expire?
Policy in full
Points expire after 18 months with no qualifying earning or redeeming activity — the shortest inactivity window of any major program. Any qualifying activity resets it. Holders of an Aeroplan co-brand credit card, including the US-issued Chase Aeroplan card, are exempt entirely while the card is open, as are members with Aeroplan 25K status or above.
Expiration policy is the fact most worth checking before you build a balance and the one most often stated loosely elsewhere. An inactivity clock that any qualifying activity resets is a mild inconvenience; a hard deadline that runs from the day the points land is a different kind of risk entirely, and it changes whether a speculative transfer into this program is defensible at all.
Policy above verified against the program’s own terms on . If it has changed since, tell us and we will log the correction.
Frequently asked questions
How much is one Air Canada Aeroplan point worth?
1.5¢ in the Award Rate Q3 2026 model. That is the median, not the maximum — half of the redemptions behind it returned less. Derived from a 900-itinerary sample of Star Alliance partner awards priced against the same-day, same-cabin cash fare, then discounted for the carrier surcharges Aeroplan passes through on Lufthansa, Austrian, TAP and Air Canada. The published distance-and-region table caps what a long-haul partner seat can cost, which is why the median sits above United and below Turkish; the surcharge drag is why it does not sit higher.Is Air Canada Aeroplan better than Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Alaska Atmos Rewards, American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, British Airways Executive Club, Southwest Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus, Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Delta SkyMiles?
Not on value per point. Air Canada Aeroplan is worth 1.5¢ against 1.4¢, the median of the other 11 airline currencies we value, and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles leads the category at 1.6¢. Per-point value is not the whole comparison — how fast a program earns, and whether it has properties or routes where you actually travel, can outweigh it — but it is the part that is comparable, and this is where it lands. Every currency we value, side by side.Should I move Chase Ultimate Rewards or Bilt Rewards points in first?
Chase Ultimate Rewards, on the arithmetic: it moves at 1:1, so one bank point lands as 1.5¢ of value here, against 1.5¢ from Bilt Rewards at 1:1. Where two ratios are equal the tie-breaker is what else each currency can do for you: spend the one with the thinner list of alternative uses and keep the flexible one. Either way the transfer is one-way, so price the award seat first. Both routes, with transfer timesWhat is the biggest mistake people make with Air Canada Aeroplan?
Assuming every partner is surcharge-free. Several are not, and the surcharge is what changes the arithmetic. It is the failure mode we see most often, and in a program with a published chart it is the difference between the value the chart offers and a redemption at the floor.