Should you buy Aeroplan miles with up to a 110% bonus?

Air Canada Aeroplan miles can be quite useful in planning all sorts of itineraries. are regularly considered some of the highest value in the travel industry due to their unique partnerships and award chart sweet spots. Recently Aeroplan announced their latest promotion offering up to a 110% bonus miles when purchasing. Depending on your needs, this can be an awesome deal. Note that the 110% bonus is only through today (May 22nd). After that, it drops down to a 95% bonus (which is still pretty good)

The Details

This promo is going on now through May 22nd for 110% (and then 95%). Click here to navigate to the purchase page. The promotion is tiered as follows:

• Buy 4,000–29,000 points, receive a 50% bonus
• Buy 30,000–55,000 points, receive a 65% bonus
• Buy 60,000+ points, receive an 110% bonus

Purchases are processed through Points.com, which means that you’ll want to buy these with a card that maximizes everyday spend, like the Citi Double Cash.

Normally, each 1,000 Aeroplan miles would cost CAD$35 with tax included; that is 3.5 Canadian cents per mile, or around 2.6 US cents per mile at current exchange rates! Nobody values Aeroplan miles at more than 2 cents per mile, so at the normal rate, it doesn’t make sense to buy. Buying enough miles to qualify for promotion nets you an additional 110% in bonus points, which with tax brings the cost of a point down to 1.67 Canadian cents per mile or around 1.24 US cents per mile. It’s not hard to find more value than that out of Aeroplan miles.

You can use your miles on Air Canada flights or flights on any of their partners

What to do with Aeroplan miles

Here’s an example of a trip I booked with 230,100 Aeroplan miles. A trip from the US to Tokyo, with an open jaw in Osaka and ~23 hour layover in Cairo, Abu Dhabi and Seoul.

• Washington DC to Cairo, Egypt (EgyptAir, 10h30m, Business)
• Cairo, Egypt to Abu Dhabi, UAE (EgyptAir, 3h15m, Regional Business – recliner seats)
• Abu Dhabi, UAE to Tokyo, Japan (Etihad, 10h05m, Business)
• Osaka, Japan to Seoul, South Korea (Asiana, 1h50m, Economy)
• Seoul, South Korea to Abu Dhabi, UAE (Etihad, 9h50m, Business)
• Abu Dhabi, UAE to Washington, DC (Etihad, 14h20m, Business)
• Washington DC to Cincinnati (United, 1h40m, Economy)

(SEE ALSO: Booking a (nearly) round the world Aeroplan award for 2023)

About 40 hours of business class flying, and with the current 85% bonus, that would cost about CAD$4,550 (USD$3,347). While that may not be an amazing deal in the miles and points world, the cash cost of that ticket would have been several times the amount you could get it if you bought Aeroplan points.

Terms and Conditions

• Offer open to Aeroplan® Members (the “Offer”) and will take place from May 18, 2023, at 12:01:01 AM ET to May 23, 2023 at 2:59:59 AM ET (the “Offer Period”)
• This Offer to buy and/or gift Aeroplan points today and earn bonus Aeroplan points is open to Aeroplan Members in good standing that log into their Aeroplan account on after May 18, 2023 at 12:01:01 AM ET (the “Eligible Participants”). An Aeroplan Member who is logged in to their Aeroplan account prior to May 18, 2023 at 12:01:01 AM ET will not be considered as an Eligible Participant under this Offer – to be considered an Eligible Participant under this Offer, please make sure to click or push the “refresh page” button of your web/mobile browser after this time. Not an Aeroplan Member yet? Sign up here.
• “Eligible Aeroplan points” means Aeroplan points bought and/or gifted by an Eligi-ble Participant during the Offer Period pursuant to the Buy/Gift Points Program, part of the Aeroplan Program. Please visit the following link for information and terms and conditions applicable to the Buy/Gift Points Program.
• All Aeroplan points purchased and/or gifted prior to the start of the Offer Period or purchased and/or gifted with a login time before May 18, 2023 at 12:01:01 AM ET or after May 23, 2023 at 2:59:59 AM ET, are not considered as Eligible Aeroplan points pursuant to this Offer.
• Eligible Aeroplan points purchased and/or gifted pursuant to this Offer are non-refundable.

The Bottom Line

Again, here is the link to buy Aeroplan miles with up to a 110% bonus.

Even though we never recommend speculatively purchasing miles, I’m sorely tempted by this. Are any of you going to take advantage?