Aeroplan, the Air Canada rewards program, is starting something new and innovative. Beginning this month, members will be able to fly award flights ‘cash free’. With Aeroplan cash free, members will have the flexibility to to cover the cost of fees, taxes, and other surcharges by using Aeroplan miles in addition to those charged for the award flight. Flights may be booked through aeroplan.com, the Aeroplan Contact Center (1-800.361.5373) or the mobile app.
Here is how it works:
Aeroplan cash‑free flight rewards will apply to two of their flight reward options: Fixed Mileage Flight Rewards™ and Market Fare Flight Rewards™.
Fixed Mileage Flight Rewards, offers a limited number of seats exclusively at fixed mileage levels to Aeroplan Members on Air Canada flights and over 25 Star Alliance member airlines.
Market Fare Flight Rewards provides access to all available seats on all Air Canada operated flights at mileage levels that vary based on market fares at time of booking.
Aeroplan used to be a great avenue for Star Alliance award redemptions until they began adding fuel surcharges to their partner awards several years ago. However, roundtrip business class between the United States and Europe can still be had for 110,000 miles and considering that two stopovers are allowed on those awards, it’s not such a bad deal. It’s best if you try to find awards on those carriers that do not have fuel surcharges, including United, Brussels Air, Turkish Air and Swiss.
