Black Friday bonuses: Earn a 35% bonus when you transfer hotel points to Aeroplan
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Aeroplan, Air Canada’s frequent flyer program, periodically offers bonuses for converting hotel points to its mileage program. In the past, the bonuses have ranged anywhere between 25% and 35%. Now, Aeroplan is offering another one of these promotions.
Through Dec. 3, 2019, you can earn a 35% bonus when converting points from nine hotel partners to Aeroplan miles. You can convert as often as you want and receive this bonus from the following hotel brands:
The bonus Aeroplan miles may take up to six weeks after the promotion end date to be deposited into your Aeroplan account. In other words, if you transfer hotel points to Aeroplan for a specific award flight, just know that seat may have disappeared by the time you receive your bonus miles.
Also note that this bonus applies strictly when transferring from the above hotel programs. American Express points transfers to Aeroplan won't earn additional bonus miles through this promotion for this type of conversion.
If you've never transferred hotel points to airlines, there are some quirks you should know about. Not all hotel partners covert to Aeroplan evenly, and some programs even offer additional bonuses based on the number of points you transfer.
Based on TPG's latest valuations, Aeroplan miles are worth 1.5 cents each. To help you determine which points to convert, the following table shows the effective value of Aeroplan miles transferred from each hotel program during this promotion. Pay particularly close attention to the far right column, which will indicate your effective purchase price per Aeroplan mile (calculated as the value you're giving up from the applicable hotel program for every Aeroplan mile you'd get):
| Transfer Partner | Standard ratio | Transfer ratio (assuming bonus) | TPG value per transferred point | Value "given up" per Aeroplan Mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IHG Rewards | 5:1 | 100:27 | 0.5 cents | 1.85 cents |
| Hilton Honors | 10:1 | 100:13.5 | 0.6 cents | 4.44 cents |
| Radisson Rewards | 10:1 | 100:13.5 | 0.4 cents | 2.96 cents |
| Best Western Rewards | 5:1 | 100:27 | 0.7 cents | 2.59 cents |
| Wyndham Rewards | 5:1 | 100:27 | 1.1 cents | 4.07 cents |
| Coast Rewards | 1:1 | 100:135 | N/A | N/A |
| Choice Privileges | 5:1 | 100:27 | 0.6 cents | 2.22 cents |
| Le Club AccorHotels | 2:1 | 100:67.5 | 2.0 cents | 2.96 cents |
| Gold Circle (Shangri-La) | 1:1 | 100:135 | N/A | N/A |
Since the value transferred per Aeroplan mile for most hotel currencies is greater than TPG's valuation of Aeroplan miles, you'll usually be giving up value by converting your hotel points to Aeroplan miles.
Related: How to maximize Aeroplan miles
That said, it is possible to get outsized value from your Aeroplan miles by taking advantage of sweet spots in the program’s award chart. For example, short-haul flights on Air Canada cost just 15,000 miles. Other sweet spots include partner award flights with no fuel surcharges, lap child awards, or flying to Europe in business class. A round-trip business-class ticket to Western Europe costs 110,000 Aeroplan miles.
Additional reporting by Joseph Hostetler and Carissa Rawson.
