Open award space: You can now book Singapore Airlines business-class awards with Aeroplan
There's more good news from Air Canada's Aeroplan.
You can now redeem as little as 60,000 Aeroplan points to book an international one-way business-class flight from the U.S. on Singapore Airlines. This news comes just a week after Aeroplan added Emirates economy and business-class partner redemptions, with first class set to become available next year.
"We have indeed worked with Singapore to strengthen our partnership behind the scenes," said Scott O'Leary, Air Canada's vice president of loyalty and product, in a statement to TPG. "As a result, our members will enjoy better redemption availability on Singapore flights going forward."
This is big news considering Singapore Airlines usually restricts premium cabin award redemptions to its own loyalty program, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. This means you cannot book Singapore business-class awards with United MileagePlus, Avianca LifeMiles or most other Star Alliance loyalty programs.
Throughout the coming months, there's widespread business-class award space on Singapore Airlines' North America routes. As a result, you'll have the ability to use your Aeroplan points on nonstop flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Vancouver International Airport (YVR), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN).
Additionally, you can use Aeroplan points on Singapore Airlines' North America fifth-freedom flights from LAX to Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT), Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Manchester Airport (MAN) and JFK to Frankfurt Airport (FRA).
Best of all, Aeroplan's award prices are a fraction of KrisFlyer's award rates. When you book with Aeroplan, these Singapore Airlines flights have taxes and fees that cost as little as 47 Canadian dollars (about $35).
Let's take a closer look at open Singapore Airlines business-class award space that's bookable with Aeroplan points.
The deal
Airlines: Singapore Airlines.
Routes: SFO, LAX, SEA, YVR, SEA, JFK and EWR to/from SIN. There's also award space on LAX-NRT, IAH-MAN and JFK-FRA.
Cost: From 60,000 Aeroplan points, plus $35 in taxes and fees, one-way in business class.
Dates: Now through October 2023.
Pay taxes/fees with: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar spent on airfare booked directly with the airline, on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), the Chase Sapphire Reserve (3 points per dollar spent on travel) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2 points per dollar spent on travel) for travel protections on the award flight.
Related: More flexible than ever: Why you should care about Aeroplan even if you never visit Canada
Sample itineraries
For each of these sample itineraries, I'll provide two screenshots. The first is what this award flight costs using Aeroplan, and the second is the same flight(s) priced with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
New York to Frankfurt, Germany, in January
Los Angeles to Tokyo in September
Los Angeles to Singapore in September
New York to Singapore in July
Maximize your Aeroplan award ticket with a stopover
You can add an Aeroplan stopover from just 5,000 points online. This allows you to spend time in Singapore before continuing to another city that's bookable with Aeroplan. To book an Aeroplan stopover online, select "Multi-city/stopover." Then, you can enter another city as your final destination and mark your stopover city as "Singapore." You can also customize the length of your stopover.
On the next page, you'll find award space (if it's available). Here's an example of a 5,000-point stopover in Singapore before continuing to Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS).
Unlike booking stopovers with Krisflyer, you can mix airline partners on a single itinerary with Aeroplan. For example, this means you can fly Singapore Airlines business class from JFK to FRA and continue to Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) with Etihad Airways after a stopover.
Related: 19 thoughts for 19 hours on the world's longest flight from New York to Singapore
Earning Aeroplan points
You can transfer points to Aeroplan from American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Capital One miles and Marriott Bonvoy.
Transfers to Aeroplan typically need to be in increments of 1,000. Remember that transfers from Marriott Bonvoy to Aeroplan are at a 3:1 ratio, and with every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer, you receive 5,000 bonus Aeroplan points. So, if you transfer 180,000 Marriott points to Aeroplan, you'd have 75,000 Aeroplan points.
Related: 3 Aeroplan sweet spots you can use to maximize your Capital One miles
Bottom line
Long-haul Singapore Airlines flights in business class appeared on Air Canada's website a couple of weeks ago. However, a technical glitch prevented Aeroplan members from being able to book them when they were first made available online.
Now, Aeroplan members can reserve Singapore Airlines flights at rates that are often far less expensive than Singapore Airlines' own loyalty program.
"We're not only working to have the largest partner lineup in the world," Air Canada's O'Leary said, "but we're also focused on how we can go deeper with existing partners to create better value for our members."
As both Air Canada and Singapore Airlines are members of Star Alliance, the two airlines have strengthened their relationship, adding more value for Aeroplan members — that's a big win.