How To Earn Aeroplan Miles

By Robb Engen | July 1, 2011 | Comments Off on How To Earn Aeroplan Miles

Aeroplan is one of Canada’s most popular loyalty programs.  Aeroplan members can earn Aeroplan Miles at over 75 sponsors, representing more than 150 brands in the travel, retail and financial sectors.

Last year alone, over 2 million Aeroplan rewards were issued to members including more than 1.3 million flights on Air Canada and Star Alliance carriers.  In addition to flights, members also have access to over 800 exciting specialty, merchandise, hotel, car rental and experiential rewards.

4 main ways to earn Aeroplan miles:

  1. Retail Partners – You can earn Aeroplan miles just by shopping at one of the dozens of affiliated retail partners like Esso, Home Hardware and Sobey’s.  Simply present your Aeroplan card at the time of purchase and you will typically receive 1 Aeroplan mile for every $2 or $3 that you spend.
  2. Everyday Spending – You can earn Aeroplan miles on your everyday purchases at any location by paying with Aeroplan-affiliated reward credit cards like the CIBC Aerogold Visa and the American Express Aerogold Plus credit card.  You can earn twice the Aeroplan miles when you use your Aeroplan credit card at a sponsored business.
  3. Shopping Online – Now you can earn Aeroplan miles with all of your online purchases.  With the Aeroplan Store you have access to over 150 online retailers like eBay, Chapters, Apple and Dell.  The Aeroplan miles add up even faster when shopping through the Aeroplan eStore, since you earn an Aeroplan mile for every $1 you spend.
  4. Bonus offers – In addition to earning standard Aeroplan miles from sponsors, you can take advantage of bonus Aeroplan miles offers that partners are promoting throughout the year.  Look for special bonus offers from Air Canada and from hotel and car rental companies when they are looking to promote summer travel deals.

Do Aeroplan Miles Expire?

Aeroplan has an interesting policy when it comes to collecting and redeeming Aeroplan miles.  Members must stay active in the program by making at least one transaction every 12 months.  The Aeroplan website also states that you have 7 full years to redeem your Aeroplan miles before they expire.  This policy has caused some anger and confusion for members who are no longer actively collecting but have accumulated a significant amount of Aeroplan miles.

The Aeroplan card should be in most Canadian’s wallets for the simple fact of having the strong Air Canada and Star Alliance partnership.  But Aeroplan members should be cautious to maintain active status within the program and should consider redeeming their Aeroplan miles more frequently to avoid having them expire over time.

Do you collect Aeroplan miles?  What are your thoughts on their loyalty program?

How To Earn Air Miles Rewards

By Robb Engen | July 1, 2011 |

The Air Miles program has been around since 1992, and is one of the most popular loyalty programs in Canada.  With over 100 sponsors across Canada, you can easily turn your everyday purchases into Air Miles rewards.  Earning Air Miles rewards is as simple as presenting your collector card to a sponsor when making a purchase.

There are 3 main ways to earn Air Miles rewards:

  1. In Store – The simplest way to earn Air Miles rewards is directly at the sponsor locations.  There is a sponsor in just about every category you can think of, from groceries and gas, hotels and home improvement centres, and insurance and real estate.  Just present your Air Miles collector card at the time of purchase and you will typically receive 1 Air Mile for every $15 – $20 spent.
  2. Shopping Online – You can shop and collect Air Miles rewards through AirMilesShops.ca.  Go to this website and sign in with your collector number.  Click on “shop now” for any sponsor and you will be taken to the partner’s website to shop online as you would normally.  AirMilesShops.ca acts as a portal to these sponsor sites and tracks the purchases you make.  After you check out you will automatically earn Air Miles.
  3. When You Pay – You can add to your Air Miles rewards by using reward credit cards like the BMO Air Miles MasterCard or the Air Miles American Express.  With these Air Miles credit cards you can earn Air Miles rewards for every purchase you make, whether it’s at a sponsor location or not.  But the trick to earning more Air Miles is to use both your rewards credit card and your Air Miles collector card at sponsor locations.  This way you can double-dip and collect twice the Air Miles rewards for one purchase.

Other Ways to Earn Air Miles

In addition to the regular Air Miles sponsors, many local companies also offer ways to earn Air Miles.  From dry cleaners to handymen, you can take advantage of special, limited-time offers at nearly 100 businesses across the country.  These are called promotional sponsors and they offer great opportunities for you to earn more Air Miles rewards.

When you shop at a sponsor like Safeway, for example, you can earn bonus Air Miles on a wide variety of products each week.  It’s not difficult to earn an additional 100-200 Air Miles every month by simply watching for bonus offers at the grocery store or through other sponsors.

Air Miles is one of the most popular loyalty programs in Canada, with over 10 million active collectors across the country.  Air Miles sponsors are recognizable brands, which makes it easy for Canadians to identify with the program and earn Air Miles rewards.

Do you use Air Miles?  How do you earn Air Miles rewards?

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