Planning a vacation can sometimes be overwhelming, both financially and mentally.
But what if you could use your Aeroplan points to ease the burden of expenses and planning?
With Air Canada Vacations, you have the option to redeem your Aeroplan points for vacation packages, tours, activities, and even cruises.
In this post, we’ll dive into everything you need to know about Air Canada Vacations and how to make the most of your Aeroplan points.
In This Post
- What Is Air Canada Vacations?
- Where Can You Go with Air Canada Vacations?
- How to Redeem Aeroplan Points for Air Canada Vacations
- Should You Redeem Aeroplan Points for Air Canada Vacations?
- Use the Right Credit Card for Your Booking
- Conclusion
What Is Air Canada Vacations?
Air Canada Vacations is Air Canada’s official tour operator, offering a range of pre-packaged trips to simplify your travel planning.
Whether you’re looking for an all-inclusive beach holiday, a city break, or even a cruise, Air Canada Vacations has something for every type of traveller.
These packages typically include flights (operated by Air Canada), hotel stays, and sometimes even activities, making it a one-stop solution for booking your next getaway.
Where Can You Go with Air Canada Vacations?
Air Canada Vacations provides trips to a variety of destinations around the world, with popular spots like the Caribbean, Mexico, and Europe leading the way.
Whether you’re planning a tropical escape or a city adventure, Air Canada Vacations has them all.
Here’s a full list of regions they cover:
Asia
- India
- China
- Hong Kong
- Japan
- South Korea
- Japan
- Singapore
Australia & New Zealand
Canada
United States & Hawaii
Caribbean
- The Bahamas
- Jamaica
- Barbados
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
Europe
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- England
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Scotland
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Mexico
Middle East & North Africa
- Algeria
- Morocco
- Israel
- UAE
South & Central America
- Belize
- Costa Rica
- Colombia
- Brazil
- Chile
And the best part? You can earn and redeem Aeroplan points for these vacation packages, making it a convenient way to maximize your travel rewards.
How to Redeem Aeroplan Points for Air Canada Vacations
Redeeming your Aeroplan points for an Air Canada Vacation is straightforward, but let’s walk through an example to make it even easier.
Step 1. Head over to Air Canada Vacations website and sign in with your Aeroplan credentials
Step 2. Search for your desired vacation
Choose the type of vacation you’re interested in and enter your travel details.
For this example, we’ll look for a seven-night-stay package in Cancun for two people.
Step 3. Select your package
Once you find a package that meets your needs, click “select” to view more details.
At this stage, you’ll be able to check out information about the hotel’s location, amenities, and dining options.
You can also select the “Deals only” filter on the left-hand side to view properties that offer discounts or bonus Aeroplan points.
Additionally, you may also notice that while there are TripAdvisor review stars displayed, there are no actual reviews or links to the TripAdvisor page.
Hopefully, this lack of easily accessible reviews is something Air Canada Vacations will address in the future. But for now, if you’d like to read some of the associated reviews to learn more, you’ll have to navigate over to TripAdvisor or another booking portal to find more detailed information.
For our example booking, we’ve selected the “Deals only” option and chosen the Hyatt Vivid Grand Island for our seven-night vacation, which earns an extra 8,000 Aeroplan points.
Step 4. Choose your room
Next, select your preferred room type. At this stage, you may have the option to upgrade to a larger room or one with a better view for an additional cost.
Step 5. Select your flights
After choosing your room, you can select your flights, both outbound and inbound. Depending on your destination, you’ll have several options, including upgrades to premium economy or business class.
One downside that we’ve noted here with Air Canada Vacations’ booking system is that the different flight prices aren’t displayed up front, so you’ll need to select each option individually to check pricing.
This process can take up to 60 seconds per query, so be patient…or be ready to squeeze a stress ball!
In our search, we first looked at an economy flight option that put the vacation package price at $4,098 (all figures in CAD).
We then compared this with the premium economy cabin option for an additional $700…
…and the mixed-cabin option, which included business class outbound and premium economy inbound for an additional $1,340.
For our example, we decided to stick with the economy class flights since it’s a fairly short flight, and we’d like to save some extra money for excursions once we arrive.
Step 6. Select add-ons
At this stage, you’ll have the option to add extras like seat selection, travel protection, or airport transfers.
These add-ons can make your trip more comfortable and more flexible, but it’s important to consider your personal needs and preferences to determine whether the additional fee is worth it or not.
Step 7. Confirm your booking
Here, you’ll have to input traveller information to finalize your booking.
Make sure to also input your Aeroplan membership number (each traveller should enter their individual number) to earn Aeroplan points from the flight portion of your package and to get any bonus Aeroplan points that are offered as part of a deal.
Step 8. Select payment option
As you proceed through the check-out process, you’ll see the option to redeem Aeroplan points.
Here, you can choose to redeem for part or all of your vacation using Aeroplan points, with a maximum redemption cap of 500,000 Aeroplan points.
This cap means that you can pay for part or all of your vacation using your points, up to a maximum value of $5,000.
Note that when redeeming points, you’ll only be able to choose one of the preset point increments from the dropdown menu.
When you redeem Aeroplan points through Air Canada Vacations, you’ll get at a straightforward redemption value of 1 cent per point. In our example, 100,000 points covered $1,000 of the total package cost, bringing the total down to $3,098 (CAD).
Step 9. Complete your booking
Once you’ve applied your Aeroplan points, finalize your payment and confirm your booking.
One interesting feature at this stage is the option to use two different credit cards during the check-out process (though this is only available when you pay fully in cash). This can be particularly handy if you’re splitting the cost with a friend.
For example, let’s say you’re traveling with a fellow miles and points enthusiast (hopefully another Prince of Travel follower), and you both know that by using a credit card like the American Express®* Aeroplan® Reserve Card, you can earn 3 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada Vacations.
That’s 12,294 Aeroplan points earned for this booking ($4,098 x 3 = 12,294)!
The option to split the payment between two cards allows both you and your friend to benefit from earning points, avoiding the awkwardness of deciding who gets the rewards.
Should You Redeem Aeroplan Points for Air Canada Vacations?
This is a common question that many travellers ask. While using your Aeroplan points to book flights can offer incredible value, redeeming them for Air Canada Vacations is also worth considering, depending on your travel goals.
Reasons to Redeem Aeroplan Points for Air Canada Vacations:
Convenience: The ability to book an entire vacation package using points makes planning simple and stress-free.
Comprehensive Packages: You’re not just redeeming points for flights but also for accommodations and sometimes additional perks, giving you more bang for your buck.
Bonus Point Promotions: Air Canada Vacations often runs promotions where you can earn extra Aeroplan points when booking vacation packages, which can help offset the points you spend on the redemption.
Things to Consider:
Redemption Value: The value that you get per point when redeeming with Air Canada Vacations may not be as high as what you can get when redeeming for flights, so if maximizing points value is your top priority, you might want to focus on redeeming for higher-value flights instead.
Limited Flexibility: Since Air Canada Vacations packages are pre-set, you might have fewer customization options compared to booking each component of the trip separately.
With the above in mind, we think that redeeming Aeroplan points for Air Canada Vacations is a great option if you’re looking for a hassle-free experience and want to minimize out-of-pocket costs for a packaged vacation.
Breaking it Down: Air Canada Vacations vs Other Vacation Booking Sites
To get a better sense of whether redeeming Aeroplan points for Air Canada Vacations is a good deal, let’s compare package prices with a similar offer on Expedia and Sunwing.
For this example, we’ll stick with our 7-night Cancun trip at Hyatt Vivid Grand Island for two people, same flight dates and same room type.
- Air Canada Vacations Price: $4,098.
- Expedia Price: $5,768.13
- Sunwing Price: $4,330
Notably, Air Canada Vacations came out to be the most affordable option in this case, offering a better deal compared to both Expedia and Sunwing.
Not only does it provide the lowest price, but it also allows you to earn and redeem Aeroplan points, which adds even more value to your booking.
With prices like these, there’s little reason not to book through Air Canada Vacations.
That said, you may occasionally find cheaper deals on other booking sites.
For example, if another platform offers the same package for $3,800, it might seem like a better option at first glance, since you’ll be saving $298.
However, when you factor in the 21,102 Aeroplan points you’d earn by booking with Air Canada Vacations, or the ability to redeem them, the difference could narrow significantly.
We value Aeroplan points at 2.1 cents per point, which means those points are worth roughly $422 (CAD), a greater value than the $298 you’d save by booking elsewhere.
Our Verdict:
For this trip, Air Canada Vacations is clearly the winner, combining competitive pricing with the bonus of earning Aeroplan points.
However, if a lower price pops up on another site, you’ll need to weigh the value proposition to determine whether booking through Air Canada Vacations or elsewhere makes more sense.
In general, If you’re a frequent Aeroplan user or an avid points collector, the ability to earn and redeem Aeroplan points on Air Canada Vacations may justify the slightly higher price.
On the other hand, if maximizing cash savings is your top priority and you’re not concerned about points, a lower price on another platform might be more appealing.
Use the Right Credit Card for Your Booking
Selecting the right credit card for your Air Canada Vacations booking can significantly boost the number of Aeroplan points you earn while also offering valuable perks, such as trip interruption and cancellation insurance.
For Air Canada Vacation bookings, Aeroplan co-branded cards are the top choice. Not only do they help you maximize your points, but they also offer insurance coverage, even if you use Aeroplan points to cover part of your booking cost.
Here are four excellent credit cards to consider:
American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card
When it comes to maximizing earnings on Air Canada flights, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card stands out thanks to its exceptional earning rate of 3 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada flights, the highest of all Aeroplan co-branded cards.
By just using this card for our example booking (which cost $4,098), you would earn an impressive 12,294 Aeroplan points!
Key Benefits:
- Priority check-in & priority Zone 2 boarding (for you and up to eight passengers on the same reservation)†
- Access to Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés (for you plus one guest)†
- Free first checked bag on Air Canada flights (for you and up to eight passengers on the same reservation)†
- An Annual Worldwide Companion Pass (earned after making $25,000 in net purchases within the membership year)†
- Comprehensive travel insurance, including trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, baggage delay, and out of province/country emergency medical insurance†
American Express Aeroplan Card
Ideal for occasional travellers who want to earn Aeroplan points without a high annual fee, the American Express Aeroplan Card offers solid value.
While it doesn’t include premium features like lounge access and priority check-in, it does provide essential benefits such as a free first checked bag and some travel insurance coverage.
With an earning rate of 2 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada flights, it offers a good balance of affordability and rewards.
Key Benefits:
- Free first checked bag on Air Canada flights (for you and up to eight passengers on the same reservation)†
- Travel insurance, including flight delay, baggage delay, and travel accident insurance†
TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card
The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card is a great option for those hesitant about high annual fees, especially since the card often comes with a first-year annual fee rebate.
The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card earns 1.5 Aeroplan points per dollar on Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada flight purchases,† making it a reliable choice for accumulating points.
Key Benefits:
- Free first checked bag on Air Canada flights (for you and up to eight passengers on the same reservation)†
- Travel insurance, including trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, and delayed/lost baggage insurance†
- NEXUS application fee rebate (up to $100)†
- Mobile device insurance†
CIBC Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card
The CIBC Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card offers a strong earning rate and a range of travel benefits, making it a solid choice for frequent Air Canada travellers.
It earns 1.5 Aeroplan points per dollar spent on Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada flight purchases.
This card includes valuable travel perks like a free first checked bag and comprehensive insurance coverage. It’s an excellent option for those who want to earn points while enjoying a suite of travel protections.
Key Benefits:
- Free first checked bag on Air Canada flights (for you and up to eight passengers on the same reservation)†
- Travel insurance, including trip cancellation, trip interruption, flight delay, and delayed/lost baggage insurance†
- Auto rental collision and loss damage insurance†
- Mobile device insurance†
Conclusion
Air Canada Vacations provides a convenient way to plan and book your next trip, and redeeming Aeroplan points for these packages offers an additional layer of savings.
Whether you’re after an all-inclusive Caribbean retreat or a European city escape, using your Aeroplan points can help make your dream vacation more affordable.
Ready to start planning your next adventure?
Visit the Air Canada Vacations website to explore the latest deals and discover exciting destinations.
And make sure you’ve got one of the top Aeroplan credit cards mentioned earlier in this post to maximize the number of Aeroplan points you can earn.
† Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to the card issuer’s website for up-to-date information.
