For all the frustrations Aeroplan brings with its lack of availability and surprise fees, it is still by far my favourite rewards program. Why? The little-known travel hack that is the Aeroplan mini around the world ticket. To help you understand just what that means I decided to share my latest Aeroplan Mini RTW examples. By the end of this post, you will see the potential and why you should unlock the value in your points!
2018 has been a busy year for me. Not so much with my own travel (although trips to Copenhagen and Porto were epic) but with helping others make the most of their Aeroplan points. I started offering this service a couple years ago and, at first, bookings were slow. I had tons of window shoppers with multiple emails a week but very few confirmed bookings. Then the uncertainty of Aeroplan’s future happened. All of a sudden people wanted to unload their points and came to me for help. In the past 10 months, I have helped save thousands of dollars in fees and built some incredible trips.
Yes, it was it a good year for travel for my readers. But what about me?
I booked two trips on points this year, Europe and India. The latter was a doozy that includes 5 countries and all but one flight in business class…all for just $285 in fees! How did I do it? I’m going to break down just that with these Aeroplan mini RTW examples.
What is a Mini RTW Reward Ticket?
Before we dive into these Aeroplan mini RTW examples, let’s explain just what that means. A mini RTW reward ticket is simply, a reward ticket that has been pieced together using Aeroplan‘s flexible rules to make a route that is significantly cheaper in both points and fees than the official around the world ticket offered by Star Alliance, One World, and SkyTeam. What’s the difference?
Well for 200,000 Aeroplan miles you can book an economy around the world ticket with Star Alliance. This gets you ~16 stops but comes with some restrictions on distance and directions. Besides being a lot of points to handover, it will also cost you ~$2,000-$3,000 in fees.
If only there was a better way…
A mini around the world ticket (RTW) can be yours for as little as 60,000 points. But how cheap? That’s where these Aeroplan mini RTW examples come in.
Fly business class (at least on long-haul flights)
Add bonus stopovers in well-suited stopover cities
Lastly, because I was taking a train trip from Mumbai to Delhi, I wanted to fly into Mumbai and out of New Delhi
With these priorities and parameters in place, I began meticulously searching roughly 6 months before departure. After many hours and over several days I pieced together this awesome route:
YVR – LAX – PEK –BOM on Air China business class
Open jaw to SIN
SIN – IST on Singapore Air business class (14-hour layover in Istanbul)
The above route, although ticked a lot of my boxes, left a huge open-jaw gap in the middle. Why? The train trip from Mumbai to Delhi meant I am starting an open-jaw earlier than I would like. Aeroplan’s rules stipulate that the 1 allowed open-jaw to be attached to your destination. Since the destination is deemed as the furthest location this meant Singapore.
Under the above route I would have to pay my own way from Delhi to Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka to the Maldives, then to Singapore where I would pick up my long return home. These flights add up which led me to rethink this route. Many clicks later I landed on the following:
YVR – HDN on EVA business class (19-hour layover)
HDN – PEK – DEL on Air China business class
DEL – BOM (separate flight to avoid early open jaw)
BOM – CMB on Air India business class
Open-jaw to MAL
MAL – SIN on Singapore Airlines business class (8-hour layover)
SIN – SFO on Singapore Airlines business class
SFO – YVR on United economy
[nwm_map id=11 lines=1 zoom=6]
All of this for only a difference of ~$30 from the original route, plus a few gotchas…
Lessons Learned
This Aeroplan mini RTW booking provided me with a few lessons learned. From new change fees, upgrading after booking, and staying within distance limitation these Aeroplan mini RTW examples are for me as much as it is for you!
Although I was sad to remove a layover in Istanbul and even though it is not a true RTW trip, this new route was much better. It did come at a cost though. Aeroplan has viciously upped it’s change fees from $90 to $100…per direction!
This meant it cost me $400 in change fees for two people to update this route. Although that stings, it was a wash because I no longer had multiple open jaw flights to buy. Also, those flights would’ve been in economy, not business class.
Upgrading After Booking
On the positive, in the new route, my leg from DEL to CMB was not originally in business class. I checked back every day until business class seats opened up. Then it was a quick call into Aeroplan and had the seats upgraded free of charge.
I was also told that worst case, I could’ve upgraded those ones at the airport as I was flying on a business class ticket. If seats were available I would’ve been on the list for an eligible upgrade. Good to know in the future if one or two legs are holding you back from pulling the trigger on an overall ticket
Watch your distance
The last lesson learned, and one I have surprisingly avoided for years is going over the allotted mileage. I had to include Singapore in my trip to bump up the difference. Although it added 5K in points, a layover in Singapore is great and also being able to visit the world’s best airport again made it more than worthwhile.
For a breakdown on how to calculate Aeroplan’s maximum permitted miles (MPM), check out this great post by Canadiankilometers.com!
Bonus Leg on ANA
Not all lessons learned were from challenges or digging into my wallet. My second route still had us going through LAX on the way out. Shortly after re-booking, I got a notice that my Air Canada flight to LAX changed from leaving at 18:40 to 15:15. Not ideal.
This 3-hour+ swing meant leaving early from work instead of that evening. I started looking for alternates and finally came across a direct flight from Vancouver to Tokyo on ANA.
The downside to that is it left around the same time as my changed flight to LAX (15:15) and ANA charges high taxes and fees on reward tickets. The upside is I would rather spend a night in Tokyo than LA. With that in mind, I decided to bite the bullet again and fork over the stupid change fees…plus the extra $200 or so ANA charges in fees.
To my pleasant surprise, I got through the change on the phone with the Aeroplan agent without discussing change fees, the difference in costs, or handing over my credit card number. What the what??
I did mention at the beginning of the call that I was searching because the Air Canada change did not work from me. In the past, they have gone out of their way on Air Canada flights to accommodate changes that were caused by them. I am assuming this is what happened here. Either way, it was a “Start the carrrr!” moment as I feel like I got away with something great.
Wrapping up These Aeroplan Mini RTW Examples
There you have it, my Aeroplan mini RTW reward booking breakdowns. As you can see with a little (a lot of) legwork you can maximize those points while avoiding high fees and taxes. Yes, Aeroplan’s change fees suck however working the system in your favour is well worth the effort.
If you still think booking a mini RTW Aeroplan reward ticket is too much work, let’s talk! For a small fee, I can help! This year alone I’ve helped dozens of people fly further for much less than what Aeroplan charges straight up on their website. Don’t overpay for your Aeroplan mini RTW reward ticket. Give me a shout!
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Good blog. Thanks for sharing and keep it up..
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