Why Air Canada Aeroplan has become my favorite Star Alliance loyalty program

14.10.2024 - 21:26 / thepointsguy.com

Even if you travel on many different airlines, it makes sense to focus on just one loyalty program in each of the Big Three airline alliances: Oneworld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam.

By focusing on one program per alliance, you can earn rewards faster by crediting everything to one program, as your points and miles won't be spread across multiple programs within the same alliance. If you fly enough (or hold the right credit card), you might earn elite status in the program, making your travel more comfortable, convenient and rewarding.

Given that I live in the United Kingdom, I've largely focused on British Airways Executive Club as my Oneworld loyalty program of choice. Avios can be transferred between five loyalty programs, and Executive Club elite status is quite easy to earn. For the SkyTeam alliance, I was previously a fan of Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club program; however, Air France-KLM's Flying Blue program has steadily risen to become my SkyTeam program of choice.

But what about Star Alliance?

Here's why Aeroplan has become my favorite Star Alliance loyalty program despite my rarely setting foot in Canada.

Related: Air Canada's Aeroplan program: The ultimate guide to earning and redeeming points

Aeroplan partners directly with four of the six major programs with transferable currencies:

Many of these programs offer cards that feature generous welcome bonuses. Here's just a sample of the travel rewards credit cards that earn transferable points or miles that can be converted to Aeroplan points at a 1:1 rate:

Related: Why transferable points are worth more than other rewards

Card issuers, especially American Express and Chase, have offered occasional transfer bonuses, usually around 20%, when transferring credit card points to Aeroplan.

This means you'll receive even more than a 1:1 transfer rate during these limited-time promotions, boosting your Aeroplan points balance and making earning the points for that dream redemption easier.

Related: A complete list of transfer bonuses over the past decade — which issuer is the most generous?

The best feature of the Aeroplan program is the jaw-dropping number of airlines on which you can earn and redeem Aeroplan points. At the time of writing, there are 50 different airline redemption partners. I can't think of another airline loyalty program with this many partners, and most are bookable online.

You can earn and redeem Aeroplan points on the following Star Alliance members:

Related: Is Air Canada premium economy worth it on the Boeing 777-300ER from Amsterdam to Toronto?

You can also earn and redeem Aeroplan points on the following nonalliance airlines:

Sure, I have no plans to fly Calm Air or Air Creebec, but having Emirates and Etihad — with