Everyone knows the golden rule of Aeroplan points: always — always — redeem your points for flights. When you redeem your points for flights, you get the highest value. Depending on how savvy you are with the Aeroplan program, you could redeem for plane tickets that give you anywhere from two cents per point to eight cents per point.
But with COVID-19 and its gang of variants continuing to disrupt travel, you might feel hesitant about flying. If you absolutely must redeem your points this year, here’s what I would do.
The best option? Nothing
Again, I cannot emphasis it enough: you get the most valuable from your Aeroplan points when you use them on flights. So, the best thing to do is to wait until you feel comfortable flying again.
Of course, you might be worried about your points expiring. This is a valid concern. Aeroplan will cancel your points if your account is inactive for 18 months. If the 18-month mark lands in any of the calendar days of 2022, then you might have to use your points for something else.
One thing you could do is transfer your points from one account to another (such as a spouse’s account) or transfer your points into another travel program. This will keep your points active, and they won’t expire this year.
If that’s not possible, here’s the second-best option.
Second-best option: Air Canada gift cards
When you redeem your Aeroplan points for Air Canada gift cards, you typically get one cent per point.
That’s not bad. In fact, sometimes redeeming your points for an Air Canada gift card is a better option than redeeming them for a flight. Believe it or not, some domestic flights will give you less than one cent per point. In this case, you’d be better off redeeming your points for an Air Canada gift card, then using the gift card to buy your plane ticket.
Third-best option: Rental cars, hotels, or merchandise
If you’re serious about not flying, you could use your points on other travel purchases, such as rental cars and hotels. You’ll typically get around 0.90 cents per point when you redeem for car rentals and 0.80 cents per point for hotels.
You could also redeem for merchandise, such as headphones, coffee markers, or drill sets. But merchandise can be tricky to valuate. Some products will give you upward to 0.90 cents per point, which isn’t terrible. Others will give you far less, some as low as 0.35 cents and 0.50 cents per point. If merchandise goes below 0.70 cents, you’re better off going with the most desperate option of all: gift cards.
Desperate option: Gift cards
The absolute worst way to redeem your Aeroplan points is for gift cards. I say “worst” because you will get the lowest possible value for your points.
Nearly all gift cards will give you a value of 0.71 cents per point. Very few offer 0.74 cents per point, but none go above that.
Of course, if none of the options above interest you, then, by all means, find a retailer that you like and redeem your points for a gift card. But I would only do this as a last resort — as in, your points are about to expire, and you have nothing else for which to redeem.
