Aeroplan is offering 2500 miles for new members after first activity in the account. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but because of a quirk in Aeroplan’s program that can be leveraged into 20,000 miles worth of travel.
The new Air Canada Aeroplan program has family pooling. So you can leverage this 8 x 2500 = 20,000 miles.
Aeroplan will allow up to 8 people to share their miles at no cost. Air Canada won’t limit redemptions to members in the pool. You can join family pooling and still redeem your miles for anyone you wish.
To limit abuse once you join a family pool you have to stay in it for at least three months. And when you leave you cannot join another one for six months.
So find 8 friends or family members who aren’t current Aeroplan members. They need to sign up. And then they need a mile. Points transfer from American Express, Capital One, Marriott and others. Or buy soemthing with through the Aeroplan eStore with each account, you can even earn Aeroplan miles via UberEats. Any purchase you’d be making anyway works.
And all of the miles can be pooled for an award ticket. In the new Aeroplan program starting November 8 there will be no fuel surcharges. So you can travel as far as 20,000 miles will take you for just the cost of taxes.
My 3 dogs 2 cats the neighborhood rabbit and 1 cardinal that visits my deck are all family (cue the SNL census skits), although kudos to air canada you can only do this once, since there is a Sep 30 end date for the bonus
I’d rather shave my head with a cheese grater while chewing on tinfoil than convince 7 friends or family members to sign up, make a small purchase, then transfer the points to my pool.
h/t Sam Malone
@Rico – I don’t think you understand what Gary is saying
I’ll go make some popcorn – cue the shutdowns a la AA.
But what about mileage expiration policy? With the virus, could one travel before expiration? Is it just one year?
@Fran,
The new program now has 18 months expiration like AA.
Your pets would need to be authorized users on your credit cards?! Lol