Update: This offer has expired.
It's the last day to transfer SPG Starpoints to Aeroplan with a 68% bonus. The promotion is for a 35% transfer bonus from Aeroplan partner hotel programs, but SPG offer the best deal due to the 1:1 transfer and 5000 extra miles per 20,000 points transferred. The offer ends tonight, August 21 at 11:59pm ET, so there are several hours left. But should you take advantage of the offer? As always it depends on your circumstances–what you plan to do with the miles, your SPG balance and how you value your miles and points.
- 20,000 SPG points = 33,750 Aeroplan miles
- 40,000 SPG points = 67,500 Aeroplan miles
- 60,000 SPG points = 101,250 Aeroplan miles
Good Uses of Aeroplan Miles
Now that Aeroplan can again book SWISS Business Class awards is one of my favorite awards, since it's just 55,000 Aeroplan miles each way from the U.S. to Europe, vs. 70,000 United miles. And SWISS is one of the airline awards that Aeroplan does NOT charge fuel surchages for.
Lufthansa First Class is a hard award to book since it generally is only bookable by partners 15 days in advance (you'll need Lufthansa's own Miles & More miles to book farther ahead) and Aeroplan does charge fuel surcharges for this award. But if willing to swallow the surcharges, it can afford good savings as Aeroplan charges 70,000 miles for the award, vs. 110,000 United miles (albeit without fuel surchages).
Another key benefit of Aeroplan miles is that you're allowed 2 free stopovers on a round trip award to another continent, so if you're fortunate enough to find award space for all the flights, you could build in 2 stopovers on a roundtrip to Europe.
Cons of Aeroplan Miles
There are some cons of Aeroplan miles and this transfer opportunity, however, that you should take into account:
1. Bonus Points Don't Transfer Instantly
Note that for this offer, bonus Aeroplan miles could take up to 4-6 weeks to be credited after the offer end date. So if you're counting on the bonus miles to use towards particular awards, you may have to wait up to 6 weeks from today to be able to use those miles.
2. Fuel Surchages
Aeroplan charges fuel surcharges on the following redemptions: ANA, Aegean, Austrian, LOT, Lufthansa, TAM, TAP, Thai and South African.
3. No Award Holds Permitted
Unlike American AAdvantage and Korean SkyPass, there are no award holds permitted. So you run a risk even with more or less instant points transfers, from AMEX Membership Rewards points, of the award disappearing as you transfer the points.
4. Aeroplan Miles Expire Without Activity at Least Once in a 12 Month Period
Aeroplan miles require activity at least once in a 12 month period to keep them active, otherwise they expire.
5. CAD 100-250 Redeposit Fee
Note that you'll want to be fairly sure of your plans when booking an Aeroplan award, as there's a CAD $100 change or redeposit fee, and the redeposit fee increases to CAD $250 for cancellations within 21 days of departure.
Are you taking advantage of this 68% SPG transfer bonus to Aeroplan?
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