You can get 50,000 Aeroplan points back when you redeem for hotel stays, but is it a good deal?

The Air Canada Aeroplan loyalty program is offering members up to 50,000 points back when they redeem their Aeroplan points for hotel stays.

Register online and book by Sept. 30, 2024, for travel between Sept. 3, 2024, and Feb 28, 2025, to earn the following points rebates:

10,000 points back when you redeem at least 40,000 points for your stay
25,000 points back when you redeem at least 80,000 points for your stay
50,000 points back when you redeem at least 150,000 points for your stay

Plus, Aeroplan elite members will receive an extra 2,500 points back.

There is no limit to how many times you can receive the points back during this promotion. The points rebate will be deposited to your Aeroplan account within six weeks of the stay, so make sure you have enough points in your account before you book.

If you hold Air Canada’s Aeroplan® Credit Card from Chase, you will receive a fourth night free when you redeem points for hotel stays, making this offer even more lucrative.

Here at TPG, we don’t generally recommend redeeming your airline points and miles for hotel stays, so is this seemingly generous deal worth it?

Redeeming Aeroplan points for hotel stays without an Aeroplan credit card

If you do not hold the Aeroplan Credit Card from Chase or are looking to book no more than three nights, you will not receive the fourth-night-free benefit.

Looking at a two-night stay at SLS South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida, you could redeem 126,700 Aeroplan points for a Superior City View King room. The rate includes taxes and fees but is not refundable.

With this promotion, you will receive 25,000 points back (by redeeming at least 80,000 points but fewer than 150,000 points), so your out-of-pocket cost will be 101,700 Aeroplan points after the rebate is paid following your stay.

Alternatively, the same room type with the same terms and conditions can be purchased directly with Accor for $931.04.

With this current promotion, your 101,700 Aeroplan points would be worth $931.04 or 91 cents each.

Given that TPG values Aeroplan points at 1.5 cents each, per our September 2024 valuations, redeeming them for only 91 cents does not maximize your points.

Redeeming Aeroplan points for hotel stays with an Aeroplan credit card

If you’re looking to book four nights using points and hold the Aeroplan Credit Card, the value proposition changes, given the lucrative benefit of receiving the fourth night free as a perk of holding the card.

When considering the same hotel, SLS South Beach, for four nights rather than two, you’ll find the same Superior City View King room bookable for 189,950 points when the credit card’s free night is applied.

With this promotion, you would receive 50,000 points back by redeeming at least 150,000 points for a hotel stay. Remember that cardholders also receive automatic Aeroplan 25K elite status for the remainder of the calendar year, plus the following one.

Cardholders would also receive an additional 2,500 points back, so the total out-of-pocket cost would be 137,450 points after rebates.

The same hotel room could be booked directly with Accor on the same dates and with the same conditions for $1,862.08.

By redeeming 137,450 Aeroplan points for this stay, you would save $1,862.08, giving your points a value of 1.35 cents each. This is much closer to our 1.5-cent valuation of Aeroplan points and is a respectable, if not spectacular, way to redeem your Aeroplan points.

How to earn Aeroplan points

New Air Canada Aeroplan Credit Card applicants can earn 70,000 points after they spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months their account is open for just a $95 annual fee. With the card, you’ll also earn:

3 points per dollar spent at grocery stores, on dining and on purchases made directly with Air Canada
1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases

The card offers a host of other perks, too, including monthly bonus points, lounge passes, discounted award pricing and upgrade credits.

You can also transfer the following credit card rewards to Aeroplan at a 1:1 transfer ratio:

This means that the following cards all currently offer strong welcome bonuses with rewards that you can transfer to your Aeroplan account:

Bottom line

This new promotional offer from Aeroplan offers members the chance to earn up to 50,000 points back when redeeming points for hotel stays.

For short stays where you can’t take advantage of the fourth-night-free offer, it’s not a great way to redeem your Aeroplan points. Instead, you’ll usually get much better value when redeeming your Aeroplan points for flights, especially on partner airlines.

If you have the Aeroplan Credit Card and want to book four or more nights, this promotion offers an acceptable but not amazing way to redeem Aeroplan points.