Flying is only one way in. For most people the bigger sources are a credit card, online shopping, hotels, and car rentals. The catch is that some bookings earn nothing at all if you go through the wrong channel.
Aeroplan points come from a handful of sources. Knowing which ones earn the most, and which also earn status credits, helps you put spending where it counts.
| Source | Earns points | Earns status credits |
|---|---|---|
| Co-branded credit card | Yes | Limited, card-specific |
| Air Canada flights, booked direct | Yes | Yes |
| Online shopping portal | Yes | No |
| eStore | Yes | No |
| Hotels, account linked | Yes | No |
| Car rentals, partner | Yes | Yes |
| Transfer from bank or hotel | Yes | No |
Booking a flight through a third-party site can quietly cost you everything you were trying to earn. To earn Aeroplan points, an Air Canada ticket generally has to be issued by Air Canada, and partner-operated flights booked through an outside site are usually excluded.
Status credits are the bigger loss. Third-party bookings often earn no status credits at all, even when the flight is on Air Canada metal.
Both earn well when set up correctly, and car rentals are one of the few non-flight sources that also earn status credits.
Two earning angles people overlook because they sit outside the obvious card-and-flights path.
Big payments that normally cannot go on a credit card, rent above all, can often be routed through a bill-payment service that charges the card for you. The spend then earns on whatever rewards card you use, which turns your single largest monthly expense into points. The service takes a fee, so weigh that against the points and any welcome-bonus spend you are chasing.
Around your birthday Aeroplan emails a choice of perks. Most people click the first option, a small batch of bonus points. The stronger pick is usually the percentage off a base fare, which can be worth far more on a real booking. It does not stack with an existing sale fare and you have to book within the window, but on the right trip it beats the default easily.
An Air Canada Vacations package behaves differently from a plain flight. The package can earn status credits based on the whole package price, which is generous, but it does not always earn flight points the way a standalone ticket does. Confirm what a given package earns before you book it for the points.
The biggest single deposit most people ever see in an Aeroplan account is a credit card welcome bonus. It is also the easiest one to lose. The bonus is set and paid by the card issuer, not by Aeroplan, so the eligibility rules are the issuer’s, and they are written to stop the same person collecting the same bonus twice.
Three rules decide whether you qualify, and each issuer words them differently:
The part that catches careful people is what happens after the bonus posts. Issuer terms let them reverse a welcome bonus if the account is closed, downgraded, or otherwise ends the year early, and several state a minimum period the account must stay open. Cancelling in the second month, once the points have landed, is the pattern those clauses exist for, and closing the account also shortens the average age of your credit file, which is a real input to your credit score. Aeroplan’s own terms sit on top of all this: one account per person, no transferring or selling points, and Air Canada can close an account and forfeit the balance for conduct it treats as abuse of the program. Opening a second Aeroplan number to qualify for a bonus again is squarely inside that language.
The safe habits are simple. Read the offer’s own eligibility paragraph before you apply, not the headline. Note the month you closed any earlier card from that issuer. Keep a new card open until the annual fee has posted a second time. And put every card, past and present, on the one Aeroplan number you already have.
Aeroplan points expire after a stretch of account inactivity. Any earning or redeeming activity resets the clock, and the easiest one is a transfer in.
Most points are earned on the ground. A co-branded credit card is the largest source for most people, then the online shopping portal, the eStore, linked hotel stays, car rentals, and transfers from a flexible bank or hotel program.
Often not, or not in full. The ticket generally has to be issued by Air Canada to earn, partner-operated flights through a third party are usually excluded, and status credits often do not count at all. Book direct to be sure.
Yes, with your Aeroplan number attached and an eligible rate. Partner car rentals earn points and status credits. Hotels earn when your loyalty account is linked and you book through the hotel directly. Eligible corporate and government rates can still qualify.
Yes. Points expire after account inactivity, and a qualifying transfer in from a bank, card, or hotel program counts as activity that resets the clock. Any earn or redemption works, but a transfer is one of the simplest.
Yes, through a bill-payment service that charges your credit card for payments that normally cannot go on a card, such as rent. The spend earns on your rewards card. It does not earn status credits on its own, and the service charges a fee, so weigh that against the points.
Only if the issuer’s eligibility terms allow it. Bank issuers exclude anyone who has held one of their Aeroplan cards inside a lookback window counted from the date the earlier card closed, and American Express pays each card’s bonus once per person with no time limit. Read the offer’s eligibility paragraph before applying, and never open a second Aeroplan account to requalify: Aeroplan permits one account per person and can close an account and forfeit the points for program abuse.
Come in for a free conversation. We can look at how you already spend and travel and find the points you are leaving on the table.