[Not working yet?] Wow: 30% transfer bonus to Aeroplan from Ultimate Rewards

Update: A couple of readers have reported that they made transfers and have not immediately received the 30% bonus on the Aeroplan side. Woody points out in the comments that terms on the Aeroplan side indicate that this bonus is intended to run from November 1-30, 2022. It seems that Chase has released this promotion early. I expect that Chase and/or Aeroplan will make this right for those who have transferred, but it might be best to wait to transfer until November 1st (or at least wait until we have positive reports of receiving the 30% bonus -I will update this paragraph when we do).

A transfer bonus of 30% is being offered by Chase Ultimate rewards to Air Canada Aeroplan. Aeroplan has so many amazing things you can do with it, like Nick's 6-country, 5-airline Air Canada Aeroplan award ticket to read about how I visited 6 countries over 5 days with a single one-way award or Aeroplan plans for future dream trips for inspiration, this I think this is open to everyone, so make sure you see it in your account.

The Deal

• Through November 30, 2022, get a 30% transfer bonus from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Air Canada Aeroplan

Key Terms

• Expires 11/30/22
• Bonus will be reflected on the Aeroplan side after making your transfer
• Be sure that you see the 30% bonus indication shown in the screen shot above before transferring to be sure this is available

Quick Thoughts

If you are excited about all the things you can do with Air Canada Aeroplan, this could be an amazing deal. Aeroplan has not been great for simple one-way redemptions, but they have become a great deal for more complex trips.

I wrote about nine seats that were available on Swiss Airlines from New York to Geneva in the summer of 2023 in a previous article.

Business class to Europe costs 60K, but some Star Alliance programs charge less miles. TurkishMiles would charge over 50,000 miles for the same flight. Air Canada does not pass on carrier imposed surcharges. After the bonus, 47,000 points would be enough to get you 60,000 miles. It's an excellent deal to pay 47K points for a one-way business class to Europe with no surcharges.

It gets better when you string together long awards. I put together an award ticket for 115,000 Aeroplan miles and $65 in business class for the 3 cards 3 continents challenge.

• New York to Cairo on Egpytair
• Cairo to Istanbul on Turkish
• Istanbul to Muscat, Oman on Turkish
• Muscat to Bangkok on Omanair
• Bangkok to Singapore on Gulf Air
• Singapore to Cebu, Philippines on Singapore Airlines

All of that was done in business class and I had a lot of time to do interesting things in each city. It could be done for less than 89K miles with the 30% transfer bonus.

It's possible to add a single stop on a one-way award ticket for 5,000 Aeroplan miles, which requires less than 4,000 Chase Ultimate rewards points. Air Canada has many partner airlines. It's possible to fly to Europe for less than 100K Ultimate rewards points. There are many options.

I tend to look at my Chase Ultimate rewards points in a different way. I use points for Hyatt a lot. I am in the process of planning for next year and this deal is going to be very tempting.

Transferring speculatively isn't worth it, you want to find award space and have a plan before you do. It is worth repeating that caution here. The fact that Aeroplan devalues the program makes it hard for me to make a speculative transfer. It might be difficult to resist taking advantage of a great award if you can. It would be called my name if I didn't have so much travel in the works.