Our regular readers will know that I am a big Aeroplan fan (many redemption options, many partners, and credit card offers).
I wanted to share 10 of the easiest ways to earn Aeroplan miles.
1. Get an eye exam.
FYidoctors provides complete vision care for you and your family, and they are offering Aeroplan miles.
New patients earn 5x the miles with a complete eye exam. Plus, all Aeroplan Members get 500 miles with the purchase of premium personalized lenses.
If you have benefits at work, it is crazy not to get an eye exam (they are more costly than most places) but it is your health at stake!
Book an appointment at one of our 100 locations across Canada to get a complete eye exam and earn even more Aeroplan Miles.
2. Fill up your car at Esso.
Most gas stations around Canada are the same – gas is gas and the price is around the same (at least here in Victoria).
I like to fill up at Esso (I can buy my gift cards at Target to get my 5% off or Shop.ca) and collect a few Aeroplan miles with my fill-ups.
3. Buy gift cards at Shop.ca
This is a major partner of Aeroplan. You earn 1 Aeroplan mile for every dollar spent and you earn 1 additional mile if you are Distinction.
They always have promos, like earn 10x miles for your purchase.
I like to buy my gift cards as I can double-dip my purchases at Shop.ca.
4. Do a survey.
AskingCanadians is an online research community dedicated to providing our members with an opportunity to make their voices heard.
Your opinions and time are valuable so they’ll reward you for every survey you complete. You’ll automatically earn Aeroplan® Miles.
5. Buy something at UPS store.
Earn 1 Aeroplan Mile for every $1 you spend in store with The UPS Store in Canada—up to 1,000 miles daily.
Plus, when you first sign up for the Get More card with The UPS Store, you’ll earn an additional bonus of 500 bonus miles and then earn miles even faster—up to 1.5 miles for every $1 you spend. What’s more, get 10% off every time you shop in store.
Certain restrictions apply. See details in store and at theupsstore.ca/small-business-solutions.
6. Buy something at the Aeroplan eStore.
Shopping online through Aeroplan eStore is easy, secure, and fun! Simply log in, start shopping and earn Aeroplan Miles on every purchase.
They have merchants like Ebay, Chapters, and The Bay.
You’ll earn at least 1 Aeroplan Mile for every $1 you spend. They usually have promos where you earn 5x each dollar spent.
7. Test drive a Volvo.
Experience Volvo innovations for yourself. Take a Volvo for a test drive and earn 250 bonus miles. It’s just one of the many ways to earn with Volvo.
I did this when they had a promo and I earned 2,500 Aeroplan miles.
8. Book your travel with Destination Miles.
9. Sign up for emails from Home to earn 100 Bonus Aeroplan Miles.
10. Get a first year no annual fee Aeroplan affiliated credit card.
16 Comments
Krista
Have you ever used Aeroplan Miles to fly to Europe? I am looking at doing so and am finding a) the worst travel itineraries possible and b) astronomical fees. Admittedly, I am looking for either spring break or summer 2015, which is high season, but still, the fuel surcharges are shocking, such that I would be paying 2/3 of the price of an actual ticket in fees, plus more than 60 000 Aeroplan Miles. Do you have any experience or tips on making Aeroplan Miles useful to Europe, because at this stage, I think I will just keep them for North American travel or start buying gift cards from the Aeroplan store . . . .
szussino
Krista,
I know your problems, I will email you,
Thanks,
Mohamed
Can you share your response to Krista’s comment please ? I would love to know how to handle trips to Europe as well.
Thanks.
Kaity
I agree with Krista’s comment. It makes me not want to focus on aeroplan and simply just purchase tickets off the AE travel site where 100 points = $1 dollar
Isabelle
What is the AE travel site ?
Coolfam
Good tips. All I’ve done to collect Aeroplan points is an occasional flight and filling up at Esso. I use Aeroplan and a lot of point programs for hotel bookings because you usually don’t have to pay fees and taxes. I try to fly by purchasing cheap flights. I hope you get to one million aeroplan points – that would be awesome!
Ali Lawless
I have used Aeroplan several times to travel to Europe on reward tickets. Firstly I try to plan ahead eg a year to get best seat selection. Secondly to avoid high taxes I look for flights on Swiss or LOT airlines as their taxes are a lot lower than AC or Lufthansa. Thirdly I check back to the Aeroplan website regularly if I want to upgrade to Business class etc as the airlines will add flights from time to time and other people may change their tickets opening up reward flights.
There are also websites like “expertflyer.com” that will notify you about available reward flights but I haven’t found the time to figure out this site yet. Also there are people who specifically book reward travel like “Travelsort” but there are fees involved. Happy travelling.
Steven Zussino
Great tips!
Carly
Hi Steve 🙂 Really enjoying your blog, totally new to all this travel hacking. I’ve just been approved for the amex gold rewards, however I’m curious – there are so many cards I CAN’T get approved for because of my limited income (I’m not saying I’m hard up – we own our home flat out, we have zero debt and we don’t have alot of overhead so we live very comfortable at less than 70,000/yr combined income). BUT this seems to rule us out for alot of the great rewards cards… do you just… put down a higher income or do they check that? Is the credit card method of travel hacking really only limited to those earning more than 100000/yr? cus I’d think then they could just…buy… their airline tickets? I did recently “transfer” an old bmo airmiles card to the new BMO world elite card (thus avoiding applying, since the required income is over 100K/yr) but I don’t have alot of cards I can just transfer to other cards. Just curious if there is a way around this? Thanks!
Steven Zussino
Hi Carly,
Thanks for the comment! We never have any problem with these cards but some higher end cards like the AMEX Platinum may require at least 75K. I have never lied on these applications and I wouldn’t suggest any reader to but there are still many cards out there (i.e. Alaska Airlines MBNA Card).
COngrats on a paid off home!
Carly
Thanks Steve 🙂 I haven’t looked into the Alaska Airlines card but I will! … I was aiming to start with either Aeroplan or Avios … now my husband and I have both been approved for the Amex Gold rewards, so that’s 50,000 points and since you can combine Avios accounts the thing to do seems to be to transfer all those points to Avios now during their promotion? We fly to London alot (he’s originally from England) so we can certainly use the flights. Is Avios what you would do? And if I can pick your brain.. for example, our next trip to London is over Christmas, and I’ve booked us Edmonton – Copenhagen on Iceland Air $618.00, and then Copenhagen to Luton on easyjet, $160.00… so I thought that $778.00 round trip to London at Christmas was a pretty awesome deal but now that I know about travel hacking I’m not so sure anymore lol will I be able to rival that price using Avois miles, after taxes and airline surcharges? Also back to the original question, should I bother filling out the applications for cards that require a higher income than I have? Are people ever approved on a credit alone basis? And now that I’ve applied for a couple cards do I need to wait a few months before I do it again? I really appreciate your knowledge on this subject 🙂 I’m fascinated! (And excited!)
Harold
You should add COSTCO.CA for Aeroplan miles….
Thanks
Letty
I want to apply for the American Express Gold Card deal, but I was wondering if you cancel this card before a year is up – so no annual fee but get the points. I do not want a bunch of cards with annual fees that I do not use. Thanks and looking forward to your reply.
Steven Zussino
Yes, you could cancel this prior to one year. I would keep it for 10 months and create a reminder to cancel.
Connor
Hey Steve,
Been collecting aeroplan miles for over a year it’s addicting. I’m in Australia and have enough points to fly myself and partner home for less than $200 in taxes out of pocket, saving easily upwards of $1300. Question about applying to all these credit cards for the bonuses and cancelling before annual fee comes up, is it smart to keep signing up and cancelling how does this affect your credit score? Affect applying for credit cards in the future? I pay my annual fee for my amex gold because the long term benefits are great for accumulating points. Any recommendations on utilizing other sign up bonuses?
Thanks!
Connor
Steven Zussino
Hi Connor,
I strongly believe in this practice but I always recommend keeping a no-fee credit card to keep a credit history (doesn’t look good opening and then closing accounts so quickly).
Thanks!
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