Jun

Aeroplan Versus Air Miles - Comparing Them

Written by Neil Galloway

Air Miles and Aeroplan points. The two biggest travel rewards programs. There is always the decision on which one to go with.

This will provide a bit of an analysis on them and which one I think is better. Personally, I think you should sign up for both, since the programs are free. There are credit cards that allow you to collect more miles and that is what I am going to focus on. For the record, I am going to assume points were obtained from a credit card alone and that the individual put $10,000 on their credit card in one year. I will also assume they are using their rewards for travel.

Basically, both programs are good. They are free to sign up and free to collect for most situations. Using the credit cards and paying fees change things though. Air Miles is the only one with a "no fee" credit card (Bank of Montreal's Mosaik Mastercard and the American Express Air Miles card) and whether paying the fees is worth it to you or not, you need to read my other articles to figure that out.

The basic air miles Mosaik Mastcard is free, but the American Express is free as well and pays out more AirMiles so that is a no brainer if you want it. I figure you need to put at least $3600/year on the basic CIBC AeroClassic Visa card (the Aeroplan credit card) to make it worth your while there. For most people, that isn't a problem.

I wrote three articles that show how much an air mile is worth, how much an aeroplan point is worth, and a review of a cash back card. They are in these articles...

In my other articles, I value an Air Mile at 23 cents/mile for flights and I value an Aeroplan point at 1.6 cents/mile for flights. You can read them to see how I figure that out (links above). Using the $10,000/year situation, it would be in my best interest to pay the fee for the best credit cards. That would be the $120/year CIBC AeroGold Visa and the $80/year BMO Gold Mosaik Mastercard.

The Visa card would give me 15,000 aeroplan miles. These are valued at 15,000 times 1.6 cents or $240. Since I had to pay $120 for the yearly fee I would get $120 back from my spending.

The Mastercard would give me 666 Air Miles. These are valued at 666 times 23 cents or $153.18. Since I had to pay $80 for the yearly fee I would get $73.18 back from my spending.

I'm getting better value out of my Aeroplan Visa card? Yes, in this situation you are. I used the "travel rewards" scenario where an Air Mile is worth around 23 cents.

However, Air Miles has a variety of rewards and entertainment rewards are worth up to 45 cents/mile. You can only get these with an Air Miles card (this isn't totally true, but there are so many more rewards with Air Miles you can't really compare them). In that scenario the Air Miles card actually would give you $220 back from your spending (after deducting the $80 fee).

Here is a brief look at the pros and cons of these credit card programs and the reward systems in general.

Aeroplan Points Pros and Cons

Pros: This is a better "travel" rewards program.

Collecting Aeroplan points with a credit card for the purpose of travel will give you better return on your credit card purchases.
You can collect them at a variety of stores.
Aeroplan has a good website for booking travel online
More international destinations available.

Cons:

There isn't a "no fee" credit card option.
There aren't as many rewards options.
Aeroplan points have an expiry on them (its several years though).
You can't use them for WestJet flights (airline in Canada).

Air Miles Pros and Cons

Pros: This is better for rewards flexibility and better returns for the entertainment options.

There is a "no fee" credit card option. If you don't put a lot on credit cards, then this card is for you.
There are a lot more rewards possibilities.
Entertainment rewards make the return on credit card purchases worth more than the return on Aeroplan credit card purchases.
You can collect them at a variety of stores.
They don't expire.
They are good for travel with Air Canada and WestJet.
Excellent automated phone system for booking non-travel rewards.

Cons:

If used strictly for travel rewards (flights), the return value from the credit card isn't as good as Aeroplan.
The Air Miles website is terrible and there is no ability to book flights online, only other rewards.
Fewer international destinations than Aeroplan.

Update June 15, 2007: A reader commented that you can Collect Airmiles by just flying, which I said you could not. If you use your card in conjunction with booking you can receive more Airmiles.

Summary

My summary would be that you should sign up for both programs. You should always carry a blue Air Miles card and the orange Aeroplan card. Choosing a credit card depends on your rewards preferences and how much you expect to spend on your card. If you rarely use a card and don't want the fee then just get the basic American Express Air Miles Card.

If you do spend more and will use the miles for traveling, then go with CIBC's Aeroplan Visa cards. Read my article on Aeroplan to determine whether a credit card upgrade is worth it or not.

If you would like other types of rewards (like entertainment) or just more variety in your rewards, then go with Air Miles. Read my article on Air Miles to determine wheter a credit card upgarde is worth it or not.

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Category: Finance

24 Comments

Kyle T. Says:
2007-02-05 14:15:36
Thanks for the research. It confirmed what I concluded about the two reward programs. I don't fly as often as I used to and found that Airmiles are now the better option for me, although I still have the WestJet Gold MasterCard for the times I do need to

Pete B Says:
2007-04-03 10:16:35
This is exactly what I've been looking for. Thanks for doing the math for me. You're the man.

Andrew Says:
2007-06-13 11:47:56
You DO earn Air Miles through Flying. You actually can get triple miles when you book online or through an agent and use your Air Miles card along with your Mosaic MasterCard. Westjet gives you 1 mile/$20, double that for using the MC, plus by using the BMO MC, you earn 1/$40 or 1/$20 or 1/$15 depending on your plan.

Neil Says:
2007-06-15 08:22:13
Thanks for the comment. I'm going to double check, but I have never explicitly shown my card when I booked, but then again, I might have inadvertently done so.

TG Says:
2007-08-03 19:35:59
This is a great article! Thanks for taking the effort to reviewing these two. Just wondering what else out there? TD travel rewards? AAdvantage Miles? etc?

betty Says:
2007-08-05 20:29:51
the biggest problem with the American Express card is that so few retailers will accept it They say that the discount fee is high and AmEx is slow to pay so i had to get a MC as well One benefit is that you can pay bills like hydro & telephone with CC then pay the CC bill and have the air miles reward

David Says:
2007-09-10 08:19:24
Great article. Sums it up very well. Thanks for putting this on the web. :)

Ali Says:
2007-09-17 22:33:46
Thanks for the article. Well balanced, I still can't decide which card to get even though I read through it and reviewed your mathematics and concluding remarks. Informative non the less. Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Ali

P Says:
2007-11-15 10:02:40
I use Bank of Montreal for banking and have the Gold Airmiles Mastercard @ $90/yr. The benefit here is with the Gold card they credit you $70 towards a bank account, and since we all have to pay for a bank account of some kind, this effectively brings down the annual fee of the Gold card to $20.

Stu Black Says:
2007-11-29 09:58:30
Neil,
You've done a fabulous job of researching the topic, and saved viewers a lot of time. Good luck with your business venture - didn't the Google guys start out in a small way?

Stu Black

P.S. By all means sign me up for your ezine.

B.Skikavich Says:
2008-01-11 13:47:07
I pay for my Air Canada flights with my Airmiles Amex, so I get both.

Pam Says:
2008-03-07 12:07:00
I used both Airmiles and Aeroplan points to book a hotel stay in Halifax. I did the Aeroplan booking online in less than 10 minutes and had my confirmation emailed to me. Airmiles wouldn't let me book online - I spent 40 minutes on hold and with an agent and they still have to send me a certificate. So in terms of redeeming, Aeroplan is much easier.

Alan T. Says:
2008-04-22 07:13:01
You have excellent insight into these plans. Thanks.

I have both. But,I have not used my AirMiles Bluie card, I have used my Aeroplan twice, once for a first class ticket to New Zealand/Australia, and recently for a tourist ticket to La Paz,Mexico. The online booking is great. Maybe it is the lack of an online service with the Blue AirMiles card that has kept me from cashing in. But, the Aeroplan limit of seven years to use Aeroplan miles has pushed me to use them more often.

I use my CIBC Aerogold for pretty much everything, Personal & Business expenses. Even after using 165,000+35,000 miles, I still have 195,000 left. So, I might retire early and do a round the world trip in first class before I die.

They are both great programs and the Government has not found a way to tax them yet (shh, don\\\'t tell anyone).

Craig Says:
2008-07-14 16:32:53
I have a really dumb question but are the trips on the airmiles site return or not? I can't find anywhere that species!

John Ouellette Says:
2008-09-17 14:17:34
Can I trade Aeroplan miles for Air miles?

Wes Says:
2008-10-18 15:27:17
Good Article. I found that the best program for me is Starwood Preffered Guest Mastercard from MBNA. It is no annual fee and I get 1 Starwood Point per $. Starwood is the hotel operator of Westin. The cool part about their program is that for every $10000, you get 5000 points (upto $30000) so it can be $1 per point. The advantage? You can trade those points for miles on many airline programs. Although Aeroplan is not available for Canadians, you can transfer them to another Star Alliance airline such as ANA, US Airways etc. Check it out http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline_partner_list.html

Brenda Says:
2008-10-24 20:24:55
Great information as I did not know the difference, comparions, and you have outlined all the information needed in great detail. Thank you.

Richard Jones Says:
2008-11-09 14:07:28
I have heard a story that Westjet is leaving the airmiles program. First, is it true? If so, with what will they be replacing it?

Richard Jones Says:
2008-11-09 14:09:22
Here is where the story about Westjet originated....any updates?
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpposted/archive/2008/04/02/westjet-renews-contract-with-air-miles.aspx

Robert Says:
2008-11-15 10:14:35
Anyone has any comment about the Amex AeroplanPlus versus the Avion or Aerogold cards?

Frances Says:
2008-11-18 23:54:06
I am a student, always collecting my points! There is one big problem from this article missing!
To obtain a CIBC Areoplan Visa you have to have a minimum anual income of $35000!
Thant's not me...

Andy Says:
2008-11-23 19:18:16
I think the Amex aeroplan point Credit card is the best. I tried the CIBC VISA Aerogold Credit card mostly, but the bonus points are just you smile on it, but the AMEX Aeroplan Credit card give you so much bonus point every month. The AMEX Aeroplan Credit card is the best ever for me and collecting so much...Every year I have free tickets for two and still have more points left over to travel with it.

Andy Says:
2008-11-23 19:25:30
I forget to mentioned it. To use the Airmiles card is nonsense... I have use it over 10 years and just wont get enough airmiles to travel with it. So the best Creditcard is for me the American Express Aeroplan point Credit Card. It is $120 the annual fee but the secondary card is Free of Charge, not like the CIBC VISA Aeroplan Credit Card, because the annual fee is also $120 per annualy, but there is extra $60 charge for the additional Creditcard and the bonus points what they give us just nothing.. but this is my experience. The AMEX is the best deal here!

Anonymous Says:
2008-11-23 19:34:35
This is the best Rewarding cerditcard: Amex Aeroplanplus Gold Card:
https://www212.americanexpress.com/dsmlive/dsm/int/ca/en/personal/chooseacard/allcards/aeroplanplusgoldcard/allthedetails_pr.do?vgnextoid=0ed3e452a54e4110VgnVCM100000cef4ad94RCRD