New Aeroplan Family Sharing Feature
We are excited to announce that Air Canada has transformed its points program. The new program officially launched on November 8, 2020. It’s still the same Aeroplan name that we’ve grown to know over the years, but, after listening to members’ comments and suggestions, Air Canada has enhanced its program with the new Aeroplan Family Sharing feature.
Aeroplan has been our most used travel rewards program for over the past 15 years. As we patiently wait for global travel restrictions to be lifted, we are diligently earning points (formerly called Miles under the old Aeroplan program) while making purchases at home.
In this post, we share details about the new Aeroplan Family Sharing Feature.
The new Aeroplan Family Sharing feature is perfect for travelling families.
This new feature allows you and your family members to share points for free. This means you can combine Aeroplan points with your family members and accumulate points faster together. It also means you can redeem your travel rewards much faster.
Up to 8 family members can all be a part of an Aeroplan Family Sharing account.
We have experienced the challenge of not having enough points in one account for a flight. The cost to transfer points to another family member was significant enough to make it not worthwhile.
I remember the cost being hundreds of dollars to transfer points, which defeats the purpose of redeeming points to save on travel expense. For us, we didn’t transfer the points as it seemed like a cash grab. Instead, we often decided to not redeem our points and ended up having to pay full price for the flights.
Related post – Using Aeroplan Points for Multi-City Flights
Here’s an example of the old program:
I have points in my Aeroplan account under my name (Nicole), Cameron has points in his Aeroplan account under his name, and our boys also have Aeroplan accounts.
- Nicole – 80,000 Aeroplan Points
- Cameron – 30,000 Aeroplan Points
- Kid 1 – 6,000 Aeroplan Points
- Kid 2 – 8,000 Aeroplan Points
Let’s say that we want to book a roundtrip flight from Vancouver to Toronto and the total points needed to book the flight is 100,000 points (25,000 X 4 flights).
Using this example, neither of us have 100,000 points in our account to book under one reservation. In the old Aeroplan program, this would mean that we have to pay an additional fee to transfer points from Cameron’s account to Nicole’s account.
We’ve experienced this scenario many times in the past.
To get around this, we would typically have to book 3 tickets under Nicole’s name and Cameron would book a separate ticket for himself. Not ideal as a family traveling together.
On multiple occasions the airline would seat us in separate aisles because the system did not recognize that we are travelling as a family, because of the two separate bookings. The headache to get the seats changed was often not worth the effort.
Here is how the new Aeroplan Family Sharing feature works:
Now, with the new Aeroplan Family Sharing feature, all points earned by family members (up to 8 people) are added into a shared balance, including their existing points balances.
Our Family Sharing account = 124,000 points
Using the same example above, the total points needed is 100,000 points (25,000 X 4 flights).
We have 100,000 points in our family account to book us all on the same ticket. With the new program, there are no extra fees to transfer points. Now, anyone in our family can use the points in our account.
Another nice feature is that all points earned by our family go into this one family account. We’re glad the Aeroplan program has evolved to meet the needs of family travel.
By having your Aeroplan points in a shared account, it also helps prevent your points from expiring too soon.
For example, only one person in your Aeroplan Family Sharing pool needs to have a redemption in order to keep the family account’s points active.
Watch this short video explaining the Aeroplan Family Sharing benefits on the Air Canada website.
Are you an Elite Status Member?
Do you have an Aeroplan Credit Card?
Another feature with the Aeroplan Family Sharing is that if you have an Elite Status Member or a Primary Aeroplan Credit Card holder in your group, everyone gets to benefit from their preferred pricing. That means you can often redeem for fewer points.
Nicole is a status member until the end of 2021, so we look forward to trying this new benefit.
Learn more about the new features here.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Aeroplan. All opinions expressed are our own. We are long time members of the Aeroplan rewards program.