Aeroplan has launched a promotion, called the Bonus Status Qualifying Miles Offer, which lets members with Aeroplan Elite Status earn Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) when they redeem points for hotels, car rentals, merchandise, gift cards, and Air Canada Vacations packages.
Until June 22, 2023, you can earn up to 4,000 SQM by making a qualifying redemption, which importantly doesn’t include Aeroplan flight redemptions.
Aeroplan’s Targeted Offer for Bonus Status Qualifying Miles
Aeroplan has launched the Bonus Status Qualifying Miles Offer, which runs until June 22, 2023 at 11:59pm Eastern Time.
With this promotion, you’ll earn a different amount of bonus Status Qualifying Miles depending on the amount of points you redeem:
- Earn 2,000 bonus SQM with a redemption of 25,000 – 49,999 points
- Earn 4,000 bonus SQM with a redemption of 50,000 points or more
It appears that there are other structures to this offer as well, as some members have received offers to earn 1,000 or 2,500 bonus SQM with redemptions in the same specified ranges.
Members with Aeroplan Elite Status are able to earn bonus SQM by making a qualifying redemption with their Aeroplan points. A qualifying redemption is any of the following:
- Merchandise
- Gift cards
- Air Canada Vacations packages
- Car rentals
- Hotel bookings
To be clear, redeeming Aeroplan points for flights doesn’t count as a qualifying redemption with this promotion. You can only earn bonus SQM through this offer once, and if you make multiple qualifying redemptions, you’ll only get one boost of SQM.
It’s unclear if this is a targeted promotion, or if it is available to all members with Aeroplan Elite Status. The exact structure of the offer available to you is spelled out in an email sent from Aeroplan.
Is This a Good Deal?
In the vast majority of cases, you stand to get better value from your points by using them to book flights. Redeeming them for merchandise, gift cards, car rentals, hotels, or Air Canada Vacations usually winds up with a lower cents-per-point value.
However, if you planned on redeeming your points in any of the above ways anyway, there’s no downside to this promotion, and you’ll enjoy a faster route to hitting SQM thresholds. Since it doesn’t require any registration, you’ll wind up with bonus SQM as long as you meet the requirements.
As a reminder, you can also earn SQM, which is one of the requirements to earn Aeroplan Elite Status, by flying on a paid booking, or through spending on an Aeroplan co-branded credit card.
You’ll earn 1,000 SQM for every $10,000 (CAD) spent on a core card, such as the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, or the American Express Aeroplan Card, and you’ll earn 1,000 SQM for every $5,000 (CAD) spent on a premium card, such as the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card, or the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card.
Conclusion
Aeroplan has launched the Bonus Status Qualifying Miles Offer, which lets members with Aeroplan Elite Status earn bonus SQM upon making an eligible redemption for merchandise, gift cards, car rentals, hotel bookings, or an Air Canada Vacations package.
Members can earn up to 4,000 SQM by making an eligible redemption, and the promotion runs until June 22, 2023 at 11:59pm Eastern Time. It’s unclear if this is a targeted promotion, or if it’s available to all members.
Generally speaking, it’s not worth going out of your way to take part in the offer; however, if you were going to make a redemption anyway, you’ll benefit from a fast-track to elite status qualification.
