Aeroplan runs transfer bonuses roughly two times a year. The last one was in March 2017, with the previous one being in November 2016. With these promotions, you can earn additional miles for converting points into your Aeroplan account. For the next month, there is a new Aeroplan transfer bonus available.

Until August 21, you can earn up to a 35% bonus from converting hotel points to Aeroplan. There are ten qualifying partners, which all hotel partners. Unfortunately, transfers from American Express Membership Rewards do not qualify for the bonus.

All members are eligible for this bonus, with no registration required, similar to the past. The terms and conditions state that the bonus miles will be credited within 4-6 weeks from the end of the promotion, although they might post earlier. Most transfers from hotel points are not instant, so keep that in mind if you need to book a ticket immediately.

With past promotions, you needed to convert at least 6 figures of miles to get the highest bonus. However, there is no minimum transfer amount to earn the bonus. This makes the promotion one of the best Aeroplan has run.

From my understanding, this bonus is much better than before, because they want more members to partake in this promotion, and transfer points into their Aeroplan accounts. To learn more about the Aeroplan and Air Canada split, see my take on whether I’ll still be collecting Aeroplan miles and my thoughts on the impending breakup.

Is the Aeroplan Transfer Bonus Worth It?

Canadians have three credit cards earning hotel points when it comes to this bonus:

• Starwood Personal American Express – Earn up to 20,000 SPG/60,000 Marriott Points
• Starwood Business American Express – Earn up to 20,000 SPG/60,000 Marriott Points
• Chase Canada Marriott Visa – Earn up to 50,000 Marriott/16,667 SPG Points

For Americans, there are also a variety of credit cards available earning hotel points, including the US versions of the Chase Marriott Visa and Starwood American Express.

Converting Starwood Preferred Guest

Normally, SPG transfers at a 1:1.25 ratio with increments of 20,000 points. With this additional 35% bonus, you’ll earn an additional 8,750 miles. This means 20,000 SPG points converts to 33,750 points, a ratio of 1:1.69, which is excellent. Transferring SPG points is more lucrative than before, because you can move anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 points while still getting the 35% bonus.

Converting Marriott Rewards

Marriott points are very valuable for Hotel and Air packages. If you have a large enough Marriott balance, this is one of the best redemptions you can get.

The best option out of all the different packages is the 270,000 point 7 night + 120,000 miles package.

With the 35% bonus, you’d receive 162,000 Aeroplan miles as well as a 7 night hotel stay. If booked separately, it would cost 150,000 Marriott points, so you’re getting a 1:1.35 ratio with Marriott, or a whopping 1:4.05 ratio with your SPG Miles.

Additional Reading: Best Redemptions – Marriott Hotel and Air Packages

Conclusion

You can convert other hotel points into Aeroplan, but the most worthwhile opportunities are with SPG and Marriott. Most other points convert at a very poor ratio. While Aeroplan (and most programs) always have room for improvement, they already have a well-rounded program. For example, you only need 70,000 miles for a one-way First Class award from Europe 1 to North America, flying Lufthansa First Class.

Although you don’t receive the bonus with transferring directly from AMEX Membership Rewards, you can transfer MR to SPG at a 2:1 ratio. This would make sense if you’re close to redeeming for a Hotel and Air package.

For example, if you had 200,000 Marriott points already, you could receive 50,000 + 35% Aeroplan miles and a 7 night hotel certificate. If you had a card like the American Express Business Platinum, you would earn 80,000 points after completing the minimum spend.

Instead of converting your points 1:1 to Aeroplan, you could transfer 47,000 AMEX points to 23,500 SPG points. This then converts to just over 70,000 Marriott points, boosting your balance to 270,000 points. You could then redeem for a 7 night + 120,000 mile package.

By converting your miles from AMEX to SPG and then to Marriott, your 47,000 AMEX would yield 94,000 Aeroplan instead of a 1:1 ratio you’d get by converting them directly.

View the Aeroplan Transfer Bonus details on their site here.

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