There are many people annoyed at Aeroplan, not only because Air Canada is splitting up with them. One of the biggest complaints around is that several airlines were not bookable on Aeroplan. This was a problem limited just to Aeroplan miles. You could see the space on all the other star alliance search engines (United, ANA, etc.), but Aeroplan had removed the airline entirely. They put out a statement a week ago claiming technically difficulties, but it was too little too late.

These four airlines are not able to be booked with aeroplan:

• Avianca Airlines
• Copa Airlines
• Air China
• Swiss Int’l Airlines (Now bookable!)

Air China has not been available with aeroplan for at least a year. There were problems in the past with flights falling off itineraries. However, other programs such as United that had also been affected by this incident had already corrected that. This is a similar situation with Copa and Avianca, but again, all other star alliance airline programs are able to book that space.

So while I’d like to believe their press release, all the evidence just points the opposite. These issues makes Aeroplan unusable for redemptions to all non-major cities in Latin America and Mainland China. That’s a huge swath of places that are affected.

Swiss availability went offline several weeks ago, and has been on and off. Today, I’ve been told that Swiss availability is back online to be booked, and it does thankfully show!

 

When Swiss availability was taken offline, there was a huge uproar because they are one of three airlines that you can fly fuel surcharge free to Europe – the other being United and Scandinavian. Anyways, hopefully this positive change will be permanent.

As I’ve mentioned before, I recommend picking up American Express cards which have the option to transfer to Aeroplan, but other partners as well depending on how things go. They currently have four charge cards earning Membership Rewards with improved bonuses all at historical highs, and have just improved their application eligibility requirements.

• American Express Business Platinum Card: Get up to 75,000 Membership Rewards Points!
• American Express Business Gold Card: Get up to 40,000 Membership Rewards Points!
• American Express Platinum Card: Get up to 60,000 Membership Reward Points!
• American Express Gold Rewards Card: Get up to 30,000 Membership Rewards Points!

HT: Avery

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