(EXPIRED) [Extended] Buy Aeroplan miles from 1.26c per mile with Mystery Bonus (not so mysterious?)

Update 7/10/20: Didn’t get a chance to buy Aeroplan miles yet? This sale has been extended until July 14th at 11:59pm ET.

Air Canada Aeroplan is once again offering a sale on miles, this time offering up to a 75% bonus on purchased miles — though the biggest bonus requires a very large mileage purchase. Additionally, the amount you spend to buy miles will count as Altitude Qualifying Dollars for the purpose of qualifying for elite status. This is being marketed as a “mystery bonus”, so it is possible that the thresholds below are personalized for my account and yours may vary.

The deal for buying Aeroplan miles

• Air Canada’s Aeroplan is offering the following “Mystery Bonus” on purchased miles. Note that it is possible that these thresholds are targeted, but these are the ones I see in my account:
  • Buy 2,000-50,000 miles, get a 25% bonus (1.77c per mile)
  • Buy 60,000-170,000 miles, get a 40% bonus (1.58c per mile)
  • Buy 180,000-240,000 miles, get a 60% bonus (1.38c per mile)
  • Buy 250,000+ miles, get a 75% bonus (1.26c per mile)
• Note also that 100% of the cost of your miles will count as Altitude Qualifying Dollars towards your status (up to $5,000).
• Direct link to this promotion

Key Terms

• Offer valid from July 7, 2020 at 08:00:00 AM ET to July 12, 2020 July 14, 2020 at 11:59:59 PM ET
• All Aeroplan Miles purchased and/or gifted prior to the Offer Period (July 7, 2020) or purchased and/or gifted with a login time before July 7, 2020 at 08:00:00 AM, are not considered as Eligible Aeroplan Miles pursuant to this Offer and will not count towards the percentage Bonus Aeroplan Miles earned nor the accumulation of Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQD) associated with this Offer.
• Eligible Aeroplan Miles purchased and/or gifted pursuant to this Offer are non-refundable.
• Through this Offer, Eligible Participants will earn:
  • (a) Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQD): Earn 100% of the cost of bought and/or gifted Eligible Aeroplan Miles will count as Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQD) towards your status (up to a maximum total of $5,000). For example, if an Eligible Participant buys 100,000 Eligible Aeroplan Miles for CAD$3,000, the member would earn CAD$3,000 Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQD). In the case of gifting Eligible Aeroplan Miles to another Aeroplan member (the recipient), it is the gifter that will earn the Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQD), and not the recipient.
  • (b) Bonus Aeroplan Miles: Earn the following Bonus Aeroplan Miles, which are calculated based on the Eligible Aeroplan Miles bought by an Eligible Participant during the Offer Period. In the case of gifting Aeroplan Miles by an Aeroplan member (the gifter) to another Aeroplan member (the recipient), it is the recipient that will earn the Bonus Aeroplan Miles, which will be deposited into the recipient’s Aeroplan account.
• Eligible Participants can buy a minimum of 2,000 Aeroplan Miles and up to 350,000 Aeroplan Miles per transaction.
• Bonus Aeroplan Miles awarded through this Offer do not count towards the limit of 350,000 Aeroplan Miles that can be bought per transaction per Aeroplan account
• Eligible Aeroplan Miles do count towards the limit of 350,000 Aeroplan Miles that can be bought per transaction per Aeroplan account
• Bonus Aeroplan Miles awarded through this Offer do not count towards the calendar year annual limit of 1,000,000 Aeroplan Miles that can be bought per Aeroplan account.
• Eligible Aeroplan Miles do count towards the calendar year annual limit of 1,000,000 Aeroplan Miles that can be bought per Aeroplan account.
  (b) Gifting Eligible Aeroplan Miles Offer: Pursuant to this Offer, Eligible Participants can gift a minimum of 2,000 Aeroplan Miles and up to 350,000 Aeroplan Miles per transaction.
• Please allow up to 72 hours after purchase for Eligible Aeroplan Miles and Bonus Aeroplan Miles to be deposited in your Aeroplan account.
• The applicable Altitude Qualifying Dollars (AQD) will be credited by August 31, 2020, to the Eligible Participants account and will be added to your Altitude Qualifying Dollars total on aircanada.altitude.com tracker ( https://altitude.aircanada.com/mystatus/dashboard#/ ).
• Aeroplan Miles and Bonus Aeroplan Miles acquired pursuant to this Offer are not eligible for Aeroplan status.
• See full terms on promotion page

Quick Thoughts

Given the very high threshold of Aeroplan miles you must buy to get the 75% bonus, I only find this deal marginally exciting. One would have to buy more than $5,500 worth of miles to get that big bonus (and therefore the best rate of 1.26c per mile). In fairness, that ~$5500 purchase would yield enough miles for 4 round trip business class tickets to Europe, which would ordinarily be quite a deal. However, given recent sales, I’m not enthused about buying miles if that is your best use case.

Of course, there certainly are some opportunities where buying miles might make sense, particularly if it saves you money over tickets that you would have otherwise bought or if the purchase makes it possible for you to qualify for elite status thanks to the bonus elite qualifying dollars. I’ll be passing on this, but I’m sure that some will see enough value in the right spots to consider it.

As noted by SteveH in the comments, this could be a good way to extend the validity of your miles — keep in mind that Aeroplan miles are set to resume expiration on July 14th.

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