(EXPIRED) Update: Up to 35% transfer bonus to Aeroplan from hotels (some targeted for a bigger bonus)

Update: Some people are receiving targeted offers for a 35% transfer bonus, so check your email to see if you are targeted for a better offer. The subject line is, “[Name], get an exclusive 35% bonus”.

Aeroplan is offering a 30% transfer bonus when you convert hotel points to Aeroplan miles. This includes most of the popular hotel partners, though it probably only makes sense with Marriott. Radisson and Coast Rewards are offering additional bonuses, but the ratio is still poor with Radisson and Coast has a fairly limited reach of hotels. Note that Marriott Travel Packages, which certainly aren’t the value that they used to be, may or may not qualify for the 30% bonus — the new terms are deliberately unclear, which is too bad.

The Deal

• Get a 30% transfer bonus when converting hotel points from select partners to Aeroplan miles before April 22, 2019
• Radisson is adding another 30% for a total bonus of 60%. Coast is offering an additional 4x miles.
• Direct link to this promotion

Key Details

• Expires April 22, 2019 Per Doctor of Credit, this has been extended to April 26, 2019.
• Participating programs include:
  • Marriott
  • IHG
  • Hilton
  • Radisson
  • Best Western
  • Wyndham
  • Coast
  • Choice
  • Le Club Accor
  • Shangri-La
• Bonus Aeroplan Miles will be issued by Aeroplan as follows: once the total Aeroplan Miles are earned by exchanging points from any combination of eligible partner programs during the promotion, the bonus miles deposited will represent 30% of the total miles earned from the exchange.
• Bonus Aeroplan Miles may take up to 4‑6 weeks to be credited after the promotional offer end date of April 22, 2019.
• Bonus Aeroplan Miles received from the exchange of hotel loyalty program points into Aeroplan Miles are not eligible for status in the Aeroplan program.
• Please note that some hotel loyalty programs have hotel and flight redemption packages where Aeroplan Miles are issued. It is at the discretion of each Hotel Program if these miles are deemed a conversion of points to miles or simply a bonus earned for the redemption.

Quick Thoughts

Generally speaking, these conversions aren’t worth it even with the transfer bonus due to generally poor transfer ratios. Here are those ratios before any bonuses:

• IHG Rewards, Wydnham, Best Western, and Choice privileges convert at a 5:1 ration to Aeroplan (minimums vary)
• Coast Rewards points convert 1:1 (there are only 37 Coast Hotels properties in the US and members earn between 1 point per dollar spent and 1.5 points per dollar spent at the top tier, with 40+ nights per year)
• Radisson Rewards and Hilton Honors convert 10:1 (min = 10K)
• Le Club Accor converts at 2:1
• Shangri-La Golden Circle converts 1:1

The situations in which it might make sense include:

1. You have some orphaned hotel points languishing unused and in danger of expiring
2. You need to top off your Aeroplan account for a really valuable redemption
3. You are one of the few people out there with a bunch of Coast Rewards points
4. You’re converting from Marriott

On that note, transfers from Marriott are most likely to appeal to the majority of readers and are not a bad deal. Ordinarily, Marriott points convert at a rate of 3 Marriott Bonvoy points to 1 Aeroplan mile. However, if you transfer 60,000 Marriott points, you ordinarily get a 5,000 mile bonus — making for a total of 25,000 Aeroplan miles. With the publicly-available 30% bonus on top, you’ll end up with 32,500 Aeroplan miles.

60K Marriott = 25K Aeroplan + 30% bonus = 32,500 Aeroplan miles

If you’re targeted for the 35% bonus, you’d be looking at 33,750 total miles.

Unfortunately, Aeroplan has added this deliberately ambiguous term regarding hotel & air packages:

Please note that some hotel loyalty programs have hotel and flight redemption packages where Aeroplan Miles are issued. It is at the discretion of each Hotel Program if these miles are deemed a conversion of points to miles or simply a bonus earned for the redemption. 

At one time, Marriott’s travel packages were a great deal that was made even better by these transfer bonuses. Then, at some point last year, Aeroplan added terminology specifically excluding those packages from earning the bonus. Now, they leave it completely unclear as to whether or not those packages earn the bonus. Calling Marriott, typically an exercise in futility, surely won’t get you anywhere as it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect a Marriott agent to know how many bonus miles Aeroplan will award you. Wording it as they did is a great way to keep you completely in the dark and with no recourse if you don’t receive the bonus you expect. That’s too bad — I wish they’d just work it out with Marriott as to whether or not the travel packages count and put a clear term in there one way or the other.

At any rate, you can certainly get some solid value out of Marriott conversions to Aeroplan, so if you’re flush with Marriott points this may be worth considering. As always, we have added this to our list of Current point transfer bonuses.

H/T: Frequent Flyer Bonuses

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