Sending your Chase points from cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® straight to Chase transfer partners is one of the best ways to use them – especially when you can get some bonus miles in the process. And this is one of the best bonuses we've seen in months.
Through July 31, you'll get 20% more miles when transferring Chase points to Air Canada Aeroplan. Aeroplan is one of the best mileage programs on the planet – and not just to fly Air Canada. You can use it to book cheap United award tickets to Hawaii and back, business class flights to Europe from 60,000 miles each way or to Asia as low as 55,000 miles one-way, or book flights on more than 50 airlines to get almost anywhere on the globe.
A 20% bonus just makes that case even stronger: Transferring 50,000 Chase points nets you 60,000 Aeroplan points. This bonus first cropped up in cardmembers' accounts today, Thursday, June 15. While you won't see the bonus initially when you initially select Aeroplan among the list of transfer partners, you should see it once you enter how many points you want to transfer.
Read our full guide on how (and where!) to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points!
Got a Aeroplan® Credit Card in your wallet, too? It gets better: So long as you transfer at least 50,000 Chase points, Aeroplan will tack on an extra 10% bonus for Aeroplan cardholders. That means a 50,000-point transfer would net you a total of 65,000 Aeroplan points!
Think of transfer bonuses as an easy way to get some free miles … and who would say no to that – especially to an airline partner as strong as Aeroplan? But keep in mind that these transfers are a one-way street: Once you send them to an airline or hotel, you can't get them back to your Chase account. So you should almost never transfer points without a specific purpose in mind, even with a bonus like this one.
Lucky for you, there are some great ways to put Aeroplan points to use. Let's take a look.
Best Ways to Redeem Aeroplan Points
We could go on and on and on about all the great ways to use Aeroplan points and maximize this transfer bonus.
It's one of the most powerful and versatile airline programs in the world, allowing you to book flights on dozens of Star Alliance partners as well as a growing array of other partner airlines including Etihad, Oman Air, Gulf Air, and many more. After a big change a few years back, you'll no longer pay hefty cash fees on award redemptions – plus, you can add stopovers to almost any award ticket for just 5,000 additional points.
This list could be much longer, but here are a few sweet spots that get even sweeter thanks to this 20% bonus.
Roundtrip Flights to Hawaii for 21K Points
Most airline award charts treat Hawaii separately from the mainland. Not Aeroplan. And that opens a massive sweet spot.
Still, due to Aeroplan's distance-based pricing model, you'll want to start from the West Coast where flights are shorter. So your best bet is looking for flights from Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) flying United Airlines.
You can book a one-way flight for just 12,500 miles in economy – roughly half of what United itself would normally charge. Factor in this transfer bonus, and you can book roundtrip flights to Hawaii using just 21,000 Chase points.
Great Business Class Awards to Europe
With reasonable rates and low fees, Aeroplan is one of the best ways to book lie-flat business class seats to Europe.
In some cases, you'll pay just 60,000 Aeroplan points each way. Some longer flights clock in at 70,000 miles each way, while starting from the West Coast can run you as much as 85,000 points each way.
Factor in that 20% transfer bonus, and that means you can score a business class flight to Europe for as few as just 50,000 Chase points.
With all of Air Canada's partner airlines, you've got tons of options to fly new United Polaris seats, Swiss business class, Lufthansa business class, or even Turkish Airlines business class. This 20% bonus makes Aeroplan one of the best ways to book them all.
Get award alerts when you can fly business class with Thrifty Traveler Premium – and sign up now to save $70-plus a year before prices go up tomorrow!
ANA Business Class to Tokyo for 45K & Other Asia Deals
Rejoice: Japan is open again. And somehow, a flight to Japan in business class can be even cheaper than Europe using Aeroplan miles.
The trick is flying from either Seattle (SEA) or Vancouver (YVR), where the shorter flights price out cheaper thanks to Aeroplan's distance-based methods. Those flights clock in at just 55,000 Aeroplan points each way in ANA business class – meaning just 46,000 Chase points is all you need to make it happen.
Starting from other cities like Chicago-O'Hare (ORD), New York City (JFK), or Los Angeles (LAX) will clock in at 75,000 points each way – but that's still a solid deal considering you'd only need to transfer 58,000 Chase points to book. But no matter where you're flying from, finding ANA business class award space has been a chore lately – especially if you're hoping to fly the airline's outstanding new seats dubbed “The Room.”
These days, you'll typically only find seats within three weeks (or less) of departure. We're hoping that changes as airlines add more flights to Tokyo. If not … a last-minute trip to Japan doesn't sound like the worst idea, right?
Otherwise, you can fairly easily book flights all the way down to destinations throughout Southeast Asia on airlines like EVA Air for just 87,500 points in business class – just 73,000 Chase points after factoring in this 20% bonus. How's a trip to Thailand or Bali sound?
Short-Haul Domestic Economy Flights
Short-haul flights under 500 miles will cost 6,000 Aeroplan points each way on a partner airline and up to 10,000 points if you're actually flying with Air Canada itself. That's a small but lucrative sweet spot.
This can be a great way to book short-haul United airlines flights as they will cost just 12,000 round trip – or just 10,000 Chase points with this 20% bonus.
How to Transfer Points to Aeroplan
Before the “where” and “why,” let's cover the “how” – as in, how can you transfer Chase points to Aeroplan and get this bonus? It's easy, and it works just like every other Chase transfer partner.
For starters, make sure to sign up for a free Aeroplan account if you don't have one already. From there, you’ll need to log in to your Chase account and navigate to your Ultimate Rewards portal. Once you’ve done that, head to the “Transfer to Travel Partners” page pictured below.
From there, scroll down and select Aeroplan from the list of more than a dozen options. You'll need to enter your Aeroplan account information, if you haven't done so already. Once that's done, you can enter how many Chase points you'd like to transfer to Aeroplan.
Unfortunately, Chase doesn't currently automatically calculate how many points you'll get after factoring in this 20% bonus. Just multiply the points you've got by 1.2: 50,000 x 1.2 = 60,000 Aeroplan points, for example. Or, if you know you need a certain amount of miles to book a ticket with Aeroplan, divide that number by 1.3 … and be prepared to round up to the nearest 1,000.
Let's say you need 60,000 Aeroplan points to book a United Polaris business class seat from Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) to London-Heathrow (LHR). With that math, 60,000 / 1.2 = 50,000, which means you'd need to transfer 50,000 Chase points to Aeroplan.
Chase transfers to Aeroplan are typically instant – and the bonus miles should hit your account instantly, too. That doesn't include the extra 10% bonus for Aeroplan® Credit Card:
Bottom Line
We've seen other banks like Amex offer transfer bonuses to Aeroplan over the years, but a 20% bonus to one of the best airline programs is tough to beat.
Take advantage of this bonus with your Chase points before this bonus ends July 31.