You Can Now Redeem Aeroplan Points On airBaltic, And That’s Useful

One of my favorite things about Air Canada Aeroplan is the emphasis that the program has on partnering with as many airlines as possible, in order to allow lots of redemption opportunities. Along those lines, Aeroplan has just added its latest airline partner, and it’s one that I’m excited about.

Aeroplan partners with airBaltic for award redemptions

The Air Canada Aeroplan program and Latvian flag carrier airBaltic have just introduced a frequent flyer partnership. Interestingly, this partnership only allows redemptions, and not points earning. So the most practical implication is that you can now redeem Aeroplan points for travel on airBaltic, throughout the carrier’s network.

• airBaltic awards follow Aeroplan’s standard partner award pricing chart
• Aeroplan members have access to business class and economy class awards on airBaltic
• Aeroplan members are able to book airBaltic flights online at aircanada.com, or via the call center
• airBaltic flights are combinable with flights operated by Air Canada and other airline partners
• While there are no carrier imposed surcharges, the standard 39 CAD partner booking fee applies

For context, below is the Aeroplan award chart for travel within the Atlantic region (since this is where most of airBaltic’s network is).

As you can see, one-way awards of up to 1,000 miles cost 7,500 points in economy, or 15,000 points in business class. Meanwhile one-way awards of 1,001-2,000 miles cost 12,500 points in economy, or 25,000 points in business class.

For example, a Tallinn (TLL) to Riga (RIX) flight would cost 7,500 points in economy or 15,000 points in business class…

…while a Vilnius (VNO) to Dubai (DXB) flight would cost 25,000 points in economy or 45,000 points in business class.

For those not familiar with airBaltic, the airline has a fleet of over 50 Airbus A220s, which it operates to dozens of destinations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Caucasus. airBaltic was also the first European carrier to introduce Starlink Wi-Fi.

Ever since Russian airspace was closed to airlines based in the European Union, the airline has also increasingly wet leased its planes to other airlines, given that the airline previously had extensive service to Russia, and had to update its business model.

Why I think this new airline partnership is valuable

airBaltic doesn’t belong to any of the major global alliances, though Lufthansa Group did recently purchase a minority stake in the carrier. Prior to Aeroplan adding airBaltic as a partner, there were already a limited number of opportunities to redeem on the carrier, like through Air France-KLM Flying Blue.

So why do I value the new Aeroplan redemption option? For one, I think there’s just generally value to being able to redeem on airBaltic, given the carrier’s very strong network in Northern Europe, particularly in city pairs where service is otherwise limited.

Furthermore, Aeroplan’s pricing is sometimes more attractive than Flying Blue’s pricing. In some cases it’s the same, like 15,000 points for business class between Tallinn and Riga. However, other times there’s a pricing advantage, like between Vilnius and Dubai, where Aeroplan charges 45,000 points, while Flying Blue charges 53,500 points.

But I’d say the single biggest positive of Aeroplan is the ability to combine partners on an award. So this makes it easy to combine airBaltic awards with one of Aeroplan’s Star Alliance or non-Star Alliance partners, which really expands options. That’s something that can’t as easily be done with Flying Blue, where pricing is often closer to being additive.

Bottom line

Air Canada Aeroplan has just added airBaltic as its newest redemption partner, opening up a potentially valuable new way to redeem points. airBaltic has a huge network in Northern Europe, and had limited partners before. I think what’s most valuable here is being able to combine partners on a single award, as airBaltic flights can be used for connectivity as part of a larger award ticket.

What do you make of Aeroplan adding airBaltic as a redemption partner?