Update: This issue has been fixed, and Amex transfers to Aeroplan should once again be functioning as usual.
One of my favorite Amex Membership Rewards transfer partners is Aeroplan, which is Air Canada’s spun off frequent flyer program (at least until 2020). Typically points transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio. I transfer Aeroplan points to American Express all the time for premium cabin Star Alliance award tickets.
For example, you can redeem 70,000 miles for a one-way first class ticket between the US and Europe on Lufthansa, though there are carrier imposed surcharges. Otherwise you can redeem 110,000 miles for a roundtrip business class ticket from the US to Europe with two stopovers, which is also a great deal. If you choose your airlines carefully, you can avoid carrier imposed surcharges altogether.
If you’re considering transferring Amex points to Aeroplan, it’s worth noting that at the moment there are issues with Amex points converting into Aeroplan miles. The issue has been going on for at least a couple of days, and I’m told they’re working on fixing it, but don’t yet have an estimate of when it will be fixed. However, they’re hoping things are back to normal in the next few days.
Unfortunately the issue isn’t terribly obvious, which is to say there are no warning signs during the transfer process. Instead when you transfer points from Amex to Aeroplan they may be deducted, but won’t instantly show up in your Aeroplan account, as they usually would. In other instances, they’re just not being deducted from Amex accounts, and nothing happens at all.
I’ll update this post as soon as things are fixed. In the meantime, I wouldn’t recommend trying one of these transfers.
Has anyone tried to transfer points from Amex to Aeroplan in the past few days and had issues?
Where do you go to transfer aeroplan points to Amex points? I've found a ton of resources to do it the other way around but cant find where to switch aeroplan points to my amex account
I have tried 5 or 6 times over the last month and they haven’t transferred. Is anyone else having problems? I have transferred them to Aeroplan every month for about 10 years and never had an issue.
Has this issue been resolved yet?
@ GERRIT WHITE -- Yes it has, transfers should work as usual again.
Ugh I have an award ticket I need to buy and no other transfer partners with enough miles.
Transferred last night, 12 hours later they still have not posted --was only a test transfer of 1k because I was hoping to transfer enough for a redemption later this week.
@Ever and Marriott Marty
Thanks for the info. I doubt I would have figured all that out on my own.
Had an issue transferring yesterday morning, miles deducted but not posted to Aeroplan. Just checked now and Aeroplan balance shows the new miles, so problem looks resolved, as @MajoredinMiles suggests.
“I transfer Aeroplan points to American Express all the time”
This would be cool if you could do this but I think you reversed this...
My transfer from this morning just went through. Check your accounts!
There's a possible catch in transferring Amex to Aeroplan. If you aren't the primary holder in the Amex account and try to transfer points to your Aeroplan account, it will bounce. I had this problem when I tried to transfer from an Amex account in my wife's name with me as an additional cardholder. A great Aeroplan agent knew the issue and patiently set up an Aeroplan account for my wife, successfully transferred points there,...
There's a possible catch in transferring Amex to Aeroplan. If you aren't the primary holder in the Amex account and try to transfer points to your Aeroplan account, it will bounce. I had this problem when I tried to transfer from an Amex account in my wife's name with me as an additional cardholder. A great Aeroplan agent knew the issue and patiently set up an Aeroplan account for my wife, successfully transferred points there, then transferred them to my account. Only issue was that there was a transfer fee, which I don't remember.
Um, Not sure why you had any issues Steve. I have Transferred Amex to 3 different Aeroplan numbers, never had a issue. You have to of course, call in to remove a number, no reason needed, and no questions asked. Then I just log back in to Amex and add the number I want them to go to. I would think you paid a hefty penny to transfer points from one Aeroplan to another ! This is with Canadian Amex. FYI.
@Robert Hanson,
United has F until October 1 and Lufthansa F never shows available until 14 days (realistically 8 days) prior to departure for non miles and more *A miles. The trick is to change your return after arriving in europe as Aeroplan charged only change fee and not fuel charges IF you change after you arrive on a round trip flight. If one way they you will pay the change fee and fuel charges...
@Robert Hanson,
United has F until October 1 and Lufthansa F never shows available until 14 days (realistically 8 days) prior to departure for non miles and more *A miles. The trick is to change your return after arriving in europe as Aeroplan charged only change fee and not fuel charges IF you change after you arrive on a round trip flight. If one way they you will pay the change fee and fuel charges which are significantly less Europe to US. I have reserved Turkish back last two years and changed as Turkish shows available 354 days in advance AND has no fuel charges. But hey this lady and next summer my 3 returns are not even to my home city as I am that confident I will be able to change my return (although next summer I will be paying $350 fuel charges per return on Lufthansa First... but I think the FRA FCT is worth it
@Robert Hanson I’ve been searching for weeks for flights to Europe. When you search for Business/First it’s rare that anything besides Business/Economy show up in advance but will constantly be available within a couple weeks of departure, but so far I’ve only see Lufthansa or United First.
Are there any viable transfer options for first class flights from US to Asia with aeroplan? I was looking at redeeming via Krisflyer (either on SQ or a partner) for a flight to SE asia or other parts of asia and then using AA miles on the return to book CX in F.
Lucky, Do you think that AMEX TO Aeroplan is better than Amex to BA ? There is a 25% transfer bonus in Canada at this moment to BA ??
Thanks !
Have miles in my AP account from having the cc, but I've never gotten around to trying to book anything with them. But the comment about LH FC caught my interest. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but although the award chart does say 70/140 for FC, when you go to the booking page it proclaims 50K as the default price for J, with no mention of FC.
And no matter how hard...
Have miles in my AP account from having the cc, but I've never gotten around to trying to book anything with them. But the comment about LH FC caught my interest. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but although the award chart does say 70/140 for FC, when you go to the booking page it proclaims 50K as the default price for J, with no mention of FC.
And no matter how hard I tried, all I could find was J with LOT from WAW (usually involving a commuter flight from the origin city) or Turkish J thru IST. I couldn't find a FC flight with any airline from anywhere to anywhere. Is there somewhere else to search other than the AP website?
They allowed me to hold a seat when I first experienced issues transferring on Wednesday. They've since extended the seat block each day since and said they are willing to do that until the Amex issue is corrected. Good luck. It's not easy to get them to put a hold on anything. I HUACA 4 times until I got a agent willing to help.
just to follow up - amex is saying it is now up to aeroplan to accept the points - they refuse to admit there is a problem - other than to say "yes it is supposed to be instant, but it can take 3-5 days"
what a bunch of nonsense - i pay my bills, use their cards - i expect when I transfer, especially to aeroplan, that it happen on time and no BS - time to take my business and 10s of thousands in charging annually elsewhere!
I have carried out about 3 attempts since Wednesday evening and all were unsuccessful.
I have talked to Aeroplan and AMEX CSRs , and they have yet to provide a solution to enable a flight reservation with Aeroplan points.
You can initiate transfers out of AMEX, but they do not show up in Aeroplan.
...On the AMEX Membership Rewards website, the transfers are shown as Pending, and after 12-14 hours, they are cancelled.
I have carried out about 3 attempts since Wednesday evening and all were unsuccessful.
I have talked to Aeroplan and AMEX CSRs , and they have yet to provide a solution to enable a flight reservation with Aeroplan points.
You can initiate transfers out of AMEX, but they do not show up in Aeroplan.
On the AMEX Membership Rewards website, the transfers are shown as Pending, and after 12-14 hours, they are cancelled.
Hopefully they fix this soon and they work through the weekend to figure it out.
I called because I was expecting instant transfer - they told me 0-48 hour max and said nothing about a problem. the points came out of my account and it shows the transfer taking place - just not in my aeroplan account yet
Definitely true.
There's apparently a problem with Amex to AsiaMiles as well. It's been about 6 weeks since I transferred points and they still haven't shown up in my account. In fact, I booked our tickets to HKG on DL as I found saver level available in the meantime.
will aeroplan CSR see the same savers economy and business class availability on United.com?
I need to book Canada to Europe for my Canadian relatives using aeroplan. Is United, Brussels and Turkish airlines the best as far as fees ?
Thanks
Yes! Called AMEX twice about it and they knew absolutely nothing! They told me everything was fine on their end and it was Aeroplan's problem!!
Ben, have you ever seen a transfer bonus for Aeroplan? Or always the standard 1:1?
@ Josh -- Not that I can remember.
Had to call yesterday to transfer - agent I spoke to said that the account wasn't connected and that they knew about the issue. They said that they're getting a list of people who attempted to transfer and then calling them the next day to manually transfer the points.
Still haven't received a call today though.
Transferred points on 9/26 without any issues..