New: Air Canada Aeroplan & Bamboo Airways Partnership

One of my favorite things about Air Canada Aeroplan is the emphasis that the program has on adding partners. Aeroplan has more airline partners than any other airline frequent flyer program. We’ve seen several partners added in the past couple of years, including Etihad, Azul, Vistara, Air Serbia, Virgin Australia, Air Dolomiti, Eurowings Discover, Gulf Air, Oman Air, Air Mauritius, Aeromar, and SunExpress.

Aeroplan has just added its newest airline partner, and it’s one that I’m really excited about. Probably way more excited than I should be…

Air Canada & Bamboo Airways partnership details

As of today (November 8, 2022), a loyalty program partnership is being launched between Air Canada and Bamboo Airways, allowing Aeroplan members to earn and redeem points for travel on the airline. I wanted to take a look at the opportunities this affords, and also talk about Bamboo Airways, for those who aren’t familiar.

What is Bamboo Airways?

Bamboo Airways is a fairly new Vietnamese airline that was founded in 2017. The airline is growing at a fast pace, and already has roughly 30 planes, including brand new Airbus A320neos and Boeing 787-9s, which feature solid onboard products.

The airline operates a sizable route network within Asia, and also operates select long haul flights, including to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and London. Below are the current domestic and international routemaps.

Part of what makes this so exciting is that Bamboo Airways doesn’t currently have any airline partners, so there are no other opportunities to redeem partner rewards points on Bamboo Airways. The airline is reportedly looking to join an alliance, though, and I imagine the choice is between oneworld and Star Alliance (since Vietnam Airlines is part of SkyTeam).

Redeem Aeroplan points on Bamboo Airways

As part of this partnership, it’s possible to redeem Air Canada Aeroplan points on all Bamboo Airways flights. A few things to note:

• Bamboo Airways awards follow Aeroplan’s standard partner award pricing chart
• Aeroplan members are able to book Bamboo Airways flights online at aircanada.com, or via the call center
• Bamboo Airways flights are combinable with flights operated by Air Canada and other international airline partners (so you could connect within Asia as part of a larger award)
• While there are no carrier imposed surcharges, the standard 39 CAD partner booking fee applies

Let’s take a look at some of Aeroplan’s relevant award charts, which are both region and distance based.

Here’s the Aeroplan award chart within the Pacific region (if you want to fly Bamboo Airways within Asia):

Here’s the Aeroplan award chart between the Pacific and Atlantic regions (if you want to fly Bamboo Airways between Asia and Europe):

Lastly, here’s the Aeroplan award chart between the Pacific and Americas regions (if you want to fly Bamboo Airways between Asia and Europe, and then connect to the United States):

Keep in mind that if you want a stopover on an itinerary for more than 24 hours, you could book that for an additional 5,000 points, which is a great deal.

Air Canada Aeroplan is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Capital One, so if you have transferrable points this is a great program to book through. On top of that, there’s the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review), which is lucrative card in the United States.

Earn Aeroplan points on Bamboo Airways

The partnership between Air Canada Aeroplan and Bamboo Airways also offers points earning opportunities. Here are the rates at which Aeroplan members can earn points for Bamboo Airways flights:

As you can see, Aeroplan members always earn points based on a percentage of the distance flown. Note that Bamboo Airways flights don’t count toward elite status qualification with Aeroplan.

This was the partner Aeroplan was teasing

Last week Aeroplan teased its newest airline partner, describing it as follows:

They serve a particular, amazing aspirational destination and are the only one serving it on a scheduled basis with jet aircraft. In fact, the aircraft they use on this route is a fleet type they added specifically to serve this market!

As it turns out, that airline was Bamboo Airways! Bamboo Airways allegedly took delivery of the Embraer 190 fleet type specifically to serve the islands of Con Dao (VCS). The airport is not yet able to handle Airbus aircraft, hence the addition of the Embraer 190, which enables the airline to provide the only scheduled jet service there.

Well done, Aeroplan — you stumped me!

Bottom line

Air Canada Aeroplan has added Bamboo Airways as an airline partner, giving members access to both points earning and redemption opportunities. As an avgeek and airline product geek, this is a partnership I’m really excited about, and I’m ready to start plotting a Bamboo Airways adventure!

These kinds of partnerships add so much value, given that Bamboo Airways doesn’t otherwise have airline partners.

What do you make of the new Air Canada Aeroplan & Bamboo Airways partnership?