How can you earn Air Canada Aeroplan miles from UK credit cards?
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How can you earn Air Canada Aeroplan miles from UK credit cards?
Air Canada Aeroplan does not have its own UK credit card.
All is not lost, however. There is still a way to earn Aeroplan miles from a UK credit card.
The route is via Marriott Bonvoy.
Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to Aeroplan miles at the rate of 3:1. You receive an additional 5,000 miles bonus if you convert 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at once, which would give you 25,000 Aeroplan miles.
The most efficient way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points in the UK is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend.
At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 Air Canada Aeroplan miles per £1 spent on the card. This will increase to 0.83 Aeroplan miles per £1 if you convert Bonvoy points in chunks of 60,000 points.
You can apply here.
We wrote a full review of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card here.
American Express Membership Rewards cards are another option
For completeness, I should also mention that American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points can also be used to indirectly earn Aeroplan miles.
It’s complicated though:
- you need to send your American Express points to Marriott Bonvoy at the rate of 2:3, and
- send your Marriott Bonvoy points to Air Canada Aeroplan at the rate of 3:1
….. with the usual bonus of 5,000 Aeroplan miles if you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at once.
The earning rate per £1 spent is poorer on these cards.
£1 spent gets you 1 Membership Rewards point. This gets you 1.5 Marriott Bonvoy points, which in turn gets you 0.5 Air Canada Aeroplan miles. You can add an extra 25% to this if you convert your Marriott Bonvoy points in chunks of 60,000.
However, you will see that the Membership Rewards cards we list below do have generous sign-up bonuses. If you qualify, you could get a card from this list purely to trigger the sign-up bonus.
Click through for more details:
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
American Express Rewards
The only ‘free for life’ Amex card which earns Membership Rewards Read our full review
If you have a small business, you should also consider:
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
American Express Business Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
Can you earn Air Canada Aeroplan miles from a UK Visa or Mastercard credit card?
Unfortunately, earning Air Canada Aeroplan miles from a UK Mastercard or Visa credit card is not possible.
Are you willing to move away from Aeroplan?
There are attractive Visa or Mastercard options available for earning Avios or Virgin Points if you are willing to look beyond Aeroplan. This would get you access to all airlines in the oneworld (Avios) or SkyTeam (Virgin Points) alliances.
Both are equally generous. Importantly, nothing else on the market comes close, even if you are willing to look at Mastercard or Visa cards which offer shopping vouchers instead of travel rewards.
The two Barclaycard Avios Mastercards are the best option. Pick from the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (usually 5,000 Avios bonus) or the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard (£20 per month, usually 25,000 Avios bonus).
You get 1 Avios per £1 on the free card and 1.5 Avios per £1 on the paid card. You also get an annual upgrade voucher for an Avios flight for hitting a spending target.
Because of the large British Airways short haul network, which has relatively low Avios requirements, these cards should work for you irrespective of whether you will earn additional Avios from flying.
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
- Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent
Other information:
- Receive an Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £10,000 in a card year
- Upgrade a return BA flight for one person or two one-way flights for a couple
- Annual fee: £240, charged at £20 per month
Representative 80.1% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £20 monthly fee. Interest rate on purchases 29.9% APR variable.
You will receive 25,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.
To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous six months, have held any other Barclaycard credit card. You must also have not held either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in the previous 24 months.
You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s Barclaycard account.
You are OK if, currently or in the previous six months, you have had a British Airways American Express credit card.
For clarity, you can still apply for the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the upgrade voucher and the other card benefits.
When you spend £10,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard, you receive a voucher entitling you to:
- book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin (ie book Club World but only pay the World Traveller Plus Avios requirement)
- book a one-way Avios flight, or one leg of a return flight, for two people, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin
The voucher is valid for two years. Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets, based on the cabin you fly.
The voucher cannot be used to fly in First Class.
The voucher can be used for anyone, as long as the booking is made from the Avios account of the cardholder.
You receive your voucher within five days of reaching the spending target.
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 5,000 Avios when you spend £1,000 within 90 days
- Earn 1 Avios per £1 spent
Other information:
- Receive an Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £20,000 in a card year
- Upgrade a return BA flight for one person or two one-way flights for a couple
- Annual fee: Free
Representative 29.9% APR variable
You will receive 5,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card if you spend £1,000 within 90 days of signing up.
To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous six months, have held any other Barclaycard credit card. You must also have not held either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in the previous 24 months.
You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s Barclaycard account.
You are OK if, currently or in the previous six months, you have had a British Airways American Express credit card.
For clarity, you can still apply for the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the upgrade voucher and the other card benefits.
When you spend £20,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, you receive a voucher entitling you to:
- book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin (ie book Club World but only pay the World Traveller Plus Avios requirement)
- book a one-way Avios flight, or one leg of a return flight, for two people, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin
The voucher is valid for two years. Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets, based on the cabin you fly.
The voucher can be used for anyone, as long as the booking is made from the Avios account of the cardholder.
The voucher cannot be used to fly in First Class.
You receive your voucher within five days of reaching the spending target.
The two Virgin Atlantic Mastercards are almost as generous – either the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard (free, usually 3,000 points bonus) or Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard (£160, usually 18,000 points bonus).
You get 0.75 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card. You also get an annual voucher worth at least 75,000 Virgin Points for hitting a spend target.
The only downside is that, with no short haul routes, you are unlikely to earn enough points purely from the credit card to get a good redemption. The cards are best suited to regular Virgin Atlantic flyers.
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 18,000 Virgin Points after your first transaction
- Earn 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 spent
- Earn 3 points per £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic
Other information:
- Get a reward voucher worth 75,000 or 150,000 Virgin Points when you spend £10,000 in a year
- Use it towards a companion ticket when you buy a cash or reward flight
- Solo travellers can use it to upgrade a cash or reward flight by one cabin
- Vouchers are valid for two years
- Annual fee: £160
Representative 69.7% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £160 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 26.9% APR variable.
You receive a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points after your first purchase, however small.
There are no restrictions on earning the bonus if you are accepted.
You cannot apply if you have had a Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card in the previous six months. You are free to apply if you have any other Virgin Money credit card or the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card.
When you spend £10,000 per year on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard, you will receive a reward voucher.
The voucher is worth:
75,000 Virgin Points if you have no status in Virgin Flying Club on the date you book
150,000 Virgin Points if you have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club on the date you book
The voucher is valid for two years and will get you:
A discount on a companion flight when you book a cash or reward flight at full price for yourself (taxes and charges need to be paid on the companion ticket)
A discount on a one category upgrade for yourself when you book a cash or reward flight
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 3,000 Virgin Points after your first transaction
- Earn 0.75 Virgin Points per £1 spent
- Earn 1.5 points per £1 spent with Virgin Atlantic
Other information:
- Get a reward voucher worth 75,000 or 150,000 Virgin Points when you spend £20,000 in a year
- Use it towards a companion ticket when you buy a cash or reward flight
- Solo travellers can use it to upgrade a cash or reward flight by one cabin
- Vouchers are valid for two years
- Annual fee: Free
Representative 26.9% APR variable
You receive a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points after your first purchase, however small.
You may want to consider applying for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard instead for its higher bonus. This comes with a £160 annual fee but has a sign-up bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points. You also receive a higher earning rate of 1.5 miles per £1 spent.
You cannot apply if you have had the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card in the previous six months. You are free to apply if you have any other Virgin Money credit card or the paid-for Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card.
When you spend £20,000 per year on the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard, you will receive a reward voucher.
The voucher is worth:
75,000 Virgin Points if you have no status in Virgin Flying Club on the date you book
150,000 Virgin Points if you have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club on the date you book
The voucher is valid for two years and will get you:
A discount on a companion flight when you book a cash or reward flight at full price for yourself (taxes and charges need to be paid on the companion ticket)
A discount on a one category upgrade for yourself when you book a cash or reward flight
Other Visa and Mastercard options:
The HSBC Premier Mastercard and HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard allow you to convert into the following airlines. However, you need a HSBC Premier current account to take out these credit cards which requires a £100,000+ salary. For most people, the Barclaycard Avios or Virgin Atlantic cards will be a better option.
- Asia Miles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- EVA Air MileageLands
- Finnair Plus
- Flying Blue (Air France KLM)
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- TAP Miles&Go
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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 update
If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.
In 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review
Earning miles and points from small business cards
If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:
American Express Business Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Capital on Tap Pro Visa
10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review
Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review
British Airways American Express Accelerating Business
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
