Using shopping portals like the Aeroplan eStore is a simple way to earn extra rewards very easily with just a few clicks. You need to take advantage of this for just about everything you buy in life, especially during promotions. There’s one right now and it’s excellent if you want to take advantage of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days!
The savviest travelers always make sure to use the shopping portals during the very frequent promotions, to earn so many more points than when there is no promotion. If you don’t know that, you should read the basics of how to earn rewards to learn the 3 vital ways to get so much more free travel!
Here are the details of the Aeroplan eStore promotion currently in effect for the Amazon Prime Big Deal Days.
Current Aeroplan eStore promotion (October 2024)
Here’s an overview of what you need to know.
Basics of the Aeroplan eStore promotion
Here are the basics of the October 2024 promotion:
- Earn 10 points per $ (≈ 15%)
- At Amazon via the Aeroplan eStore portal
- Categories listed below (Amazon peculiarity)
- Earn an extra bonus of 5 points per $ (≈ 7.5%)
- If you pay with 1 of the 4 TD Aeroplan credit cards
- Ends October 9 at 11:59 PM (Pacific time)
- That’s 2:59 AM on the 10th for the Eastern time zone
- This is in addition to the earning on your credit card (as always)
- Even the TD bonus is a pure bonus
- This is in addition to the regular 2 point per $ bonus if you have elite status
- So it’s even possible to get 17 points per $ (≈ 25.5%)
- There’s another part of the promotion as usual (but it should be avoided)
- It’s a discount on merchandise or gift cards
- Paid with Aeroplan points on the Aeroplan eStore
- That’s terrible; we highly recommend not doing that
- It’s simple: you should ALWAYS use Aeroplan points for flights
Make sure to check out the 15 great deals on travel items happening now for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days. Out of the 6 only items that are truly essential that we’ve shared before, 5 are on sale! But you’ll get 15 pts/$ on many product categories, not just travel (or at least 10 pts/$ if you don’t currently have a TD Aeroplan card)!
Analysis of the Aeroplan eStore promotion
This Aeroplan eStore promotion is really interesting if you need to buy something! Getting ≈ 22.5% back is incredibly good.
And even “just” a 10 pts/$ earn rate is excellent! That’s ≈ 15% but it can actually give you ≈ 21% back or even more — the value of Aeroplan points is literally unlimited.
(That’s why the Aeroplan eStore is better than the Rakuten cashback shopping portal — but you should still take the free $30 there with our link, as that one has way more stores than Aeroplan!)
Our conservative Flytrippers Valuation of Aeroplan points is ≈ 1.5¢/pt. But if you use them well, they can be worth more because these are rewards of the more lucrative type and have unlimited value (a flight’s price in points is NOT tied to its price in cash). In business class and first class particularly, they’re worth ≈ 2.1¢/pt or a lot more.
You can read the basics of how rewards of the more lucrative type work.
Needless to say, even “just” ≈ 15% is a great return on your purchases.
In short, as always, it’s a no-brainer to go through the portal if you’ve got something to buy. But during a promotion, it may even be worth your while to pre-empt a purchase or even to spoil yourself thanks to the extra rewards.
Especially since it’s on top of your earn rate on the card you use — which can be 20% if you’re a savvy traveler who understands that you should always be unlocking a welcome bonus (if you want more rewards).
Apart from the aforementioned enhanced Aeroplan deal, there are currently 4 other offers that give you an amazing return on your spending:
- TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card
- 20.5% back on $5,000 ($1025)
- Scotiabank Gold American Express Card
- 11.0% back on $7500 ($825)
- American Express Gold Rewards Card
- ≈ 7.8% back on $12,000 (≈ $930)
- RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card
- ≈ 15.6% back on $5,000 (≈ $780)
You can read our post about the 4 best deals for October 2024.
In short, you’d be getting way more than the terrible 1% or 2% earn rate most people sadly tolerate. And that’s IN ADDITION to this Aeroplan eStore bonus!
However, getting the best price is almost always more important than the rewards-earning angle, so don’t buy anything just for the Aeroplan eStore promotion if you can get it at a better price elsewhere or at another moment in time.
But if it’s something you want to buy anyway, now it’s even better because the promotion lets you earn lots of points too!
Aeroplan eStore Amazon peculiarity
If you need to buy from Amazon anyway, you don’t even have to worry about categories despite Amazon’s caveat. The categories included seem to be more numerous on the eStore than on other portals, so at worst, you’ll earn zero like pretty much everyone else already does, and at best, it’ll give you the bonus. You lose nothing by using the portal.
It takes literally 2 minutes to go through the portal, so use it.
If you want to buy specifically to take advantage of the ≈ 22.5% back because you understand that doing the math is important and is the basics of the world of travel rewards, here’s the list of Amazon categories included to make sure it’ll work.
Basics of online shopping portals
Getting involved in the world of rewards is the simplest way to travel for less, because it’s so easy to get lots of free travel with rewards.
Online shopping portals give you extra rewards for the purchases you’re going to make anyway. It makes no sense not to use them.
They give you bonuses on every dollar you spend:
- 1 Aeroplan point (≈ 1.5%)
- Sometimes 10 points (≈ 15%) or more
- 1% cash back
- Sometimes 10% or more
- 0.05 AIR MILES Miles (≈ 0.5%)
- Sometimes 0.25 Miles (≈ 2.5%) or more
You’re going to spend these amounts anyway, so take the bonus points! Going through the portal takes 2 minutes maximum.
Among the 6 most important things about travel rewards is to never earn a pathetic 1% or 2% in rewards per dollar you spend. Shopping portals are one of the many ways you can multiply your rewards so easily.
If you go directly to a store’s website, you get a grand total of 0 (zero) bonus rewards. Same thing if you go into a physical store as if it were 2007 — in addition to wasting a lot of time and complicating your life.
If you go through one of the shopping portals, it sends you to the same store website, but gives you extra rewards completely free of charge.
The only effort required is to make a few more clicks.
Basics of Aeroplan eStore
The Aeroplan eStore is simply the online shopping portal for Air Canada’s Aeroplan rewards program.
Of all the online shopping portals in Canada, the one that gives you the most lucrative rewards is the Aeroplan eStore because the Aeroplan program is the one that can give you the most value.
But like literally everything in the world of travel, to make it more lucrative for you, it’s not rocket science: you literally just need to take the time to compare.
That’s because the earn rates on each portal can obviously be different, because they’re different portals. But also, on the same portal, the earn rate will vary over the course of the year. Just compare!
The Aeroplan eStore also lets you use points instead of earning points, but don’t do that. Among the 6 most important things about travel rewards is to (almost) never use rewards for anything other than travel. And with more lucrative points like Aeroplan, it’s NEVER EVER EVER.
Basics of the Aeroplan program
Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is the best airline rewards program for Canadian travelers who want to get more value (save more money).
Aeroplan points are of the more lucrative type. Their value can be outsized and is even unlimited! Because the value of points is NOT tied to the cash price of the trips they give you.
So 1 Aeroplan point is worth ≈ 1.5¢ according to our conservative Flytrippers Valuation. That’s 50% more value than you get with a shopping portal that gives 1% in cashback.
Many don’t understand the importance of this. If you travel sadly just 2 times a year, simply switching to the more lucrative type of points gives you 50% more value… so 3 trips instead of 2. That’s without even earning more points, and one thing’s for sure: you can very easily earn more points too.
But 1 Aeroplan point can also easily be worth 2.1¢ for business class (and sometimes even in economy too), so that’s more than double the value compared to a 1% cash back.
Don’t miss our detailed and updated Aeroplan guide coming soon. In the meantime, the basics are explained in the best uses of points.
Basics of shopping portal promotions
Shopping portals very often offer promotions where the earn rates are higher, and it’s often really much higher. There’s one almost every month!
So be sure to wait for promotions to make all your purchases, whenever possible. Taking the time to plan ahead is the key to traveling for less, of course, but that’s not just about planning your trips.
It’s about planning all your big purchases and making them when there are shopping portal promotions to maximize your rewards. It can give you 10 times more rewards for the exact same purchase.
If you’re one of the many people who often buy things at the regular price, then always wait until the shopping portal has a good promotion.
On the other hand, if the store you want to buy from itself is offering a good sale, of course that’s the top priority. For example, Old Navy often offers 50% off clothing, so that’s the time to buy regardless of whether the shopping portal has a promotion.
Go through the shopping portal anyway of course (always, it’s not complicated), but don’t wait for the portal to give you 5% instead of 2% if it means you miss out on the 50% discount!
Among the 6 most important things in travel rewards is to always take the time to do the math for everything.
Basics of Aeroplan eStore promotions
Aeroplan eStore promotions are very frequent.
There are several types:
- Increased rates on specific retailers
- Bonuses for all retailers
- Bonuses for certain Aeroplan cardholders
- Bonuses for members with elite status
Flytrippers will start covering them more regularly thanks to our newly doubled team.
Best card to use for Aeroplan eStore promotions
Choosing the right credit cards is the basics of travel rewards. That means choosing the right cards to apply for (based on a variety of factors) and the right cards to pay with (based on the expense in question).
For all Aeroplan eStore purchases, the store where you make the purchase will determine the best card to use for payment:
- Card that gives you 20% back on your purchases with the bonus
- Card with a multiplier rate on the purchase category
- Card with the best base earn rate if it’s not a category with multiplier
As always, the key is to use your spending to unlock welcome bonuses. Unless it’s an expensive purchase for which you want the extended warranty (unless you plan to keep the card in question for year 2, in which case you can use the card on which you’re unlocking a welcome bonus).
If, unfortunately, you’re not unlocking a bonus, most of the everyday purchases you’ll be making online aren’t necessarily in merchant categories for which credit cards offer multiplier earn rates. So use a card with a good base earn rate, like the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card and its 2 pts/$ earn rate (THE only card no traveler shouldn’t have).
History of Aeroplan eStore promotions
We’ll eventually dig up the history of promotions from previous years, but at least we’re starting today:
- October 2024
- 10 pts/$ at Amazon
- 15 pts/$ at Amazon (with a TD Aeroplan credit card)
- July 2024
- 10 pts/$ at 40+ retailers
- March 2024
- Up to 12 pts/$ at Amazon
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Summary
The current Aeroplan eStore promotion is a great opportunity to earn even more rewards than usual! Every time you buy something, do it online to get bonus Aeroplan points. And whenever you can, plan your purchases ahead so you can take advantage of Aeroplan eStore promotions with higher earn rates. Planning is the key to traveling for less.
What would you like to know about Air Canada’s Aeroplan eStore promotion? Tell us in the comments below.
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