Woot! Now you can book Aeroplan stopover itinerary online

One of the most awaited Aeroplan feature since the launch of the revamped program, is now a reality – albeit in a beta version. Aeroplan members will now be able to add a stopover to their itinerary online. The interface looks straightforward, and will allow members to book one stop-over per dirction of travel. A couple of reminders before we look at how the stopover booking works;

• Stopovers in Canada or the U.S. are not permitted, while all other cities are eligible.
• The fee to add a stopover is 5,000 Aeroplan points per passenger, per stopover.
• Minimum stopover duration is 1 day (24 hours between flights), and maximum is 45 days
• The new booking tool supports up to four flights per direction of travel, which also applies to a direction of travel including a stopover
• For more complex itineraries, members can continue to book stopovers through the Aeroplan Contact Centre – and will be subject to a non-refundable $30 CAD fee per passenger

Booking Aeroplan Stopover

A stopover can be booked using the “Multi-city / Stopover” button, when booking with points. And by selecting the ‘Add Stopover’ button in the search field.

Members can book one stopover per direction, including on one-way, round-trip, and open-jaw itineraries. A stopover city is input as a connecting point between an origin and destination. Here is an example: LHR -MCT (3 day stopover) – BOM;

LHR-MCT-BOM

Another example: YYZ-AUH (3 day stopover)-BOM

YYZ-AUH-BOM

Aeroplan has acknowledged that the current restriction of 4 flights per direction limits the search flexibility, and encourages members to call the booking center for specific routes which could be avaiable when looking on a ‘segment-by-segment basis’. They also confirm the following;

flight rewards redeemed by our members are almost exclusively less than four flights per direction, even when including stopovers. Our intention is to make stopover itineraries more accessible for our members while addressing the majority of use cases.

Take Away

Better late than never – I am glad the booking tool is finally live, and most members will be able to book stopover itineraries online. For those that like to book complex trips, this may not be a desired solution, and may need to continue calling the booking center. On a personal front, the new booking tool will fit 90% of my booking needs, so perhaps selfishly, I am a happy camper!