Okay, so you’ve got your spanky new Aeroplan credit card and you’ve focused 100% of your spending (groceries, gas, utilities, restaurants, netflix, etc..) onto the card to hit your minimum spend requirement (MSR) as fast as possible. YaHoo! That’s 90% of the game right there. But if you really want to up your game, you can take advantage of several more tricks that’ll boost your earnings even more.
Register for Points Promotions
Once you have your card, you’ll start getting emails about various promotions. Don’t ignore these! Read each email to understand what is being offered and how to qualify. Not every promotion is automatic, in fact, most require some kind of registration. Registration can be as simple as pressing a link in the email, while some may require a visit to the card’s website and log-in to your account to register. Either way, sign up for everything, even if it’s very unlikely you’ll use it.
Some promotions are limited to the first several thousand cards who register, so by signing up now, even if you don’t have plans to capitalize on it, you’ll be ready if your plans change.
Link Your Points Account to Partners
Aeroplan will partner with various companies from time to time that will afford you extra points earning opportunities. For example, currently (at time of writing) they have a partnership with Starbucks that will allow you to earn Aeroplan points when you load cash onto your Starbucks card and when you order more than $15 using your starbucks card. This obviously requires Aeroplan to be linked to your Starbucks card. There will be instructions on the Aeroplan site on how to do that. Do that.
Most of the partner opportunities will be communicated to you via email, but it is also worth visiting the Aeroplan site on a regular basis just to make sure you haven’t missed anything.
Some partners don’t require “linking” but for those you’ll need to remember to show your physical Aeroplan card (not just your credit card). Some hotels and car rental companies fall into this category. It’s best to review the Partners section of the Aeroplan website so you know when to show your Aeroplan card. Oddly, this also applies to paid flights on other members of the Star Alliance, such as United Airlines and others. You can earn Aeroplan points on their flights, just show them your card when you check in.
Remember Your Credit Card’s Bonus Earning Categories
Each merchant that takes credit cards will have a specific category assigned to it. A hotel would be categorized as “Travel” while Uber Eats would be categorized as “Food Delivery”. Such categories exist for Groceries, Gas, Dining, Drug Store, etc..
Entry level credit cards may earn half a point per dollar spent. Most cards earn 1 point per dollar spent, while some premium cards earn 1.5 points per dollar spent. Most every card though will offer extra points per dollar in specific categories. The credit card I talked about in my last article, the TD Aeroplan Infinite Visa card, Earns extra points for Gas, Groceries and spending on Air Canada. Other cards will have different categories that earn bonus points.
Now, your first priority should always be to ensure you meet your MSR to earn your sign up bonus as that’s the main way to earn points, but once you know you have met (or will meet) that threshold, you’ll want to use whichever card earns you the most points. If you get a number of cards, it can even be helpful to make a little chart to help you remember.
Once you’ve earned your sign up bonus on whatever card you’re working on, or know that you’ll have it met by the deadline, use whichever card will earn you the most points depending on the category of the merchant you’re spending at.
Shop at the Aeroplan eStore
Aeroplan has a shopping portal that lets you earn extra points at almost 200 online merchants that you’re probably already shopping at. This can earn you thousands of extra points with just a few extra clicks.
Typically you’ll earn an extra 1 point per dollar spent, but there are always promotions that offer 4x, 5x and even 10x points. This can add up to significant bonus points earnings.
Say for example this year you intend to buy a new iPhone or laptop or maybe a new vacuum. These items are probably around $1000 or so. If you buy that directly from Apple (or Dell or Lenovo or Dyson etc..) you’ll earn 1000 points on average by using your credit card, but if you first log into the Aeroplan eStore and then buy it during a 10x promotion you’ll earn 11,000 points! That’s a enough for a free flight!
The list of retailers is significant. From electronics to hardware stores, flower delivery to Television streaming services. Chances are there are at least 20 stores you’re shopping at now that are part of this portal and simply by logging in to the portal first, you can earn thousands more points.
Go take 5 minutes now and browse the list of retailers. (I’ll wait)
Get Another Credit Card
Everything I’ve talked about above is geared primarily to a Aeroplan Visa card, but there are similar opportunities on other cards, least of which is the massive chunk of points earned during the signup bonuses. But beyond the bonuses, there are other partnerships, other promotions with those other cards which can earn you even more points than what is available to you with just one card.
Once your minimum spend requirement is completed you should be looking for your next credit card. My next article will cover this topic in detail so stay tuned…
Follow Someone on Twitter
Well, not just anyone, follow someone who posts about the points/credit card game. There are some professional bloggers out there who do nothing all day but post about various credit cards, travel promotions and reward points earning opportunities.
You can start by following me and then looking at who I follow. I’m not a full-time blogger so you’ll probably miss some stuff if you just follow me, but I will “like” or “retweet” some of the things I see that I find particularly good.
Take a Survey
If you’ve got a few extra minutes on your hand, you can even earn a few Aeroplan points by taking an online survey. Join AskingCanadians and you will get emailed a couple surveys each week that’ll earn you anywhere between 5 and 100 Aeroplan points depending on the length of the survey. I earn about 1000 Aeroplan points each year taking these quick surveys.
While the survey’s may take a bit of time, most of the earning opportunities I mention above take very little, if any, additional time or effort. The most important thing is to be aware that there are opportunities beyond just spending on a single card that can greatly increase your points earning. Look for these opportunities and take advantage whenever you can.