How to See two cities for the price of one

Mar 29

Most people think of an Aeroplan points redemption as a straightforward transaction. You pick a destination, you book a flight, you go. But hidden inside the Aeroplan program is one of the most underused features in all of Canadian travel rewards, one that lets you visit a second city on the same booking for just 5,000 extra points.

It's called a stopover, and once you understand how it works, you'll never book an international trip the same way again.

What Is an Aeroplan Stopover?

A stopover is any layover that lasts more than 24 hours at an intermediate city on your journey. In most airline programs, adding a stopover either costs a significant number of extra points or simply isn't allowed at all.

Aeroplan is different. On any one-way Aeroplan award booking you can add one stopover for just 5,000 additional points, regardless of the cabin you're flying, economy or business class. On a return trip, which Aeroplan prices as two separate one-ways, you can add one stopover in each direction for a total of 10,000 extra points.

To put that in perspective: 5,000 Aeroplan points is roughly what you'd earn in a single week of grocery spending on the Amex Cobalt. It is an extraordinarily small price to add an entirely new destination to your trip.

The Rules You Need to Know

Before you start dreaming up itineraries, here are the key rules governing Aeroplan stopovers:

You cannot stopover in Canada or the United States. This is the most important rule. Stopovers are only permitted in international cities. A long layover in Toronto or Chicago does not count and cannot be converted into a stopover.

Stopovers can last up to 45 days. You have enormous flexibility in how long you stay at your stopover city, from a single overnight to over a month.

One stopover per direction. You get one stopover on the way to your destination and one on the way home. On a one-way booking you get one total.

Your routing must stay logical. Aeroplan requires that the total distance you fly cannot exceed double the direct distance between your origin and destination. This prevents wild detours but still allows for plenty of creative routing.

You cannot backtrack through the same airport. If you fly through Frankfurt on the way to your destination you cannot route back through Frankfurt later in the same one-way journey.

Stopovers can be booked online or by phone. Most simple stopover itineraries can be booked directly on aircanada.com. More complex routings may require a call to Aeroplan, and Air Canada should waive their standard phone booking fee for stopovers that cannot be processed online.

How to Book It Step by Step

Booking a stopover on Aeroplan is simpler than most people expect.

Step 1: Decide your two destinations

Pick your main destination and your stopover city. The stopover city should logically fall on the routing between Vancouver and your final destination. Think about which hub cities connect YVR to where you want to go.

Step 2: Search award availability for each segment separately

Before booking, search award availability on each individual leg. Check availability from YVR to your stopover city, and then separately from your stopover city to your final destination. You need confirmed award space on all flights before proceeding.

Use Aeroplan.com for this search.

Step 3: Book on aircanada.com

Go to aircanada.com and click Book. In the flight type dropdown select Multi-city/Stopover. Check the box that says Book with Aeroplan points. Enter your departure city as YVR, your stopover city, your final destination, and your preferred travel dates. The system will add 5,000 points automatically to your booking for the stopover.

Step 4: Call if needed

If the online booking tool doesn't process your specific itinerary, call Aeroplan with the exact flight numbers you found in step 2. Air Canada should waive the phone booking fee for stopover requests.

Real Examples From YVR

Here are three practical stopover itineraries that work well departing from Vancouver:

YVR to Tokyo with a Stopover in Seoul

This is one of the best uses of the Aeroplan stopover from Vancouver. Air Canada flies nonstop to Tokyo, and Korean Air, an Aeroplan partner, flies nonstop from Vancouver to Seoul with onward connections to Tokyo.

Book a one-way from YVR to Tokyo with a stopover in Seoul. Spend three to five days in Seoul exploring Gyeongbokgung Palace, the street food markets of Myeongdong, and the nightlife of Hongdae, then continue to Tokyo for the main event.

Points cost: approximately 55,000 for the base one-way business class fare from North America to Pacific, plus 5,000 for the stopover, totaling 60,000 Aeroplan points.

Cash equivalent of two separate business class tickets on these routes: $5,000 to $7,000.

YVR to London with a Stopover in Reykjavik

Iceland is one of the most visited destinations in the world right now and Reykjavik sits almost perfectly on the great circle route between Vancouver and London. Icelandair is not an Aeroplan partner, but several Star Alliance carriers connect through Reykjavik.

Alternatively, book YVR to London through Frankfurt or Zurich on Lufthansa or Swiss, and add a multi-day stopover in either German city before continuing to London. Frankfurt and Zurich are exceptional cities in their own right and make a natural complement to a London trip.

Points cost: approximately 55,000 to 70,000 Aeroplan points in business class from North America to Atlantic, plus 5,000 for the stopover, totaling 60,000 to 75,000 points.

YVR to Bangkok with a Stopover in Tokyo

This is where the Aeroplan stopover truly shines. Bangkok sits in the Pacific zone from Vancouver's perspective, and Tokyo falls naturally on many routings between YVR and Southeast Asia.

Book a one-way from YVR to Bangkok with a stopover in Tokyo. Spend a week in Japan and then continue south to Thailand. Two of Asia's greatest cities, one Aeroplan booking, 5,000 extra points.

Points cost: approximately 75,000 to 85,000 Aeroplan points in business class, plus 5,000 for the stopover.

Compare that to booking two separate one-way business class awards from YVR to Tokyo and Tokyo to Bangkok individually. The savings are often 20,000 to 40,000 points depending on the routing.

Why This Is Such Exceptional Value

Consider what you're actually getting. For 5,000 Aeroplan points, which you can earn in roughly a week of grocery spending on the right credit card, you're adding an entirely new international destination to your trip. You're extending your holiday, seeing more of the world, and doing it without buying a separate flight.

The cash equivalent of an additional return flight to Seoul, Zurich, or Tokyo would typically cost $800 to $2,000 or more. You're buying that experience for the points equivalent of a few dozen coffees on your Amex Cobalt.

There is almost no better use of 5,000 Aeroplan points in the program.

One Thing to Watch

Before booking a stopover, always check whether it might actually cost more points than booking two separate one-ways. Aeroplan's distance-based pricing occasionally produces situations where adding a stopover increases the total points cost enough that booking separately is cheaper.

This is rare but worth verifying. A quick calculation using Aeroplan's award chart and the Great Circle Mapper tool (gcmap.com) will tell you the total distance of your proposed routing and let you compare costs before committing.

The Bottom Line

The Aeroplan stopover feature is one of the most powerful and underused tools available to Canadian travellers. For 5,000 points, you can turn a single destination trip into a two-city adventure, see more of the world without spending significantly more points, and get dramatically more value from your Aeroplan balance.

Most Vancouver travellers have no idea this feature exists. Now you do.

If you want to know when great stopover opportunities open up from YVR, including business class award space on the Tokyo, London, and Bangkok routes, subscribe to YVRPoints below. We track availability and alert our subscribers the moment seats open up.

Jack Morris