In the hotly contested world of loyalty rewards in Canada we see programs continually evolve to compete with one another. The latest such evolution sees a pilot project from Air Canada Aeroplan, TD and Visa to allow targetted TD Aeroplan cardholders to use their Aeroplan points to pay for select purchases made on their cards.
The new Pay with Points feature (Beta pilot, limited time)
Targeted TD Aeroplan cardholders will receive an email invitation to participate in this beta pilot project for Pay with Points. The project will run until August 15, 2024. After that time period all three stakeholders will evaluate the program to see if it will become a permanent feature.
Holders of these four of TD’s Aeroplan Visa cards are being included in the pilot:
- TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card
- TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card
- TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum Card
- TD Aeroplan Visa Business Card
By utilizing Visa’s Merchant Loyalty Solution, an Aeroplan member will be able to redeem their Aeroplan points to offset a purchase they make on their TD Aeroplan credit card. Those who are eligible will be instructed on how they can redeem their Aeroplan points against a qualifying TD Aeroplan credit card purchase in the Grocery, Dining, Drug and Entertainment categories. The eligible cardholders will be directed to the registration page: https://www.aeroplanpaywithpoints.ca/ to take part.
- If the eligible cardholder would like to participate, they proceed to log in (using their Aeroplan credentials) and link their TD Aeroplan credit card to their Aeroplan membership for this promotion, provide a valid mobile number and accept the promotion terms & conditions/privacy statements.
- Once their TD Aeroplan credit card is linked, any qualifying purchase between $25-$250 made in the Grocery, Dining, Drug or Entertainment categories will immediately generate a redemption offer (assuming they have enough points in their account) via a text message.
- The text will provide information on the qualifying purchase that was just made along with how many Aeroplan points would be used to provide a credit for the same value on their credit card statement
- If the eligible cardholder would like to redeem, they respond with an acknowledgement and the points are then deducted from their Aeroplan account and the credit is applied to the TD credit card statement. If the eligible cardholder does not respond within 24 hours, the offer becomes invalid.
Redemption Rate
What is unknown at this time is the number of points that will be required to redeem for those qualifying purchases of $25 to $250. Once data starts rolling in from our readers we’ll be able to provide details on the redemption rate and whether it represents a good value. Everyone values Aeroplan points differently, here at Rewards Canada we value Aeroplan points at 1.5 cents each but some may place the value lower, others higher so you’ll have to gauge if it makes sense for you to use points for these purchases.
Redemption rate update:
We have had two of our readers provide details on the redemption rate:
- It’s pretty bad redemption rate, 1 point = 1c. They do round down though…so like 25.34 = 2500 points…Still, useless program.
- I made a purchase today on my TD Aeroplan Visa for $45.20 and within a couple of minutes, I received a text from Aeroplan saying this “Your $45.20 purchase from MERCHANT is eligible for redemption. Would you like to redeem 5,000 Aeroplan pts for a statement credit? Reply YES 7740 to confirm.” I will obviously not accept this offer since it values my Aeroplan points at only 0.904 cents per point.
Wrapping it up
Air Canada Aeroplan, TD and Visa are providing a test for TD cardholders to be able to use Aeroplan points for select purchases made on cards. Aeroplan, like all loyalty programs in this era, are always exploring ways they can engage with members beyond their primary model and keep themselves relevant and competitive with the entire market.
From being able to redeem points on hotel stays, car rentals, converting them to Starbucks Stars, gas discounts via Journie Rewards and now receiving a statement credit for select purchases, the program is definitely exploring every avenue possible.
Slowly, Aeroplan once again seems to be building themselves into a coalition program model after focusing on the frequent flyer side of things during the first several years after relaunching in November 2020. It’s not surprising for Aeroplan to evolve like this seeing how competitive the Canadian market is for loyalty programs and more specifically credit cards. If Aeroplan cardholders can’t find value in flights (and the complaints about this do seem to be on the rise again) the program can keep them engaged and hopefully prevent them from cancelling their credit cards with all these additional redemption options.
Image via Air Canada