How to Use Air Canada Aeroplan Stopovers

One of my favourite features in Aeroplan is the stopover option. Most people either do not know it exists or do not realize how powerful it can be. For just 5,000 extra points, you can add a stopover on an international one way award and turn one trip into two.

I used this strategy myself in November 2024 and it completely changed how I think about booking points flights.

I flew from New York EWR to Bangkok in business class for 92,500 Aeroplan points. Instead of just connecting somewhere for a few hours, I added a four day stopover in Singapore.

Same ticket. All in business class.

What Is an Aeroplan Stopover

A stopover allows you to stay in a connecting city for more than 24 hours before continuing to your final destination.

With Aeroplan, you can add one stopover on an international one way booking for 5,000 additional points.

So instead of flying from New York straight to Bangkok, I structured it like this:

New York to Singapore
Four days in Singapore
Singapore to Bangkok

All booked as one award.

How I used an Aeroplan Stopover for my business class redemption

In November 2024, I booked:

New York EWR to Singapore
Four day stopover in Singapore
Singapore to Bangkok

Total cost was 92,500 Aeroplan points in business class.

If I had booked New York to Singapore and then Singapore to Bangkok separately, it would have cost more points. By adding the stopover, I essentially bundled both into one optimized redemption.

What made it even better was flying with Singapore Airlines in business class. That gave me access to their lounges in Singapore and another long haul lie flat experience on a Boeing 787.

I was not just adding a city. I was adding another premium flight experience and more overall value, all for 5,000 additional points.

That is real leverage.

How to Use Aeroplan Stopovers

If you have never booked a stopover before, it sounds more complicated than it actually is. Once you understand the structure, it becomes very straightforward.

The first thing to know is that Aeroplan stopovers only apply to international one way bookings. They do not work on flights within Canada or the United States. You need to be booking something long haul, such as Europe or Asia.

When you are ready to search, start by looking at availability between your origin and your final destination. This gives you a sense of pricing and what airlines are available on your travel dates. After that, instead of booking a regular one way ticket, switch to the multi city search tool on the Aeroplan website.

This is where the stopover is built.

You will manually enter your flights in two segments. For example, I searched New York to Singapore as the first segment, then Singapore to Bangkok as the second segment. As long as your second flight departs more than 24 hours after you land, Aeroplan recognizes it as a stopover.

If structured properly, the system will automatically price the stopover at an additional 5,000 points. You should see your total reflect the base award cost plus that 5,000 point add on. If the price looks unusually high, it usually means the routing exceeds a distance band or the system is pulling higher priced inventory. Sometimes small date changes can make a big difference.

It is also important to pay attention to the airline and aircraft for each segment. Part of the value in my booking was flying business class on Singapore Airlines, which elevated the entire experience. The stopover should improve the trip overall, not just add another connection.

Finally, choose a stopover city you actually want to explore. The goal is not just to maximize math on paper. It is to create a better travel experience. In my case, four days in Singapore made sense both geographically and personally, and it turned a simple connection into a second destination.

Once you book a stopover successfully, you start seeing opportunities everywhere. It changes how you approach redemptions completely.

Where Stopovers Make the Most Sense

Stopovers are especially powerful on long haul international flights where cash prices are high and premium cabins offer significant value.

The longer the flight and the more expensive the ticket would be in cash, the more leverage you usually get from your points.

Aeroplan uses distance based pricing, which means routing matters. A well structured stopover can dramatically increase your overall trip value without doubling your points cost.

Most people just search point A to point B.

When you start thinking about how to design the trip instead of just booking it, everything shifts.

The Takeaway

Adding that four day stopover in Singapore was not just about seeing another city.

It meant more lounge access.
More time in business class.
More overall experience.
All for 5,000 additional points.

After that trip, I stopped looking at redemptions as single flights.

Now I look at how to maximize every segment.

That shift in thinking is where the real value lives.

If you are sitting on points and want to make sure you are structuring redemptions properly, that is exactly what I help with inside my sessions.