Air Canada Aeroplan is one of the most flexible loyalty programs for international travel. It's a Star Alliance program with access to 40+ airlines, accepts all four major US bank currencies, allows stopovers on one-way awards, and is the best way to book Lufthansa and Swiss business class. Fluxora tracks 4,602 live Aeroplan deals.
Aeroplan allows a free stopover on international one-way awards. This means you can book a one-way flight from New York to Tokyo via Vancouver, spend 4 days exploring Vancouver, then continue to Tokyo — all for the same point cost as a direct one-way award.
Booking Lufthansa or SWISS business class via Aeroplan is one of the best-value redemptions available today. Standard Lufthansa business class (Allegris on widebodies, Business Class on narrowbodies) transatlantic costs 70,000–90,000 Aeroplan points one-way, versus the 60,000–100,000+ Miles & More points Lufthansa's own program charges — with the critical difference that Aeroplan's carrier surcharges on Lufthansa are significantly lower.
To book: first find Lufthansa availability on Fluxora, Seats.aero, or directly on lufthansa.com (look for "reward" fare classes). Once you've confirmed your dates and route have space, transfer points from your Chase or Amex account to Aeroplan — the transfer is typically instant for Chase, and 1–5 business days for Amex. Then book on aircanada.com selecting "Aeroplan points" as payment, choosing your Lufthansa flight.
Availability on Lufthansa for Aeroplan tends to open 6–9 months in advance. Book early for summer travel (May–August) since Lufthansa's own passengers consume much of the partner award space by 4–5 months out. Shoulder season (March–April, September–October) has more last-minute availability and sometimes better pricing in business class than flying in peak summer.
While Aeroplan is best known for Lufthansa bookings, the program's full Star Alliance access makes it competitive across more regions. ANA (All Nippon Airways) business class to Japan can be booked through Aeroplan at 75,000+ points one-way — competitive with Virgin Atlantic but without needing a separate Virgin account. Singapore Airlines business class is bookable through Aeroplan at 68,000–94,000 points depending on the routing, again competitive with KrisFlyer's own rates.
Aeroplan also works well for intra-Asia connections. Booking a Star Alliance partner from North America to a primary Asian hub and then connecting via another carrier can sometimes yield better mileage costs than booking a single direct award. The stopover feature makes this particularly powerful — you can split a two-leg trip into a genuine multi-city experience at no extra points cost.