If you’re planning some summer travel, a TikToker has shared a genius travel tip that could pay for your plane ticket.
TikToker @sarahsdailypov shared a hack that she says she uses to fly for free, and it’s super simple.
«I’m flying for free on three trips this year, and you can too,» she begins her video, which was posted earlier this month.
She then goes on to outline a step-by-step process that can help travellers to pay off the cost of their trip and score some cheap flights.
Step one, she says, is to get an Aeroplan account number. Signing up for an Aeroplan number is free and easy to do, and can be done quickly on Air Canada’s website.
You’ll be asked for some personal details, including your name as it appears on your passport. Once you’re signed up, you’ll get an Aeroplan number, which you can use to collect points.
From there, travellers will want to sign up for a «credit card with a great welcome bonus,» says Sarah.
«You’re going to use that card for everyday spending to earn Aeroplan points,» she says.
She notes that there are lots of options for travel credit cards that can be used to accumulate points, however, some may have higher spending amounts to qualify for welcome bonuses or higher annual fees.
For a credit card with a low minimum spend, Sarah recommends the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card.
While the credit card does have an annual fee, it comes with a one-time rebate, so your first year is free.
This is where the hack comes in: credit card holders can get 10,000 Aeroplan points when they make their first purchase, and 45,000 more Aeroplan points when they spend $1,000 or more in the first four months.
This means that you could get 55,000 Aeroplan points just by making your normal purchases using the card.
You can also get 1.5 points for every dollar spent on eligible purchases, like gas and groceries, and 1 point for every dollar spent on everything else.
According to Aeroplan’s flight reward chart, 55,000 points is more than enough to cover the cost of an economy, premium economy or even business class flight within North America, both with Air Canada and its partner airlines.
It’s also enough for the cost of travel between North America and the Atlantic zones (aka, Europe and Africa, the Middle East, West Asia, and parts of South Asia) and Pacific zones (East Asia, Eastern Russia, the rest of South Asia and Australia and New Zealand) for most economy and some premium economy trips.
Other route options are available, but the gist of the message is that 55,000 Aeroplan points will be, in most cases, enough to cover the cost of travel.
As an example, Sarah shares in her video that she’s flying to Phoenix, Arizona, from Toronto, which would cost 45,000 Aeroplan points for a round-trip flight.
You can also, however, redeem a partial amount of points against the cost of your flight and pay the balance, which is what she did.
If you sign up for the credit card and don’t want to pay the annual fee, Sarah shares that one option is to cancel it before the one year is up, but stresses that that option might not be right for everyone.
Of course, there are additional terms to consider when it comes to signing up for a credit card. But it sounds like this could be a great way to book some free travel in 2023.
Bon voyage!