Understanding ways to maximize your Aeroplan Points earning without flying
When it comes to earning Aeroplan Points, the general common way to earn points are either via flying with Air Canada and their partner airlines but also through Credit Card Spending through an Aeroplan Co-Branded Credit Card or through American Express Rewards transfer. But there’s other ways to earn points by doing already daily expenses that most people don’t realize.
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Using Instacart with an Amex Cobalt
A nice not usually known hack is to use Instacart with your Amex Cobalt to still earn 5x points but the sweet spot here is using Costco.ca to earn 5x points whilst paying close to Costco prices (Note: there is still some upcharge between prices but I’d consider this offset by free delivery and the time I would have spent browsing every aisle)
With an already $5 credit on Instacart when you use your credit card directly - Do not use Apple Pay as this is not covered by the promo - you can easily offset any service charges that you may need to pay and still earn 5x points on Instacart.
An example would be:
The average Canadian family spends between $250-$500 per month on Costco.
At a 5x multiple, this would be between 1,250 to 2,500 points on your Amex Cobalt when Costco.ca and Costco do not accept American Express.
Over 12 months, that would equate up to 30,000 points, enough for a round trip between Vancouver and Honolulu.
Earn Points on Uber Eats orders
A unknown but simple hack with Uber Eats is, instead of having to meet the minimum spend of $40 to earn points, a buy 1 get 1 free promo that helps you hit that $40 pre discount also counts.
If a restaurant is offering two bowls of pasta for $22.99 each, that would come out to $44.98 pre-promotions since the second bowl is free.
Doing a pickup order would give you a pre-order total of $44.98 but after fee’s and taxes, this would generally be between $24 - $28.
You’d earn 44 points even though this order is less than the $40 minimum as Aeroplan and Uber recognize the order total amount and not the final amount paid.
I do not condone wasting food or ordering just for the sake of points so only do this if you’re comfortable finding something.
Aeroplan Deals of the Week
TAP Portugal on their A321 Neo with Full recliner seats for 60,000 points on March 21, 2026. Average cash value of $3,000 CAD.
EVA Air from Vancouver to Tokyo (NRT) in their 777 and 787-10 in Business on August 20th, 2026 for 75,000 Points. Comparable cash fares going for around $5,000.
