A Canadian airline helping you fly better within India? Sounds odd, right? But stick with me — this is one of the best-kept secrets in the points game, and I used it myself just last December.

The Star Alliance Connection

Air Canada and Air India are both members of Star Alliance — the world’s largest airline alliance. This means Air Canada’s loyalty program, Aeroplan, can book you onto Air India flights. Including domestic ones. Including business class. If you’re not familiar with how alliances work, I’ve broken it down in my earlier post.

What is Aeroplan?

Aeroplan is Air Canada’s frequent flyer program, and signing up is free — all you need is an email and phone number. Beyond Star Alliance carriers, Aeroplan also partners with Emirates, Korean Air, and a bunch of others. Full partner list.

Here’s the part that matters: Aeroplan offers absurdly cheap award rates on certain Asian and African partners like Air India and Ethiopian. We’re talking Mumbai to Delhi or Bangalore in business class for just 15,000
points.

Sounds great on paper. But does it actually work in practice?

How I Used This in December 2025

I was in India and needed to fly Kolkata–Mumbai return. Indigo was having operational issues, and Air India had jacked up their cash fares — ₹21,000+ ($250 USD) for economy return, nearly $1,000 for business. Brutal.

But here’s the thing — Air India can’t dynamically price Aeroplan award seats the same way. The return business class fare? 30,000 Aeroplan points. I jumped on it immediately.

Even better, my flights were operated on former Vistara aircraft, which meant a solid business class hard product. No old recliner gamble.

I documented the whole experience on my Instagram — go check it out for the seat, lounge, and meal photos. Short version: Air India’s domestic business class genuinely impressed me. The aircraft are in good shape, and the hospitality was on point. I’m now waiting for their refurbished 787s to hit North American routes before trying their long-haul product.

 

How to Book

1. Sign up for Aeroplan (free) at aircanada.com
2. Search your route on the Aeroplan portal and select “Use Aeroplan points”
3. Pick your business class seat — availability will show up like this:

 

Simple as that.

Where Do the Points Come From?

This is where it gets interesting depending on where you’re based:

 

In India: Cards like the Axis Bank Burgundy Magnus, Atlas, and Horizon let you transfer Edge Reward points directly to Aeroplan.

Outside India: Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, and Bilt all transfer to Aeroplan at 1:1. Even better — wait for transfer bonuses. Chase ran a 20% bonus to Aeroplan just last month.

A Word of Caution

Do NOT speculatively transfer points to Aeroplan. Only transfer when you’ve confirmed award availability and are ready to book. Aeroplan points expire after 18 months of inactivity unless you earn or redeem on an Air Canada flight. The move is: search first, confirm availability, transfer, book. In that order.

---

Looking forward to hearing from readers who’ve tried this — drop your experiences below!