It's always more enjoyable to have access to an airport lounge than to wait at the gate. It provides a peaceful area for you to unwind, do some work, and have a free snack before your flight or, in some situations, just when you arrive. The layout of the lounge may also make it an excellent spot to isolate you from other people socially.
It is really not as hard as you may imagine to get into lounges. We're going to go over everything you need to know today in order to use the Maple Leaf Lounge network accessible via Air Canada. You'll discover that accessing these lounges without a premium cabin ticket is still possible in many cases.
Overview of Maple Leaf Lounge
Instead of hanging out in the terminal's public area, Air Canada offers a brand of airport lounge called the Maple Leaf Lounge, which provides food, beverages, WiFi, and a nice place to unwind before your departure. Some lounges even offer free showers so that you may freshen up before your next trip. Most importantly, these lounges provide free food and drink, including alcohol.
Operating hours might differ depending on the Maple Leaf Lounge in question, so be sure to check again before you go to the airport to prevent any disappointments. Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges are a reliable experience that you should take advantage of if you haven't already since they are available at a lot of Canadian airports.
Getting into Maple Leaf Lounges
There are several choices available if you are wondering how to get into Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges for your next trip: Using a one-time Maple Leaf Lounge access ticket, possessing a valid Aeroplan premium credit card, travelling in business class Air Canada Lounge Access, or having Star Alliance gold status.
It would help if you had a confirmed same-day boarding pass for an Air Canada or Star Alliance aircraft in order to use any of the ways above. To access the lounge, you must show your valid boarding pass.
Take Business Class on Air Canada or Business Class on Star Alliance
Booking and traveling in business class on an Air Canada or any Star Alliance airline is the easiest and most common method to get admission to any of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges. You will get lounge access as a benefit when you buy or redeem a business class ticket; your boarding pass will include the name of the lounge.
Suppose you are travelling with companions who are not fortunate enough to be in business class. In that case, you may buy one-time admission for them, even though business class passengers only get access for themselves.
The Cost Of Guest Entry Varies Based On The Location And Period:
- Lounges in Frankfurt and Paris: €25
- Heathrow Airport in London Lounge for departures: £25 (GBP)
- Every other Maple Leaf Lounge operated by Air Canada:
- Prior to 11 a.m.: $20 USD/CAD
- CAD 30/USD after 11 a.m.
In addition, Premium Rouge guests will have free access to Maple Leaf Lounges prior to their trip if they are fortunate enough to be traveling on Air Canada Rouge. If anything, you may find that the Rouge flight is a little more tolerable with a few additional whiskies.
How Can I Earn Points On An Aeroplane?
Since Aeroplan is a frequent flyer program, booking flights with Air Canada and other program partner airlines is the most sensible approach to accrue points. Generally speaking, traveling in premium cabins and on more costly flexible flight options earns you more points.
For example, when you purchase the lowest Economy tickets, you will only earn points at the rate of 10% of the miles flown on domestic flights inside Canada. But you will accrue points at 150% of the miles traveled when you travel in Air Canada Business Class.
In addition, you may now convert CommBank Awards points into Aeroplan points closer to home. Although not very liberal, the 4:1 conversion rate could work for some. For example, the CBA Ultimate Awards card has no foreign transaction fees and gets three CommBank Awards points for every AU$1 spent overseas, up to a monthly maximum of $10,000. This is not bad—you get 0.75 Aeroplan points for every AU$1 you spend abroad. However, earnings rates aren't as high in Australia.
The HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card is a more recent offering on the market. This card earns the equivalent of 0.8 Aeroplan points per $1 via Star Alliance Rewards on the first $3,000 of qualifying monthly purchase (including in Australia). By spending $4,000 within 90 days of starting an account, qualified new customers may expedite their path to Star Alliance Gold, which includes Air Canada. Other methods for obtaining Aeroplan points consist of:
- From hotel stays with a plethora of partners, such as Rocketmiles, a booking service.
- Travel with affiliated carriers. Together with other qualified partners, this encompasses the whole Star Alliance network.
- Rent a vehicle to get points.
- Join Aeroplan and connect your Starbucks Rewards account to get points on coffee when you travel to Canada.
Naturally, if you're situated in Canada, there are even more opportunities to get points. For example, while using the Aeroplan eStore or an Aeroplan co-brand credit card. However, if you are situated in Australia, such solutions are seldom helpful.
Membership Fee
You may also pay cash or Aeroplan points for an outright purchase of a Maple Leaf Club membership, albeit this is usually not the most economical choice. (Note: Memberships acquired before April 6, 2020, have had their terms extended by six months, and new membership purchases are now on hold.) Three different membership options are available:
Club Maple Leaf Canada
Members receive access to priority check-in lines for Air Canada as well as all Maple Leaf lounges throughout Canada. The annual fee of an individual membership is 375 CAD, or around $298, but a partner membership, which includes both you and your spouse, is 550 CAD, or roughly $437. At an extra cost, members are able to invite visitors.
North America's Maple Leaf Club Plus
Over sixty lounges throughout Europe, North America, and Canada are open to members. This gives you admission to United Clubs in the United States and all 17 Maple Leaf lounges located across the globe. Once again, priority check-in lines for Air Canada are available to members. Annually, individual memberships are 495 CAD (about $393), while partner memberships are 730 CAD (approximately $580). Visitors are welcome for a small charge.
Global Maple Leaf Club
This membership provides everything. It grants entry to every Maple Leaf and Star Alliance lounge throughout the globe. Moreover, members are able to invite one visitor. Partner memberships cost 970 CAD (about $771) annually, while individual memberships cost 665 CAD (approximately $528).
One of the benefits of having an active premium Aeroplan credit card, like the Amex Aeroplan Reserve card, is free admission to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge for the cardholder. The following credit cards come with this benefit: Getting one of the above credit cards is the most reliable, if expensive (you have to pay an annual fee), a method to get into Maple Leaf Lounges throughout Canada if you can't get Aeroplan 50k status and are stuck flying economy.
As things stand, cardholders may also currently provide free entry to one visitor. The Air Canada website states that this is only available for a short period, but because there is no mention of a deadline, I would assume that this benefit will last for some time.
How Are Aeroplan Points Used?
The best use of Aeroplan points is for flights. There are no blackout dates when using points to purchase any flight with Air Canada. However, the majority of the time, the procedure is similar to reserving "any seat" on other airlines. Instead, partner flights often use a set redemption rate, which sometimes offers superior value.
In actuality, carrier fees that are often charged via other programs are typically not passed on by Air Canada Aeroplan. Emirates does not impose its expensive carrier fees when booking Business Class and First Class using Aeroplan points. Just the actual taxes and levies are payable, together with a small partner airline booking charge (CA$ 39 per ticket).
When making a reservation, you may see the booking prices in points for Emirates flights, which may vary from those of other partners. You may see Aeroplan's straightforward reward chart by clicking this link, which also applies to other partner airline travel incentives.
An example would be 45,000 Aeroplan points + taxes and fees for a Singapore Airlines Business Class ticket from Sydney to Singapore.
Conclusion
In my opinion, travelling these days would be impossible without access to airport lounges. Even while Maple Leaf Lounges differ in quality from one nightclub to the next, they are still an excellent alternative to eating and drinking in the airport's public area.
It is always worth checking into what airport lounges you have access to ahead of your trip since these experiences—whether you are using Maple Leaf Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, or any of the Amex Global Lounge Collection lounges—can make your next holiday that much better.
Photo by John McArthur on Unsplash
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